STACK January 2017 Issue 147

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Final Fantasy XV
An open-world Final Fantasy
unlike any of the titles that have
come before it, FFXV has been a
long time coming, and it’s certainly
been worth the wait. Embark on
the road trip of a lifetime with your
best mates.
The last
guardian
If you loved The
Last Airbender
(the anime, none
of that live-action
adaptation rubbish),
then The Last Guard
is the game for you. We waited
so long to get our hands on
this adorable tale, and as we’ve
matured, so has the game.
PokÉmon
sun/moon
Another year, another
Pokémon game
and Moon impr
n almost every
the battling, Gy
em, and of cours
mon count, wit
800 of the critte
ture. Good luck.
lets you play through a number
of different missions at your own
pace.
Dishonored 2
Dishonored 2 is a worthy
sequel to its Game of the Year
predecessor, giving you more
choice by adding Emily as a
playable character
and encouraging
stealthier appro
Of course, we s
played through a
Corvo and mass
everyone.
Forza Horizon 3
A racing game set in our own
backyard? You beaut! Forza Horizon
3 is a beautifully constructed
game, full of enough challenges,
races, and barn finds to keep you
cruising for as long or as little as
you want. A real car lover’s affair.
Although short and sweet,
Titanfall 2 had one of the most
underappreciated and compelling
campaigns of 2016. Respawn’s
sequel to their multiplayer-only
2014 original title is a must-play for
any FPS fan.
Doom
The formula for the 1993 game
combined with 2016’s breathtaking
gameplay and visuals makes
for a fast-paced, danger-loaded
experience from id Software. Fight
like hell in one of the most gory
campaigns of 2016.
Overwatch (Pictured top)
Blizzard Entertainment, the
guys that brought us MMORPG
World of Warcraft , tried their hand
at a first-person shooter. If you’re
thinking military, you’re dead
wrong. It’s colourful, with a diverse
character roster, and it’s a bundle
of fun.
Battlefield 1
Whereas some developers
looked to the future for their first-
person shooters, EA and DICE
decided it was time to go back
to World War I – and it paid off.
A wonderful reenactment that
visit
46 JANUARY 2017
GAMES
FEATURE
Uncharted 4:
AThief’s End
Having worked on Uncharted for ten y
developer Naughty Dog decided it was ti
move on from the excellent franchise, de
that A Thief's End would be the last gam
in the series. A Thief's End is high advent
incorporating shooting, puzzle solving an
of the best writing you can expect to find
video game. This is in part due to the app
of The Last of Us writers Neil Druckmann
Straley, who were brought on board to dir
the departure of longtime franchise scrib
is a well paced, character-driven narrative
mythology and cinema with video games in a rambunctious bout
of cavaliering. There are twists and turns at every corner, keeping
the gamer invested in the characters and events right up to the
bombastic conclusion. If you don't own a PS4, this game is a
legitimate reason for buying one.
GAMEof the
YEAR
Best
games
of 2016
2016 was a progressive year in the
games industry.
At E3 in June last year, both Sony and Microsoft pulled the
covers off new hardware – are the days of the seven-year
console cycle gone for good? We saw Xbox emerge as a
home entertainment hub, with the new Xbox One S offering
4K Blu-ray playback, and the hardware blossoming as a true
competitor to PlayStation. Sony, on the other hand, introduced
VR to consoles and hit 50 million PlayStation 4 consoles sold –
that's the original PS4, the newer, slimmer model, and the PS4
Pro combined. To put that in perspective, that’s more than two
consoles per person living in Australia.
Of course we had plenty of great games in 2016 too. Here are
our picks of the year.