Matthew's Game of the Year

Game of the Year

Bioshock Infinite goes above and beyond what video games regularly attempt and delivers an experience with no equal in the medium. Touching on themes such as identity, nationalism, racism, sexism, faith and belonging. Combat is ludicrously fun combining Vigors and zipping around the sky rails dishing out damage into something that requires skill but always feels empowering. The games city in the sky, Columbia, is painstakingly detailed with every aspect of the environment hinting at deeper facets of the world. Poetically written, perfectly realized, memorable and beyond comparison, Bioshock Infinite single-handedly reinvigorates and redefines everything video games can accomplish.

(2) The Last of Us is Naughty Dog at their absolute best, a graphical and emotional tour de force. A harrowing experience that puts a tangible consequence to the unflinchingly brutal apocalyptic setting. The gameplay hinges on your utter fear of enemies all of whom can easily best you and your adolescent companion, it works surprisingly well mixing tense stealth and sparse gun play never allowing you to feel safe. Stunning performances from the two leads drive home a profoundly unnerving story that unfortunately unfolds predictably yet still manages to seep deep into your subconscious with an unexpected ending that will leave you reeling.

(3) Gone Home is a deceptively simple game that reveals only as much as you want it to. A story expressed entirely through environmental clues and audio logs, and one that despite that limited interaction is still able to convey a heartrendingly poignant and subtle experience. Gone Home is a powerful testament to video games, a medium with no equal that delivers uniquely personal and breath taking experiences.

(4) Zelda: A Link Between Worlds is the best handheld game I've ever played, full stop. I have always said that the Zelda formula has the potential to produce one of the greatest games of all time, and it has once before with Ocarina of Time, but the franchise has since chased itself in circles never recapturing that incandescent magic. A Link Between Worlds may very well be the best Zelda game since that historical entry, capturing the same sense of wonderment and discovery but doubling down on accessibility, playability and an enthralling pace. A true open-world Zelda game with gorgeous 3D stereoscopic visuals, phenomenal dungeon design and a pleasurable encouragement to discover the unknown.

(5) Papers Please is an odd game, seemingly mundane and oppressive yet wholly riveting and engaging. Perfectly encapsulating this dreary mindless rule following existence up until you realize you don't have to. For a game so misleadingly rudimentary it garners sympathy for nameless family members and single colored character portraits. It impressively burrows into your sub-consequence and instills moral dilemmas with each new immigrating individual.

(6) Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag takes back the reigns from a flailing franchise and kick starts a rollicking rum soaked open sea adventure, the likes of which has never been seen before in a video game. Kenway is a great endearingly selfish protagonist, the setting is mind mindbogglingly immense and detailed and the story refreshingly concise. Black Flag is filled to the brim with exciting naval combat and an endless variety of side activities that build a world you'll be glad to get lost in.

(7) Saint's Row IV is the pinnacle of freedom through insanity from a franchise that couldn't have strayed further from it's origins. The game at all times feels like hanging out with long-time friends, it's fun, comforting and can sometimes get a bit out of control. The game contains the most empowering and exhilarating character progression I have ever experienced combined with a highly self-aware and absurdest story and characters that show surprising depth establishing it as one of the most unabashedly fun games of the year.

(8) Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons tells a simple yet profound story about life, death and family all without a single spoken word and while that may sound pretentious it's pulled off with such elegance and a sure hand that every interpreted moment comes crashing down in a touching and unforgettable ending. Both the games striking visuals and the wonderfully composed music come together to craft a wholly original and oftentimes bleak fantasy world. The games greatest accomplishment is turning a simple controller input in its final moments into its biggest emotional punch a move so unprecedented it deserves to be counted among the all time greats.

(9) Grand Theft Auto 5 is unquestionably Rockstar's most ambitious, detailed and playable game yet. Filled with their trademark hit or miss humor and movie reference filled epic crime saga. GTA V's most notable moments come from the handful of heists which are the high point of the games main story, centering around elaborate plans of theft of the highest order for increasingly greater stakes. These missions are inventive, exciting and bursting with replay ability due to numerous pre-mission decisions that result in wildly different experiences. But the story gets side-tracked and drags eventually petering out in an unsatisfying conclusion even the gameplay is rote and never exciting unless set around an interesting set piece.

(10) Fire Emblem: Awakening is one of the best strategy game I've ever played. Perfectly tuned, easy to learn and impossible to put down. Awakening cast of characters is one of the best in TBS game history, made up of every character type in anime narratives and that's necessary as building relationships between characters is key. Friendships and even romantic relationships reap tangible benefits in combat as well as fulfilling all your fan-fiction wishes. All these fantastic characters can also permanently die placing even more stress on every battle. Suffice to say Fire Emblem is immensely compelling and satisfyingly difficult, it also manages to not make me hate anime while playing it which may be its most significant accomplishment.