Your Personal Best and Worst of 2014.

Damien_Azreal · 12-14-2014, 01:00 PM

Rule Number One: Keep it civil.
Everyone has their own opinions, taste and preferences. It's okay to disagree, but don't be a jerk about it.

Tis simple, what are you favorite/best/most awesome games of 2014? Post them, talk about them... explain why.
Got some games you were disappointed in? Some you absolutely hated? Tells us about them as well.

1. Wolfenstein: The New Order

This was easily the game I was looking forward to the most this year. And it did not disappoint. With all the focus on the single player Machinegames delivered one hundred percent.
Weighty and engaging gunplay, excellent level design and pacing. And a solid story with interesting characters to draw you in.
A great balance between old and new shooter design delivered one of the best shooters in years.

2. Alien: Isolation

After the lackluster release of Aliens: Colonial Marines it was understandable that people were on the fence with Isolation.
But, it was the Alien video game I always wanted. No marines. No "bug" setup. Solitary, under-armed, over-whelmed survival horror. And while the game isn't really scary, it does deliver in a truly epic Alien experience.
From stellar visuals and amazing use of the source material... this is the best entry in the Alien franchise since the first film.
And like the first film, it's so great to see the a single Alien a truly deadly threat again.

3. The Evil Within

Another game I was incredibly excited for. The new survival horror experience from Shinji Mikami. That alone made this an instant buy for me.
And it did not disappoint. It's visceral, bloody, excessive and even vulgar in it's gore.
But, it's also confusing... twisted and never lets the player truly grasp what's going on.
Despite a few odd choices (though choices that make since if you've followed Shinji... he loves letterboxing and has fought to put it in all his games) it's a great game. And one I can't wait to see where the future takes it.

4. Far Cry 4

I liked FarCry. Hated FC2. Loved FC3... and... love FC4.
4 builds on everything that the third game, only making the world more dense, more alive... and more dangerous.
With more side activities, a more interesting world to explore and the same rich characters and solid writing that made 3 stand out.
I'm still playing this and still enjoying every minute of it.

5. South Park: The Stick of Truth

I hate turn based RPGs. Absolutely can't stand them. Yet, I've played this game from start to end three times (twice on my Xbox, and once on my PC).
It's like playing an entire season of the TV show.
The writing is some of the best South Park writing in years. As if Matt and Trey put their all into the game to truly deliver.
And they did. It's funny, vulgar, way over the top... and works within the bizarrely twisted world of the show.
My only complaint is the lack of post-release support. No story driven DLC (which the game just begs for)... and no patches or updates.
Also, no remappable controls sucks.

Honorable Mention: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
It's Monolith Productions. It's the best elements of Batman: Arkham series and Assassin's Creed.
And it's beyond badass. Combat is invigorating, brutal and fun. The traversal system is quick, fluid and responsive.
So damn nice to see Lith delivering a top quality game again.

There were plenty of releases this year.
And while I also really enjoyed Thief, BioShock Infinite's second story DLC and a few others, I really didn't get that much this year.
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a great adventure game, and the Resident Evil 4 re-release on PC is great.

On the negative side I don't have much to really talk about. A lot of the "big" releases this year meant nothing to me. Like Titanfall or Destiny. They both looked awful to me.
The only game I did get (as a gift) that I played and simply hated...

Watch_Dogs
Story is lazy and tedious. The player character is bland and dull. His motivations are uninspired and don't even make sense.
The world is uninteresting, and the PC release was horribly flawed and unoptimized. My only positive, is that I didn't have to pay for it.

Alyxx · 12-14-2014, 04:57 PM

Haven't really compiled a top 10 list yet but will do so on my blog shortly.

For best I would have to say Wolfenstein: The New Order. Still one of the only games on my blog I've given a perfect 10/10 score just because it gets everything right. Don't have to say much, the game marries the old and new school of shooters in a flawless way, mixes in a pretty gritty and emotional story with amazingly written characters, mindblowingly good graphics thanks to the idTech5 engine and amazing sound design as well. Everything just feels like a labor of love and it's definitely the game leaving the biggest impact on me this year.

