2016 Year Review - Part 2

8 January 2017

Moving into September and Rocket League found new form with its latest free DLC, Rumble mode. Announced at the professional Rocket League Championship Series this year, this mode adds randomized weapons to matches, causing utter chaos. This sucked me right back into the game which continues to be a staggering success.

Then, following the release of the Xbox One S in August, the new PS4 launched on the 15th September (not called the slim as so many people refer to it) after it's announcement at the "PlayStation Meeting" only a week before. Either new console being the ideal purchase for anyone not with a current-gen console, just before the packed Autumn.

Speaking of which, the first game of the 'fall' period was Forza Horizon 3. If I had an Xbox I would buy this in a heartbeat. Its fast, open world arcade racing at it's finest. Like The Crew combined with Need for Speed, with a little DiRT 3 thrown in for good measure. It spans a huge range of cars set in a wild, diverse Australian outback. This is a benchmark for other open world racing games to follow.

October saw the release of triple-A big guns: Mafia III, Gears of War 4, Battlefield 1 and Titanfall 2. I played the Battlefield 1 Open Beta and loved the throwback to World War 1. Horses, tanks, bi-planes, and a game-ending armoured train all on one map was a brilliant taste of the full game. It was a much needed change of scene for military first person shooters. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (available in the first week of November) of course did the complete opposite, and could not be more futuristic.

EA took a very bold move with Titanfall 2 - having it launch in between Battlefield 1 and Infinite Warfare. Their intention was to capture both traditional military shooter fans with Battlefield, and fast-paced sci-fi shooter fans with Titanfall. They had two games that should cover the interests of the first person shooter market. And with the dire reaction to the Infinite Warfare trailer in May, this ambitious plan to de-throne Call of Duty could actually work...

However, disappointingly, the sales of Titanfall 2 suggest it did not come to fruition. The juggernaut that is Call of Duty continues to dominate sales charts no matter how bad initial reactions to the game are. Although the fact that Modern Warfare Remastered was included in the Legacy Edition of Infinite Warfare may well have helped.

On 13th October, Sony released it's virtual reality headset, PlayStation VR. Costing the same amount as a console at £349 seems high, plus the need to buy the PlayStation Camera at around £40. But compared with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive at £549 and £689 respectively (which also require a high spec PC) this could be considered a bargain. PSVR has yet to launch a real triple-A title, but the likes of: Batman: Arkham VR, Driveclub VR, Eve: Valkyrie, and RIGS Mechanized Combat League, means there's a good variety of great games to play.

October also saw the long-awaited Rise of the Tomb Raider launch on PS4 after it's timed console exclusivity ended with Xbox. And it was a special 20 year anniversary edition of the game too, with all DLC included. As many people said last year, this is an outstanding game, certainly rivalling Uncharted 4. The graphics are stunning both in gameplay and cutscenes (see my capture gallery here), and the mechanics are easy to pick up and play. The wide open spaces of the story are filled with fun side missions and challenges, with some areas locked until you return with better gear or skills.

The key difference with Uncharted is the cast. Developer Crystal Dynamics have done another exceptional job with Lara's look, and she's portrayed superbly again by Camilla Luddington (she deserves more fame), but the rest of the characters just aren't memorable. Compare that with Elena, Sully, Sam, Chloe etc. of the Uncharted series.

Along with Call of Duty, November featured the launch of big titles: Dishonored 2, Watch Dogs 2, Pokémon Sun & Moon, and Final Fantasy XV. Pokémon Sun & Moon stormed up the sales charts, most likely due to the success of Pokémon Go. And given the huge triple-A games that launched in October, this had a severe impact on Dishonored 2 and Watch Dogs 2 sales. The former being an outstanding stealth action sequel, and the latter certainly improving on the infamous original. Ubisoft handled the launch of Watch Dogs 2 with much greater care. They announced the game in the summer for a fall release the same year. The Fallout 4 model. However it wasn't all smooth sailing as there were plenty of multiplayer connectivity issues at launch. I'll jump into this game in the new year when hopefully these bugs have been ironed out.

Another game on Steam grabbed my attention this month in Planet Coaster. A fully-fledged modernized theme park builder drawing inspiration from the original Rollercoaster Tycoon games. Frontier Developments put together a stella trailer for the game at launch.

Last but not least was December, and a few more big titles released. Steep, the always online open world winter sports game from Ubisoft, launched without any delays. A real feat after this surprised everyone as their last game unveiled at E3. I was excited for it however after playing the beta, I wanted tighter, more precise controls for stunts. The navigation screen was also incredibly laggy, but granted this was the beta so could have improved in the final product.

Then on 6th December, a game nearly 10 years in the making released, The Last Guardian. It's a funny coincidence that both this and Final Fantasy XV launched just a week apart given their extreme development cycles. Remarkably though, The Last Guardian did better than critics expected. A wonderful, emotional story between a boy and a strange beast, set in a beautiful Team Ico world. The only drastic downside is the camera which gets caught or blocks the view too many times.

Nintendo had one final hurrah in 2016 with Super Mario Run. Their first game built from the ground up for mobiles and tablets. It's quite incredible how fun this 2D platformer can be with literally one control - a screen tap. Collecting all the pink, purple and black coins on each of its 24 levels is a real challenge. One very sly aspect though is the price point. The app costs £7.99 but is free for the first 3 levels, meaning it tops the App Store chart, and Nintento can gloat about the download numbers. I'd be very intrigued to see how it compares on the paid app charts.

Finally in December, Overwatch released another seasonal event called Winter Wonderland. Adding more free content after the success of its Halloween seasonal event. And The Walking Dead: A New Frontier (effectively season 3) launched just before Christmas starring a brand new lead character, with Clementine much older. Reviews for the first two episodes have been very praising so far.

That in a nutshell was 2016. A great year with so many big titles released. Uncharted 4 and Overwatch are unquestionably my top two games of the year, with Rise of the Tomb Raider a very close third (although that's technically a 2015 game). The future is looking increasingly bright for Sony fans after PSX this year. Uncharted: The Lost Legacy looks to be fantastic standalone story DLC, Crash returns with Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, and of course The Last of Us Part II was revealed with this goosebumps trailer.

We only have to wait until March for Sony's new blockbuster Horizon Zero Dawn, and can Nintendo claw its way back into the console market with the Switch? I can't wait for what 2017 has in store.