UNDED’s Game of the Year picks
UNDED’s Top Games of 2015
2015 was a busy year for gaming. Raven Software, who developed Marvel Ultimate Alliance,celebrated their 25th anniversary, Nintendo announced a new console codenamed NX, and Hideo Kojima finally started his own goddamn studio. Gamers have been keeping themselves busy playing all the great games that came out this year, and as such we’ve each picked our own game of the year, sometimes with friends. Don’t look at me like that, it’s only natural. You’re mama told you about this when you were young. These are my picks for Game of the Year of each genre, the last of which winning the number one spot.
FightingMortal Kombat X
I originally bought it just to show a college professor the dangers of getting hyped about a game and buying DLC before even knowing if you’d like the base game (my wallet suffered immensely), but MKX turned out to be the best fighter I played all year. Not that I’m much of a fighting game kinda guy, but I couldn’t put this down until I had put the single player through my own fatality.
First Person ShooterCall of Duty Black Ops 3
I used to be really heavy into Call of Duty during the last generation. This generation though, Call of Duty took a back seat for me. Instead I’ve been playing inappropriate amounts of Halo 5, it almost made my list, that is, until I Redboxed Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 and fell in love all over again. Say what you will, but no other first person shooter is nearly as stable and reliable is this.
RPGThe Witcher 3
The absolute most expansive game on this list, I knew as soon as I got past the first area that The Witcher3 was going to be large. Skyrimlarge. Economic disaster large. The kind of large they only use to describe your mom. Behind my review for this game there is a sad tale of loss as I had to trade it in for another game needed for review, but I will return Geralt. I will return.
Action/AdventureDying Light
Hesitant to even start this game because of how unsettling Dead Island left me, the urge to kill zombies was too strong. Not only is the combat fun and impressive to watch (hit a zombie in the head with a baseball bat and see what I mean), but the new parkour elements were fun to watch, and helpful during combat.
Racing Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious
A downloadable title that released FREE for its first week on the store, I picked this baby up expecting to hate it. Quite the contrary, F&F sucked me in like oxygen into a tweaked block, over the manifold, under a hose barb adapter, jerked off onto a crankshaft, and out the engine diaper. I think. I don’t know anything about cars. I assume that’s a thing. Don’t look at me.
Indie TitleResident Evil Revelations 2
Although it may not be considered an indie title, it was far from a triple-A release. Releasing episodically at $6 a piece for 5 episodes, minus the first episode which is free, Resident Evil Revelation 2 is a great game to have in your collection. The combat is fluid, and straddles both action and stealth. A big winning point for me is that unlike Telltale, Capcom released all the episodes, within months of each other.
Open WorldMad Max
Probably the most casual on this list, never have I felt able to jump into a triple-A title without having to know the story. Not exactly a movie licensed game, nor a stand-alone title,
Mad Max tries to cover both the movie world and its own and in the process makes for a story that you will not need to pay attention to. Log on, and use your car’s grapple hook to throw people across the wasteland. That is all.
GAME OF THE YEAR
Assassins Creed Chronicles: China
This game came out of left field for me. What I thought would be a
Ninja Scroll rip off turned out to be a pretty impressive, original title. The standard
Assassins Creed lore isn’t here much, and I like that. The game focuses solely on stealth gameplay whereas the console releases include fighting mechanics as well.
Chinastarted out simple enough, but before long I had a huge arsenal of weapons and more options than I could think of to get through levels. I was immediately swooned. I reviewed 10 games this year, each one giving me a different experience in different genres, and
Assassins Creed China rightfully beat them all out.
Well those were my games of the year. I hope you enjoyed reading them. Originally I was hoping to write about each of New Challengers Gaming crews’ games of the year, but everyone settled on Fallout 4, Stella being the only one with an original opinion and sticking to her guns on Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX. I would have loved to give Game of the Year to Fallout 4, but it’s always demanding my time, looking at me dirty me when I play other games, and all around too goddamn big to support its own weight. Just like your mom.
—
Uncle Ed
New Challenger Gaming 
