3 January 2016
A packed November saw the release of triple-A titles: Need for Speed, Call of Duty Black Ops 3, Fallout 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Star Wars Battlefront. Not bad at all compared to some previous years.
Disagreeing with many, but agreeing with my street racer heart, I was most eager to play Need for Speed. Teased screenshots and videos showed awesome customisation on cars ranging from a 1976 Golf GTI to a 2015 Lamborghini Huracán. And after completing the game it is the best street racing customisation I've seen since Need for Speed Underground 2. There are tons of visual options for most cars, and the new wrap editor allows you to transfer your unique layers of paintwork and decals onto any further car. Having said that, spoilers, skirting, body kits etc. are very limited on some cars, particularly those with the biggest price tag such as the Ferrari F40. Driving wise, drifting is the best feeling when your car setup is right and you've the mastered the technique. Combine this with half a dozen other racers in a 'drift train' down a mountain pass and you have the best experience Need for Speed can offer. One last negative I must mention is the cops... I've never played a game where they are so dumb, slow, and easy to evade. And with barely any backup. Not at any point did I have more than three cop cars chasing me. So there are reasons why this game isn't great to the vast majority, but I still loved it.
November of course means Call of Duty, and this year I decided to take the plunge and buy Black Ops 3. I'm yet to finish the campaign (which tells you a lot), but the multiplayer is excellent. I was sceptical on wall running and boosting, but as movement has been dialled down from Advanced Warfare, both are really slick to use. Zombies is ridiculous, with the ability to 'become the beast' aka an electrifying octopus thing, right from round 1. But despite this, it does seem much more difficult than the previous Treyarch games. I've not spent much time with Zombies but the cool retro styling will likely bring me back.
On November 10th we had the second occurrence of two triple-A titles launching on the same day. And this time it was Lara Croft who suffered. Rise of the Tomb Raider has been described by many in the gaming industry as an absolute joy to play, and a clear game of the year contender. Problem is this opinion is only coming from the gaming media, as everyone outside of it bought Fallout 4. Add to this that PS4 is destroying Xbox One in sales and Tomb Raider launched exclusively on Xbox, you can see why this happened. Rise of the Tomb Raider surely had to get away from the Fallout 4 release date at all costs, as the anticipation for Bethesda's next apocalyptic game was so widespread. I shared the same enthusiasm for it until November when I was sucked into Need for Speed and Black Ops 3. It's also interesting to hear that some gamers say Fallout just isn't the game for them. Like The Witcher, a big time investment is needed and you have to be prepared for a lot of walking. There seems to be more than a few game breaking bugs present too, which is another reason why I'll pick up this game at a later date.
A week later saw the release of Star Wars Battlefront. I played the beta in October and was super impressed. As I mentioned at EA's E3 conference, I was stunned by the visuals, possibly the best I've seen to date on consoles. The characters, the vehicles, and the music are all spot on too, so for Star Wars fans this is a must buy game. For me I was hoping for better shooting mechanics. No aim down sight (ADS) on regular blasters really sucks, and the sniper rifle (which thankfully does have a viewable scope), fires one round before requiring a reload. Having played Battlefield Hardline earlier in the year, I was hoping for similar mechanics. The random icons dotted around the map enable anyone to pilot an X-wing or become a hero character, which is great for casual players, but most hardcore shooter fans would prefer to earn the right to play as Darth Vader through kills or objectives.
Lastly, there were 2 more triple-A titles that launched in early December. Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Siege finally released after numerous delays, and it's fair to say this game follows in the footsteps of Titanfall and Evolve. A great game, but no single player campaign, and a massive drop in hype since its first announcement. Also like Evolve, there is a heavy focus on team co-ordination to win. So even playing with random players is unlikely to yield much reward. In a more a positive light, Rainbow Six Siege is great to watch when two competitive teams are battling it out to save hostages or defuse bombs. Rappelling up and down buildings looks really fun, even more so when shooting an enemy upside down. But unfortunately the graphics look poor when compared to other shooters this year, and the progression system is a grind with so much locked content at the start.
Just Cause 3 was the other big title to launch in early December, and similarly to Fallout 4, a game I hope to pick up in the new year when the bugs have been ironed out. Just Cause 3 reminds me a lot of GTA V, but with a grapple, wingsuit, and a lot of explosions. And I mean A LOT! Practically everything is destructible and will most likely explode in the most glorious fireball. The explosions really are the best I've ever seen in a video game. However the footage I've seen must be from PC, as there are drastic performance lags with destruction on consoles. Once this has been fully patched, I will certainly dive in to this mad open world game.
That concludes all of the major game releases this year. It has been a great year, with the exception of a certain skateboarding game, but nevertheless certainly surpassing 2014 and 2012. My game of the year has to be Metal Gear Solid V due to its brilliant open world and the best stealth combat I've ever played. It's a real achievement to meet the expectations of long term Metal Gear fans, as well as attract new gamers to the series. 2016 will surely be even bigger and better for the games industry, with the presence of virtual reality looming ever closer.