For worst I would have to say Rust. While the game is early access still and most likely won't leave that state, I had an intensely negative experience with it that almost left me traumatized. The game is plagued by people being absolute *******s on servers, raiding people who just want to peacefully craft items and build houses and stealing their stuff, treating the game like a mindless shooter. To me that ruined the entire game and the worst part is, that's encouraged by the devs, they simply don't care. They also removed zombies which were the only AI enemy in the game so now you only have other human players to waste ammunition on. The game seems at odds with itself at what it wants to be and at this point I've stopped caring about it. I seem to not be the only person with this problem so... not a bright future for the game I feel... It's just not fun.

Rapture_Rising · 12-14-2014, 05:41 PM

Pretty much Damiens list except for The Evil Within.

Best games in no particular order.

Wolfenstein: TNO, Was a decent game, good old fashioned Nazi shoot-em-up. The one flaw is it ended disappointedly. No spoilers but i feel the ending didn't do anything for the resistance cause.

Alien: Isolation, I liked the atmosphere and the tense feelings of being stalked by the alien and hiding when it does show up but that is a double edge sword. I feel like they made the game too long for that slow and steady game pace because in the end it started to become a chore.

The Talos Principle, I know it came out last week but i have had fun with it, it's a intelligent game, the story is well written, the puzzles are quite difficult, it's loaded with easter eggs from either Serious Sam or other indie games.

South Park: SOT, i am not a fan on the turn based RPG genre but this game was easy to grasp and was quite funny in the South Park way. The only downside is absolutely no replayability, once you finish the game that's it.

Far Cry 4, A good game i finished twice but for some reason Ubisoft doesn't believe in replaying missions so to get both endings you have to play the entire game twice. The thing is that the game is a complete rehashing of FC3. Ubisoft should have taken the opportunity to put in some new mechanics but they copied and pasted everything from FC3. There are elephants and gyrocopters but in the end it does feel more like an expansion pack than a whole new game.

The one disappointing game i bought this year was Watch Dogs. By no means was it a bad game but was just underwhelming. Ubisoft buttered us up with fancy high def next gen graphics then took them away and quoted the BS excuse of "optimisation" In the end it was a sub par GTA clone.

MAT · 12-21-2014, 04:19 AM

I have not bought and played a single game that came out in 2014.

I'm looking forward to playing The Talos Principle, though. Alien Isolation, Farcry 4 and Wolfenstein are the other games that I'll surely play once their prices drop significantly.

Rapture_Rising · 12-21-2014, 03:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAT

I have not bought and played a single game that came out in 2014.

I'm looking forward to playing The Talos Principle, though. Alien Isolation, Farcry 4 and Wolfenstein are the other games that I'll surely play once their prices drop significantly.

Alien: Isolation is 50% off on steam for the next 2 days, it's probably the cheapest it's going to get for a while.

Morbid · 12-21-2014, 07:15 PM

Worst piece of shit of 2014 is by far Wolfenstein: The New Order. Akimbo guns after the 2nd minute and constantly looking down furiously pressing "E" for picking up ammo, instead of shooting and looking to the center. Thx dear console industry and puppet-press, but that's no shooter, that's bullshit.

ZuljinRaynor · 12-21-2014, 08:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morbid

Worst piece of shit of 2014 is by far Wolfenstein: The New Order. Akimbo guns after the 2nd minute and constantly looking down furiously pressing "E" for picking up ammo, instead of shooting and looking to the center. Thx dear console industry and puppet-press, but that's no shooter, that's bullshit.

lmao

I don't know if anyone takes you seriously. You're ridiculous.

Morbid · 12-21-2014, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by zuljinraynor

lmao

i don't know if anyone takes you seriously. You're ridiculous.

stfu.

Damien_Azreal · 12-21-2014, 10:01 PM

As I said in the first post, if people can't say something nice. Don't. At. All.

