OPINION – EVERY DAY we will update this article with TWO games a day, which is about the countdown of the TOP 10 games of 2015! Was 2016 a great year? Which were the best games in this year? Which deserves to be in the TOP 10? Here’s OUR opinion! Yours’s differs? Tell us about in the comments!

 

Gaming-wise this year was pretty strong with excellent titles, still, perhaps there were few surprise hits. By the end of the year the stronger PS4 – first codenamed PS4 Neo, than surprisingly called like our website, PS4 Pro – stirred up a bit the whole PS4 gaming scenes and so did the PlayStation VR. We are not sure yet, but PS4 Pro seems to be a bigger success, then the Virtual Reality device from Sony. Anyway, here’s our top list of 2016 which will we updated by two games a day…

10. Far Cry Primal (Ubisoft, Ubisoft Montreal)

After gunning down so many enemies in modern commando/military titles of the Far Cry „Survivor” series, we could finally test our bows and spears on our enemies. We are placed in a „primal” world when prehistoric men and woman walked the Earth, they eat paleo for dinner, and tried not to become the dinner of tigers. Don’t worry, this title being a bona fide Far Cry game, besides hunting mammoth and other exotic animals, you’ll have to kill a lot of humans too.

While the whole Far Cry frame is familiar, the changes are still welcome. Skill trees are pretty useful and well made this time around, with interesting special skills you can learn. You also have outposts, hunting, and a map that’s bursting at the seams with icons; guns have been replaced with homemade weaponry; the world is alive more than ever before, and the usage of creatures is the type of growth Far Cry needed.

Melee combat will strain your index finger because it boils down to mashing buttons and the survival elements could’ve been fleshed out more. Still, Far Cry Primal‘s moment-to-moment gameplay is exceptional, especially when your Sabre-tooth Tiger has just helped you take down a Woolly Mammoth, or you just rode into an enemy camp on top of your tamed but still crazy bear.

You can read our full review here.

9. Dishonored 2 (Bethesda, Arkane Studios)

Some four years ago a masked assassin: Corvo Attano sneaked onto our HD screens to steal our heart from another medieval hero: Garrett from the Thief games. The first Dishonored from the French developer team Arcane Studios had great success and the following Thief game couldn’t conquer back its stolen crown either. Back to the present time and the next episode is finally here, with both Corvo Attano, and Emily, his daughter – trained in the art of stealth and assassination – as playable characters.

Dishonored 2 is a fantastic continuation of everything the first game started. With the first title, Arkane Studios stole the crown from Thief. With the sequel, the studio has defined its style and rule. It’s a stealth-action title with some kickass abilities, and some huge, visually-interesting levels. While we hope, that the family of Emily and Corvo doesn’t have another horrible day, we still fo want another Dishonored sequel beyond this.

You can read our full review of Dishonored 2 here.

9. The Last Guardian (Sony Interactive Entertainment, SIE Japan Studio)

After over ten years of development, the epic game of Fumito Ueda is finally here. Originally planned for the still new PlayStation 3 at the time, The Last Guardian skipped a whole console generation and a half: in fact, it’s out when even the PS4 is getting old, and we already have the PS4 Pro. It’s all fine and dandy but what about the final game itself? Is it a genuine masterpiece of the fantastic beast everybody was waiting for or is it rather a sad turkey full of technical issues?

The Last Guardian is indeed a fantastic title, but I had truly mixed feeling while reviewing the game. On the one hand, it’s the state of the art of the game design. Indeed, Fumito Ueda presented us not just a game, but a real piece of art with a simple, yet moving the story and the breathtaking world with that unmistakable “Japanese soul” in it.

On the other hand, the infuriating, dated controls, the bad camera angles, and Trico’s sometimes stupid behavior takes away from the pleasure of not only contemplating but participating in this piece of art. Those conflicting feelings stayed along the whole game with me – until its very cathartic end.

You can read our full review of The Last Guardian here.

7. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided (Square, Nixxes Software, Eidos Montreal)

Deus Ex is back with Mankind Divided, and Eidos Montreal once again shows that the company still has a lot of great ideas of how games in this genre can evolve. The famed Action RPG series, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, returns with another stellar entry.

Few other titles can match the variation Deus Ex: Mankind Divided provides, and there’s some great lateral thinking involved in getting through some of the game’s navigational puzzles. The narrative doesn’t strike the chord Eidos was clearly hoping it would, but there’s still a great deal of choice in making the game your own — on top of all the actual customization options you have personally. It would have been something to see all of the story ambitions come together apparently, but even without those elements striking the right balance, Mankind Divided sets a rather high bar for stealth/action-RPGs.

You can read our full review of Deus Ex Mankind Divided here.

