Top 10 Video Games for 2014

It has been a blur of a year.  It has been filled with a lot of great releases, and a lot of poor releases.

While the main story for gaming this year should be the amount of unfinished games that were pushed onto the market, there was still some great video games that came out of it.

We at GEEKPR0N have compiled a list of what we think were the best of the year.  With the help of Manda, Andrea, Big Mike, Dale, and myself, we present to you the Top 10 Video Games of 2014.

Honourable Mentions:

Alien: Isolation:  Alien: Isolation brought back survival horror.  It made us be afraid of things that go bump in the night again.  Horror video games had been missing an element for a while, the realization of being alone.  Isolation showed us that there is more than jump scares needed, we need a nemesis.  It hunted us from start to end, and we loved it.  It earns an honourable mention for bringing back horror.

Titanfall: Titanfall wasn’t the best or the prettiest fps’ out there, but it did have one thing going that a lot of other shooters didn’t have; a clean launch and a ton of fun.  What’s not to love about giant robots and a creative parkour system?  It is a solid game, and a solid pickup, if you’re looking for wall running and giant mech punching.  The creative co-op story mode, and all around fun game play gets Titanfall a nod in honourable mentions for the great title that it is.

#10: Five Nights at Freddy’s

Horror had some great titles this year.  Desura pulled off something that a triple A title, like Alien: Isolation could not.  It creeped us out and made us feel uncomfortable.  They pull off jump scares just how they’re meant to be, like the monster is going to jump out of the screen at you; if it misses you, it’s going to hide under your bed and wait.

We all knew Chuck E. Cheese was creepy, now you have to live it.  Who would have thought shift work would be deadly?  Five Night scares without the glamour of 3D engines, or twitch game play.  Oh, there’ll be twitching, but it’ll come at the cost of your nerves.  It’s a simple point and click adventure.  With all the fat trimmed away, we’re left with a wonderful horror survival game that everyone should play.  It combines unnerving animatronic animals, and the worst fear of all, running out of battery power.  If you’re a master at coaxing the last bit of juice out of a cell phone battery, this is the game for you.  After all the jitters and jolts are done, Five Nights at Freddy’s leaves you with a post scare glow.  It was scary, but fun all at the same time.  Being terrified has never been more fun.

#9: Mario Kart 8

Sometimes you need a game to give you a strong story and meaningful experience that will leave you thinking for days and question your place in the world. Sometimes you need Mario Kart.

I would love to go into more detail than that, but really, it’s freaking Mario Kart. There are probably many ways that this new entry could have been screwed up: poorer graphics, boring tracks, a lack of multiplayer. Thankfully, Mario Kart 8 is still full of the insanely colourful and fun races we have come to know and love as well as some new features like the anti-gravity features on the tracks, a playback feature, and the Luigi Death Stare. In the end, everyone was laughing and screaming and having a grand old time, and that’s what’s most important for any Mario Kart game. So kudos, Mario Kart 8!

#8: Shovel Knight

An eight bit platformer that isn’t just a tribute to the glory days of platforming, it’s an improvement! Shovel Knight spent this year in everybody’s reviews, speed runs and let’s plays as we all battled the Order of No Quarter to take down the evil Empress. It has a compelling story, great mechanics, fun power ups, lively music and the most loveable tiny shovel wielding protagonist ever. You’re going to see way more ports of this game in the coming year.

The controls are some of the tightest, most responsive controls bar none. The graphics take the limitations of the 8-bit era and show what modern design aesthetics accomplish making some of the greatest work ever done in the style. The levels are built forcing the player to grow with an internal skill set, rather than just giving them items to make life easier. It borrows from classic Capcom and Nintendo games that it’s a beautiful trip down memory lane. The story is solid, the game play is great, and everyone is still doing let’s plays, and speed runs of it.  Yacht Club Games knocked it out of the park with Shovel Knight.

#7: Super Smash Bros for WiiU

Nintendo brings back their classic fighter with more classic characters and adds an eight player Smash option? What’s not to love? While a lot of the coin bid options for harder difficulties is a bit wonky Smash is still the party fighting game that’s carried on since the Nintendo 64 era. It’s easily one of the most polished installments of the franchise with crossover options for the 3DS version and the use of the Amiibo bringing us one step closer to Skynet. It’s the reason why people have purchased the WiiU.

Super Smash Bros has added onto the stockpile of fun for the Top 10 Video Games of 2014.

#6: Telltale’s The Wolf Among Us

When it was announced that Telltale would be adapting the popular Fables Comics, it was thrilling.  Telltale has quickly established itself as one of the only companies capable of writing a good franchise licensed game. There was no doubt in that Fables, about a group of fairy tale characters forced to flee to modern day New York, was in good hands.

