The Edge’s Top 10 Games of the Year

Another day, another ‘Best of the Year List’, this time on video-games. What’s more, there’s not a mention of Bloodborne, Rocket League or Undertale in sight… somehow… I’m not sure how that happened to be honest. Anyway, here are our picks for the top ten ten best games of 2015. By some kind of miracle do you happen to agree with us? What’s your game of the year? How many rhetorical questions constitutes as overdoing it?

10) Tales From the Borderlands

Remember The Walking Dead? Remember how that combined some really new, interesting and innovative gameplay, with a kind of lifeless, bleak story? Well, Tales From the Borderlands takes Telltale Games’ fantastic and cleverly implemented new gameplay style, and combines it with the character and charm that made their earlier titles just as worth checking out as their newer ones. As well as this, it expands upon the fantastic lore of the Borderlands world of Pandora, gives us an exciting and rousing story, and provides us with more Handsome Jack.

Words by Thomas Davies.

9) Game of Thrones – A Telltale Games Series

From one Telltale game to another. Following on from Tales From the Borderlands, is the episodic adventure that finally allowed fans to have a stab at surviving George R.R Martin’s notoriously brutal world for themselves. Although the series followed Telltale’s standard template almost invariably, this still managed to distinguish itself in some ways. After all, it’s hard to think of another property that lends itself so well to the treatment. There aren’t many other fictional worlds that rely so heavily on people saying the right thing and making the smart choices in order to survive. If you’re gonna centre a game around dialogue trees and moral dilemmas, what better place is there to situate it than the treacherous King’s Landing? Also bonus points for letting me talk to Ramsay.

Words by Harrison Abbott.

8) Until Dawn

Until Dawn was fantastic. As a horror game it was admittedly lacklustre. The scares were primarily of the forced ‘jump scare’ variety, but I think to condemn the game for that is to miss the point. It refines the ‘cinematic game’ genre introduced by Quantic Dream in 2010’s Heavy Rain, and uses it to tell a story that is significantly less outright stupid than Heavy Rain’s was. Suspense is high, the characterisation is perfect and the game is fun, replayable and engaging. Definitely one of the ten best games of this year.

Words by Thomas Davies.

7) Albino Lullaby

When I first played this game, I was a skeptical. Horror games tend to feel quite boring to me, and I usually give them a miss when I can. Albino Lullaby was therefore a surprise, a shocking, terrifying, scary surprise. Without at all relying on jump scares, Albino Lullaby eked out some marvelous scares from the fantastic horror creations that are the Grandchildren, one of the creepiest enemy types I have ever encountered in a video game. Chocked full of menace and genuinely memetic in character, they helped make this game one of the greatest of 2015.

Words by Thomas Davies.

6) Batman: Arkham Knight

In a year filled with open-world action releases, Arkham Knight, the conclusion to Rocksteady’s Batman trilogy, really stood out. The varied gameplay and beautifully atmospheric world were of the expected quality following the previous games, but it was the story and characters that made it memorable. Yes, anyone with a deep knowledge of the Batman world could have seen the twists coming, but the timing of each reveal is perfect. Additionally, the return of Mark Hamill’s Joker and his role in the game made every moment about something more than the basic-but-enjoyable Arkham Knight plot. Yes, the tank sections can be frustrating and the ‘real ending’ is not revealed until the player finishes all the side missions, but Arkham Knight is certainly one of the best action games of 2015.

Words by Tom Hopkins.

5) Just Cause 3

Do you like explosions? Parachutes? Guns? Grenades? Explosions? More guns, explosions, parachutes, guns and grenades? And grappling hooks? Just Cause 3 provided all of this, then packed its game full of wildlife, destructible environments, a cheesy (yet somewhat engaging) story, fantastically smooth-handling vehicles (and vehicle combat), and, once again, grappling hooks. Several months ago it was impossible to see how this game could hope to top the fantastic and anarchic destruction of its insane predecessor, but it did, in more ways than could have been predicted.

Words by Thomas Davies.

4) The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Released May 19th on Xbox One and PlayStation 4, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt marks the last of an excellent trilogy. Packed to the brim with insanely detailed graphics, creatures born from some very over-active imaginations, and an intense dedication to character; The Witcher 3 reached the peak of game design this year. Following on from regaining his memories in the previous games, Geralt of Rivia finds himself on the path to reuniting with his lost love Yennefer of Vengerberg – and together they must scour the Northern Realms to find their adoptive daughter Ciri before it’s too late. Whilst that all sounds pleasant enough – there is plenty of blood, gore and beheading in true Witcher style, stopping things from getting too cosy. Well deserving of its place in the top 10, Wild Hunt is one of the best crafted games of the past few years – a true fantasy epic.

Words by Ashleigh Millman.

3) Star Wars: Battlefront

Our third best game of the year is somewhat of a surprise – the rather divisive, much maligned Star Wars: Battlefront, published by EA and developed by DICE. The game was released amid the frenetic whirlwind of hype that was Disney’s Star Wars marketing campaign, and what it received was a collective sense of ‘meh’ once gamers actually got their hands on it. The criticism of the game is essentially that it isn’t a complete one. There isn’t much in the way of single player content, and even the online multiplayer is hardly an intricate experience. But this criticism (and the further debate that rages on about DLC, a debate that doesn’t belong here) is, in a way, kind of misplaced. Yes, the game didn’t meet expectations, but maybe that’s not entirely EA’s fault. They made it clear early on that this wouldn’t be a re-skin of the original games, or a sequel, or anything like that. What they have delivered instead is a game much like its cinematic cousin. It isn’t perfect by any means. What it is instead, is as close to an authentic Star Wars experience as you can get, and very, very fun.

Words by Matt Clarson.

2) Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Overcoming the usual bad omen that is behind the scenes trouble, Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear swansong represents gaming in its purest form. In the same way that Fury Road encapsulates everything that makes cinema special, The Phantom Pain offers a unique experience that only a video game can. And what an experience it is. Where other games pay lip service to the ideas of ‘freedom’ and ‘organic gameplay’, The Phantom Pain actually delivered on those concepts. Only those who’ve played it will be able to understand the way that missions progress so naturally in unscripted ways. Similarly, only those who’ve played it will be able to understand the jaw dropping scale and wealth of options at the player’s fingertips. Many other AAA games jump on the open-world bandwagon without justification, but here, the massive sandbox is utilised as a perfect tool to let the player tackle objectives in their own personal way. You’ll spend hours coming up with intricate plans, and watch them execute perfectly, and you’ll equally have to watch them fail spectacularly and be forced to improvise. Either way, it’s one of the most exhilarating experiences out there, and one of the most player-driven to boot.

Words by Harrison Abbott.

1) Fallout 4

In what turned out to be a surprisingly good year for both AAA and indie games, Fallout 4 emerges as our pick for the best release of the year. Which will no doubt enrage more or less everyone, but then again, so would any other game. So what gives Fallout 4 its evidently broad appeal? Truth be told there’s no single answer to that. Refined FPS quality combat, oddball characters, charming side-quests, a staggeringly detailed world, terrifying enemy design. The list is endless. What makes Fallout 4 stand out however, particularity in the context of 2015, is the sheer value for money investment that it represents. With games like Evolve, Star Wars Battlefront and Rainbow Six Siege all struggling to justify their ludicrous price tags, Fallout 4 treats its fans with respect, offering them hundreds of hours of immersive content. Where other products might have you choose between ‘quality’ on the one hand, and ‘quantity’ on the other, Fallout 4 proves that you can indeed have both. It’s one of those titles that makes you feel like you don’t need to buy another game for the next 12 months. It has that much to give.

Words by Harrison Abbott.