Alyxx · 01-08-2015, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Morbid

Worst piece of shit of 2014 is by far Wolfenstein: The New Order. Akimbo guns after the 2nd minute and constantly looking down furiously pressing "E" for picking up ammo, instead of shooting and looking to the center. Thx dear console industry and puppet-press, but that's no shooter, that's bullshit.

Let's agree to disagree.

12-14-2014, 01:00 PM	#1
Damien_Azreal Super Moderator	Your Personal Best and Worst of 2014. Rule Number One: Keep it civil. Everyone has their own opinions, taste and preferences. It's okay to disagree, but don't be a jerk about it. Tis simple, what are you favorite/best/most awesome games of 2014? Post them, talk about them... explain why. Got some games you were disappointed in? Some you absolutely hated? Tells us about them as well. 1. Wolfenstein: The New Order This was easily the game I was looking forward to the most this year. And it did not disappoint. With all the focus on the single player Machinegames delivered one hundred percent. Weighty and engaging gunplay, excellent level design and pacing. And a solid story with interesting characters to draw you in. A great balance between old and new shooter design delivered one of the best shooters in years. 2. Alien: Isolation After the lackluster release of Aliens: Colonial Marines it was understandable that people were on the fence with Isolation. But, it was the Alien video game I always wanted. No marines. No "bug" setup. Solitary, under-armed, over-whelmed survival horror. And while the game isn't really scary, it does deliver in a truly epic Alien experience. From stellar visuals and amazing use of the source material... this is the best entry in the Alien franchise since the first film. And like the first film, it's so great to see the a single Alien a truly deadly threat again. 3. The Evil Within Another game I was incredibly excited for. The new survival horror experience from Shinji Mikami. That alone made this an instant buy for me. And it did not disappoint. It's visceral, bloody, excessive and even vulgar in it's gore. But, it's also confusing... twisted and never lets the player truly grasp what's going on. Despite a few odd choices (though choices that make since if you've followed Shinji... he loves letterboxing and has fought to put it in all his games) it's a great game. And one I can't wait to see where the future takes it. 4. Far Cry 4 I liked FarCry. Hated FC2. Loved FC3... and... love FC4. 4 builds on everything that the third game, only making the world more dense, more alive... and more dangerous. With more side activities, a more interesting world to explore and the same rich characters and solid writing that made 3 stand out. I'm still playing this and still enjoying every minute of it. 5. South Park: The Stick of Truth I hate turn based RPGs. Absolutely can't stand them. Yet, I've played this game from start to end three times (twice on my Xbox, and once on my PC). It's like playing an entire season of the TV show. The writing is some of the best South Park writing in years. As if Matt and Trey put their all into the game to truly deliver. And they did. It's funny, vulgar, way over the top... and works within the bizarrely twisted world of the show. My only complaint is the lack of post-release support. No story driven DLC (which the game just begs for)... and no patches or updates. Also, no remappable controls sucks. Honorable Mention: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor It's Monolith Productions. It's the best elements of Batman: Arkham series and Assassin's Creed. And it's beyond badass. Combat is invigorating, brutal and fun. The traversal system is quick, fluid and responsive. So damn nice to see Lith delivering a top quality game again. There were plenty of releases this year. And while I also really enjoyed Thief, BioShock Infinite's second story DLC and a few others, I really didn't get that much this year. The Vanishing of Ethan Carter is a great adventure game, and the Resident Evil 4 re-release on PC is great. On the negative side I don't have much to really talk about. A lot of the "big" releases this year meant nothing to me. Like Titanfall or Destiny. They both looked awful to me. The only game I did get (as a gift) that I played and simply hated... Watch_Dogs Story is lazy and tedious. The player character is bland and dull. His motivations are uninspired and don't even make sense. The world is uninteresting, and the PC release was horribly flawed and unoptimized. My only positive, is that I didn't have to pay for it. __________________ Monolith Fanboy since 1997 Upcoming Anticipated Games: Doom, Shadow Warrior 2, Mafia III, DisHonored 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

12-21-2014, 10:01 PM	#9
Damien_Azreal Super Moderator	Re: Your Personal Best and Worst of 2014. As I said in the first post, if people can't say something nice. Don't. At. All. __________________ Monolith Fanboy since 1997 Upcoming Anticipated Games: Doom, Shadow Warrior 2, Mafia III, DisHonored 2, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

