Top 5 Games of 2014.

By Sam Coles:

Another year has come and gone so it’s time to tell the world of the internet my favourite games of the year. Remember these are my opinions so don’t take it to heart if your favourite game is not on the list and be mature about the situation with the feedback.

 

 

5. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare.

After the colossal disaster that was Call of Duty Ghosts our expectations were very pessimistic when Advanced Warfare was announced, but when the first trailer made from gameplay footage was shown it was clear that this was a truly next gen COD game. Sledgehammer games first proper stab at the franchise was a valiant effort it really felt that they put all their heart and soul into this project, by ditching the overly done setting of the modern day and taking it into the far future. This game let them have more creativity with the weapons because they could include weapons that don’t exist or are in prototype in the real life army. The stand out was the exo suit which gave the series a sense of mobility in the multiplayer and it really felt like the old school shooters where it’s about map control and not necessarily about your loadout.

 

4. Halo The Master Chief Collection.

Yes this game had a very rocky start where the multiplayer didn’t work or it took up to two hours to wait for a game, but I didn’t pick up this game until Christmas because I got an Xbox One for Christmas. To be fair the game is packed with 4 Halo games and includes the multiplayers in each game so you can’t blame them really, but they should have waited a bit longer if there were problems. Halo 2 got a massive make over with its anniversary edition the guys at Blur Studios who did the cutscenes for Halo 4 re-made all the scenes for Halo 2 and it looks absolutely beautiful and made it a joy to play through again. If you own an Xbox One you need this collection.

 

3. Far Cry 4:

Yeah sure I did call this Far Cry 3.5 and it’s the same gameplay more or less with its mechanics and engine, but it fixed some of the small problems that Far Cry 3 had and plus with the power of the new gen consoles it packs in so much detail in the new Himalayan setting with it’s beautiful forests to the blinding white snow in the mountains. The main villain Pagan Min although he does disappear for most of the game he is a fantastic character with his charming personality where he can flip out at any minute, but he has an old fashioned gentleman approach to conversation.

 

2. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor.

When Shadow of Mordor was announced in early 2014 everyone was stating that it’s an “Assassin’s Creed rip off” and yeah it takes elements from that series with its movement system not so much from its combat because you can actually lose fights in this game compared to the Assassin’s Creed series. What stood out with this game was the nemesis system where you shaped the Orc tribes in Mordor and sometimes it’s not even you sorting it out because they all fight among themselves and this organic system makes the world in this game feel alive.

 

1.      Wolfenstein: The New Order.

 

Wolfenstein The New Order is a very pleasant surprise because I was geared for another cookie cutter and mediocre FPS with one id’s titles slapped on the front cover. Machine games however took pride with this ip and produced a beautiful piece of interactive media with the latest game and arguably the best in the series. The generic character BJ is shown as a worn out and tired soldier that starts to question his own actions even though he is killing Nazi’s, but the game isn’t serious all the time it knows when to lighten in places. It brings back the old school feel of having health instead of regenerating health and you can wield two huge weapons at the same time to blow chunks out of your enemies. If you have a last gen or new gen console you owe it to yourself to play this game.