We Got This Covered’s Game Of The Year Awards 2016

2016 may be one of the most divisive years in recent memory, but I can think of at least two things we can all agree on: one, it's become an awful cliche to start an article with something like "2016 may be one of the most divisive years in recent memory," and two, video games are exempt from that whole thing about divisiveness. My larger point is, of course, that video games sure were excellent this year — which made it awfully hard for the gaming team here at We Got This Covered to decide on just ten choices for our Game of the Year awards. After a couple weeks of voting, though, we've narrowed it down — and the resulting list just hammers home what a great twelve months it's been for the interactive entertainment world. So, without further ado, here are the official Game of the Year awards from We Got This Covered. Congratulations to the developers and publishers involved, and congratulations to video game fans — who may be the biggest winners of all. 10) Battlefield 1 Perhaps it was due to backlash against the other enormous first-person shooter released this year — one that will unfortunately not be making this list — but Battlefield 1 quickly became one of the year's most-anticipated titles. Whatever the reason, the finished project lived up to the hype, becoming a smash hit among players on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One alike. " refreshing take on a single player campaign and its refined and robust multiplayer mode has thoroughly impressed me," said our reviewer Shaan Joshi. "Simply put, Battlefield 1 is the best Battlefield game yet, and I can’t wait to see what direction DICE and EA take the series from here." 9) The Witness Talk about an amazing follow-up to one's first excellent game. After the platforming innovations of Braid, Jonathan Blow's sophomore effort came as even more of a delightful surprise. The combination of island exploration and puzzle solving enchanted critics early this year, earning it perfect scores from a number of gaming publications — including our own. "After thinking about it for hours on end, I can only really remember the triumphs and successes, the moments of amazement and awe, and those truly rewarding moments when all the puzzle pieces fell perfectly into place," said Shaan Joshi in our review. "To me, that’s the sign of something undeniably special." 8) Final Fantasy XV After 10 years in development, Final Fantasy XV had a lot to live up to. And while I can't speak for the rest of our team that voted it into our eighth spot, I personally found it worth the wait. Shaking up the usual turn-based formula in favor of a Western-style open world and fast-paced action RPG battle system, this bold experiment was rewarded by becoming the fastest-selling game in the franchise to date. Of course, sales alone aren't necessarily an indicator of quality, but trust our vote here — from a gorgeous score by Kingdom Hearts composer Yoko Shimomura to unprecedented character development with its four leading men, Final Fantasy XV is a quest well worth undertaking. Just don't blame us if the ending has you reaching for the tissues (we've already suffered through that, so we're warning you now). 7) Dark Souls III You might say Dark Souls III offers more of the same as previous entries in the series, and you'd be right — but in a series as good as Hidetaka Miyazaki's, that's more than enough to recommend it. After some people felt that Dark Souls II strayed from the original games' success in a few ways, many were happy to see the franchise back on track with this third entry (fourth, really, if you count Demon's Souls). Lothric is as dark, eldritch and macabre a world as anything seen in the Souls universe before, and its difficulty — while perhaps not as formidable as previous entries thanks to ample progress-saving bonfires — is still not for the faint of heart. If you're looking for something newfangled with a lot of old-school sensibilities, you can't do much better than From Software's latest. 6) Firewatch It's always great to see smaller indie games going head-to-head with the big dogs on Game of the Year lists, and Firewatch is definitely deserving of its spot here. Telling the compelling tale of a fire lookout and his supervisor, this stunningly gorgeous game generated a ton of pre-release buzz — and fared just as impressively once players got their hands on the game. "Considering The Walking Dead creative leads Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman crafted the story here, I shouldn’t have been surprised by how the interactions between the two are excellent," wrote our reviewer, Eric Hall. "The strong narrative and gorgeous setting have left a stronger impression on me than just about any other recent release." 