>>> BENJAMIN BETAUX
>> OPTIMISTIC FREELANCE
It's now been four months since I joined the team as a part-time freelancer and I have to say that I haven't seen the time pass. The outings were numerous and it was with pleasure that I was able to chain the tests, with good and less good. The year 2016 is coming to an end, with a taste of unfinished business. 2016 should have been the year of virtual reality, but it was ultimately only a small event and it will probably take another one to two years before VR really takes off. Between the lack of AAA titles and the exorbitant price of certain games, it is difficult to convince the most skeptical. Fortunately, Sony has still managed to pull out of the game and the arrival of blockbusters such as Resident Evil VII should give a serious boost to virtual reality. In terms of games, this year will have been the year of ghosts with the release of the Arles Final Fantasy XV and The Last Guardian, which are among the must-haves of the Christmas holidays, without being the real surprises of this year. On the other hand, I would like to highlight the good year of Ubisoft, which took advantage of 2016 to launch StEEP and The Division, two new licenses that are good for the video game landscape, while proving to third-party publishers that it is still possible to succeed with new IPs. In any case, 2016 is ending in the best of ways and we can already expect a lot from 2017 with the releases of Horizon: Zero Dawn and GOD OF WAR on PS4, but also the return of Dawn of War 3 as well than that of Crash Bandicoot, 20 years after its arrival on the Sony console. At Microsoft, I'm looking forward to hearing more about the Scorpio, as is Nintendo, which is going to play very, very big with the release of the Nintendo Switch next March.
1 - UNCHARTED : A THIEF'S END (PS4)
It's hard not to place Uncharted 4: A Thief's End in my Top of 2016. Last part of the adventures of Nathan Drake, Uncharted 4 closes the saga with a master's hand and gives us a thrilling story. The game can rely on breathtaking graphics that offer us sumptuous landscapes, worthy of a postcard. Of course, Uncharted 4 will also have benefited from Naughty Dog's writing work on The Last of Us, offering us a more elaborate scenario with ever more impressive cutscenes, both in the staging and in the modeling of the faces. The single-player content offers long hours of gameplay punctuated by epic scenes that take the player to the guts and are worthy of big Hollywood productions. Without a doubt, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End is my big favorite of this year and it is with a heavy heart that I let the end credits scroll. Fortunately, the stand alone "The Lost Legacy" will allow you to dive back into the Uncharted universe one last time. On the other hand, if they could activate to fix a release date for the film, it would really not be refused.
2 - TITANFALL 2 (PS4 / XBOX ONE)
Despite the fierce competition between Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Titanfall 2 is doing well this year. After a first episode quickly shunned by the players, Respawn Entertainment has learned the lesson to serve us a very complete second episode. Starting with the arrival of the single player mode, which finally allows you to lay the foundations of the game universe, while serving as a perfect training before tackling the multiplayer games. With its nervous gameplay and its ultra-fast movements, Titanfall 2 imposes itself in my eyes as the reference FPS of this year. A subjective opinion of course, but the announcement of additional free content by the developers only reinforces my crush on him. Simply, it is a pity that Electronic Arts has chosen to release the game at the same time as Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, since Titanfall 2 will not have had the success it deserves. A somewhat incomprehensible choice when the game has all the qualities to be a hit.
3 - UNTIL DAWN : RUSH OF BLOOD (PS4)
Despite my little disappointment with virtual reality, we must admit that Until Dawn: Rush of Blood is one of those games you absolutely have to have when you get the headset. This rail shooter takes place in the universe of the slasher Until Dawn, released in 2015 on PS4, and appears to be one of the best experiences on PlayStation VR. Once the helmet is screwed on the head, we dive directly into the ghost train atmosphere of the title and the jump scares quickly take effect. The grip is very pleasant when playing with the PlayStation Move, even if the controller can also do the trick without problem. Visually, the game suffers a little because of a very present aliasing but with a good headset, the immersion is there. We regret that the game is so short (four hours maximum) but its low price of €20 makes it one of the most enjoyable experiences that can be found on PlayStation VR, without spending all your money. Quite frankly, if I have to recommend a game to test to convince yourself of the potential of VR on console, it's Until Dawn: Rush of Blood, especially with friends who haven't had the opportunity to test virtual reality before.
4 - SUPER HOT (PC)
If I had to choose a game that stands out thanks to its originality, it would be SuperHOT. The FPS developed by the Superhot Team is distinguished first by its minimalist approach to the genre. While most FPS focus on the importance of detail, SuperHOT relies on minimalism, since the game boils down to entirely white backgrounds and orange enemies. But if SuperHOT manages to pull out of the game, it's mainly because the game mixes FPS with Puzzle Game. Therefore, the exchange of fire takes on a whole new dimension and it is necessary to multiply the calculations to anticipate the trajectories of the bullets while paying attention to the number of ammunition that his character has left. Some passages give cold sweats and the tension often reaches its maximum when we stop time to realize that a rain of bullets is about to fall on us. In addition, the title has recently benefited from VR compatibility on the OCulus Rift, which should give a whole new dimension to the game.
5 --FURI (PS4)
Last game of this Top: FURI made me drool, but it's been a long time since I've had so much satisfaction finishing off a boss. The Game Bakers title is one of those games that can drive more than one player crazy. Yet, despite the frustration, we always end up coming back to it. Just for its universe and its visual style directly inspired by Japanese games, FURI hooked me from the first seconds and the electro soundtrack finished convincing me. The game turns out to be difficult but once you get to grips with the counter system, the fighting immediately becomes more intense. We do dodges to go and place assassin counters. Each boss offers its share of sensations and the patterns of some of them are particularly complex. To come back to the music, FURI had really sent heavy with well-known artists of the electronic scene, such as The Toxic Avenger or Waveshaper. The French studio really didn't do things by halves since the music was composed exclusively for the title.
COUP DE MUEULE
It's not really a rant but I want to come back to the prices of virtual reality games. Some of them display prices similar to classic AAA games, without offering such substantial content. Of course, the technology is still in its infancy and it will take some time to find effective gameplay mechanics, but many games are more like experiences that don't always offer true replayability. So, paying a lot for games that you don't play again afterwards, I find it quite abused. Especially since the technology still has to prove itself and for that, consumers must be motivated to invest. For now, that's not quite it and I really hope that publishers will quickly review their strategies in order to give the boost that VR needs to establish itself as the expected revolution.
