So far, 2014 has felt like a year of surprises. Some of them have been good, while others — like the growing crop of games that have been pushed to next year — are bummers. But there have been standouts among the games that have come out. Let’s talk about them, shall we?
This has been the year where the PS4 and Xbox One’s battle for new-system dominance has gone into full swing, while Nintendo’s been redoubling efforts to get people interested in the Wii U. Titles like Infamous: Second Son, Titanfall and Mario Kart 8 games from the major players have been showcases for the strengths of their respective consoles. They looked great, kept us awake way past our bedtimes and started friendships/arguments with others who were playing. That was expected though.
What’s been more exciting has been games like Shovel Knight or Super Time Force, perfectly tuned throwback action platformers with clever twists on existing formulas. Or the fact that Wolfenstein: The New Order managed to deliver well-sketched characters and heartfelt sequences. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes may be short but its freedom represents a radical depart from what Hideo Kojima’s done before, a possible signpost to the future of his signature franchise. And then there’s been releases like Valiant Hearts, OlliOlli or the first chunk of Broken Age, full of their own specific charms.
So, tell us the games you’ve loved most so far in 2014. The ones that paid off on your high hopes and that pleasantly surprised you. I’ll start things off with some nominations of my own below but you guys can begin your own discussions too. There isn’t any formal prize to be had, but we’ll probably all get a sense of what games have kept people happy so far in this calendar year.
Comments
41 responses to “The Best Games Of 2014 So Far”
Dark Souls 2, Wolfenstein + Mario Kart 8
Yeah Wolfenstein New World Order was great. Child of Light. I am liking Valiant Hearts a lot, but the game that I’ve been playing obsessively has been Hearthstone. Damn you Blizzard, another great addictive game…
Whenever this question pops up I always have to consult a online list of what exactly has released in the given period. So many ‘memorable’ titles!
Plants vs zombies garden warfare, I orig got as a filler for Titanfall and still play it currently, free map packs old school fun to play mechanics this so far is my fav game of 2014
Having not played it at all, I’m guessing it will be Mario Kart.
The other new-generation consoles haven’t quite matured to the point yet where they’ve had a truly polished AAA masterpiece to themselves yet.
Plenty of good to very good games, including Titanfall and Watch_Dogs, but nothing that has really struck me the way a game like Bioshock of Mass Effect did a year and a bit into the life of the last gen consoles.
I’ve got high hopes for Dragon Age and Destiny for the remainder of the year though. They both look great, come from good studios and neither of them have been rushed out to fill that launch/ quiet period after a new generation starts.
I wouldnt call this generation of mario kart a master piece, not much has changed. I’d say sonic transformed racing is a more developed kart racer than mario kart nowdays, which is kinda funny (obviously it doesnt have the nostelgia factor though).
Heh, yeah I did inadvertently imply that the new Mario Kart was a “masterpiece” there….
I was more saying that in the absence of a masterpiece, a very good but fairly formulaic Nintendo title is probably the game of the year so far.
It does look like a lot of fun though!
I’m only partway through it currently but I’ve got to throw a vote in for Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze. It’s fantastic.
finished this over the weekend.
brilliant game.
the final boss was a bit of a pain though.
there were a couple occasions where i said to my self – this is the most well designed platformer level ever, only to have that exact same though again and again.
Loved Tomb Raider second time around, Titanfall was awesome but got boring quite quick, thoroughly enjoyed Watch Dogs but the online was laggy as F.
Sniper elite 3 for sure Tfall was good so was infamous but SE3 is so fun, it’s like sniper elite V2 meets metal gear solid: ground zeroes
Is it worth buying? was going to get it this week but then read some of the reviews online. I thought V2 was awesome, not really into the Afrika setting.
If you liked 2 you’ll love this one, It’s bit short like 2 but has lots of replay value I just spent the last three days going back through all the missions getting all the collectibles, cause of the open world missions keeps you trying different ways to tackle each mission I would give it a solid 8.5
Ok sweet cheers will prob get it now.
Doesn’t trust reviews but trusts random dude on the internet!
