In a year that saw Hideo Kojima leave Konami, China lifting its console ban and Sony up the marketing hype for PlayStation VR’s anticipated 2016 launch, PS4 owners will remember 2015 most fondly for some of the great games they enjoyed over the last 12 months.
In the most hotly contested vote by our readers, the coveted award for Game of The Year changed hands on numerous occasions and was fought out between Bloodborne, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain and Fallout 4. In the end though, after numerous recounts, we can reveal that Bethesda’s Fallout 4 not only impressed reviewers, but was deemed to be a worthy winner of The Game of the Year 2015.
Winner: Best Game of the Year – Fallout 4
With hours upon hours of exploration based gameplay across a stunningly detailed post apocalyptic landscape, in-depth role playing options from within the pip-boy and its creation tools, and riveting combat doused in a hefty dollop of freedom, Fallout 4 has it all. From its thought-provoking storyline and wealth of interesting characters to the search for every inch of scrap that you can find to craft items, the world is yours to create your own narrative threads; a place that never fails to surprise and manages to keep you totally immersed.
To create a true open world requires skill and an attention to detail in the little things that other developers miss. Fallout 4 encourages you to explore every nook and cranny such is its allure, and before you know it you’ve spent 10 hours building a settlement, looting a hospital for every piece of scrap you can find, or dabbling with the pipboy to create the ultimate loadout. Fallout 4 may be the biggest and most ambitious game Bethesda has ever made, but the fruits of its labour will continue to be enjoyed by the masses for many, many months to come. We hope that’s reward enough for the hard work the team has put into creating The Game of The Year 2015.
Runner-up – The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
It was right down to the wire with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt narrowly beaten for Game of the Year 2015 by Fallout 4. CD Projekt Red’s RPG masterpiece boasts a game world 35 times bigger than the Witcher 2. It’s a masterclass in open-world game design, packing every pixel of its gorgeous world with compelling fiction and believable, satisfying role-playing.