My favorite Games of 2013

As I already did with my favorite Albums of 2013, I also put together a short list of the games that managed to impress and engage me the most this year. These are those titles why I still seem to keep being a gamer and why this medium still has so much potential beyond the yearly wave of boring military shooters and sequels and unimaginative bulls**t. Please keep in mind that the following passages are not meant as „professional“ reviews and instead just are some more or less spontaneous thoughts that I had while thinking back to my experiences with these personal highlights.

Hotline Miami (PS3)

„Do you like hurting other people? Who is leaving messages on your answering machine? Where are you right now? Why are we having this conversation?“

„Hotline Miami“ isn’t just an über violent pixelated nightmare and killing simulator, it’s a reflection on violence as well as a bold and stylish statement about gaming and being a gamer in it’s entirety. It’s addicting and spot on mechanics combined with the oversaturated visuals and the excellent pumping soundtrack are engaging in a way that most of the overblown, overexpensive triple A titles fail to achieve. It’s trick lies in suggesting a story and asking certain questions that have the potential to catalyse a certain form of reflection on the side of the player but it never bothers to answer them. Thus showing that the narrative borders don’t need to be expanded further to make for a satisfying and unique gaming experience and creating a sense of mysticism that makes your train of thought play the game even further after finishing it…  Highly recommended game that need to be experienced!

The last of us (PS3)

„Everyone I have cared for has either died or left me. Everyone — fucking except for you! So don’t tell me I would be safer with somebody else, because the truth is I would just be more scared.“

Probably one of the most anticipated and hyped games of 2013 next to „GTA V“ but that alone doesn’t really say anything if we’re being honest. I am always a bit careful when it comes to certain hypes that are created artifically to raise certain expectations. Even a studio with a flawless record is able to deliver a disappointing product for various reasons and we’ve all witnessed something like that before. But „The last of us“ isn’t a disappointment at all, it delivers on all levels as promised and probably tells one of the most mature stories that I’ve seen in a blockbuster for a long time. It’s characters are fleshed out and beyond the amazing cutscenes it manages to expand it’s story through certain details of enviromental storytelling. It’s compelling, creates a sense of dread and desperation that really gives it’s atmosphere and narration a sense of weight and seriousness that other games should learn from. I know that certain critics thought of the game’s way of storytelling and  the player’s limited influence on the story as conservative and I can understand this point very much in fact but expecting a complete 180 from this industry at a moment’s notice would be asking to much. It’s important to keep in mind that this game’s twists wouldn’t work if there was too much decisionmaking involved. It’s a specific study of certain characters and if you accept  that you’lI love the gameplay, the story, the sense of exploration and it’s emotional highlights and weight very much!

Rayman Legends (PS3)

„Rayman Origins“ already was one of those beautiful, fresh and addicting timekillers and „Legends“ expands the original formula by putting in a few nice tweaks here and there and managing to surpass an already excellent game on almost every level. Getting into it is easy and mastering becomes an art. It’s multiplayer is chaotic but fun and the game always manages to awake the feeling of just giving it one more try. Before you know it’s 4am and you have to fight that urge of just playing one more level since you still have two or three hours before you need to get up.

Papers Please (Mac)

„You no like passport, I understand. I come back again with better one.“

If playing a customs officer in a dystopian communist state doesn’t sound like fun then you’re right and this game isn’t really supposed to be fun at all. It’s hard on the eyes, constantly makes struggle for the survival of your loved ones and yourself and also gives you the heavy burden of having to send people to their certain doom or actively kill them yourself. But you know what? It’s supposed to play out like this since „Papers Please“ doesn’t want to be fun, it wants to be an intense, engaging and almost kafkaesque experience and handles just that brilliantly. It puts you into a place of responsibility that is beyond managable but yet you may try to give it your best shot and keep hope alive, while the desolation around you and the field of unresolved moral tension gain more and more weight. It’s a brilliant story with many unexpected waypoints that are influenced by your way of playing the game and thus it gives you a feeling of consequence most other games do not achieve.

Gone Home (Mac)

„Gone Home“ is one of those titles that you best go into without knowing anything about it. It’s a game (or is it?) about exploring and letting your own curiosity roam free to create a sense of causality and purpose. It’s way of enviromental storytelling is unique and the game is beautiful, mysterious, highly emotional and one of the few titles that actually made me cry! Don’t read about, don’t spoil it for yourself and just PLAY IT!