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It's chalk full of things to do- perhaps too many things to do-but it has a terrific campaign, incredible online co-op, and some of the most striking visuals of any release this year.Ĭapturing outposts, freeing hostages, storming fortresses, and interacting with the marvelous villain Pagan Min-not to mention hang-gliding, jetskiing, offroading, and wingsuiting-are just a handful of the things you can do, and they're all terrific. While it's not a far cry from its predecessor, Far Cry 4 is still the most fun I've had with a first-person shooter all year.
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In fact, The New Order is such a great solo shooter it was really a toss-up between it and.īFG9000 Medal: Far Cry 4 (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PC) Graphically the game looks fantastic on new-gen machines and oozes style. The story is over-the-top and gritty and the voice-acting is fantastic. But as a single-player only shooter it's a lot of fun, mixing great level design with solid gameplay. The game is single-player only, so that may turn off multiplayer gamers who would do better with really any of the previously mentioned titles save for Shadow Warrior. The first Wolfenstein game in years, The New Order is set decades after WWII in an alternative timeline in which the Nazis have won the war thanks to their industrial-mech technology. Gravity Gun Medal: Wolfenstein: The New Order (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PC) The graphics are also outstanding, with some facial animation that defies anything on the market. It retains the twitch-shooter DNA that have made the game so popular, but adds in more verticality and far more dynamic matches. Like Titanfall, the game focuses on new ways to move around a map, introducing double-jumps and dodge boosts and other movement options more closely associated with arena shooters-though this is not, by any stretch, an arena shooter.
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Still, like The Master Chief Collection, this is a re-release rather than a 2014 original, even if it is a great addition to the new-gen catalog.ĪWP Medal: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4, PC)įinally the Call of Duty formula has been changed, altered more drastically than any year since Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.Īdvanced Warfare has a fun, if overly predictable, single-player campaign, a decent co-op mode, and terrific competitive multiplayer. Then again, this isn't an accuracy-based shooter, it's a spray-and-pray and hack-and-slash game that's far faster and weirder than any of its modern brethren. It plays great even with a gamepad, though you'll never quite match a mouse-and-keyboard for accuracy. The remake of the classic first-person shooter originally came to PC, but was released on new-gen systems in 2014. And limbs just go flying when you start swinging that blade. Besides, you have an awesome katana and tons of demonic super-powers at your disposal. The black humor, fast-paced gunfighting, and general irreverence of Shadow Warrior make it a ton of fun to play. Runner-Up: Shadow Warrior (PS4, Xbox One, PC) There's potential here, but it's not been fully realized yet. There's a lot to love, especially for people who enjoy grinding and MMO fans, but a lack of matchmaking options and the limited story hold back an otherwise great game.įor others, like myself, too much grinding and too thin a story-not to mention limited social options-makes Destiny look like a work in progress rather than a finished game. While the game is gorgeous and the gameplay is solid, the game's initial campaign felt gutted compared to what we'd seen advertised. Runner-Up: Destiny (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4)ĭestiny also feels like a first step.
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