Welcome to my second review of the year blog! This one is
about them videogame things I love to harp on about. Why was my first one about cinema trips then? Because
it was far easier… I could probably just list the games I’ve played this year and it’d be as
long as my usual musings, but A) it’d
dull as dishwasher and B) I can’t flipping remember them all. Highlights it is
then..
The other problem with talking the year in games is that
most of what I played didn’t even come out this year. That’s because I like a
bargain and I’ve only got so much spare time between this hobby, scratching my
leg and staring out windows thinking about fresh air.
The game that took up most of my time in 2016 was the 2015
release Witcher 3. I spent about three months going through that fantasy land,
cutting people’s heads off and watching awkward sex scenes. As much as
videogame visuals have improved it still looked like that bit in Team America,
but not as funny. Other stuff happened too, I think. I spent a long damn time
on that game and right now I’m wondering if all I did was collect herbs and cut
stuff. Hmmm… 
Remasters took up a big chunk of my time, playing games for
the first item that most gaming geeks finished ages ago. I started the year
with Dishonored which now ranks as one
of my favourite things ever (though I haven’t got Dishonored 2 yet because I’m
way behind on new stuff). Planning and patience made it a welcome change from
most games I played, plus I love the visual style of it all. Boasting a similar
look are the Bioshock games and this year I finally got to experience those.
One and two are done with Infinite still to be played. Those are really great.
The atmosphere and story are what really sets them apart but once I worked it
out I was also a fan of the hacking mechanic and using your surroundings. Gravity Rush and Tearaway Unfolded are both
versions of PS Vita titles. They’re nothing like each other but then neither is
like anything else out there and added some variety to the PS4 line up. Gravity
Rush allowed to switch off gravity and soar through the sky or run up walls,
whilst Tearaway had you using every feature on the controller to interact with
a paper crafted world. Both were inventive gems. 
The end of the year has that murky period of time when you’re
saving for Christmas and you try not to treat yourself. Those months had me
replaying old stuff, the extra nifty titles that stayed on my shelf instead of
heading to CEX. The Last of Us is still a fantastic experience. Despite knowing
what would happen each step of the way I was just as emotionally manipulated as
before. It still scared me, still left me upset and my heart still beat 1000mph
during that finale. I could rave about
game forever. My Wii U got a lot of love too, partly because It might get boxed
up once the Switch hits in 2017. That machine excels at platformers with Rayman
Legends being one of the best. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze might be
the very best though. It’s just bliss to play and when you know each level off
by heart (which takes about 80 deaths to get too) the pace and flow is
smile-inducing epic-ness. The soundtracks a beauty too. 
Indies and download only titles… So many of them. This is
the bit were I’ll struggle because I’ve played so many. Most of them are on the
short side so excuse my memory not picking up some four hour experience I had back
in the spring. Abzu, Hue, Freedom Planet, Bastion, Unravel, Volume, Fez,
Gone Home, Nova-111, Everybody’s gone to the Rapture… There’s a bunch. In that
list of titles I have been a hero made of wool, a spaceship, I’ve walked through
empty houses in America and England hearing stories unfold, I have swam with
dolphins and whales, I’ve sneaked past guards, I’ve shifted perspectives and
I’ve ran really fast. It was all superb.
Last part: the actual 2016 games I played in 2016. Or at
least the boxed ones, some of those indies were this year. Let’s not overthink
my blog structure… StarFox Guard was a crushing disappointment. Fans have
waited years for a strong new entry in the series and what we got was an
unplayable mess that made me want to smash my controller. Maybe unplayable is
harsh, I’m sure it’d work fine if I had two heads and the dexterity Mr
Fantastic. No Mans Sky was another soul destroyer. For a good week and a half I
was completely immersed in this game of infinite space travelling. It created a
real sense of loneliness as you repeatedly mined planets in order to go to
another planet in which you could feel lonely again. At the end of two weeks I
quit the game because it genuinely altered my mood and ruined my happiness. Or
maybe I was always an unhappy lonely git and just hadn’t realised. 
I’m halfway through Doom at the minute and should beat it by
New Year’s Day. How fudging awesome is this game? I suck at shooters but
there’s been few adrenaline rushes like charging around an enclosed area
blasting demons in the face with a shotgun before ripping out their hearts and
making them eat it. Fast, frantic and utterly barmy. The last big release I’ll
cover for this year is probably my favourite. Uncharted 4. It’s not perfect by
any means, with pacing issues early on and the difficulty taking a big jump
near the end. When it’s on form though it is an excellent action title with
some really nice character moments. The throwback to the developers past is
nice, the halfway point mission that has the church bell and the chase scene is
exhilarating and then there’s the ending which manages to pull off a
wonderfully mature cap on the series. It’s not what I expected and I adored it
even more for that.
So that was my year in gaming. If your favourite isn’t
mentioned then I probably just haven’t got to it yet. Currently owned but not
yet played: Deus Ex, Ratchet+Clank, Inside, Firewatch, Steamworld Heist. When
I’ve got through those there’s’ about twenty games I want in 2017 not including
whatever Nintendo announce in just over two weeks. There’s to many games. I
blooming love it.
