Biggest Time SinkTurns out that it was Frozen Synapse with 70 hours played. 40 of these were spent staring at a neon screen, weeping quiet tears of frustration as a virtual man was killed repeatedly despite my laboured attempts to save him.
I Take it BackCrimson Alliance. I told my wife that it was going to be the game that rekindled our memories of Champions of Norrath, and the hours that we spent playing that through co-op. It bloody well didn't.
Biggest DisappointmentCrimson Alliance once again. My wife and I don't really have any games that we share so I was looking forward to it.
Most AddictiveFrozen Synapse. There was no other game that had me constantly checking in to see if a new turn had popped up.
Made Just for MeSaints Row the Third. I love everything about it and it makes me hate Rockstar for what they've turned GTA into.
Over-HypedL.A. Noire. This game simply was not that fun. The open world was dull. The base mechanics flimsy and ultimately monotonous. I can see potential but not with anything even close to the GTA engine behind it.
Pleasant SurpriseTo the Moon. 99% of the gaming public will never touch this (even though it has a 1-hour demo available here
http://freebirdgames.com/to_the_moon/ ) and that's a bit sad. I expected a Final Fantasy/Chrono Trigger but instead found am interactive story more engaging than anything else I've played.
Best ThrowbackNothing for me this year.
Dishonourable Mention Dino D-Day. Let's take a below par multiplayer WWII shooter and stick dinosaurs in it. Wait though, let's make sure that the scenery is a mixture of brown, brown and dinosaur green/grey and that one side has no access to those mentioned beasts. Hell, while we're at it, let's just make sure that the Velociraptor is completely broken from a balance perspective. Fastest moving, highest jumping and insta-kill attack that takes advantage of the two previous advantages? Yeah.
Prettiest GameWitcher 2. Hands down the best looking game of the year that captures the mood of the world that the story inhabits.
*I do not own this game yet but I did spend two hours with it, and it's sure to be my next purchase.
Best StoryTo the Moon.
Best CharacterRucks. He made that game and then crossed platforms to make WotG even more entertaining.
Random Pick for DistinctionTerraria. A game that deserves much love for taking the Minecraft formula and warping it to provide a similar yet ultimately different gaming kick. The icing on the cake was a 1.1 update that seemed to double the size of the base game, and there are no signs that they're resting on their laurels.
Game of the YearSaints Row the Third.
Within the first hour I'd fought while clinging to a bank safe which was being towed by a helicopter, fought inside a plane, outside the plane, back in the plane and then landed in a red light district where I punched a man in the groin before taking off my clothes and running through the streets with the intent to expose myself to as many people as I could.
There are prettier games, ones with deeper stories or more challenging game play but nothing handed out the same levels of fun that SR3 managed. Whenever you thought that the last mission was hilarious in it's ridiculousness, along came the next to up the ante.
I'm about to go through my second run, this time dressed as a toilet. Pinnacle reached.
