Feature: Game of the Year - Staff Lists

With just a few days left in 2014, we thought it would be the perfect time for Pure Xbox to put a Game of the Year list out in the wild. Instead of featuring a single list of games voted on by our entire team of writers (like we did for our Most Wanted Games of 2015 article), we've instead decided to feature each writer's individual top ten list. Because the pX crew is still relatively small and we all haven't yet had the opportunity to catch up on every one of the year's most important releases, we believe this is the ideal format to go with. Keep in mind that none of us are trying to say that the games on our lists are definitively the best on the market; we're just sharing our personal favourites will all of you fine folks. And because this is the season of sharing and exchanging gifts, we were hoping that you'd share your top ten lists with us and the other readers in the comments below. That's the kind of present that would surely make our holidays merry and bright.

With that, let's get to the good stuff.

Ken Barnes (@SuperKMx)

It's been a mixed year for gamers. The industry has undergone — and is still undergoing — some watershed moments, and some big titles have released in an unfinished state, which surely ruled them out of many top ten lists. Assassin's Creed Unity and Halo: The Master Chief Collection would have been a shoe-in for most people, were they working at launch. On the flipside, some titles have surprised this year. Nobody realistically expected Forza Horizon 2 to be as good as it eventually turned out to be on Xbox One, and some people will have forgotten titles like Titanfall, Rayman Legends, and Tomb Raider due to them being released earlier in the year. Even though some of the games in the top mix are remasters, they're still there on merit, despite the fact that people are becoming increasingly weary of the practice of re-releasing old content at a higher resolution.

1. Forza Horizon 2
2. Valiant Hearts: The Great War
3. Grand Theft Auto V
4. Geometry Wars 3: Dimensions
5. Rayman Legends
6. Titanfall
7. Sunset Overdrive
8. Wolfenstein: The New Order
9. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
10. Skylanders: Trap Team

Honorable Mention: D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die

D4 gets an honorable mention simply because it's the game that has stuck in the mind the most this year. It really is a solid and enjoyable game, and the art style is great. It doesn't beat out the rest of the games in my top ten in an overall sense, but it's definitely well worth the investment all the same. It'll stick with you, that's for sure.

Dave Letcavage (@DRL)

For me, this year was all about Sunset Overdrive. It’s been a long time since I played a mainstream game on a non-Nintendo console that seemed concerned with fun above all else, and boy was it refreshing. When I try to imagine the people at Insomniac Games sitting at their desks and working on Sunset, I picture them with massive smiles on their faces, laughing and making goofy sound effects almost as if to narrate the wackiness of whatever they’re working on. That’s the kind of vibe that the game gives off. It’s rebellious, over-the-top, often immature, and always exhilarating… and I love it. There have been plenty of other amazing games to release for Xbox consoles in 2014, but not one of them connected with me in the way that Sunset Overdrive has. Bravo, Insomniac. I hope the rest of the industry was paying very close attention.

1. Sunset Overdrive
2. Child of Light
3. Forza Horizon 2
4. 1001 Spikes
5. South Park: The Stick of Truth
6. Geometry Wars 3: Dimension
7. Chariot
8. Pinball FX2 (Guardians, Walking Dead, Venom)
9. Far Cry 4
10. Strider

Honorable Mention: Guacamelee: Super Turbo Championship Edition

Because there were so many great new games to release this year, I decided to keep remasters and updated editions off my top ten list. That's why Guacamelee: STCE is featured as an honorable mention. I like the original version of Guacamelee quite a bit, but I felt it was about two-three hours too short and lacked...something. In comes STCE, which added two new areas, more abilities, and additional secrets. STCE isn't just one of my favourite games of the year, it's on my list of all-time favourites. I played through it four times during the month it released... I've never done that with any game ever.

Anthony Bacchus (@Anthinator)

When I look back at all of the Xbox games released in 2014, I can’t say there was a specific title that completely “wowed” me. On the other hand, it was still a year chock full of amazing and memorable experiences. Choosing my top ten proved much harder than I first thought, but there was one game that remained firmly at number one — Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. With its polished and addictive combat, gorgeous visuals and wickedly inventive Nemesis system, Shadow of Mordor was the most fun I had in a game all year long.

1. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
2. Sunset Overdrive
3. South Park: The Stick of Truth
4. Child of Light
5. Forza Horizon 2
6. The Wolf Among Us
7. Halo: The Master Chief Collection
8. Outlast
9. Titanfall
10. The Evil Within

Honorable Mention: Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition

Even though it's a remaster of a game that released in 2013, the Xbox One version of Tomb Raider is one of the finest action games one can play on the system. I consider it to be a must-play experience for those that missed out last-gen, and with the upcoming Rise of the Tomb Raider shaking things up next year, now would be an excellent time to check out Lara’s last adventure.

