2014 was a rather interesting year of near misses and near
brilliance, ruined by inexperience with new hardware or incompetence
with porting. However despite this there were some truly brilliant
games, and so I had to trim my shortlist a lot to get to my top eight
best games this year.
Again, as with the worst games list, the games had to be released
between 1st December 2013 and 31st December
2014, cannot be freemium games, and remakes are allowed if they
change enough stuff to almost be considered a game distinct from the
original. The first release of a game in English also applies here.
No beta or early access games here, which basically wiped off a good
chunk of my shortlist.
In the end though, this is my shortlist, and I'll do my best to
explain where the rankings come from.
Here goes!
8: Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes (Konami: PC/PS3/PS4/X360/XONE)
This was a game I really hoped they wouldn't screw up, but in a few
ways it did so let me get the bad parts of the game out of the way
first. The game is ridiculously short for its original price tag
(£30!), clocking up at about an hour and a half for the main
mission, though of course it contained a few side missions. There is
only one map, and of course the story can't really get going,
although we do get a lot of disgusting imagery which I won't get into
which is a bit unsettling since none of the previous six or seven MGS
games got anywhere near as visceral. It very nearly ended up on the
end of the worst games list because of its length, and I'm not even
kidding.
All that out of the way, the game was utterly magnificient. The
control system, vastly improved from MGS4 onwards was absolutely
joyeous to use. Graphically the game was spellbinding, using light
and shade in a way I'd never seen in a next gen game, with some great
details and amazing character designs. The AI is vastly improved and
a legitimate part of the challenge, since they will call for help and
go into alert if something logically untowards is discovered,
reminding me a lot of the Hitman games in that regard. The story,
such as there was, is evocative, expertly directed and brilliantly
performed, particularly with regards to mental trauma and harm,
obviously this will become a far greater part of The Phantom Pain.
There are a lot of ways to handle each mission and a ton of weapons
to collect to, so it is a case that if you enjoy the game there are
plenty of reasons to replay.
Added to this is the phenomenal PC port, one of the best from a
Japanese developer (and one of the most optimised Next-Gen games
released on PC this year) and you have a brilliant game that only
slightly disappointed.
7: Toybox Turbos (Codemasters: PC)
I agonised whether I was going to put this or BlazeRush on my list,
and eventually it boiled down to a straight choice. While Blazerush
was an amazingly fun game which really surprised me from a developer
who hadn't made a game that good before, Toybox Turbos is simply a
better game. It is a modern day Micro Machines, which is probably the
greatest compliment you can give a party racing game.
The graphics are superb, there are plenty of cars and tracks to play
and an excellent online mode. However the main star is the gameplay,
which is as perfect as you can make a party racing game. Overall it
is a little short in single player (3 hours, but the game was £11
new and of course there is the multiplayer) but get a few friends
playing and you have a great party game.
6: Cloudbuilt (Coilworks: PC)
On the one hand, it's incredibly tough. On the other it's an
absolutely gorgeous, fantastically designed joy to play. Coilworks'
debut is amazing to play, basically getting to the core of what 3D
platforming should be. Armed with a hover, a dash and the ability to
run up walls, Demi can go basically anywhere, but the limits to all
three of those abilities mean the game ends up becoming one of
careful strategy and risk, particularly since there are so many
routes you can take through levels, some unforgiving tough but very
quick. Add to that an interesting story about journeying through
trauma and a lot of interesting levels and you have one of the
sleeper hits of the year.
5: Murdered: Soul Suspect (Square-Enix: PC/XONE/PS4/X360/PS3)
A game which scores a lot of its points with an interesting premise
and an excellent adventuring mechanic. The best way to describe the
game is Ghost Trick meets LA Noire, where you play a cop who has to
solve his own murder in order to get into heaven. At times the game
is complete nonsense but the game really does a good job of painting
the ghost world as different from the real world. Add to that the
interesting clue gathering and piecing together mechanics from LA
Noire and you have a very good adventure game. The stealth sections,
combat and the sheer amount of combat there is later in the game
probably could have done with some balencing though.
4: South Park the Stick of Truth (Ubisoft: PC/X360/PS3)
Don't say I never give Ubisoft credit when it's due. For all the AAA
problems they've had this year, they also released the touching
Valient Hearts, the stylish Child of Light and The Stick of Truth,
the single best licensed game released this year, and up on the list
for being the best licensed game of all time.
Where it works is in the details. It looks like the show, and few
games ever manage that. The writing is by the show's writers, the
voice acting is by Matt Stone and Trey Parker and it is as hilarious,
demented and absolutely brilliant as the show has become. The
gameplay is akin to Paper Mario, right down to having patches, badges
and extra abilities and may well be the most refined game Obsedian
have made as well.
3: One Way Heroics (AGM Playism: PC)
There were a lot of RPGs in my shortlist, and again I was torn
between the sublime Legends of Heroes, Trails in the Sky and this,
and really both deserve to be on this list. One Way Heroics succeeds
in having an excellent array of mechanics, a great pace to the game,
lots of choices and customisation and really managing to do something
new with the roguelike. The balance between getting experience and
looking for items, as well as the potential for strategy is done
excellently, along with one of the best soundtracks this year (in
fact the only two soundtracks better than it are at #2 and #1 on this
list). A sleeper hit in every regard.
2: The Binding of Isaac Rebirth (Nicalis and Edmund McMillan: PC/PS4)
I love the Binding of Isaac, but there were a lot of slight technical
problems with the original game which meant I never really got the
fullest out of it. If it didn't do quite as many improvements,
modifications, engine changes and the like to the game it might have
been disqualified for being a rerelease, but because all those
changes improve and change the gameplay experience so thoroughly, it
has to be here. Since I bought it a month and a bit ago I have sunk
75 hours into it, and it has become the go-to game I play when I'm
doing other things. The amount of content in the game is staggering,
almost as much as how much that affects the game, with good and bad
loadouts really meaning the difference between a tricky game and an
incredibly hard one. Despite this you never feel the game has made it
impossible for you, and it manages that great rogue-lite sense of
risk and reward perfectly. Add to that a great mix between adorable
and abject imagery and an incredible soundtrack and you have one of
the best games this year.
1: Transistor (Supergiant Games: PC/PS4)
The game world this year has been characterised by games that promise
a lot and simply do not deliver. Many games I thought would be
spectacular at the start of this year have by its end either been
forgotten or are not quite as great. Transistor however is not one of
them.
I went into 2014 thinking this would be my game of the year, perhaps
having to battle MGSV and Watchdogs for the top sport. But it simply
did not disappoint. If anything, the game was better than I had
anticipated, with all its functions and form coming together
wonderfully with an amazing aesthetic. I love cyberpunk, and this mix
of cyberpunk and art deco made for an arresting hauntingly beautiful
atmosphere, particularly as the work of the Process serves to swallow
it up.
The soundtrack is one of the best of all time, a mix of genres along
with some sensational vocals creates that tragic out of time sense
for the game, which just works perfectly for every scenario. The game
is short but with a New Game Plus option and a heartbreaking story.
There were many good games this year. A few great ones, but it turns
out only one of them managed to do everything right this year and
that was indeed Transistor.
