Game of the Year – Part 2

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]e continue our Game of the Year countdown today with our favourite of the new Episodic Games as well as another game that we felt deserved an award but perhaps not for the right reasons… It is, of course, our sobbing fanboy award. So without further ado, here are those that made the list:

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Best Episodic Game: Life is Strange

[dropcap]A[/dropcap]s an answer to Telltale Game’s nearly vice-like grip over the episodic subgenre, Life is Strange is arguably good win Game of the Year award in its own right. The game documents the adventures of Max, a girl struggling with all the pressures of teenage life, as well as her new-found ability to rewind time. The chemistry between characters is excellent, the artwork is consistently beautiful, and the story ebbs and flows perfectly. While other episodic games can stretch themselves thin, the microscopic scale of Life is Strange allows you to fully invest, turning every event into an agonising decision.

The chemistry between characters is excellent, the artwork is consistently beautiful, and the story ebbs and flows perfectly

Life is Strange constantly sets itself apart, opting for the still unorthodox practise of utilising a female protagonist, and dealing with issues which often hit much closer to home than the far-flung worlds of other AAA games. Although the series came to an end last year, Life is Strange has already left a profound mark on gaming.

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The Sobbing Fanboy Award: Metal Gear Solid 5

[dropcap]O[/dropcap]bjectively Metal Gear Solid 5 is far from the worst game we’ve seen in 2015. Mechanically, Metal Gear excels, refining and improving the stealth formula to make it one of the best examples available in the genre. However, narratively, the game appears disastrous. After a strong opening in Act One, the narrative all but collapses; Act Two consists only of disjointed fragments of story and Act Three simply doesn’t exist at all. When the game does eventually conclude the twist ending, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, leaves the reader feeling robbed, left with more questions than answers. What little content does exist feels oddly alien from the series as a whole; the main villain suffering from a lack of strong motivation and the main threat of the game simply too ridiculous to be taken seriously. Whilst Metal Gear has always prided itself on its ability to meld fairly baffling concepts with serious interpersonal drama, MGS V seems to jump the shark, a feat previously thought impossible for the series. It feels both ludicrous and boring, a feeling further enhanced by the usually charismatic Big Boss being rendered essentially mute for this entry. Much of this can be attributed to Kojima’s fall-out with publisher Konami, and the rushed state in which the game was finished after apparently running far over-budget and over-time. However this cannot be regarded as excusable from a series so critically and commercially acclaimed. As fans, we were promised the conclusion to Big Boss’ story, the tale of a good man turned evil; corrupted by a lust for power. What we were instead given was a fucking shambles.

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Let us know your Game of the Year! @boargames