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.
Tag: PC
I’m not going to lie to you: I gave up watching the TV show Heroes at the end of the second season, and haven’t bothered with the new Heroes Reborn. But after seeing a demo of the upcoming game Gemini Heroes Reborn (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC), and talking to Phosphor Game’s Steve Bowler, the game’s Lead Designer, I may have to…okay, I’m still not going to watch the show. But I’ll probably play this game when it comes out digitally on January 12.
As a fan of ’80s action flicks who saw actually some of them in theaters, I’ve always appreciated what Avalanche Studios have tried to do in their over-the-top, action-packed Just Cause games, even when I haven’t liked them. But while it has some new wrinkles and some old problems, Just Cause 3 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC) still manages to be as much fun as a flick from when Schwarzenegger, Mel Gibson, and Bruce Willis weren’t too old for this shit.
Funko have announced that they will release a series of Fallout 4 POP! toys this February.
In a year that’s already seen such great open world games as Batman: Arkham Knight, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, and The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, the idea of wandering around another vast landscape might seem like a bit much. But Fallout 4 (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC) is such an engaging, addictive, sprawling adventure that it not only trumps them all, it’s easily one of the best games of the year.
When it comes to racing games, there are three elements you have to get right: the controls, the courses, and the competition. But while the new Need For Speed (PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC) nails the first two, it fails at the third, which ruins the game and makes this one of the year’s bigger disappointments.
Since its release in 2012, FarSight Studio’s Pinball Arcade (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Vita, Xbox One, Xbox 360, iOS, Android, PC, Mac) has consistently added new recreations of classic pinball tables from the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and even the ’00s.
Here’s a critical look at the ten tables they’ve released for Season Four.
For me, Sunday evening’s TV used to be all about watching the cartoons on Fox: The Simpsons, Family Guy, and so on. But while the network may have neutered the night by adding such non-animated shows as Brooklyn 99 and Last Man On Earth to the schedule, Zen Studios are bringing “Animation Domination” back with the Ball Of Glory pack for Zen Pinball 2 and Pinball FX 2 (PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PC, Vita, iOS, Android, Amazon), which features tables inspired by Archer, Family Guy, Bob’s Burgers, and American Dad. Though after playing all four, it’s clear you’ll want to play them more than one night a week.
Given that it’s just an add-on to Disney Infinity 3.0, you might expect the arcadey racing game Toy Box Speedway (all systems) to be somewhat shallow. But it not only has more depth and options than you might expect, but thanks to its tight controls and twisty tracks, it’s a really fun Sunday drive.