No offense, just found this exchange fun!
haha touche
so went to buy it from the US store, $49 I thought sweet cheap, then when I went to pay I get an error I cannot pay that way? it has worked for every game since Titanfall? anyone else had this using the US store?
EDIT: Nevermind, my currency conversion was a bit off, insufficient funds.
Wolfenstein, Mario Kart 8, Child of Light.
An honourable mention goes to Reaper of Souls for making Diablo3 fun again too.
Tf2.
A masterpiece really. Sounds silly to describe a cartoony FPS as a masterpiece, but that’s the only word I can use to describe it (and CS GO and DOTA 2)
bravely default
Wasn’t that December last year?
Yeah it was. Came out in merikaaaa this year though.
Didn’t Kotaku do this article a few days ago?
For me South Park and Shovel Knight
I’ve def had fun with wildstar, although I know mmo’s are not everyones bag of fun.
Titanfall I got bored of very quickly, it literally feels like cod with mechs. Had far more fun in PvZ garden warfare.
Reaper of souls was good for a bit, quickly over it though.
Yeah I dunno.
Nothing really shines out.
Guess if i’d have to pick one, it’d be wildstar though.
If bravely default is counting for this year (since thats when it came out in merikaaa), then I guess i’d vote for that instead.
infamous second son, wolfenstein and titanfall are three of my favourites so far. Watch dogs and trials where good too.
Hearthstone, MK8 and D3: Reaper of Souls for me!
Divinity: Original sin is winning it at the moment. Played about 3 hours co-op last night with my cousin. Amazing fun, co-op turn based RPG. Such a good game, one of the best kickstarted games ever imo.
I know it’s cheating but the Bioshock Infinite Burial at Sea DLC really blew me away. Episode 2 made me remember how good Irrational ( RIP 🙁 ) and Ken Levine were at tense, survivor-horror type experiences
Transistor, Mario Kart 8, Child of Light
Danganronpa : Trigger Happy Havoc
Hatsune Miku : Project DIVA f
PixelJunk Shooter Ultimate
and by tomorrow…
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition
Goat Simulator
Mario Kart 8, South Park, Wolfenstein, and Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare.
Mario Kart 8 & Infamous two Great games!
Wolfenstien was ALOT better then I was expecting but doesnt make the cut.
Sniper Elite 3 only got 4 hours on it at the moment but its good so far
ur mum
Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze I think. One of the best platformers ever.
Another vote for Tropical Freeze. Mario kart’s the only other game from this year that I’ve played, but while enjoyable it still cuts back on way too much to be able to stand up against something as phenomenally good as DK.
MK8 and PvZ
I’m quite enjoying Valiant Hearts, though the disconnect between the narrative and the tasks you are sometimes required to perform pulls me out of the world a bit too often.
Mario Kart 8 is a no-brainer. Superb.
Most of my time this year so far, however, has been devoted to cleaning up my backlog of games before committing to the new consoles. And I would have been much more successful at that had the WiiU not been so consistently amazing. 🙂
Shovel Knight and Payday 2.
This time last year, I’d have had an answer in no time. But this year has had so many games that were… underwhelming, I guess. Infamous was beautiful, but it was pretty much Infamous 2, only shinier. Wolfenstein was better than I expected, but I had low expectations. Watch_Dogs was an interesting idea wrapped in layers of other games’ mechanics. ESO was … well, “an MMO”.
So far, my game of the year is tied between Anno 2070 and Rocksmith 2014, neither of which came out this year. Divinity: Original Sin is looking like a contender, but as I’m without internet at the moment, I can’t update to the release version, and I don’t want to start getting into it until I do so.
Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare
Infamous was a highlight; Transistor is bloody excellent.
Shovel Knight!
So far, my GOTY is Transistor. I loved bastion and everything about it and Transistor followed through with exactly what I wanted. Music, Gameplay, Stpry and Style. I also had alot of fun with Broken Age, Watch Dogs (Suprisingly) and so far I have been having fun in Shovel Knight and holding back the tears in Valiant Hearts. My most played game is still DayZ though.