Best of 2013

    As usual you see all these lists popping up everywhere about the best of last year. I don't know if the Core is interested in those but I'm interested in what the Core considers the best. So I made this thread and we'll see if it picks up. I'm going to keep it simple and name the best 3 games and movies I've played or seen last year. With a little text describing why of course. One little disclaimer and I know we all face this problem. I have lots of games, like The Last of Us, that still need to be played. So let's keep that in mind.


    Games:


    1. GTA 5


    As if there was ever any doubt. Each GTA has it's flaws and this one was no exception. For instance, using 3 main characters was great but I never felt the need to switch between them (during missions) unless the game told me so. I love Trevor but be that as it may, none of the characters were really relatable. It was just a bunch of guys doing messed up stuff without real consequences. The rag to riches story is getting old but I prefer Niko, Carl and Tommy's stories more than what we got now. But it's all minor criticism that melts away before the awesomeness that is GTA 5. Even if you don't like it, at the very least you must applaud the technical achievement that went into creating this game.


    2. Bioshock Infinite


    While not as fresh and innovative as the original it still was one hell of a ride. I absolutely loved the setting. It was a beautifully crafted world that was just begging you to explore every nook and cranny. The panorama's were amazing. I played it on the Xbox and sometimes I just let the game idle to enjoy the view. The story was great too, it took a hold of me from the start. Excellent pacing as well. I love how the first hour or so it's just you're walking around and all of a sudden an explosion of violence, in total contrast of what was going on, sets the entire thing in motion. Tarantino couldn't have done it better himself.


    3. Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm


    I've played a lot of RTS games but this one had the best mission design ever. There was never a dull moment and not a single mission was the same. I love how the game forced you out of your comfort zone and made you think outside the box. I did find it a bit easier as WoL but that also made it more enjoyable. I never expected to like the Zerg but it was fun to play with them. I know a lot of people don't like the story but I'm digging it so far. Both games connect well and the besides the corny romantic stuff, it's good enough to motivate you as a player. I'm looking forward to Legacy of the Void.


    Movies:


    1. Gravity


    Best cinematic experience ever. I watched it in Imax and I was blown away. I haven't seen such good use of 3D since Avatar. I appreciate the effort that went into making this as realistic as possible (as far as movies go). For instance, the scene where all goes to hell in background but you can't hear it since there's no sound in space. The tension was also killing me. Damn what a ride this movie was.


    2. Star Trek: Into Darkness


    I never liked Star Trek. It wasn't my thing. When the 2009 version came out I didn't go to see it. Later, a friend of mine kept pushing me to watch. He convinced me by saying he didn't like Star Trek either. Boy, was I in for a surprise. I loved it! Needless to say, I was waiting for this sequel especially after seeing a preview of the first 10 minutes in Imax. It did not disappoint me. One of the better Sci Fi movie in years.


    3. The Conjuring


    Well crafted, scripted and acted. An outstanding film and truly chilling. For me, it's a new classic in the genre which had a good year (Insidious 2, Evil Dead). James Wan has come a long way from his torture porn days. Can't wait to see with what he comes up next.

    Games:

    1 - Metro: Last Light -- hands down the best game this year, no competition.

    2 - Shadow Warrior -- great reboot that doesn't fall into the usual traps, but can get boring quickly.

    3 - Papers, Please -- cool concept and great, cold art direction.


    Music:

    1 - LowCityRain - LowCityRain -- great post-punk album by the mastermind behind Lantlôs.

    2 - Year of No Light - Tocsin -- these guys strike again with some absolutely heavy drone/sludge doom.

    3 - Chvrches - The Bones of What You Believe -- contagious synth-pop with really fucking catchy stuff, they're awesome live too!


    Movies:

    1 - Only God Forgives -- no words for that, but I can understand people who think it's abysmal.

    2 - Django Unchained -- well, that's a Tarantino movie. Nothing beats Death Proof but it's good, and Di Caprio is great.

    Games :


    1 - Far Cry 3 : Blood Dragon - Fuck it, awesome theme, awesome vibes, even if it's a pretty small campaign, all in all it's the most inovative game I've seen this year.


