Ok look, I know, I said I’d try and do this earlier than I’ve done it the last couple years. Maybe one day I’ll make good on that promise but, for now, you’ll just have to take my sincere apologies.

I was all prepped to talk about how my busy work schedule had prevented me from hitting my goal yet again last year, fully expecting that the list of games I’d be putting down here would be near the lowest it has been. However I’m pleasantly surprised to report I managed to get through an impressive 48 (even if 3 of those are technically the same game, Destiny 2) my highest total in 2 years. The number of AAA titles has definitely declined with many last year demanding a lot more time than I was able to give to them. Still I played nearly all of the games I wanted to, the only glaring omission being God of War.

As I sat down to write this no title came front of mind which, in the past, has meant that I haven’t really found anything to crown the victor. However as I was putting together the list of games I realised it wasn’t because of a lack of titles, far from it, indeed 2 of them shared the highest score (9.5) last year with a further 4 coming in second (9.25). Adding into that there are 2 honourable mentions that I want to throw into the mix as they both gave me something I wasn’t fully expecting. Suffice to say 2018 delivered solid gaming experiences in troves and I’m honestly beside myself in not getting around to doing this sooner.

As always here’s the list of games I played last year in chronological order:

In the slightly devious tradition of awarding the wooden spoon to a game this year I have the oh-so-delicious pleasure of awarding it to not one, but two games that shared last year’s lowest rating: Elementium and The Quiet Man with a score of a mere 3. Elementium was a game I should probably have never played, something that was made and put out into the world without even a basic level of care and attention to what a game should be. The Quiet Man was bad for many other reasons, not least of which was doing a game like that in a completely ass about way that ended up ruining it completely. Whereas Elementium can be pushed aside as a dev’s first attempt at trying to make something The Quiet Man is from an established developer and large publishing company: both of whom have the resources and the motive to make it not suck horrendously. But they didn’t and so they thrust that mess onto the world to torture anyone who’d dare spend the cash.

As this year’s honourable mentions list is long I’ll blast through them with a quick list of why I wanted to point them out:

  • Subnautica: For showing me that I can never be so sure of my own opinion of a game until I play it.
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops 4: Yeah, it got me back into the COD multiplayer in a big way, so much so that I’ve prestiged twice in it already. Given how much time my mates and I are spending in Apex Legends now that might mean I won’t play much more of it but damn, did it ever suck me back in.
  • Florence: A beautiful game that is approachable for non-gamers. It struck up conversations with friends who’d traditionally never talk to me about gaming and for that, it deserves to be noticed.
  • Unravel 2: For leaving the things that distracted from its core gameplay at the door and focusing on what could make it fun. Also bonus points for something the wife and I could enjoy together.

With that out the way my game of the year, which if you know me as a gamer is likely blindingly obvious by now, is:

Yes, I know, it’s another David Cage game who’s story is about as deep as any Twilight fanfiction might be but I fell for it yet again. I’ll argue that what makes these games strong isn’t the narrative but the performances that the actors give to it. Further to that the fact that the best part of the game, I feel, isn’t really even the game itself made seriously think about how we can define new player interactions with the medium. Whilst I haven’t had many good conversations about it yet it’s definitely a title I’ll refer back to when thinking about the numerous gaming traditions and how changing, augmenting or even straight usurping them can add a whole new dimensionality to our video game experiences. All things said and done if you haven’t played it I strongly encourage you do, even if you don’t play it strictly for the game itself.

The two runners up are Monument Valley 2 and Gris.

I’d been hanging out for Monument Valley 2 ever since I saw it released on iOS and instantly devoured it in one sitting when I finally saw it come out. It may not have done anything particularly revolutionary with its implementation but the story they told, mostly through the use of visuals with small bits of dialogue here and there, captured my heart straight away. Reading through my review again brings all those emotions back tenfold, not least of which because I’m now the father of a daughter myself.

Gris came into my sights just before it was released and honestly if there’s anything that I’d call reviewer bait (at least for me) it’d be this game. Beautiful visuals, amazing soundtrack and a story told eloquently without the use of dialogue are all things I look for and the short game trailers were enough to convince me it was worth my time. What makes this all the more impressive is that it’s the first title from Nomada Studio. With a debut like that I am so excited to see what they deliver in the future.

2019 has already brought with it some amazing titles and some amazing upsets in expectations. My list is, as always, brimming with big names and at least one previous Game of the Year winner. Whilst my expectations are high my time is likely going to be a little limited, new baby and all, but I love gaming too much to leave them all at the door.

I’ll just have to teach her how to hold a controller.

Games, Review

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About the Author

David Klemke

David is an avid gamer and technology enthusiast in Australia. He got his first taste for both of those passions when his father, a radio engineer from the University of Melbourne, gave him an old DOS box to play games on.

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