Year in Review 2014: Games I Missed

Compared to previous years, the video game industry seemed much more concerned with the future than the present in 2014.  There were a lot of games released over the course of the past twelve months, but not to the extent of being overwhelming like past years.  2014 was suppose to be the coming out party for the next generation of consoles.  With an onslaught of delays, re-releases, unfulfilled hype and buggy launches, 2014 felt more like a transitional year for developers to ramp up production for their true next gen titles.

Although there were less games released in 2014, no one person can play through them all.  There were quite a few games that I personally wanted to make time for, but never got around to with my constantly busy schedule.  Hopefully, a new year will bring plenty of chances to play these missed titles.

The Wolf Among Us
Some may debate the position of The Wolf Among Us on this list due to the first episode releasing late 2013.  Considering the majority of the game released during this past calendar year, I believe it is safe to say The Wolf Among Us is a 2014 release.  Ever since I saw the preview for it in an issue of Game Informer, The Wolf Among Us has ranked high among the games I want to play especially after experiencing Telltale's exceptional work on The Walking Dead.  I almost got the chance to put some time into Wolf Among Us when I purchased the game during the Steam Summer Sale and installed it on my Mac.  Funny enough, the fall semester of university came, I got a brand new laptop and completely forgot about The Wolf Among Us.  It has been in the back of my mind for months now, but I never made the time.  A lot of good things have been said about the game's take on the Fables universe and highly interactive action scenes that I look forward to making time for The Wolf Among Us in the near future.

Child of Light and Valiant Hearts: The Great War
2014 hasn't been the best year for Ubisoft.  Most of their major titles, including Assassin's Creed Unity, The Crew and Watch Dogs, suffered from being over hyped, extremely buggy and rushed to market.  While these titles hurt the French publisher, there were two downloadable games that brought some much needed good faith Ubisoft's way.  I'm speaking of Child of Light and Valiant Hearts.  As the first two games to use the incredible UbiArt engine outside of the recent Rayman titles, they both show how flexible the engine is in crafting games of different genres.  While the presentation of each game is second-to-none, both feature compelling and creative gameplay to complement the beautiful art.  Due to their unique premises and gameplay, both games are deserving of being on anyone's must play lists.

Destiny
Everybody seems to have an opinion about Bungie's newest title, except me.  While I have seen tons of coverage for the game and watched my brothers play it multiple times, I never had the motivation to sit down and play Destiny since the beta.  Considering Destiny is such a massive game that one can lose hours in, it doesn't work well with my extremely hectic schedule during the school year.  It is no fault of the game; I just prefer playing in smaller chucks during the term.  Despite the polarizing opinions people have on Destiny, I really want to play the game for myself to form my own opinion instead of being swayed by the masses.  While I am a little afraid of being outclassed by those playing since launch, it will be exciting to see how Destiny has changed since the beta.

Top 10 Games of E3 2014 Part 2

Welcome to the second part of Silver Bit's Top 10 Games of E3 2014.  In the previous article, we took a look at the games that just barely made this final five.  E3 2014 saw some great games grace the show floor, but only a handful can walk away as the most impressive games of the show.  While all the games on this list are among the best of E3, the games in this top five could easily walk away with top honours depending on one's opinion.  To reiterate,  the only games eligible for this list are those available to play on the show floor.  Now with that reminder out of the way, it is time to count down the final five games in Silver Bit's Top 10 Games of E3 2014.  Hope you enjoy and feel free to share your favourite games of E3 2014 in the comments.

5.  Sunset Overdrive - XBONE
There are only a select few Xbox One exclusives that really get one hopeful for first-party content on the machine and Insomniac Games' Sunset Overdrive is champion over them all.  All of Microsoft's offerings nowadays seem to fall under the same experiences they delivered last generation, but Sunset Overdrive is the shining example of what happens when you give a team of creative minds full control over their vision.  Sunset Overdrive is pure unadulterated fun wrapped into an open-world third-person action game.  Stuck in Sunset City during the Awesompocolypse, the player is tasked with cleaning up the mess made by the launch of FizzCo's Overcharge Delirium XT, an energy drink that turns anyone who drinks into mindless mutated creatures known as the OD'd.  Sunset Overdrive gives players tons of options to tackle their task through fully customizable characters, a slew of creatively designed weapons and plenty of solo and multiplayer missions to complete throughout Sunset City.  Traversing Sunset City is incredibly fluid as players are able to wall run, grind rails and wires, instantly switch between grinding and zip-lining, bounce off of any surface and use other crazy acrobatics.  Although Microsoft will not push Sunset Overdrive as heavily as Halo or Forza, it is a game that Xbox One owners should not overlook this holiday season.

4.  Valiant Hearts: The Great War - PS3, PS4, XBONE, XB360, PC
The UbiArt engine has proven time and time again that the most beautiful games do not need to have the largest polygon count.  In fact, the art in 2D games can be just as beautiful or even more than their 3D counterparts; just look at Rayman Legends and Child of Light for proof.  Valiant Hearts: The Great War is the next title to use the UbiArt engine and the game looks spectacular in terms of its visuals and gameplay.  Valiant Hearts follows the story of four individuals as they try to survive the horrors of World War I.  Starting in different locations and allegiances, the stories of each character interconnect with one another through a common companion--a dog named Walt.  Throughout the game, the characters are thrust into various situations from sneaking behind enemy lines to blowing up bridges.  Valiant Hearts offers players plenty of puzzles to complete through interacting with the environment and other characters or sending Walt to reach areas the characters cannot normally reach.  The interplay between using the characters and Walt to solve puzzles and the mature tones of the story have me very excited to venture into the world of Valiant Hearts in the near future.

