[Question] The Gamingforce Game of the Year 2016: Now with microtransations - voting edition

Thumper - 40 Points



No words, no backstory, no bullshit. You're thrown onto a space rail at blistering speed and promptly begin to Thump for your life as the game introduces the basics with short, deeply immersive tutorial segments. Thump. Bank to survive corners. Slide through obstacles, hover above deadly traps, and more as you complete the first few levels.

Words cannot do justice to the intensity of Thumper's gameplay. The visual/audio design is fabulous and will immediately make you feel its trademark "rhythm violence". The adrenaline really builds up as the segments get longer, faster and more twisty. And oh my god, the MUSIC. It just fits perfectly within this brutally psychedelic universe.

Hardcore. With its ever-increasing speed and rhytmic complexity, Thumper gets hardcore real quick, or surely feels that way. But never the wrong kind, the punishng, the restart-your-entire-level hardcore (unless you choose the Play+ mode). As challenging as they become, the segments are never unreasonably long and you get a checkpoint at the end of each one, with as many retries as you need. Thumper is perfectly possible to enjoy on a casual level, although the Leaderboards will make you cry a little inside. Yet the subtle scoring mechanisms may well make you feel like the levels you've already beaten have a bit more potential and depth than you thought... and nudge you into inflicting some of that rhytmic violence upon yourself again.

Thump, get thumped. Play Thumper.



Furi - 20 Points



Final Boss Simulator 2016.



Deadbolt - 20 Points



As the most stylish hitman ever - the Grim Reaper himself - you are sent on a series of missions to terminate various kinds of undead beings for a mysterious employer.

Deadbolt could be described as a 2D action/stealth/puzzle game. Each stage consists of a more or less complex area to infiltrate, guarded by a number of enemies. As the difficulty increases, so do your options: a wide array of weapons becomes available as you progress, in addition to those you might find during the missions.

As one hit instantly kills you, balance and level design were always going to be critical. Fear not, Deadbolt is absolutely brilliant in both respects. The tight balance leaves little room for error, but most levels are short enough that you won't mind redoing them until you've figured out how you want to go about them. Then you'll experience the deep satisfaction of a well thought-out and precisely executed plan, clearing the stage like clockwork... or dying to a minor detail that you overlooked. The gameplay is full of clever ideas, of things you can do (enter a vent, switch off the lights, knock a door to distract your foes, etc.) to approach each mission in a number of subtleicious ways.

Thankfully, the visual and audio design is on point. The "film noir" atmosphere is simply awesome, not the least thanks to yet another memorable soundtrack from Chris Christodoulou. As for the visuals, this may well be the most stylish pixel art I've seen in a video game. Everything fits so well within the setting, from the vampires in tuxedos and elegant dresses to the blood splattering the walls.

In conclusion, the makers of the outstanding Risk of Rain have pulled another jewel out of their bag - very diffferent, but somewhat more polished and still unmistakbly theirs. Deadbolt's campaign will last you a solid 10 hours, and these alone are well worth the price tag - but then you can set about completing Hard mode, earning a five-star ranking on every mission or even create your own content with the level editor, as well as exploring the hundreds of custom levels already available on the Steam Workshop. Spread the word about this relatively obscure gem!



Dying Light: The Following (DLC) - 10 Points



If you're willing to excuse some rather uneven writing, the base game of Dying Light was excellent. Released early in 2016, The Following is also an excellent add-on, way closer in spirit to classic expansion packs than modern-day DLC.

Techland made a brave move in The Following by giving a much lesser importance to a universally lauded element of the base game: the parkour. You no longer get to climb buildings, zip line down from antenna towers or hop from roof to roof in Harran's countryside, at least not as much. But you get a nice twist in exchange: vehicular manslaughter. YUP.

The buggy is a much-welcome addition to travel the distances of the huge new area. It is also very nicely implemented. Driving is never a hassle, crafting/buying buggy parts is just as simple as repairing and refueling, plus you get to customize your ride with some pretty sweet murder devices. If parkour defined Dying Light, then the buggy does likewise with The Following - and successfully.

There is plenty to do as well in the new area, and even though the writing still has its flaws, I thought the story was somewhat more compelling than the main game's - except for the god-awful ending(s). The idea of building up trust levels as you help people and complete quests was interesting. Plus there were far fewer lazy corridor-FPS sequences.

If you liked Dying Light, this really is a nice addition. If you haven't played it yet, the base game now comes bundled with the DLC and this is frankly one of the best recent takes on the open world zombie apocalypse genre.



Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - 10 Points



Eidos Montreal's hugely anticipated sequel to Human Revolution was met with mixed reactions. I hate to say it, but a lot of the criticism had a fair basis.
1. The game is short, feels like half the scope of DX:HR.
2. The final mission is underwhelming, and the ending gives you so little closure that you effectively feel like you've only played half a game that promised so much more.
3. Story DLC was announced at release, confirming that Squenix intended to make you pay again - several times - for the other half.
4. Jensen's new augmentations look promising, but you can't use them without a rather clumsy overclocking mechanism for 75% of the campaign, and realise they are anything but critical to completing the other 25%.

Yet.

Yet I'd be dishonest if I claimed I didn't enjoy this new installment in the series. If I said the story wasn't compelling, if I claimed the atmosphere wasn't powerful, if I pretended the themes were not thought-provoking. Sure, the resonance with modern issues such as racism, segregation and terrorism feels naive or simplistic at times. Yet the picture can be strikingly convincing at others.

More importantly, I had a good helping of classic Deus Ex fun while navigating, exploring and infiltrating the multiplee layers of DX:MD's recreation of Prague. My cyberpunk itch was massively triggered by the exploration of Utulek and the subsequent infiltration sequence, which is up there among my best memories in the series. And even though I was ultimately let down by the ending, this only emphasizes how deeply I had been into the game up until that point.

I would still recommend it to DX enthusiasts, although maybe not full price, and certainly not with season pass or any DLC. There isn't even that much extra content released or announced yet, so better take MD for what it is: a very solid half game. Maybe 70% of a game. Episode 1 or something. Episode 2 might suck, be a ripoff or just never materialize, but 1 is solid.



Honourable Mentions


2016 releases yet to play or barely touched, but very eager:
ABZU
Clustertruck
Don't Starve Together
DOOM
Duskers
Firewatch
Hyper Light Drifter
Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
Owlboy
Oxenfree
Samorost 3
Shadow Tactics
Shantae: Half-Genie Hero

Anterior releases deeply enjoyed in 2016:
Axiom Verge
Dying Light
Endless Legend
Geometry Dash
LYNE
Nuclear Throne
One Finger Death Punch
Rogue Legacy
Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
Super Hexagon

Jam it back in, in the dark.