There were some good, some bad and some truly awful games released in 2014 (we're looking at you, The Not-so-Amazing Spiderman 2), but we're taking a look at the best of the best in JOE's humble opinion.
Seriously, avoid The Amazing Spider-Man 2 like it's a radioactive spider that will bite you without giving you any superhuman abilities. Actually, that's what the game felt like.
Anyway, without further ado, here's a look at JOE's Top 5 Video Games from 2014...
Valiant Hearts
We loved it. We weren’t expecting anything massive from the short side-scrolling puzzle game set around the events of World War One, but it delivered massively. Okay, so the graphics weren’t exactly next-gen standard and there wasn’t much actual dialogue between the main characters, but story itself made our eyes sweat like never before. Sweat, not cry.
Valiant Hearts proved to us that you don’t need to be a big AAA rated title to be one of the best games of the year and that a cartoon dog can tug at our heartstrings like we could previously only imagine (apart from Seymour in Futurama, obviously). If you haven’t already, we highly recommend that you buy it online...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MP8q5F6dFqQ
Far Cry 4
Do you like the idea of hang gliding your way around treacherous jungles filled with blood thirsty tigers and bears? How about fleeing the enemy on a nifty little motorised paraglider? If that still hasn’t peaked your interest, we’ve got one more temptation up our sleeves… honey badgers.
That’s right, the world’s most notorious badass (no, not Conor McGregor), aka The Honey Badger, features in Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4, as does a whole host of wild beasts that are thirsty for your blood. There really is something for everyone in the latest edition to the Far Cry franchise from the silent assassin to the gun-toting macho man and the game comes equipped with a compelling storyline and stunning graphics. Would we go as far as saying it’s the Game of the Year for JOE? It’s certainly the top contender.
South Park: The Stick of Truth
We waited and waited and waited some more, but like a good wine (not that we’d know the difference when it comes to vintage wine) South Park The Stick of Truth truly was worth the wait.
It was basically a extended episode from the show featuring all the same humour that we know and love. Even the ‘deleted scenes’, which featured an abortion and a rectal examination, were replaced with title holders that poked fun at the game’s censorship in typical South Park fashion. We’ve finished the game a number of times at this stage and just like the show’s re-runs on Comedy Central, South Park The Stick of Truth never gets old.
http://youtu.be/iE9XEIY4aRk
Wolfenstein: The New Order
The latest outing in the Wolfenstein franchise was always going to rank high on our top games of 2014. Why? Well who doesn’t love killing Nazi monsters in a alternative history where the Germans won the war and the world’s major cities have fallen into the hands of Hitler and co. No one, that’s who!
Again, graphic and an absolutely massive and incredibly deep storyline helped edge this game into our top five. Did we mention we just love killing Nazi monsters? ‘Cause we do…
Sunset Overdrive
Do you like mayhem? Do you like blowing stuff up while being surrounded by mayhem? Do you like dressing up in all manner of wacky clothing and blowing stuff up while being surrounded by, you guessed it, mayhem? If so, you’ll love Sunset Overdrive just as much as JOE did.
From the game’s Tony Hawk Pro Skater-style grinding abilities to the massive array of weaponry and clothing that makes you stand out from the crowd, Insomniac’s Sunset Overdrive really did leave an orange soda stained mark on us in 2014. We’ll never forget the time we spent running all those errands. Fizzy was also a formidable foe and we just hope to see more from the dystopian Sunset City in the future… We shall wait and see (and hope with our fingers firmly crossed).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmRR6MnS6dc
