Game Of The Year 2016: Disappointed Edition
In the past, I subscribed to GameFly. I’d get the latest games and while so few were truly excellent, at least I got to try them. 2016 was a tough year because I really missed out on a lot. I know. First-world problems. However, in culling through the year’s best, I realized I didn’t play most of them. Overwatch, Gears 4, The Witness…there are a few which very well could’ve been GotY, but I guess we’ll never know. Unless I come back to emend this post.
…and I may need to do that. Because the list below is an revision of last year’s list and it details the best game of the year as well as the best new IP of the year. And sadly, I have nothing for the best new IP. Looking through my trophies list (as I don’t have an XB1 and the Wii U is a joke), shows I didn’t really play that many good titles in 2016.
So, the list came down to:
- Street Fighter V (Lack of single-player content kills it)
- Rise Of The Tomb Raider (Not nearly as good as the reboot)
- Zero Time Dilemma (Another fun, quirky game)
- Far Cry Primal (Solid, alternate entry into the FC series)
- Uncharted 4 (Writing, action, visuals, story, gameplay….)
Yup…it’s really no contest. Actually, playing through Rise Of The Tomb Raider started to bore me. The story was nonsense, the collectibles were just strewn everywhere for no reason, the gunfights were too sparse to even challenge and the locales were just so similar. I found that Uncharted 4 trumped it in every way. I cared about Drake, his brother, their relationship, Elena…the story was compelling, and the little items like Sullys one-liners, the attic portion, the games on the couch with Elena, the end…and you know, the entire middle of the game – just were top-notch. The gameplay was perfection, Naughty Dog never faltered with that portion of UC. And the locales and visuals were out of this world. I platinumed the game in just a few weeks, much like I did for the other three main entries into the series but yet the game beckons me to return. There is little as satisfying as clearing an area of baddies like that whole beach portion of the finale. Damn that was difficult!
So, while no new IP is listed here (yet? Maybe The Witness? Overwatch?), the coveted trophy goes to Drake’s epic send-off Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End. And yes, that makes 3 out of 4 titles GotY winners. Not too shabby if you ask me!!!
| Game Of The Year | ||
| Year | GotY | New IP GotY |
| 2016 | Uncharted 4 | [None…Yet!] |
| 2015 | Metal Gear Solid V | Rocket League |
| 2014 | Shadow Of Mordor | [Same] |
| 2013 | Tomb Raider | Guacamelee! |
| 2012 | Borderlands 2 | The Walking Dead |
| 2011 | Portal 2 | Torchlight |
| 2010 | Red Dead Redemption | Darksiders |
| 2009 | Uncharted 2 | Borderlands |
| 2008 | Metal Gear Solid 4 | LittleBigPlanet |
| 2007 | Uncharted | [Same] |
It’s worth noting that 2010’s Red Dead Redemption was a toss-up with Super Mario Galaxy 2. Both are pretty much perfect 10s in my book. Two MGS games and two Uncharted games topping this list! And Borderlands is on there twice too. Pretty cool!