Best Games Of 2015

 

While 2015 wasn’t the best year for video games, there were a bunch that I had a lot of fun playing.

Here now, in no particular order, are the best games I played in 2015.

Battlefield Hardline

Developers: Visceral Games

Publisher: Electronic Arts

Systems: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PC

Though multiplayer was more of the same, the campaign in Battlefield Hardline really grabbed me by letting you go sneaky or guns-a-blazin’. It also did a good job of mixing in some driving and boating moments, and by having a good variety of open areas.

SCORE: 8.0/10 (You can read my original review here)

 

Resident Evil Revelations 2

Developers: Capcom

Publisher: Capcom

Systems: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360

While the recent remake of the first game was so faithful that it was practically unplayable (thanks to its clumsy controls), Resident Evil Revelations 2 managed to get it right by bringing back the exploration, limited supplies, and genuine scares of the original, but with decidedly more modern and intuitive controls. Funny how that works.

SCORE: 8.0/10 (read my full review here)

 

Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious

Developers: Playground Games

Publisher: Microsoft

Systems: Xbox One, Xbox 360

What does it say about 2015’s racing games that one of the best was a free movie tie-in? Not much since this was basically a scaled-back version of Forza Horizon 2, 2014’s best racing game. Sure, it only had a handful of races and cars, and wasn’t all that Fast & Furious-esque (save for having some of those cars be ones featured in the newest movie, and by having Ludacris as your spirit guide), but it was still the second most fun I had in a car this year. As for the first…

 

Forza Motorsport 6

Developers: Turn 10 Studios

Publisher: Microsoft

Systems: Xbox One

By giving it Forza Horizon 2‘s fantastic arcade controls, a ton of options, and rainy days, Turn 10 Studios made Forza Motorsport 6 into the best game in this series. Well, so far. As for why I liked it more than Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious, well, that’s largely due to F.M.6 having a linear structure and not an open world you have to drive around in to get to the next town holding races.

SCORE: 9.0/10 (read my full review here)

 

Project Root

Developers: OPQAM

Publisher: Reverb

Systems: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Vita, PC

While this old school, top-down, arcadey sci-fi shooter had a lot of problems — a lot of dumb, easily avoided problems — it still hooked me with its tight controls, variety, and seemingly endless enemies with whom to share my unlimited supply of bullets and bombs.

SCORE: 8.0/10 (read my full review here)

 

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Developers: MachineGames

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Systems: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

Wolfenstein: The New Order was one of my favorite games of last year, so it makes sense that this stand-alone prequel — which uses the same great controls and so on — would be rock solid as well. Not as solid as that game, sadly, but once you get past the stealth section where you keep losing your gun, it’s an invigorating World War III shooter.

SCORE: 8.0/10 (read my full review here)

 

Batman: Arkham Knight

Developers: Rocksteady Games

Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive

Systems: Xbox One, PlayStation 4

Like Arkham City on steroids, growth hormones, and whatever else makes you grow up big and strong, Arkham Knight is a deep, massive, and thoroughly engrossing game (well, on console, anyway). Even some its flaws — like how you spend so much time driving the Batmobile — are more a matter of being too much of a good thing than a misfire or a mistake. But all is forgiven when you confront a group of a bad guys and start doing beating them down like Bruce Lee if he was a speed freak.

 

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Developers: CD Projekt RED

Publisher: Warner Brothers Interactive

Systems: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

Adventure games, especially open world ones, have a great capacity to suck you in…or to be so complicated that they become more frustrating than fun. And while the latter is where I thought this was going at first, it definitely grabbed me after a while, especially when I realized what a fully-realized world I was exploring. It also has great combat, compelling writing, and side quests that, for once, feel like something the character would actually do.

 

Metal Gear Solid V The Phantom Pain

Developers: Kojima Productions

Publisher: Konami

Systems: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC

While I normally don’t like open word games as much as linear ones, I have to say the one in this game really made it fun by giving you many more options when it comes to sneaking up on people. Add to that solid controls, smart enemies, and tons of ways to use those solid controls to take out those smart enemies, and you have a game that combined the best elements of The Witcher III: Wild Hunt and the Metal Gear Solid series.

SCORE: 9.0/10 (read my full review here)

 

Halo 5: Guardians

Developers: 343 Industries

Publisher: Microsoft

Systems: Xbox One

Between adding iron sights (finally), bigger and more open battlefields, and an epic story that could change everything, again, this sci-fi first-person shooter is firing on all-cylinders. Granted, when all is said and done, Halo 5 is really just another good Halo game. But that’s okay, I like the Halo games.

SCORE: 8.5/10 (read my full review here)

 

Star Wars Rebels, Avengers: Age Of Ultron, Ant-Man, Iron & Steel Pack, and the Balls Of Glory Pack for Pinball FX 2 and Zen Pinball 2

Developers: Zen Studios

Publisher: Zen Studios

Systems: Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, iOS, Android, Amazon

Zen Studios continue to make some really fun pinball tables; most notably Ant-Man and the Family Guy one from the Balls Of Glory pack. But this year they also, for the first time in too long, made an original ones as well: the Wild West Rampage table from the Iron & Steel Pack. Regardless of which route they take, though (and I suspect they’ll continue down both), they continue to make some of the more inventive and engaging games around.

SCORES:

Iron & Steel Pack: 8.5/10 (read my full review here)

Star Wars Rebels: 8.0/10 (read my full review here)

Avengers: Age Of Ultron: 8.0/10 (read my full review here)

Ant-Man: 8.5/10 (read my full review here.)

Balls Of Glory: 8.0/10 (read my full review here)

 

Rise Of The Tomb Raider

Developers: Crystal Dynamics

Publisher: Microsoft

Systems: Xbox One, Xbox 360

While I still lament that this game, like its predecessor, doesn’t have Lara doing all the cool acrobatics she used to do, since that’s what set made this series unique, this game’s great action, epic story, and solid controls make it easily one of the best games of the year.

SCORE: 9.5/10 (read my full review here)

 

Fallout 4

Developers: Bethesda Game Studios

Publisher: Bethesda Softworks

Systems: Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC

Much like Rise Of The Tomb Raider, the new Fallout succeeds as a sequel by not altering the formula of its impressive predecessor, but by refining them. The result is a great open world adventure in a year already full of them.

SCORE: 9.5/10 (read my full review here)

 

So, what were your favorite games of 2015. Let me know in the comments below.