Fallout 4 (with mods)
Brad: Yeah, the inventory’s still janky. Yeah, the voice and dialogue changes suck. Yeah, the loot system is a step back, and the settlement building is unintuitive. But dammit, Fallout 4 ’s core exploration/gunplay loop is just so damned addicting I can’t put it down. This isn’t the game hardcore Fallout fans were hoping for—it’s even difficult to call it an RPG, as the whiny-voiced main character never felt like my own—but Fallout 4 is still a fun, expansive game that you can (mostly) happily sink entire days of your life into.
Hayden: Bethesda’s version of Fallout 4 wouldn’t make my game of the year list. But then someone pointed me toward the Atom Bomb Baby mod, which lets you replace your mini-nuke stash with exploding babies. Now the game gets to be on this list.
In all seriousness, this is why we play PC games. It’s not that Fallout 4 is bad, per se, but it’s infinitely better when the community’s fixed its weird dialogue system, the janky menus, and other Bethesda-style quirks.
Game of the year: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Brad: No other game nails epic quite like Witcher 3, from witnessing a glorious, thousand-colored sunset settling over Velen to dueling a basilisk atop a ruined tower as local lords cower. But perhaps more impressive is how intensely personal Geralt’s story is, despite being set in a world ravaged by war and magic. It masterfully coaxes you into caring about everybody you meet—even characters in one-off scenes.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The game’s combat is deep and nuanced (though it gets easier as you level up). No quest, no matter how minor, feels superfluous. The world feels amazingly alive; simply watching deer scatter while you gallop through swaying forests on horseback takes your breath away. And chopping down royal griffons, swooping wyverns, and ancient vampires after carefully researching their weaknesses to enter battle with the perfect blend of bombs and potions makes you feel just plain badass.
Deus Ex has long held the honor of being my favorite game of all time, with no true contenders to the throne since it launched in 2000. In 2015, Geralt of Rivia seized the crown. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is the best game I’ve ever played.
Honorable mention: Grand Theft Auto V (with mods)
Hayden: It took almost two years for Grand Theft Auto V to finally make it over to PC, but it was worth the wait. Why? Mostly because of mods.
As fun as it is, I don’t really care to replay the original game. I played it once on the Xbox 360 and once was enough. But mods have brought us this amazing GTA V version of the Teletubbies theme; and Full House; a gun that shoots cars; whales falling out of the sky; everyone (including seagulls) breathing fire; Half-Life 2’s Gravity Gun; Iron Man; and a million other things.
These tweaks breathe exhilarating new life into GTAV—and you’ll never be able to use them on the PlayStation or Xbox versions of the game. Mods are one of the things that make PC gaming so great.
Honorable mention: Dying Light
Brad: As a whole, zombie slugfest Dying Light really doesn’t really hang with the top games of the year. The story missions are snooze-fests that all too often devolve into simple, overly long fetch quests, and the main character’s voice acting is atrocious. (He always sounds so bored.)
But! Some of my favorite gaming moments of 2015 came from Dying Light because the core gameplay just feels so damn good. Free-running up and over the zombie hordes in this massive, open city is satisfyingly fluid, and smacking zombies around with melee weapons feels physical and brutal—as it should. Every corner of the map is brimming with hidden blueprints for over-the-top weapons and hilarious easter eggs (like this Mario Bros. recreation). Even better, you can bring friends along for the ride, as Dying Light offers full four-player co-op.
Just forget the main story even exists after you’ve unlocked the basic abilities and a couple of safe houses. Grab a buddy or three, whip up some secret SiCK bombs that force zombies to fly off farting into the sunset, and then parkour out into the wilderness. Dying Light’s great once you stop worrying and learn to love the dumb.
http://www.pcworld.com/article/3015398/software/the-10-best-pc-games-of-2015.html