<\/div>This was a charming little surprise. Originally I played this to hold me over until No Man’s Sky came out. Then I came back to it for comfort after No Man’s Sky disappointed.<\/p>\n
The Game Terraria asks, “What if Minecraft, but 2D?”<\/p>\n
Starbound asks, “What if Terraria, but No Man’s Sky?” <\/p>\n
(This was before No Man’s Sky came out, mind you. So we were comparing it to the imaginary pre-release NMS we were hoping for, not the buggy post-release frustration engine.)<\/p>\n
In Starbound you get a little spaceship and you can hop from one procedurally generated 2D world to the next. Dig down, get resources, and use those to upgrade your ship to go to more dangerous places with better resources. There are more planets and stars than one person could ever visit. Even better, the galaxy is shared across all of your characters. So if you like you can construct a single base that all of your characters can visit.<\/p>\n
Eventually you get swept up in a plot to save the galaxy from some Sephiroth-looking doofus. I played through it for the sake of checking things off my to-do list, but none of it connected with me. For me the charm was in the exploration, upgrades, and creative building. <\/p>\n
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4. Doom<\/h3>\n
<\/div>The original Doom was about strafing and mouse-aiming. If you blindly tried to copy that, you’d end up with something that feels clunky on a modern console setup.<\/p>\n
The last time they tried to modernize Doom they did so by changing genres, turning this game of chaotic violence and massive crowds into a game of quasi-horror peek-a-boo with one or two enemies at a time. I still maintain that Doom3<\/sup> was an okay game. (Notwithstanding the monster closets.) But the point stands that it didn’t really feel like Doom. <\/p>\n But the Doom reboot figured out how to take the mobility and empowerment of the original and recreate it using new mechanics. And it worked. On top of this, they managed to make a story that didn’t waste your time and was occasionally worth a chuckle.<\/p>\n This game played controversy for profundity<\/a> and the result was shallow and irritating. The black-and-white morality undercut the usual shades of grey you expect from cyberpunk and ran directly counter to the tone of conspiracy and paranoia this franchise was originally built on.<\/p>\n All of that is a shame, but it doesn’t change the fact that under the clumsy allegory and heavy-handed moralizing is a solid game. The characters are genuine, if a bit safe. The scenery is spectacular. The gunplay and stealth are solid. The upgrade path is more varied and interesting than last time around. <\/p>\n The fact that it fell short of greatness shouldn’t overshadow the fact that it was pretty darn good. <\/p>\n Having said that, I get the sense that this game is a bit of a bottle rocket: A temporary bright flash, quickly forgotten. I really liked Tomb Raider in 2013, but it hasn’t aged well for me. I looked back on my 2013 write-up<\/a> and was surprised to see I’d given the game the #2 spot. Some of my other 2013 picks included Saints Row IV, Don’t Starve, and Kerbal Space Program. I’ve returned to those games since then and continued to enjoy them. But the charm of Tomb Raider faded quickly and I have no desire to play it again. <\/p>\n I’m curious if the same will happen to Deus Ex: Mankind Divided<\/em>. I’m writing this question for my own benefit as much as yours. I know I’ll read this at the end of 2017, and I’m curious if I’ll experience the same bottle rocket effect. The gameplay is fun, but the characters have no emotional punch and the story has nothing to say.<\/p>\n I am on the record as hating<\/strong> Hitman: Absolution<\/a>, the previous game in this franchise. If I were to make a “most hated games list”, Absolution would certainly be on it. It’s bad enough to make a terrible game, but it’s worse still to make a terrible game out of one that used to be excellentEr. Not all the time. But when Hitman is good it’s a kind of good you can’t get anywhere else.<\/span> and unique. And it’s unforgivable to take an interesting game and turn it into a boring linear mess in order to tell a shockingly idiotic story that nobody asked for. And now I’m angry again. Dangit.<\/p>\n3. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided<\/h3>\n
<\/div>2. Hitman<\/h3>\n
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