The best video games of 2015 – The Verge

Why Just Cause 3 is my game of the year

2015-12-24T10:00:02-05:00

Few games have the capacity to disappoint like Just Cause 3, my game of the year.

A tropical playset, its pieces read like the prop list from a 1990s action film: rocket launchers, remote mines, military-grade helicopters, the latter of which the hero sometimes hangs from, upside down, unloading two Uzis into enemies below. This is a safe space for testing absurd cause and effects. What would happen if I dropped a speedboat on the side of a snow-covered mountain slope, and tried to ride it back to sea level? Just Cause 3 will let you find out!

Miles and miles of villages and cities, forests and beaches are patrolled by canon fodder disguise …

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Why Splatoon is my game of the year

2015-12-23T10:59:54-05:00

Splatoon is an atypical game for Nintendo. It's a third-person shooter. It's heavily focused on online play. It doesn't have any traditional Nintendo characters - in fact, it's the first time in well over a decade that Nintendo has started from scratch for a major new game.

But at the same time, Splatoon feels like it could only have been made by Nintendo. It's a shooter that swaps colorful ink for bullets, and most of the time you're not even firing at people. The online system is ultra-simple, with little regard for hardcore gaming convention. And while Mario and co. are nowhere to be found, Splatoon's bizarre world and vibrant aesthetic …

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Why The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is my game of the year

2015-12-22T08:31:25-05:00

I dove back into the world of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt a few nights ago, my first time spent with the game since plowing through its first expansion pack in October. I don't have many quests or treasure hunts left to complete, so I decided to explore the few corners of the map I hadn't yet plumbed. The sea surrounding the Skellige Isles is studded with nameless islets and booty-filled shipwrecks, many of which are guarded by shrieking harpies and ugly drowners; I wanted to sniff around for new gear. I rode Roach, my stupid but faithful horse, to a fishing village near an Ard Skellig cape, hopped in a tiny boat, and started sailing south. It …

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Why Bloodborne is my game of the year

2015-12-21T10:09:42-05:00

I never got through more than an hour of Dark Souls, the beloved and famously difficult predecessor to Bloodborne. Among other things, I was intimidated by what felt like dozens of initial choices and mechanics, all in a world that felt strangely empty. I just didn't get it. So I started Bloodborne in hopes that I could experience some of the magic that other people seemed to see in Dark Souls.

It delivered.

I know I'm late to the party here, and everything I want to say about Bloodborne has probably been written in some form about Dark Souls. It's a meticulously detailed fantasy landscape where a single misstep can destroy you. It's a par …

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The 10 best video games of 2015

2015-12-19T11:30:02-05:00

You can tell 2015 was a great year for new video games by the titles that didn't make this list. It was a year that saw inventive new mobile games like Prune and Alto's Adventure, and much-anticipated blockbusters like Star Wars Battlefront and Metal Gear Solid V. There were even plenty of wonderful surprises like Until Dawn, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, and Cibele. Those games aren't on this list - which was voted on by various members of The Verge's staff - but the titles we did choose show the breadth of what games can be. Whether its massive open worlds, playful multiplayer experiences, or small, personal stories, the medium can cove …

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