Game of the Year 2013

It is the end of the year, which means that it is time to look back and reflect on the best games of the past 365 days. We checked our weapons at the door, got Jeff and Fozzy all liquored up, and came up with the 10 games we, as a collective whole, felt were the best of the year. Enjoy.

Saints Row the Third took genre expectations and flipped them on their head. By the end of that game, the Saints Row franchise had lost any sense of seriousness and it proved a better game than its predecessors because of it. But how does one follow up ridiculousness turned up to 11 already? Why, by turning it up to 12 of course. Saints Row IV takes everything from its predecessor and ups the crazy quotient. It is a game that starts out with you literally riding an Armageddon bomb while Aerosmith’s “Don’t Wanna Miss A Thing” plays and then you become the President, get super powers and smoke dope out of a light bulb. In short, the game is fun, in the most crassly absurd way possible. ~Chris Scott

Bioshock is one of the most beloved games of this fading generation, placing at number 2 on our list. So it was no surprise when the follow-up project by its creator Irrational Games quickly became one of the most anticipated games of 2013. But so much anticipation often leads to let-down. Thankfully, Bioshock Infinite mostly avoided that, delivering another uniquely weird Bioshock adventure. Like Rapture before it, entering Columbia is a magical moment and like Rapture, the floating city is as much a character in the story as anyone else. It is a place with wonder, both joyous and deadly, around every corner, making Columbia a place one wants to explore fully even if the mechanics still leave a bit to be desired. ~Chris Scott

Rogue Legacy is one of the most ingenious games I have ever played. It harkens back to an era where games determined your skills at the controller. Platforming and 2D combat with weapons and skills take some finesse, all of which made me feel like I was in the 90s again. But what Rogue Legacy does masterfully is blend that nostalgic gameplay with whimsical visuals, and most importantly, a character development system. Oh, you die each time you head into the castle. When you come out, however, you spend that hard earned money on upgrades before treking back in for more. I simply couldn’t put the controller down when I played Rogue Legacy, it was always “just one more haul.” ~ Don Parsons

For all the criticism we levy at Nintendo’s often head scratching business practices, they do one thing outstandingly well, and that is create fun games. Super Mario 3D World is fun in a box. It is more colorful, more creative and more whimsical than just about anything else to come out this year. If you didn’t enjoy this Mario game, you either didn’t open the box or you just hate fun. ~Chris Scott

Paradox Interactive has long been known for making complex strategy games with funny names, games that required hours of investment and lacked a certain visual appeal. Then, two years ago, Paradox released Crusader Kings 2, an accessible, entertaining game with a beautiful map. The game was far and away a strategy gaming homerun. But the studio’s first love was always its Europa Universalis series, and in EU IV, the lessons learned from CK2’s triumph were put to good use. An extensive tutorial, game systems that are easy to understand while still including the depth hardcore players craved, historical narrative, an epically beautiful map and of course that magical sensation of creating your own world all combine to form what is simply the best nation-simulator ever made. This game is a true must own for any strategy fan. ~Tony Odett

In recent generations, video games have striven to become a legitimate medium for powerful narratives, and there have been a few successes, such as Rockstar’s L.A. Noire and Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead, both of which felt like seasons of great television. The Last of Us is the first game I’ve played that delivers the whole package. It realizes the potential of narrative in games without sacrificing gameplay. Its story is certainly a big highlight and the main reason The Last of Us can’t be missed, but there is still a lengthy campaign filled with smart, unbearably-intense stealth combat and the top-notch production values we have come to expect from Naughty Dog. Topping off what would have been an already complete package is a surprisingly fun multiplayer mode that retains the tools and stealth tactics of the single player campaign. Ultimately, though, it’s the story that continues to linger in my mind, particularly that perfect final scene between Joel and Ellie. The story never compromises its bleak vision to reach a wider audience. It builds to an ending that is–although a small moment between our two main characters–the most complex, challenging, and mature in gaming to date. ~ Jeff Derrickson

After Assassin’s Creed 3, I was worried. While decent, AC3 lacked a sense of developmental cohesion, combining far too many extraneous game components together with a host of odd bugs to provide an experience that seemed to fall short of its predecessors. When the pirate theme was announced for Assassin’s Creed 4, I grew even more suspicious, wondering if they were now going to cater to gamers thematically without improving the unwieldy gameplay. Thankfully, every worry I had about the game was extinguished the moment I set foot on the deck of my very own ship. This was a world crafted around allowing the player to be a pirate. You can attack and capture (or destroy) opposing vessels, take down fortresses and elite warships, seeks out plunder from a multitude of different sources, and upgrade your vessel to become a true terror of the Caribbean. All this is without diving into the game’s compelling storyline. Despite my concerns, Ubisoft shrugged off its jitters from last year and delivered what is simply the best Assassin’s Creed game to date. ~Tony Odett

Rockstar is one of the biggest names in the industry, and for good reason. Time and time again, they prove that can create compelling games that are both fun and addicting. Designing sandboxes is just what they do. With Grand Theft Auto V, they certainly raised the bar for their competitors. Save for a few unncessary plot points that drew fire from critics, the latest Grand Theft Auto freshened up their usual design scheme by allowing the player to switch between three characters at any given time. Rockstar Games also dropped an improved multiplayer component into the game that took Red Dead Redemptions multiplayer and expanded it exponentially. Grand Theft Auto Online became the go-to place to hang out with my friends across the nation. ~Don Parsons

Face it: when you heard that Nintendo was making a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, you thought Nintendo had finally run out of ideas and was going to completely destroy the legacy of one of the most beloved games of all time. It is OK that you doubted Nintendo; we all did. I mean, unlocking everything from the get-go, allowing Link to merge into walls as a painting, playing with 2D/3D perspectives, and revisiting the Hyrule of the best Zelda game ever made: it all sounded like the worst ideas possible. As it turns out, Nintendo knows a thing or two about what makes a good game and not only did all of those things turn out to be fantastic, but it all helped shape what is one of the best games of this year and may very well be the best Zelda game in nearly two decades. ~Chris Scott

Over the years we’ve had knock-down, drag-out fights over what we would crown as our game of the year. This year was different, as the new Tomb Raider game just felt right as our selection to represent our collective tastes. Maybe it was the cinematic style, or the brutal and raw combat. Maybe it was the realistic character development that Lara experiences over the course of the campaign, or the freedom to explore the environment in a way that other games of its ilk fail to deliver. Or maybe it is simply that the game is incredibly fun to play. Whatever the reason, it resonated with all of us and stuck with us through the entirety of 2013.~Chris Scott