6. Battlefield 1 (DICE Electronic Arts)

As per one of the most lethal conflicts in human history, World War I had a tremendous impact on the twentieth century. Besides both sides suffering a horrific number of casualties, but the geopolitical upheaval it caused planted seeds of division that would resonate throughout the whole century. Since the most ruthless side of the conflict widely though as the politicians and military leaders – on both sides – who let the war escalate into a prolonged stalemate, it makes basing a video game on the conflict a hard task.

For me scoring this game was extremely difficult as I am mainly a single-player gamer and that part of the title was mediocre with no reason to do more than a single playthrough if that. In contrast, the superior multiplayer easily matches the franchise’s gold standards for team-based carnage on a grand scale. In the end, most people will likely be opening up their wallet for the latter, and so while it’s disappointing that it’s not a complete package, the pros do handily outweigh the cons.

You can read our full review of Battlefield 1 here.

-BadSector-

5. Doom (Bethesda, id Software)

Ah Doom, last time we met was on also Mars, but I could not see anything because I kept switching between a shotgun and a flashlight. Now back after nearly a decade of waiting, plus a reboot from a Call of Duty esque sequel (Thank god that mess never got made) we finally have DOOM or D44M as some call it. The game has been met with skepticism; fans worried that the game is too slow, or that it is just a glorified Halo game. However after spending nearly three days with the game, I can safely say that ID has knocked it out of the pack, and sadly Bethesda made a few marketing missteps along the way when promoting the game. In the end, DOOM was released, uncaged, and wrecked the FPS genre once again.

Is the new DOOM worth it for the PlayStation 4? Absolutely! There a couple of minor problem with the game, but nothing too substantial to lower the overall experience. It also shows that fast paced FPS games, with the lack of tutorials and story can still be made, and also be successful. Now where is that Bulletstorm 2 or Painkiller 2 people!?

-Sonny Calavera-

You can read the full review here.

4. Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (Activision, Infinity Ward)

Activision and Infinity Ward were crystal clear in their attention, when they announced the next episode: Infinite Warfare: while Electronic Arts looked back in history with Battlefield 1, they continued the war in the future. While multiplayer usually dominates the series player base attention, I’d like to advise players to give a chance to what I believe to be the best and most exciting, fully realized campaign mode of the entire franchise.

Thinking of, we should be somewhat thankful for Call of Duty: Ghosts, which was a creative disaster. It helped Activision to make a step back and give its studios more time to work on games. And it also forced Infinity Ward to take risks.

Call of Duty Infinite Warfare is another first-person shooter in this stuffed market but what it offers is one of the most unique experiences of this genre in 2016 which includes exceptional gameplay, a fantastic story and also decent multiplayer. It’s definitely my favorite Call of Duty to date and Infinity Ward hasn’t pulled any punches when it came to the creation of this game.

You can read the full review here.

3. Final Fantasy XV (Square Enix, Square Enix)

After 90 hours of playtime, I can vouch, that I spent some excellent time with this JRPG developed over so many years. Although it was not a perfect game, for the fans of the series and it is highly recommended.

There are some flaws in this fantasy which probably isn’t the “final” either, but it’s still the best FF game since a long time, and it pulled the series from the abyss where it lied. Yes, it might be a bit harsh, but I think, that the series were in decline since part XIII. Still, after this long development of Final Fantasy XV developers can get a well-deserved rest, thanks to their tremendous amount of meticulous work.

-Parzifal-

You can read the full review of the game here.

2. Ratchet & Clank (Sony Interactive Entertainment, Insomniac Games)

“Sony has decided to remake the first Ratchet and Clank. The game is more of a reboot than a remake, however, and unlike so many remasters, this reboot is something much more than a mere HD touch up. Instead, Insomniac Games decided to mold some of the best features of the franchise into this reboot. With Ratchet and Clank back in action, we have to ask is this worth diving into to the adventures of this duo?

Ratchet and Clank is a stellar game, and even as a reboot/tie in the movie it is one of the best experiences you will have in 2016. It is a game for all ages, from little kids to old fans. This game is a must have, let us hope both the game and the movie is successful so that we can get great sequels down the line.”

-Dante-

You can read the full review of the game here.

1. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (Sony Interactive Entertainment, Naughty Dog)

In my 25 years of playing and reviewing games I have rarely been so impressed with a video game, then Naughty Dog’s fourth Uncharted adventure. An epic story about two brothers and their last treasure hunting expedition, hair-raising action sequences and gunplay which would put Hollywood movies to shame and truly breathtaking graphics with gorgeous environments and characters so lifelike, that I swear, you’ll forget that you are looking at a game and not a real movie.

To put it simply: what Naughty Dog achieved here: is pure Hollywood cinematography in a video game. In today’s video gaming world, when every other company is lost in its very own open world, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End shows that superior story-telling and perfectly designed, more linear environments and gameplay is still the king – if it’s made by a truly professional company, that is.

Naughty Dog’s goodbye to the Uncharted saga is its crown achievement, and we can only hope that they won’t retire as Nathan Drake did, and they are already working on their next game.

You can read the full review of the game here.

-BadSector-