Games of the Year ’14

Danny

Freedom. If there’s any word that would signify the most successful games of 2014 it would be Freedom. Be it a game where you were a goat that just caused massive amounts of havoc, a spacer longing for the stars or a bunch of colonists on a weird alien planet, freedom to the players to do what they wished has been a very successful theme indeed and my list reflects this accordingly.

It’s no secret that I’m predominantly a PC gamer and thus you will find that my list is largely PC titles that I’ve played and enjoyed the most. It also happens to be a list that contains spiritual remakes and successors to games like Pokemon Ruby, Alpha Centauri and Elite that not only benefited from nostalgia trips, but were great games in their own right. Then there are the games that have made leaps and bounds this year within their own series like Football Manager 2015, Civilization: Beyond Earth and Wargame Red Dragon. And of course, the list contains War Thunder which, following its revamping of leveling systems and the addition of ground vehicles, gets better and better with every passing month.

2014 hasn’t been a year without disappointments, however, with games like Destiny, Assassin’s Creed Unity and Farming Simulator 15 plugging up the disappointment train. However, with every disappointment there was a shining light that distracted you away from it, be it a game that exceeded all expectations in Far Cry 4, a game that was just well made, and everything Assassin’s Creed should have been, in Shadow of Mordor or an indie village-building gem in Banished.

With all the freedom, the nostalgia and the fun, 2014 has been a good year for gaming.

10. Goat Simulator

9. Banished

8. Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire

7. Wargame Red Dragon

6. Civilization: Beyond Earth

5. Football Manager 2015

4. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

3. Elite Dangerous

2. War Thunder

1. Far Cry 4