Telltale gave us a great story and gaming experience. For fans, being able to see our favourite comic characters come to life and see all the little details mentioned was a treat. For newbies to the series, it was a great standalone game and had a story that didn’t require any previous knowledge of the comics. The art style fit, the story was strong, the music was awesomely synthy to match its 80’s setting, and it set up for a sequel that will be highly anticipating. Once again, Telltale  more than meets expectations.

#5: Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 2

Telltale’s The Walking Dead was one of the biggest surprise hits of 2013. It had incredibly complex characters (including a non-annoying child character, which is a rarity), tough choices, and ushered the adventure game back into popular culture. Needless to say, The Walking Dead Season 2 had awfully big shoes to fill and fill them they did.

Walking Dead Season 2 is a worthy successor to the first, following little Clementine from the first game and throwing just about everything it can at her in the process. Telltale outdid itself this time around, giving more weight to our choices and once again breaking our hearts no matter what ending came about. It more than deserves a spot on this list.

#4: Assassin’s Creed Unity

Let’s be perfectly honest here – not everyone experienced bugs while playing this game.  Really though, for doing so well at E3 and apparently winning 50+ awards you would have assumed better Q/A before launch and the outcry did give us free DLC, and a potential free title from Ubisoft.

That aside, Assassin’s Creed Unity was pleasantly surprising.  With fluid story and game play, the ability to change your character’s look hooked a lot of people immediately, and forced us down the path of ensuring they were the coolest assassin in all of Paris. Without going into too much major detail an Assassin’s Creed game is a great game to have in your collection for those rainy/snowy days or when you just need to feel cool in Paris.  It still leaves us wondering what this game could have been.

 #3: Super Time Force

What more could you ask for?  Fun?  Check;  Nostalgia bombs?  Check;  A kick ass 8-bit sound track to rival Mega Man II?  Check;  How about a Canadian Video Game Award for Innovation?  Also check.  Everything about Super Time Force screams play me until your fingers cramp up.  It’s an amazing side scrolling kick ass adventure.  It does everything right, and it does with a ton of fun.  From its beginnings at Gamer Camp, to it’s run on the Xbox Live and PS Network stores, Capy Games has created a game that you will always go back to play.

STF is an infectious romp through time, that hits all the right buttons for classic gaming, and for new gaming.  If there is a game to be on a top 10 list, or if there’s a game that needs to be in your library, Super Time Force is a game that makes you fall in love with everything about it. If there were five words to describe it: Fun, fun, and more fun.

#2: Far Cry 4

There are few games that can take your breath away.  Far Cry 4 is one of those gems.  From the introduction, right down to the finale, you swear you were playing a movie.

It’s what the next gen consoles were made to do.  If 2014 was about stretching the graphic engine legs, Far Cry 4 took it out for a run.  It’s not the graphics alone that make this a contender for game of the year.  The co-op game play, the immersion in the world of Kyrat, and making difficult (depending on your moral compass) decisions that guide your story, are part of a master piece.  Ubisoft flexed its muscle on this one, and it shows.  It’s also fun to watch your friends get attacked by honey badgers.

#1: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Bioware achieved amazing things with Inquisition, especially since Dragon Age 2 was widely regarded as a disappointment in the wake of the success of the franchise’s first chapter, Dragon Age: Origins.

We applaud Bioware for listening to their fans and creating the game we want to play. The world is rich and diverse; with multiple environments to explore that contain hours’ worth of side quests each. Of course, any game that relies on side quests for content risks boring the player, but Thedas is such a flushed out and filled with political intrigue that every quest fits easily into the world’s narrative and even fetch quests contribute to world building. With so much to do you might question the integrity of the story, but Inquisition delivers here too.

Building on the previous two chapters of the saga, the story is appropriately impressive for such a grandiose fantasy epic. On top of that, the character roster features fan favourites and compelling new characters that provide tons of dialogue and add a new dimension to the main quest with their own side stories, not to mention their charming romantic subplots. DA fans will be thrilled by all the references back to the previous games, and new players will find Thedas a rewarding world to play in.  Dragon Age: Inquisition delivers countless hours of solid game play, an engrossing story and characters you can’t help but love making it by far the greatest game of 2014.

There it is for another year.  Do you agree with our list?  What games should have made it on there?  What games should have been left off?  How does our list match up with yours?  Let us know in the comments below, or on our Facebook page.

Gaming is going to be great in 2015, with a ton of amazing titles ready to hit the shelves.  We hope you all have a great and safe new year.

Remember to play more games.

-GEEKPR0N Staff. <3