Category: PC

Game of the Year 2013: #04 – Kentucky Route Zero

It’s unfinished, and not even halfway done, but Kentucky Route Zero has had such a strong start it would be a travesty to push it off because of a technicality. Yes, it still has a few episodes to come out in 2014, and I’ll have to figure out how it’ll end up on that end of year list when the time comes. But when I think of the games I played in 2013, I think of Kentucky Route Zero.

More than the art-school project it might look like at first glance, Kentucky Route Zero is essentially a five act play in which you play the role of Conway, a truck driver who ended up driving down the back roads of Kentucky. The whole game has a very prevalent Twink Peaks-ish air of mystery and strangeness to it, and has left more of an impact on me than almost anything else I’ve played all year long. The dialogue choices, while they don’t change the way things play out, allow you to build the characters and the world more than almost any other game I’ve ever played.

There are so many instances that had me staring at my screen in awe, sometimes just because of a few lines of text I had read. While a game like Save the Date had a pretty big impact on me with its philosophy on game design, Kentucky Route Zero aims for a much broader scope and nails almost every tiny detail. If I compiled a list of my favorite moments in 2013, several of them would come from the events of KRZ, and just thinking about them now makes me want to boot it up yet again.

If the remainder of Kentucky Route Zero even comes close to the first two episodes and interludes, we’ll be seeing something really special. In a world where all five episodes had come out, all of this quality, this would have been my Game of the Year. As for now, Kentucky Route Zero is an episodic masterpiece, and I can’t wait to see where it goes.

December 31, 2013
Game of the Year 2013: #06 – MegaMan Unlimited

The real Game of the Year list starts here. Almost everything below this point has been in a state of flux. I’d had Anodyne, BADLAND, Gone Home and others in the 07-10 spots, but 06-01 have been a sure thing since the list was in its early stages. From #06-#01, I’m splitting hairs at this point by trying to put them in any order, but I’ll try to do it anyway. Just know that anything from here to #01 could have been my Game of the Year, and I’d have been just fine with that. Let’s start talking about the best of the best of 2013 with MegaMan Unlimited.

MegaMan Unlimited feels like a revival of one of gaming’s most treasured heroes, and one that Mega Man deserved. Capcom may not want to capitalize on how good Mega Man games can be, but that doesn’t stop fans from trying to reach the heights of the Blue Bomber’s glory days. (more…)

December 28, 2013
Game of the Year 2013: #10 – EGGNOGG/NIDHOGG

EGGNOGG

NIDHOGG is a two-player competitive platforming/fighting game that’s been privately taken around to trade shows for years. Only a few have gotten to see it live, and even fewer have been able to play it. This March, Paul Pridham of Madgarden made a “NIDHOGG-like” for the Toronto Game Jam, and gave the public its first taste of what this kind of game is all about. (more…)

December 23, 2013
2013’s Honorable Mentions – Papers, Please

Papers, Please doesn’t fit into any established genre. The closest thing I can think of might be L.A. Noire, but this is still radically different. At its most basic, Papers, Please a game about close inspection of miniscule details, and exploiting that information to your benefit. It’s also about the constant, unavoidable stress of consequences.

Your role as an immigration inspector has you deciding who can enter the country and who cannot. There are penalties for breaking the ever-changing rules, and rewards for following your instructions. But when a known slaver tries to enter the country to kidnap a young woman, do you let him through even if his papers are in proper order? Breaking the rules means you’ll lose money for the day, which could cause your family to starve, but is it worth it?

The actual gameplay of Papers, Please remains interesting because the rules change for each level, and the choices evolve in some surprising ways. Papers, Please is one of the most inventive, genre defying games I’ve seen, and is one of the most interesting games I played in 2013.

In Honorable Mentions, the best games of the year that didn’t make the top ten are given their moment in the spotlight. While they might not be among HippoChippies’ ten best games this year, they were very, very close to making it there. This year, it came down to a list of 19 games that was trimmed into the Game of the Year list. This is one of the nine that almost made it.

December 21, 2013
2013’s Honorable Mentions – SpyParty

SpyParty has been floating around for several years now, but 2013 marks the release of its first open beta. This was the first time I’ve been able to play it, and I’m glad to say that it somehow lives up to all of my expectations.

After hearing about SpyParty for so long, finally being able to act out the part of the Sniper or Spy was just as thrilling as I had hoped. Playing the role of a mindless A.I. partygoer as another player picks you out from the crowd is as nerve-wracking as it is exciting. Playing the role of the sniper is a similarly unique experience as well, as you second guess yourself until the moment your bullet leaves it chamber.

The next year holds a lot of changes for the game, as it’s currently undergoing an entire graphical overhaul. As it stands, SpyParty is one of the most clever, original ideas for a game I’ve seen in ages, and is a defining experience of 2013.

In Honorable Mentions, the best games of the year that didn’t make the top ten are given their moment in the spotlight. While they might not be among HippoChippies’ ten best games this year, they were very, very close to making it there. This year, it came down to a list of 19 games that was trimmed into the Game of the Year list. This is one of the nine that almost made it.

December 21, 2013
2013’s Honorable Mentions – Gone Home

Gone Home is important. Whether you want to call it a game, or an interaction work of fiction, or whatever, it’s something that everyone with a passing interest in game narrative should see. It’s a story about love, fear, and acceptance, and I found it to be one of the most impacting experiences of the year. It pushes this medium forward, and shows what a video game can be capable of when stripped of traditional game mechanics.

The house in Gone Home feels lived in, and it’s your goal to see all of it. There’s a story you’ll come across on your way through the place, sometimes told to you explicitly and sometimes not, and it’s one that hasn’t been told in any game I’ve ever seen. Say what you will about the levels of “teen romance novel” drama Gone Home may dip into, but it’s a well told story, and one that is unveiled in a way unique to it’s medium.

Gone Home is one of the finest game narratives I’ve seen, and the few short hours I spent with it meant more to me than the majority of hours I spent with anything else this year. While it might not be the best “game” of the year, it’s a beautiful story that demands your attention, and is one of my favorites of 2013.

In Honorable Mentions, the best games of the year that didn’t make the top ten are given their moment in the spotlight. While they might not be among HippoChippies’ ten best games this year, they were very, very close to making it there. This year, it came down to a list of 19 games that was trimmed into the Game of the Year list. This is one of the nine that almost made it.

December 20, 2013