I love working with Gaming Access Weekly. It’s been about nine months, and the people I’ve met working here are some of the funniest folks I’ve ever met online. They’ve let me do more than just run the social channels a few days a week, too! When I expressed an interest in writing for the site, John let me dive in head first. And when he let me take part in the GAW Picks series, I was beyond excited to get to look back over the last seven years of games I’ve played!
Some of these choices were harder than others, that’s for sure! And to see what the rest of the staff at GAW had to say about each category, I’ve linked them in the heading for each section.
Choice: Horizon Zero Dawn
This was tough. Looking back at seven years’ worth of games? There were so many greats. Gears 5. Uncharted 4. Rise of the Tomb Raider. Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. Metro Exodus. I could go on. But, after drinking coffee and staring at my library for both my PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, there was only one choice.
Horizon Zero Dawn was a big jump for Guerrilla Games. If you look at their studio pedigree, you’ll see shooters. I mean, that’s not a bad thing. They’re the minds behind the Killzone series that began back in 2004, which has six games to its name across the PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation 3, and 4.
They could have made another shooter after Killzone Shadow Fall, but they didn’t. Instead, they threw out their playbook and revealed a new IP in 2015; the game we’d come to know as Horizon Zero Dawn. Shooter? Nah. Open world RPG? Heck yes. An open-world RPG with MECHANICAL DINOSAURS? HECK YES.
And new IP’s are always a risk. Will players dig the world? Will they love or hate your protagonist? Aloy, the main character of Horizon was voiced by Ashly Burch. (Tiny Tina, Chloe Price, the list goes on.) I loved everything about her, from the animation side to Ashly’s performance. Combined with the world of Horizon? Guerrilla upgraded their game engine, Decima, and to this day it’s still one of the prettiest games I’ve ever played. Not to mention it’s diverse. The three tribes that populate the map are all different; there’s no way you’re going to confuse them with one another. Combat was fun, and the weapons and traps you’d have in your arsenal were as varied as the NPC’s that populated the world.
The main story of Horizon is much like a mystery. Aloy was cast out from the Nora tribe at birth for not having a mother, and the main core of the game is discovering who she is and where she came from. At the same time, you’re also unraveling the mystery of why the machines came to be and why they’re still here. I absolutely enjoyed the story, loved Aloy, loved the beautiful and diverse world, and I’m ecstatic there’s going to be a sequel next year! Horizon Forbidden West, here I come!
Best Action-Adventure Game of the Generation
Choice: Rise of the Tomb Raider
I’ve always had fond memories of the Tomb Raider series. Games, and even the two Angelina Jolie movies. And the reboot in 2013? I drove through a North Dakota blizzard in a Dodge Stratus to pick up my Collector’s Edition for the Xbox 360. WORTH IT. This Lara was young. She wasn’t seasoned yet. And at that point in my life, I felt the same way.
In 2015, the sequel arrived. Rise of the Tomb Raider was incredible. I stayed up all night playing it, much to the chagrin of my husband. (He’s a Fallout 4 fan; they came out on the same day.) From the opening prologue and up to the final boss battle… I’m sitting here just staring at my computer screen trying to come up with the appropriate adjectives. (Just picture a big goofy smile.)
It’s also one of the best instances of showing the evolution of a character in my opinion. As I said above; in the first game of the reboot, Lara was very green. Then, she experienced the Hell that was Yamatai and its after-effects. Going through a major trauma like that changes a person, and writer Rhianna Pratchett dove into that head-on. You really see Lara’s thirst for adventure come through in Rise, and that change was supported by new gameplay mechanics. There were different types of collectibles to find, and you’d even learn new languages by discovering monoliths.
To this day, people on social media still are arguing about the validity of this version of Lara Croft. Clamoring for a remake of the OG games. Not going to lie, that would be cool. But pushing down this Lara at the expense of that? No. Some argue that she’s weaker and not as interesting. I’d argue the exact opposite, and that’s a major credit to Rhianna Pratchett and Camilla Luddington (Lara’s mo-cap and VO actress in the reboot series).
Shadow of the Tomb Raider was okay. You could tell a different studio developed it, but that’s fine. Now that Crystal Dynamics has shipped Marvel’s Avengers, I’m hoping in a couple of years we can come back and see this Lara again – not as the one solving mysteries, but protecting the mysteries of the world.
Choice: Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate
After the launch horror that was Assassin’s Creed Unity, I was about ready to swear off the Assassin’s Creed series. I hated Arno, and I was mad at Ubisoft for remarks about animating female characters.
The announcement trailer for Syndicate brought me back. I love London, and the Industrial Revolution is one of my favorite eras in World History. It’s one of the reasons I love the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies so much too. Jacob was the only Frye featured in the trailer, but a month later, one was released with Evie. TALK ABOUT BADASS. The game was was everything I wanted. Jacob was your typical “I’m going to punch things until I get my way,” but Evie was the exact opposite. She was smart, she was methodical, she was the TOTAL BRAINS OF THE OPERATION, and never got enough credit for it. Honestly, it would have been great if Jacob hadn’t been so bull-headed.
Gameplay-wise, some people found it stale, but I loved taking over London district by district. It made me think of inFamous: Second Son. (Which I almost wrote about.) Some people say it’s not an RPG. For me, it hit all the buttons to be called one. You level up, you craft things, you hunt for supplies to craft things, there’s loot for days, and you even recruit followers! (The whole gang mechanic was one of my favorite things in the game.) Did I mention loot for days? I was beyond impressed with the number of weapons I found in the game with all their different attributes. GOLD. The combat was fluid and awesome; I loved taking down guys as Evie.
Jacob was okay. But if I could have played the whole game as Evie, I would have.
(The Jack the Ripper DLC? I could go on even more. SO GOOD.)
In short, Aveline stood and Evie walked so Kassandra could run. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk!
Biggest Surprise of the Generation
Choice: Erica
Erica, from Flavourworks, was first announced in 2017 at Paris Games Week, and it was hardly seen after that until 2019 at Gamescom’s Opening Night Live. (And it dropped that same day on the PlayStation4.) It’s an FMV-based interactive mystery/thriller, and it was one of my favorite games of 2019.
Holly Earl anchors the game as Erica Mason, and the story revolves around a particularly gruesome moment from her childhood that comes back to haunt her as an adult. Make no mistake, she’s the star of the show here. From the start, she was able to weave Erica between innocent, distressed, and questioning without missing a beat, no matter the choices I made. As the game goes on, we learn more about Erica’s childhood and how it was spent, but it’s made clear that the occult has played a large role in her life. The game’s branching dialogs lead to some pretty interesting moments with events and characters, leading to a potentially fiery conclusion that most certainly made me want to replay it right away.
In this day and age of Michael Bay-sized AAA games, having a game like Erica come out was such a refreshing breath of fresh air. It’s nice to remember that even the $10 games from small teams can engage your mind and leave a mark on your memory.