BATTLEFIELD 1 (PC / PlayStation 4 / Xbox One)īattlefield 1's use of World War I as a setting was definitely inspired, but what made it all the more engrossing was just how chaotic and frightening the game felt when in the heat of battle. Yet, here we are - absolutely loving it.Ĥ. The idea of making a hero-based first-person shooter seems so obvious now that, in retrospect, it's a wonder why nobody thought of it sooner. More interesting, however, is how Overwatch just seemed to exist so perfectly in the subset of first-person shooters as if it had been there for years. OVERWATCH (PC / PlayStation 4 / Xbox One)īlizzard Studios may have cornered the MMOPRG market with World of Warcraft and the RTS market with StarCraft, but its first foray in the world of first-person shooters was an exciting blend on old and new formulas. Flawed, sure, but so engaging and unique that it's hard not to be taken with it.ĥ. There is genuine love and craft gone into The Last Guardian and that shines through, despite some of the wonky controls, annoying glitches and ropey game mechanics. More to the point, it feels alive and human. The music, the storytelling, the emotional depths that players can go to connect with the story, it all comes together on the screen in a beautiful way. While The Last Guardian is by no means a perfect game, it is a perfect example of games as an artform. Pick it up and give a shot - because it's much better than you may initially realise.
While FIFA '17's Story Mode was the big seller for that franchise, Pro Evo had a lot more going on - but somehow managed to underplay all these. Can't we accept that some have more than others? Isn't it all subjective? This year seemed to be the year that Pro Evo and Konami recognised that it was never going to beat FIFA '17 for licences, so the best thing to do was to try and create a focused, AI-driven game with attention to ball physics and intuitiveness.
At some point, the binary nature of the question just becomes tiresome. PRO EVOLUTION '17 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4) Super Mario Run is fast, fun and effortless - just as you'd expect from the king of platform games.ħ. People might dismiss Super Mario Run as a lesser thing, but it takes real skill and ingenuity to work within strict parameters and create a quality game.
At its heart, Super Mario Run understands that it cannot compete with a major, console experience - so it has to work within the confines of what it has. Quite the opposite, the Toad Rally aspect of the game is becoming increasingly addictive. Now that we've had a few weeks to play with Super Mario Run, the experience hasn't diminished for us in the slightest. The game is expansive enough that it takes you in on either end of the spectrum.
More interesting is that it doesn't lessen itself by appealing to both. If you're looking for in-depth, precision driving with insane levels of detail and simulation, it does it fully and completely. If you're just looking for a casual sprint around a track, Forza Horizon 3 can tailor itself to meet that need. What makes Forza - and its latest offering here - so engaging is that it really does cater to every skill level and interest. It seems clear now that Forza is truly the racing franchise to beat in gaming, despite valiant efforts by Need For Speed and others. If anything, it embraced them and that made it all the more challenging and enjoyable. Its nuanced approach, sumptuous visuals and knowing humour meant for a truly rewarding game that didn't stiff on the complexities to make it more accessible. Civilization VI is, undoubtedly, the premier strategy game of our time. It's never been truly and effectively ported to console gaming and it's a shame that a lot of players miss out on the experience. Like it or not, strategy gaming lives on PC. So, what games were we playing this year? Take a look. Meanwhile, PlayStation's VR debuted, Microsoft's super-secretive Scorpio project was announced and we also had the first and incredibly baffling look at Hideo Kojima's Death Stranding. Outside of this, mobile gaming went through some incredible changes, with both Pokemon GO and Super Mario Run crossing over into the mainstream consciousness. Overwatch, Doom, Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2 all feature prominently in our round-up of the best in gaming this year, with one of them taking the top spot. As we wrote about earlier in the year, 2016 truly has been a bumper year for first-person shooters and that's reflected in our final end-of-year list.