2013 was a good year for games. I’ve played quite a few games, many of which were from independent developers and small studios. Here are my personal best games of the year in no specific order whatsoever with one screen shot each.
Game OF THE YEAR == Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
More a three hour interactive animated movie than a game, the storytelling is the best I’ve ever seen. The story itself is worthy of a feature film, told without recognizable speech, but with an incredible amount of emotion and depth. I really hope this is how films will be made in the future and how viewers will be able to interact with the characters. The game really needs a controller to play. The unique mechanic of controlling two characters with one controller takes time to get accustomed to but overall it works very well and adds to the charm of the game. [LINK]
Best Adventure == The Cave
At the end of the year, it’s easy to forget the great games from the beginning of the year. The Cave, written and directed by Ron Gilbert and made by DoubleFine, is definitely the best old-school adventure game that was published in the last 12 months. True to the Monkey Island legacy, with jokes and hard puzzles but brought into the future with faster game play and, naturally, better graphics. [LINK]
Best Action-Adventure == Tomb Raider
I like the new Lara. The game had some minor shortcomings but the story was well told and game play was consistent and fun. Good graphics, too. [LINK]
Best PLATFORMER == Mark of the Ninja
One of the very few games that play great with a controller. I usually hate the lack of precision of game controllers but Klei Entertainment simply got it right. Also has a great visual style combined with the best features from every great stealth game distilled down to the essentials. [LINK]
Best Shooter == Bioshock Infinite
A very good game, even more so if you’re a fan of the series. The setting is as amazing as the first one underwater was. The story is told quite well, with quite great main characters. Gameplay mechanics work as they should, each weapon and skill feels real and its use satisfying, one of the most important features of any shooter. Alas, the graphics are not great. Even on maximum settings everything is soft and stepping too close to any object makes it look like it was textured 5 years ago. Plus there is to little variation in the npc models, that is to say none at all in some areas. That’s a bit sad. Some people would probably argue that Infinite isn’t really a plain shooter, but that’s how I played it. [LINK]
Best Survival Game == Don’t Starve
2.5D with hand-drawn textures make a great visual style. The game objective is simple: survive, don’t starve don’t freeze, don’t get eaten by scary things at night. What sounds very simple is really very complex and fun. [LINK]
Best Racing Game == Race the Sun
Simplisitic graphics, a good soundtrack and good controls. What else do you need? [LINK]
Best Totally Crazy Game == Antichamber
What do you mean that#s not a valid category? It is, just like walking down those stairs will make you end up on the roof. I find it amazing that this game is so popular while all the while most people still run around crying whenever a new AAA title with even better graphics is announced. Antichamber has the most ugly graphics of 2013 and it absolutely does not matter. The game is just crazy, more like a dream than anything else and definitely worth playing simply because it does not adhere to the rules. [LINK]
Other Good Games I Played This Year
Spec Ops: The Line
Can be played as a straightforward good shooter. Can also be played as a parody on all shooters an war in general. [LINK]
Evoland
A pretty cool way of looking back on the evolution of game graphics. [LINK]
The Walking Dead: 400 days
Only a DLC, but a good one. Enough to help you remember why you like the game so much and make you look forward to Season 2. [LINK]
GuacameleE!
Great vector graphics design plus cool 2D platformer action. [LINK]
Papers, Please!
Definitely not as great as some reviews have styled it, but still really good. Highlights the problems of everyday life in a dictatorship. Warning: Papers, Please is not a ‘fun’ game and very exhausting. [LINK]
Best Games I Played In 2013 That Were Released Earlier
Minecraft Feed The Beast
Minecraft mods were never really of any interest to me because, even the basic system is so addictive as a box of simple Lego bricks. As with Lego, new brick types do, however, enhance the experience at some point, or at least renew the magic of the game. Minecraft is also the best game to play with the Oculus Rift right now, mainly because its low poly geometry and pixel textures simply fit the Rift’s low resolution but also because of a good interface adaptation. [LINK]
Hotline Miami
Probably the most violent game I’ve ever played. Also one of the very few violent games that criticize violence violently. Plus a great surrealistic story, pixel graphics and a great soundtrack! [LINK]
Tropico 4
Become a dictator in the Caribbean! Make a speech, build, trade, suppress your citizens, assassinate political opponents, enrage the world’s superpowers! Well, maybe you should be careful about that last one. There’s that Soviet fleet doing exercises near your island. An incredibly complex simulation with great humour. [LINK]
Batman: Arkham Asylum
The Big Bad Bat is friggin real!
Mobile Games
Rymdkapsel
Simplicity in graphics and gameplay honed to a very fine point. Can be played casually or like a strategy game. [LINK]
Ridiculous Fishing
At least since Fishing Jam there are some cool fishing games out there but Vlambeer just had to top them. Cool graphics and fun. [LINK]
Incredipede
The conquest of South America as seen from a small, green and very amazing alien with too many extremities. Amazing graphics, crazy physics puzzles. [LINK]
Star Command
Star Trek in low pixel. Or maybe a better FTL.Old-school story. [LINK]
Stealth Bastard
A stealth game done right, not originally for mobile but well-adapted. [LINK]
The Room
A 3D puzzle game for those with an attention span of more than 5 minutes. [LINK]
Games I Really Wanted To Play But Never Got Around To
Kentucky Route Zero
The graphics are the first indicator, the story-centric game play the second that I will like this. [LINK]
The Stanley Parable
A fascinating look on choices in games. [LINK]
The Wolf Among Us
Frankly, I just haven’t played this game because I haven’t had the time to play it in one go as I’m sure I’ll want to.I’ve seen the fist few minutes played live and they were as amazing as The Walking Dead just in a better setting. [LINK]
The Last of Us
I’ll probably never play this game simply because I can’t see buying myself a console but from what I’ve seen the emotional range of the characters alone is pretty great. [LINK]
Games To Look Forward To in 2014/15
Star Citizen
This is the big one, the game that will define the space genre for the foreseeable future. The hangar already looks and feels fabulous, the diversity of the game seems is enormous: from exploration to space shooter to FPS. [LINK]
Elite: Dangerous
The last really good space shooter I played was Tachyon. Time for something new and even better. [LINK]
Wasteland 2
As a hardcore fan of Fallout, this game just feels and looks great but I’m a bit afraid it may disappoint in its depth. [LINK]
Armikrog
Probably one of the most visually unique games of 2014, Armikrog will be the first clay-animated game for a long, long time. [LINK]
Massive Chalice & Broken Age
DoubleFine Games are mostly filled with humour and great gameplay and from what I’ve seen so far, Massive Chalice will not be the Exception. Broken Age will have great visuals and a good story from what I’ve seen so far. [LINK] [LINK]
SCALE
I love, love, love low-poly. I also love the main game mechanic of shrinking and enlarging objects. [LINK]
Torment: Tides of Numenera
Simply the Fantasy RPG to look for in 2014. [LINK]
Death Inc.
Visually stunning with great humour and cool, strategic game play, I still don’t quite get why they didn’t reach their Kickstarter funding goal but it’s still being produced. [LINK]
Satellite Reign
The setting looks like Blade Runner. What else do you need? [LINK]
Godus
It’s already here, somehow. The beta is “only 41% complete” but it seems the main game mechanics are ready. With great low-poly graphics and cool animations it’s still missing some element to make it a really great game. [LINK]
No Man’s Sky
You’ve seen the trailer, right? Although their studio got flooded last week, they all seem like cool and very relaxed guys and I think the game will be pretty good. [LINK]