    2 - Tomb Raider 2013 - I never expected that from a Tomb Raider game, but I enjoyed every part of it, even if the art can seems pretty noisy at first it's a beautiful game with an ok story, great game.


    3 - Far Cry 3 - Woah, I had such a good time on it too, they learnt from the mistakes of FC2, and they came with a pretty solid game, that's sad they haven't worked much on the multiplayer, I had a lot of fun on the multiplayer of FC1


    EDIT : Fuck, FC3 as been released the 4 December


    I would have named Django myself but sadly it's from December 2012


    Keep it coming guys!

    Three games and three movies; it's too difficult...


    Games :

    1 : Rayman Legends -- This game is just Crazy

    2 : Call Of Juarez Gunslinger -- Best Arcade FPS of the year, excellent storytelling and good game mecanics

    3 : Papo y yo -- well, only game that made me cry this year + good puzzle game

    4 : Guacamelee -- Buenas mecánicas de juego y la narración desplazado

    5: Dota 2


    Movies

    1 : Gravity

    2 : Don Jon

    3 : Elysium

    4 : The wolf of Wall Street

    5 : The Hobbit 2

    I realise that my list is super boring/unimaginative, but if it's Top 3 then that's how it'll be


    Games:


    1. Grand Theft Auto V

    Though there's plenty of things that I wasn't that happy about in GTA V, namely the main characters and how much time was spent on them with little payback, and with Trevor being flatout poorly written, then it's still by far my favorite game of the year, and probably of the generation.


    I've spent countless hours just going around and exploring the environment, appreciating all the love that you can clearly see that artists have poured into it. The fact that it is by far the best "fuck with cops and get em' after you" playground that GTA has ever been, with the driving mechanics finally being fun again and the shooting being competent enough. Plus when the story missions are great, meaning the heists, then they're pretty damn awesome.


    And though a lot of people have written GTA Online off as a waste of time, then it's probably the star of the show for me. I've spent nearly 7 entire days on the online part alone it since it launched. It's probably the most fun I've had with the group of friends I'm playing with since Red Dead Redemption or Battlefield 2, mainly because it's just a great place to play around in and try crazy shit and see if it works. It almost also works as a glorified chatroom at times, with it just being a nice game to chill with while you sit around and chat.


    Plus the content creator has revitalised the multiplayer just when it was starting to lose steam, and I've probably spent a bit too much time creating races for this rather than, say, work on my portfolio


    Anyway, it just keeps on giving for me, now they just need to get that PS4/PC version out, that game deserves a higher resolution/frame rate.


    2. The Last of Us

    Possibly the single best story ever told in a video game. It's not that it's an incredibly original story, but the way it's told and executed just stands tall above pretty much everything else in gaming. Add to that what I actually think is some of the best stealth gameplay around and incredibly intense combat with amazing production values and you've got a modern classic. One of the aspects that I love the most about The Last of Us is how, like great action movies, laying some foundation for the characters and making you like them actually enhances how strong the action feels, though I'd love a TLoU where you had to kill 15 people throughout the game rather than hundreds. If it wasn't a year where a new GTA had been released, this would've easily taken the top spot for me.


    3. Bioshock Infinite

    An absolutely incredible world and story. Though I'll be honest that the core gameplay mostly felt like a means to an end, and though it did provide plenty of awesome fights, then it always took the very backseat to the story.


    Bioshock Infinite is probably the only game to date where upon completion I was still going around thinking about the ending for a solid week afterwards.


    Movies:


    1. Gravity

    Alfonso Cuaron showing everyone who's boss, again. Brilliant rollercoasters ride of a movie.


    2. The Hunt

    In the polar opposite end of Gravity. This is a danish movie about a male kindergarden teacher that gets wrongly accused for sexually abusing a girl, and how an entire community goes against him.


    3. The Worlds End

    Just a good dumb fun movie

    Quote from Mazy

    2. The Hunt

    In the polar opposite end of Gravity. This is a danish movie about a male kindergarden teacher that gets wrongly accused for sexually abusing a girl, and how an entire community goes against him.


    I saw a part of it while changing channels and it was very impressive. We had company and nobody could stop watching it. Conversation died out and we all watch it to the end. Too bad I missed the first part. Very powerful movie.

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