Game of the Year (2013)

So it is the end of the year, and while the only remaining game I can think of which hasn’t been delayed until 2014 left to buy is Peggle 2 I think it is time to do a Game of the Year article. You know the type of articles which I write in such a horrible mix of third person and first person it blows your mind at how I could think it was a good idea. Those type of articles, also the simple fact that all year I bash a great amount of video games on twitter so you think, what I could possibly have enjoyed this year. Well I’ll tell you what I have enjoyed in a hastily written article just for you.

AAA Meeting Award

So when big publisher’s splash cash around to get out their usual line up of video games, when it comes down to it a section needs to be devoted to their reckless spending. This is that section, an award called the AAA Meeting Award. Last year it was given to Sleeping Dogs, which also was awarded with the overall GOTY.

There can be no GOTY list this year without Grand Theft Auto V. Regardless if it wins or not (scroll down to find out) the polish and direction of the title is one which fixes the complaints of the previous title while giving gamers a few fresh new ideas. Which if you look at the dribble of other big series releases this year, for example Forza 5, you will see it is essentially the same video game as the last entry in the sequel just worse in some aspects and better in others, but really the same title. GTA V doesn’t do that.

Also like most awards the reason while the game gets bestowed the award comes down to the fact that I finished GTA V. As previously stated when Sleeping Dogs won last year, when I finish a video game it is a big rarity, something has to be done right for me to be able to guide myself through a title. In this case this is also the first GTA game I have played to the end….wait I lied there, I just remembered I finished Chinatown Wars.

Indie Award

I have to give the award to Shelter. I can’t remember if I wrote a review for this particular game, or if I started to only to leave it the rot on my hard drive. However that is beside the point, earlier this year I picked up a newly released game called Shelter, releasing just after the big wave of titles midyear before the onslaught to come.

Shelter I thought would be an interesting little survival game, I didn’t think it would be overly ambitious or to be honest an art game (which quite frankly it is an “art game”). I didn’t have much knowledge of the title before playing it the first time.

Shelter is a game by Might and Delight which puts players in the role of a mother badger. Even the first level I was still not sure what type of game this would be, wondering around figuring out how I could feed the baby badgers I had ample of and just in general exploring the area.

I slowly realised that the game started giving me a different section to explore once I reached a new point on the map, sort of like a new level. The game for the most part is very liner. Which I wasn’t sure if I was expecting it, or not. However as I played things started getting crazy, birds swooping down on me, fires and other environmental changes which became a challenge for my ever dwindling badger family.

I have to spoil the ending, so don’t read this paragraph just skim down to the Game of the Year section if you haven’t played this game yet. Because it is something which you have to experience. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting the end would be after been thrown into a section which had everything on fire, no the ending was far more confusing, well I wouldn’t say confusing. It was just I had slowly started getting attached to what little badgers I had left and I wanted some kind of weird happy ending, or maybe the game would allow me to breed with another badger and explore more weather changing sections. No instead as my last badger baby and the mother walk down a hill, an evil giant bird starts attacking the group. Clearly the mother was on the last legs because I couldn’t walk as fast as I used to, and in the end this resulted in my badger dying. I did play it again and I saw if I got to a certain point some baby badgers would survive, but wow. It was just so odd, so uncomfortable, so confusing.

If it was more of a proper survival game, and a bit longer, and whatever other excuse I could make up, it would be my Game of the Year. Cause seriously wow. Also if you didn’t know this developer made Pid, so that is a completely different experience to what Shelter is about. So unexpected really.

Game of the Year (2013)

Despite the fact I haven’t played it yet. The winner of Game of the Year 2013 is clearly the greatest game in the world. Peggle 2. Okay I obviously can’t give the award to Peggle, as it comes out next week and I jumped the gun on this Game of the Year article if I really wanted to give it to Peggle. So what else is out there?

While I could give it to titles such as Tearaway, Fire Emblem: Awaking, Pikmin 3, heck even Grand Theft Auto V. The one consistent title for a new entry in its series and one which stood out at the time of release, as well as continues to provide a reason to go back to the title is of course Animal Crossing: New Leaf, a Nintendo 3DS title. I also having remembered Pokémon also came out this year, have to twist the Game of the Year award in half, giving Pokémon X and Y the second half. Making this year have two titles in this category.

I don’t want to dwindle on about the winners this year, as really they are just great solid entries in their respective series which I spent lots of time playing. Instead I want to move onto the next category.

Upcoming Titles of Note (2014)

So once again ends a year of mediocre games shallowed with anticipation for the next batch. The idea that once again the next years games will be better and more enjoyable then the last. While for the most part 2013 did do that, it was overall forgettable. So when it comes down to it, what titles on the horizon for 2014 fit the upcoming titles of note category.

Well flashing back to last year’s article, I mentioned two titles in this category (okay three if you count my un-incisive nature as I split this category further last time) which can be mentioned once again as they didn’t come out this year. Those titles are Watch Dogs, which got delayed because of some unknown reason just as it was about to be released and of course Prison Architect, which technically hasn’t been released yet because it is still in Beta.

So while I would love to once again list these titles at the end of my Game of the Year article, and go on about how Watch Dogs will be amazing due to the connection it strikes in people’s minds to popular hit TV show Person of Interest. I instead will pick some new titles to fill the gap here.

For the most part I am excited by two games coming out next year. Firstly Child of Light, a title by Ubisoft which just looks amazing. Also that other game which was announced using the UbiArt engine, but I can’t remember the title of it.

Moving on however, the second title is D4. Due out early 2014. However I will cut the article here, one because I’m thirsty and want a drink, leaving this unfinished and published. As well as two, because the ability to research and be amazed by both the games I mentioned which are upcoming, and as well as the Indie game Shelter if you haven’t played it yet are all I need to really say.