12-14-2014, 04:57 PM	#2
Alyxx	Re: Your Personal Best and Worst of 2014. Haven't really compiled a top 10 list yet but will do so on my blog shortly. For best I would have to say Wolfenstein: The New Order. Still one of the only games on my blog I've given a perfect 10/10 score just because it gets everything right. Don't have to say much, the game marries the old and new school of shooters in a flawless way, mixes in a pretty gritty and emotional story with amazingly written characters, mindblowingly good graphics thanks to the idTech5 engine and amazing sound design as well. Everything just feels like a labor of love and it's definitely the game leaving the biggest impact on me this year. For worst I would have to say Rust. While the game is early access still and most likely won't leave that state, I had an intensely negative experience with it that almost left me traumatized. The game is plagued by people being absolute *******s on servers, raiding people who just want to peacefully craft items and build houses and stealing their stuff, treating the game like a mindless shooter. To me that ruined the entire game and the worst part is, that's encouraged by the devs, they simply don't care. They also removed zombies which were the only AI enemy in the game so now you only have other human players to waste ammunition on. The game seems at odds with itself at what it wants to be and at this point I've stopped caring about it. I seem to not be the only person with this problem so... not a bright future for the game I feel... It's just not fun. __________________ Alyxx' Game Room - My reviews, Top 10s and other opinions

12-14-2014, 05:41 PM	#3
Rapture_Rising	Re: Your Personal Best and Worst of 2014. Pretty much Damiens list except for The Evil Within. Best games in no particular order. Wolfenstein: TNO, Was a decent game, good old fashioned Nazi shoot-em-up. The one flaw is it ended disappointedly. No spoilers but i feel the ending didn't do anything for the resistance cause. Alien: Isolation, I liked the atmosphere and the tense feelings of being stalked by the alien and hiding when it does show up but that is a double edge sword. I feel like they made the game too long for that slow and steady game pace because in the end it started to become a chore. The Talos Principle, I know it came out last week but i have had fun with it, it's a intelligent game, the story is well written, the puzzles are quite difficult, it's loaded with easter eggs from either Serious Sam or other indie games. South Park: SOT, i am not a fan on the turn based RPG genre but this game was easy to grasp and was quite funny in the South Park way. The only downside is absolutely no replayability, once you finish the game that's it. Far Cry 4, A good game i finished twice but for some reason Ubisoft doesn't believe in replaying missions so to get both endings you have to play the entire game twice. The thing is that the game is a complete rehashing of FC3. Ubisoft should have taken the opportunity to put in some new mechanics but they copied and pasted everything from FC3. There are elephants and gyrocopters but in the end it does feel more like an expansion pack than a whole new game. The one disappointing game i bought this year was Watch Dogs. By no means was it a bad game but was just underwhelming. Ubisoft buttered us up with fancy high def next gen graphics then took them away and quoted the BS excuse of "optimisation" In the end it was a sub par GTA clone. __________________ Here we go folks... The rarest creature in nature... The Duketard. I will now approach him very quitely and... Jam my thumb in his butt hole. That should REALLY piss him off!.

12-21-2014, 04:19 AM	#4
MAT	Re: Your Personal Best and Worst of 2014. I have not bought and played a single game that came out in 2014. I'm looking forward to playing The Talos Principle, though. Alien Isolation, Farcry 4 and Wolfenstein are the other games that I'll surely play once their prices drop significantly. __________________ What doesn't kill you can kill you later. How do you take someone seriously when their sig is the machine stats? -Tea Monster

12-21-2014, 07:15 PM	#6
Morbid	Re: Your Personal Best and Worst of 2014. Worst piece of shit of 2014 is by far Wolfenstein: The New Order. Akimbo guns after the 2nd minute and constantly looking down furiously pressing "E" for picking up ammo, instead of shooting and looking to the center. Thx dear console industry and puppet-press, but that's no shooter, that's bullshit.