My Favourite Games of 2016.

By Sam Coles:

So 2016 is coming to a close and there have been some good games, whether it was a continuation of a series to a resurrection of an old classic that influenced the entire industry it has been an interesting year for gaming. I want to share my top games of 2016, these are in no particular order and remember it’s my opinion if you don’t like it fine but be mature about it.  Also I will not be including any remasters.

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare

Now hear me out I know this game got a lot of hate when it was announced because people are stupid and judge games before they play them, but the game is rather good in terms of singleplayer. The campaign is fantastic with well written characters such as your robot sidekick Ethan. The gameplay is a nice change as you go from the standard boots on the ground combat to space combat and even zero gravity gun fights; it keeps things fresh and varied. So if you’re not one of those idiots who judge things before trying it for yourself give the campaign a go it’s fantastic.

Doom

When they announced the reboot to the classic shooter Doom back at E3 of 2014 I was very worried about it because I thought they were going to follow modern shooter tropes like regenerating health and limited weapon inventory. However after the release of the fantastic Wolfenstein The New Order my faith was restored, when Doom finally came out I was pleasantly surprised. The game takes no prisoners it will kick you in the nether regions over and over again as this game is very hard. This is an old school shooter where you run at 60 mph, you can hold 10 weapons at once and of course there are health pick-ups so you can’t hide behind cover waiting for your health to come back. This game really encourages movement and punishes you if you stand still. Get this game if you haven’t already.

Uncharted 4

Here was another game that I was worried about because the announcement trailer looked very morbid and it also didn’t help that it wasn’t written by the original Uncharted writer as it was written by The Last of Us writer. However I was overjoyed to find out it was the same swashbuckling adventure like the others and it was a great send off to Nathan Drake. The game looks absolutely stunning; it’s one of the best looking games of the year coupled with excellent acting with well written characters and set pieces. It feels like a final send off to the linear set piece extravaganza from the 7^th gen as a lot of games these days are either shooters, multiplayer only or open world. This game is excellent and I would highly recommend this to any PS4 owner.

Titanfall 2

The original Titanfall was a good game but however it lacked content which resulted in the player count dying. When they announced a sequel and they said there was going to be a campaign I rolled my eyes at the idea because I was expecting a tact on singleplayer, but the campaign was excellent with a the bond growing stronger with your titan throughout the game. There were some decent platforming sequences which really test your reflexes which complements the combat as well. Multiplayer has been given a boost as you have different classes of titans similar to the hero system in Overwatch, my favourite being the Ronin class with huge sword.

Ratchet and Clank

A game I almost forgot about as it was released in late spring this was a remake of the first game that was released years ago on the almighty PS2. This tied in also with the movie that was released as well which was a bit meh, but this game was fantastic with visuals that look like an interactive Pixar movie with Ratchet looking awesome as you can see each individual hair on his body. It was a nice change of pace from games that were aimed at adults with the intense violence and it was nice to switch gears to something that was light hearted and fun which is something the gaming industry has forgotten for the most part. This game was a budget title but has triple A production values so if you haven’t picked this game up do it now PS4 gamers!

Battlefield 1

The Battlefield series before this game has been sitting comfortably in modern combat for the best part of six years, but they announced this game and it was set in the First World War a lot of people were excited as it is a setting that is not often explored in video games. The announcement trailer became one of the most liked videos on Youtube however I was very sceptical as the launch of Battlefield 4 was a complete mess as it took them nearly a year to fix it, but Battlefield 1 was smooth sailing when it came out. The campaign was rather good and utilised the setting perfectly for emotional stories which I was not expecting from DICE as Battlefield 3 and 4’s campaigns were awful. I wish they had used the setting to their advantage in the multiplayer with more trench warfare but it feels like a Battlefield 4 reskin which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but I would have liked more modes to fit the theme.

Watch Dogs 2

Watch Dogs back 2014 was slammed by a lot of gamers and people proclaimed it to be the worst thing ever to be inserted into their disc drive and honestly I liked it, was it perfect? No not at all but it wasn’t the spawn of Satan. Watch Dogs 2 is what the first game should have been it ditches the morbid story line from the first game and it has an upbeat tone and makes fun of modern society even down to the hipster lifestyle, it’s completely self-aware. The gameplay is a lot of fun and messing around in the open world is amazing with the new hacking abilities like being able to take control of other cars when you’re being chased. This is a great open world game in an industry where we’re over saturated in them.

Those were my favourite picks of the year, what are your favourite games of 2016? Let me know in the comments or you can tweet me @samcoles2 or @bristoliangamer.