Before I get into the bulk of this post I’d just thought I’d point out what it is all about! Unlike most other ‘Yearly’ gaming reviews, I’m going to base it all on my personal opinion and not just limit myself to games released in 2014.
So what happened for me in 2014? Well I got my hands on the Xbox one, which was always the plan but I wasn’t expecting to get it as soon as I did! A lot more of the Ruff Gaming crew moved over sooner than I expected so I thought I’d tag along! Now my opinion of it is that it is a brilliant console, however there are a few little niggles that annoy the hell out of me!
Firstly the amount of time Xbox live is down is unreal, I’ve never known it go down so much and players be unable to use the service. Although you can use the xbox one without an internet connection, the console is designed round a constant internet connection and does suffer without it. Over the past 11 months I’ve owned a xbox one, I would say live has been down about 8-10 times, averaging about 2 hours every time it does go down….
Another annoyance I have is this is a Next generation (or is it now current gen?) console and whilst I don’t expect instant actions on the screen, sometimes the time it takes to snap/unsnap, or for a menu to load just feels a bit too long. An example of this is Fifa 15, in between games it gives you 45 seconds, now in this time I can’t snap the party I’m currently in and invite someone else into that party…. I don’t know if it’s just my console/internet but I would be keen to know what other peoples experiences are like!
Before I get too side tracked from the main topic of this post let’s get straight to the ‘Awards’!
Xbox One Game of the Year
There is still a hell of a lot of games I want to play on the Xbox one that came out and I’ve not got round to getting but basing it on what I did buy I’ve got to go with what some might say is a pretty obvious call….Battlefield 4.
This game was plagued with teething problems at Day one because it was rushed to get out but for me it is still the best shooter out there. I’ve had countless nights on Battlefield with the Ruff Gamers and every single night is a laugh.
It is probably the game I’ve put the most time into on the Xbox one this year and now I feel it is past it’s problems and is a complete game!
Xbox 360 Game of the Year
I’ve played quite a few xbox 360 games this year from my pile of shame but the game that stands out by a country mile is Far Cry 3. To my shame it had been sat on the shelf for over 12 months as I’d had other distractions which kept me away from it. I started playing it at the back end of last month and what a game it is! I played through the complete story in just under a week and was so impressed that I’m already working on a second play through and I’m already finding bits I missed first time round! I want to get into the Co-op at some point and will be getting Far Cry 4 in the new year (once I get a hard drive!)
Disappointment of the Year
This was a tough category for me because there is 2 games that have stood out that could win this ‘award’. I got both games pretty much on Day one, played them for a few days and then give up on them! Destiny and Titanfall both failed to live up to the hype in my opinion. Let’s start with Titanfall, when it first came out I thought it was brilliant, the combination of Titans and foot troops worked, but after playing for a couple of hours I found I was on the same mission…. And that same tactic worked over and over again. It became a bit boring if I’m completely honest and a real grind if you want to ‘gen up’ because of the various challenges that you had to do. Destiny I felt was supposed to be game of the year and the first hour of playing it, I was hooked and agreed that it was the best thing since sliced bread…. But once I took the rose tinted glasses off I found the game a complete grind. You did the same thing over and over and over and over again and it drove me insane, so much so I’ve not put it in the console since that first couple of weeks. I know plenty of people on my friends list have got a hell of a lot more out of it than I ever will.
I can’t really decide between the two which I was disappointed with more so I’m going to leave it as a joint award.
Feature of the Year
This was by far one of the easiest categories for me to choose a winner. I’ve always wanted to record my gameplay but don’t want to pay through the nose of the kit to do it, but with the introduction of ‘Upload’ on the Xbox one and live streaming mode of Twitch, I can share what I do more!
I think this is a great feature and a good way of growing a gaming community. Now combined with the social feed on the xbox one’ Upload’ for me is the feature of the year. Whenever I’m online, you constantly hear ‘Xbox Record that!’ capturing those epic moments/fails that would normally be lost. It’s a great way of sharing you moments in gaming, sharing advice on gaming (Thank you PGTips!! Halo Skulls…!) and sharing those moments of epic fail for the world to see.
Xbox has latched on to this feature and recognised it as a highlight on the new console and improved it. Controlling the clips through the controller makes sure you capture them moments so easily my Feature of the Year.
Surprise of the Year
Again a relatively easy choice for me! When it was announced that GTA V was coming to Xbox one, I didn’t exactly jump round the room in excitement as I’ve been there, done that and got the t shirt. I was waiting to see how the Ruff Gamers jumped on the HD bandwagon before I made my decision to buy it. Then came the announcement of 1st Person mode, whilst it didn’t make it a certain for me, I decided at the time it was worth a punt and boy was I impressed! It’s the same story and everything but feels like a completely new and fresh game. The ability to change when you are in 3rd person and when you are in 1st person, depending on the situation is unreal!
They have also revamped the music in the game, which for me was actually quite a big boost because I played that much GTA V story on 360 I was bored of it, so something nice and fresh is a plus.
I’m also looking forward to the new features in the multiplayer because I don’t think I’m the only one that thinks the online on the 360 was a huge disappointment last year because it didn’t live up to the hype. I’ve not played much of it yet but from what I did play it was an improvement and I’m looking forward to getting some gamer nights organised in the near future!!!
So that’s the ‘awards’ done and dusted, I would love to hear if you agree/disagree with me and what you would class as your winners.
I’ll be doing a post sometime soon about what I’m looking forward to next year!
As always feedback and subscribers are appreciated!
Have a good Christmas!
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