5) Titanfall 2 We already knew Titanfall 2 was going to have excellent multiplayer going in — after all, that's what the original game was known for — but it was an unexpected surprise to find the sequel's single-player campaign to be among the most fun and exciting in the genre. Despite its quality though, this game hasn't sold as well as expected. Still, if you haven't taken a shot at its fast-paced and fluid FPS action yet, be sure to jump on it when you get a chance. "Titanfall 2 excels at providing you with new and exciting things to do," wrote our reviewer, Shaan Joshi. "Environments run the gamut from jungles and forests to industrial factories and military installations … a few standout moments completely switch up the way you play." In an era where some gaming content can feel recycled even when it's brand-new, I think this praise speaks for itself. 4) Overwatch With diversity and accessibility becoming ever-greater concerns in the gaming industry, it's unbelievably refreshing to see a company as big as Blizzard tackling both issues in its next flagship project — and in a first-person multiplayer shooter that's as addictive and fun as just about any in recent memory. Possibly the best aspect of Overwatch is that it can be enjoyed by just about anybody, thanks to a simple set of gameplay systems that are easy to learn but very difficult to master. It's strange to see a game attracting a large amount of casual players as it continues to grow in popularity as a hardcore eSport, but that just speaks to the universal appeal of Blizzard's design. Overwatch dominated the headlines of the gaming world in 2016, and for good reason: from its critically-acclaimed diverse cast to the absolutely bonkers Sombra ARG to the recent revelation that beloved character Tracer has a girlfriend, Blizzard's latest has dared to do things differently in a medium that sees AAA developers and publishers playing it safe all too often. 3) Uncharted 4: A Thief's End Say what you will about its other aspects, but I'm not sure there's a more gorgeous game or better technical achievement this year than Uncharted 4: A Thief's End. Nathan Drake's final adventure takes him to just as many exotic places as his previous three, but this time the scenery is that much more striking to behold — and makes fleeing for your death that much harder to do when everything around you is so damn pretty. Accessibility features, such as the ability to auto-aim during firefights, are some of the best things not often mentioned in looks at this blockbuster title — but then again, there are quite a few good things to say about it. Overall, Naughty Dog has the market cornered on cinematic experiences in gaming, and we can't wait to see what they do next in The Last of Us Part II. 2) DOOM The fact that Bethesda held back review codes of DOOM until the last minute made some people very nervous, and yet here we are, with the 2016 revival of this legendary franchise sitting at the penultimate spot on our list. Taking the inherent silliness of the demon-splattering gameplay and going way over-the-top with it, DOOM is hilariously visceral entertainment — leading every writer at but one on WGTC's gaming team to nominate it for Game of the Year. Okay, this might not be "hilarious" in the standard sense of the word, but I'm not sure what else to call it — DOOM made me laugh out loud on way more than one occasion. Some of those laughs were whoops of joy at the pure action spectacle (try to contain your excitement the first time you pull off a glory kill), and some were thanks to the game's screwy, self-referential sense of humor (if you don't laugh when you see the Marine fist-bump a statue of himself, I can't help you). This game isn't all blood, guts and chugging guitar riffs, though; the revival also offers some surprisingly effective takes on old-school gameplay, like platforming and addictive collectibles. If you know a lapsed gamer who hasn't played since the good old days of Wolfenstein 3D and the original DOOM, this is the perfect way to reintroduce them to the medium. Game Of The Year 2016 - INSIDE In a year chock-full of AAA releases, I can't say how happy I am to see an indie title top our Game of the Year list. INSIDE obliterates stereotypes about independent game development, offering one of the most polished and perfected projects ever to come from any game studio big or small. Sure, it may be a short experience, clocking in at three or four hours, but there isn't one moment of boredom or filler during the entire creepy journey. In addition, each segment is polished to perfection; I dare you to find a game of this ilk that controls better. INSIDE creates the sort of mind-gamepad connection that makes taking action onscreen feel effortless, even as your mind races and your hands tremble from the spooky, memorable set pieces that are thrown at you every few minutes here. This might not be straight-up horror, but it certainly filled me with an existential dread that I couldn't shake for long after I put the controller down. Words almost don't do this game justice, especially when trying to avoid spoilers about the absolutely spine-tingling final sequence. Let's just say there's a reason this little title blew all competitors out of the water to become our Game of the Year by a mile — Playdead's long development cycle absolutely paid off in delivering a worthy successor to Limbo.