Wayne Davies (@WayneDavies89)

2014 has been an interesting year indeed, filled with plenty of new titles for a new generation. On reflection, the Fall lineup was a bit of a disaster, with Assassin's Creed Unity having performance problems and Halo: The Master Chief Collection being virtually unplayable online. So for me, this year mostly goes to the new IP, such as Shadow of Mordor, Destiny and Alien: Isolation, all games that have been able to stand their ground against established franchises. Leading the pack, though, is Valiant Hearts: The Great War, a game that I couldn't put down once I started it and had me in tears by the end.

1. Valiant Hearts: The Great War
2. Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor
3. LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham
4. Destiny
5. South Park: The Stick of Truth
6. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
7. Defense Grid 2
8. Alien: Isolation
9. Assassin's Creed: Rogue
10. Titanfall

Honorable Mention: Grand Theft Auto V

GTA V is a fantastic game, but for me it's a 2013 title simply because that's when I played it. The release on current-gen systems was inevitable, but the addition of the first-person view added a new visual dynamic to the title that got me to play it once again, and for that it gets the honorable mention.

Josephine Johnson (@MegaKILLScreen)

After a slow start, it's been one hell of a year in terms of releases, with some incredibly strong titles hitting both Xbox 360 and Xbox one. This year I made the leap to all digital and I know I'll never go back to physical games, as I find I am buying and playing more games than ever before now they are all easily accessed from one menu. There are games on my list that made me cry, a few that made me laugh and at least one that took over my life for more than a little while.

1. Valiant Hearts: The Great War
2. Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition
3. Far Cry 4
4. Plants Vs Zombies: Garden Warfare
5. South Park: The Stick of Truth
6. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
7. Tropico 5
8. Terraria
9. Child of Light
10. Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition

Honorable Mention: Tales from the Borderlands

Telltale Games have a history of releasing fantastic story driven, emotionally moving and well written adventure titles, and Tales from the Borderlands does not disappoint in any of these categories. The art-style matched the original series beautifully and the writing is witty, clever and in line with what we've come to expect from Borderlands. The first episode surpassed all my expectations, but it doesn't make the list as it's only the first part of a much larger story - I'll keep this one in mind for next year.

Justin Gieni (@Headestroyer4)

This surely has been one heck of a great first year for the Xbox One, and all of my game of the year submissions are from that console. As a shooter fan, it all started with Titanfall — what a fresh experience that was! Destiny then followed and re-defined what social gaming was/could be on a console. And when Halo: MCC came into the picture, that's the point that I — as a huge FPS fan — was truly satisfied. In a very particular order, here are my top ten games of the year:

1. Halo: The Master Chief Collection
2. Destiny
3. Titanfall
4. Alien: Isolation
5. Sunset Overdrive
6. Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
7. Watchdogs
8. Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare
9. Kinect Sports: Rivals
10. Pinball FX 2

Honorable mention: Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series

My honorable mention goes out to Telltale's efforts on Xbox One, with the new Game Of Thrones series as my main contender. Since there is only one episode of it out thus far, I wouldn't feel right including it on my main list. But even though it's only one chapter in, it's my personal favorite of all Telltale's games, and so it definitely needs mentioning.

Tyler Treese (@TylerTreese)

While the beginning of 2014 started off slow and gave me a ton of time to work on my backlog, the back-end was stacked with new releases. Sadly, I didn't get a chance to play games like Shadow of Mordor, Far Cry 4 and Sunset Overdrive, so they are absent from my list. I did get to play a bunch of great games including The Wolf Among Us which really captured my heart. With its combination of a wonderful world and a murder mystery, Telltale's latest had me on the edge of my seat throughout its five episodes!

1. The Wolf Among Us
2. Titanfall
3. Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
4. Wolfenstein: The New Order
5. D4: Dark Dreams Don't Die
6. Super Time Force
7. South Park: The Stick of Truth
8. Trials Fusion
9. Divekick: Addition Edition +
10. Forza Horizon 2

Honorable Mention: Fantasia: Music Evolved

Who knew that hand dancing could be so fun? Harmonix has crafted a game that uses Kinect in a fun way which should be commended. The Xbox One needs more titles like Fantasia: Music Evolved and Access Games' D4 or Kinect will once again have been a waste of R&D resources for Microsoft.