3.  Batman: Arkham Knight - PS4, XBONE, PC
In recent years, The Dark Knight has become an incredible force within the video game industry thanks to the folks at Rocksteady.  One can argue that the Batman: Arkham games are single-handedly the greatest licensed games to grace the market.  As the final entry in this acclaimed series, Rocksteady looks to pull no punches with Arkham Knight as Batman and his world are being supercharged with new abilities and content.  The moment from the E3 demo where Batman steps out onto the balcony of his hideout and peers out onto Rockstady's Gotham City will make anybody's jaw drop.  The expansiveness of this open world is breathtaking and I can see myself drowning hundreds of hours exploring every nook and cranny of Gotham City.  With how vast Gotham City will be in Arkham Knight, Batman needs another way to traverse the city than just his trusty grappling hook and cape.  For this final installment, the Batmobile has been added to The Dark Knight's arsenal.  Aside from the vehicles primary purpose, Batman can summon the Batmobile at will, use it to immobilize enemies, have it clear obstacles and launch himself into the air.  The Batmobile is not the only addition as Batman's combat and stealth abilities are receiving considerable upgrades in speed and precision.  Although Batman: Arkham Knight will no longer be gracing consoles this year, the game looks to be on the road to surpassing its predecessors' legendary quality.

2.  Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS - Wii U, 3DS
Arguably the most anticipated game of 2014, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS had one of the best showings of the show.  Nintendo went out of their way to make Super Smash Bros. the most important game of the show.  They gave fans three character reveals in Mii Fighters, Palutena and Pac Man, an incredible live tourney held in the Nokia Theatre and multiple kiosks to play on the show floor.  Seeing the two versions in motion is a thing of beauty.  The Wii U version flows at an incredible clip and all the new characters, stages and items look to fit in with the polished gameplay.  While the 3DS version may take some time to get use to the controllers as I have heard from many video impressions on the game, it looks just as polished and refined as its Wii U brethren.  Much like Far Cry 4 in part one, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are both hard to sum up in words.  I highly recommend watching the Super Smash Bros. Invitational or one of the live demos from Nintendo Treehouse Live at E3 to see how great these games play.

1.  The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - PS4, XBONE, PC

As great as Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS may be, there is one game greater than it this year.  That game is The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.  Not much has been shown of Witcher 3 since its reveal back in early 2013, but CD Projekt RED let the floodgates loose at E3.  The Witcher 3 gives players a living, breathing open world to explore.  In fact, the map is 30 times larger than the previous Witcher games.  Plus the amount of freedom in The Witcher 3 is incredible as players can venture to any part of the map at any time and pick up and put down story and side quests whenever they choose.  On your way to a quest objective and feel like helping a traveler in distress along the way or starting up a whole other quest, you are free to do that without penalty.  The world is shaped around the player's choices in combat, regular conversation and pivotal story moments.  Every piece of media for The Witcher 3 from E3 has been nothing short of phenomenal from the blood-pumping pre-E3 trailer to the show floor demos.  While The Witcher 3 may not earn the same amount of money Elder Scrolls, Dragon Age or Mass Effect rake in, this game and its ambitious scope prove why anybody should spend close to 600 dollars on a next generation console.  The next generation of video gaming truly begins on February 24th, 2015 with the release of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.

E3 2014: Ubisoft Press Conference Impressions

Ubisoft has never been overly consistent when they came to their press conferences.  Ubisoft tries to capture such a broad audience with their conferences that they are either very good or very bad.  Leading into this year's show, Ubisoft just launched their newest IP Watch Dogs to record setting sales.  Hopefully, the French publisher can use that momentum to put together an impressive E3 conference.

Like has been the case for three years now, Ubisoft knows how to end a press conference.  The gameplay footage and subsequent announcement of Rainbow Six: Siege was the highlight of Ubisoft's conference.  Seeing the game in action and all the players working together in unison was a sight to behold.  Personally, this writer is still a little sad that the greatness of the single-player focused Rainbow Six: Patriots is no more, but Siege looks fun nonetheless.  Aside from Aisha Tyler's flat jokes, nothing at the Ubisoft conference was absolutely horrible.  Even the more casual titles like Just Dance 2015 and Shape Up were at least entertaining to watch.  While entertaining to watch, the conference felt too safe.  Ubisoft is usually one of the few large publishers to try and push the envelope, but everything they showed off at their conference except the new Rainbow Six and Shape Up was already announced or just another entry in a yearly franchise.  The content of the conference was interesting yet this writer left the conference feeling underwhelmed.  Far Cry 4 started off the show in style as Ubisoft showed off the first five minutes which highlighted the craziness of the new villain.  The middle of the show lagged as Ubisoft showed more trailers than actual gameplay.  The Assassin's Creed Unity demo was interesting as the traversal system looks to be more fluid than other games in the series despite that many are getting fatigued over Assassin's Creed yearly release schedule.  The only other noteworthy game at Ubisoft's conference was Valiant Hearts, an adventure game where you play a dog as he interacts with four heroes during the events of World War I.  The trailer showed off the beautiful hand drawn graphics along with the incredibly touching story of the game.  With the great use of video and audio, Valiant Hearts' trailer can easily get the waterworks going.  Out of all the games Ubisoft showcased at their conference, Valiant Hearts, no matter its small scale, was the game that got this writer the most excited.

Ubisoft's 2014 Press Conference was a middling effort from the French publisher.  Much like the other conferences we have seen today, their press conference left this writer wanting more and not in a good way.  Giving us updates on titles already announced and announcing new entries in yearly franchise is not enough to get people excited anymore.  The video game industry has moved onto a brand new console generation and everybody expects a lot more from Ubisoft  this time around to justify the purchase of new hardware to play their future releases.

Grade:  C+