The Impact Factor

TIF’s 2014 Game of the Year Awards: Day 1

Article

Abstract: In this special week of articles, I will cover my top five games of 2014. One game a day, Monday-Friday. 2014 has been an interesting year for games. I began the year with high hopes that this new batch of consoles would deliver on the promise of “next generation” games and experiences told to me during E3. What I got was a largely transitional year. Quality games were released across all platforms, but the PS4/XONE still fail to be must-have purchases at year’s end. Despite being a year marred by broken and buggy AAA releases, with even more games delayed into 2015, we received some truly great games in 2014. My top five list contains games that span console generations, span multiple platforms and genres, and many came as a surprise to me. In the end, 2014 provided a foundation for the next couple years to come and, with some learning from the lessons of the year, should make for a better future.

Honorable Mentions: Far Cry 4, Infamous: Second Son, The Wolf Among Us, Child of Light, Towerfall Ascension, The Swapper

FIVE

The Walking Dead: Season Two: Telltale Games (PS3)

(SPOILERS for TWD:S1)

I was a little late to the Telltale party: I bought The Walking Dead season 1 after all episodes had been released. What. A. Game. The Walking Dead season 1 irrefutably deserved its 2013 VGA’s Game of the Year. Telltale had simplified the adventure game formula and brought it to such a wide audience. Gone were the archaic and often rage-inducing puzzles from adventure games of yesteryear, and in their place were excellent characters and a gripping story. Telltale’s foray into Robert Kirkman’s zombie world is the best I’ve experienced: including Kirkman’s comics themselves. Lee and Clementine are some of the best new characters of last generation. The depth of each character, coupled with their expertly handled protector-protectee dynamic, made me far more emotionally invested in the two than I had ever expected. At the end of season 1 I was craving more, and oh boy did season 2 (S2) deliver. I’ll keep this blurb brief because The Walking Dead is a game that needs to be played to be understood, and the more I describe the game the more surprise I strip from this phenomenal experience.

The end of season one, even with the 400 Days DLC, left the sequel’s story very much in limbo. When it was announced that Clementine would be the protagonist, I couldn’t have been happier. The dynamic of being a child, albeit one as battle-hardened as she, lent itself to interesting new narrative freedom. What would it be like to NOT be in charge? Would people respect your opinions, and if so, why?

Clementine has a lot to deal with this time around.

S2 is a darker, bleaker game than its predecessor. And, to avoid spoilers, let me just say: it works. Clementine was thrust out of her protective sphere and into the hell-on-earth that is the post-apocalyptic U.S. South. Where S2 really succeeds is in putting you in Clem’s shoes. Your choices matter, significantly so, and the game does a clever way of demonstrating Clem’s importance to the game world, while at the same time balancing being a kid. The choices often perfectly reflected how I would react in the situations, and it felt good to shape Clem into the badass I wanted her to be. Without going into S2 spoilers, Clem’s journey it one of maturation: learning who she is without Lee, what she needs to do to survive, how to protect those she cares about, and, ultimately, be an authority who is respected by others (including those stubborn ass “adults” she so often finds herself surrounded by). The heart-wrenching finale is not one I am soon to forget and leaves me even more baffled (and excited) about the upcoming season.

The game is not without it’s faults: the story is more muted/slow than S1, and many of your companions are even more insufferable than the first time around. Telltale’s engine still worked like crap on the PS3. These faults hardly detract from the final product and the experience you have playing it, though. Reading other game of the year lists, I barely saw S2 mentioned (i.e. not at all). I suspect this comes from S2 not surprising in the same way S1 did: it was, for the most part, a known entity. Everything S1 did, S2 did just as well. And since S1 was such an exceptional game, one of the best from the previous generation, I’m more than happy to slot this in as my number five. If you haven’t played either S1 or S2, go and correct that. Now. Preferably on PS4 where the games run better.

----------------------------
See you back here tomorrow for my number four game of the year!