2014 was a big year for the video game industry, let’s take a look back on some of the best games of this year

15. Infamous Second Son – An open world, action-adventure video game released on March 21, 2014 only for the PlayStation 4. The game was developed by Sucker Punch Productions and published by Sony Computer Entertainment.

Players control the main character Delsin Rowe from a third-person perspective and freely roam Seattle. Delsin is a Conduit, which allows him to use superpower abilities by manipulating materials such as smoke, neon, video, and concrete. These materials can be weaponized or used to deftly navigate the game world. Delsin earns new powers as he progresses through the story, which sees him fight against the Department of Unified Protection (D.U.P.) during missions.

14. Wolfenstein: The New Order –  An action-adventure first-person shooter video game developed by MachineGames and published by Bethesda Softworks. It was released on May 20, 2014 for the Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Windows.

Set in alternative history 1960’s Europe in a world where the Nazis won the Second World War, the story follows war veteran William “B.J.” Blazkowicz and his efforts to stop the Nazis rule over the world.

13. World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor – The fifth expansion to the massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) World of Warcraft. The expansion released for PC on November 13, 2014 at exactly midnight.

The expansion is set after the events of Mists of Pandaria and takes place in an alternate universe on the world of Draenor. The expansion allows players to level up to 100 from the previous cap of 90. It also includes new dungeons and raids, and introduced a new difficulty of raids called Mythic, which became the hardest version of the raid system. Players are able to build and upgrade their own garrison, a personal area in which they can recruit non-player characters ( NPC’s) to carry out missions to earn them items.

12. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare – A first-person shooter video game developed by Sledgehammer Games and published by Activision. It was released on November 4, 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.

Set in 2054, Private Jack Mitchell of the US Marine Corps participates in a battle in Seoul, North Korea. In the midst of battle, Mitchell’s left arm is severed, forcing him to discharge from the military. After attending a funeral service of his fallen comrades, Mitchell is offered to join the Atlas Corporation, the world’s most powerful private military contractor.

11. Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze –  A 2014 side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the Wii U. The game was released in Japan on February 13, 2014, in North America and Europe on February 21, 2014 The fifth installment in the main Donkey Kong Country series, and the first in high-definition

Donkey Kong and his loyal sidekicks are celebrating his birthday. Out of nowhere, a snowflake randomly blows in the wind and extinguishes his birthday candle. The group looks into the distance and spots a group of Snowmads making their way on ships towards Donkey Kong Island. The leader of the Snowmads unleashes a fierce, icy gust of wind, and blows the Kongs off to a much farther island location. Now, Donkey Kong and his crew are forced to make their way back home and get rid of the tropical freeze on Donkey Kong Island.

10. South Park: The Stick of Truth – A 2014 role-playing game developed by Obsidian Entertainment in collaboration with South Park Digital Studios and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Microsoft Windows.

Based on the animated television series South Park, The Stick of Truth follows The New Kid, who has moved to town and becomes involved in a role-play fantasy war involving humans, wizards, and elves, who are fighting for control of the all-powerful Stick of Truth. Their game quickly escalates out of control, bringing them into conflict with aliens, Nazi zombies, and gnomes, threatening the entire town with destruction.

9. Sunset Overdrive – An open world third-person shooter video game developed by Insomniac Games and published by Microsoft Studios exclusively for the Xbox One.

Set in 2027, in the fictional open world metropolis called Sunset City, players control a FizzCo employee who fights humans that have been transformed into mutants after consuming an energy drink known as the “OD”. Players wall-run, use zip-lines, and grind rails to swiftly navigate through Sunset City, and have a large weapon arsenal to use in action.

8. Watch Dogs – An open world action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It was released  on May 27, 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and the Wii U.

Set within Chicago, Illinois, the single-player story follows a hacker and his efforts to seek revenge after the accidental death of his niece. The game is played from a third-person perspective and its world is navigated on-foot or by vehicle. Players control Aiden Pearce, a highly skilled grey hat hacker who can hack into the “ctOS”, a centralized operating system which manages the hyper-connected city of Chicago.

7. Bayonetta 2 – An action hack-and-slash video game developed by Platinum Games and published by Nintendo for the Wii U, with Sega as the franchise owners serving as its adviser. The game was released September 20, 2014. It is the direct sequel to the 2009 game, Bayonetta, and was directed by Yusuke Hashimoto and produced by Atsushi Inaba as well as Hitoshi Yamagami from Nintendo.

Bayonetta 2 carries on the action-style gameplay of its predecessor, in which players control the eponymous Bayonetta as she fights against various angelic and demonic forces using combinations of melee attacks and gunplay. A large array of weapons can be equipped, including the character’s signature guns, a bow, swords and other forms of projectile weapons.

6. Alien: Isolation – A first-person action-adventure stealth game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega on October 7, 2014 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One platforms. It was directed by Alistair Hope and produced by Jonathan Court and Oli Smith.

Part of the Alien series, the game is set in 2137. The game follows Amanda, who is investigating the disappearance of her mother Ellen Ripley. Amanda is transferred to the space station Sevastopol to find the flight recorder of the Nostromo only to discover an Alien has terrorized the station and killed the vast majority of the crew.

5. Dragon Age: Inquisition – An action role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts. It is a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, making it the third major game in the Dragon Age franchise.

A cataclysmic event plunges the land of Thedas into turmoil. Dragons darken the sky, casting a shadow of terror over a once-peaceful kingdom. Mages break into all-out war against the oppressive Templars. Nations rise against one another. It falls to you and your party of legendary heroes to restore order as you lead the Inquisition, hunting down the agents of chaos. Bonds will form – and some will break – as the campaign for truth takes its toll.

4. Titanfall – A multiplayer first-person shooter video game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It was released for Microsoft Windows and Xbox One on March 11, 2014; an Xbox 360 version ported by Bluepoint Games was released April 8, 2014.

In Titanfall, players control “pilots” and their mech-style Titans, and fight in six-on-six matches set in war-torn outer space colonies. The game is optimized for fast-paced, continual action, aided by wall-running abilities and populations of computer-controlled soldiers.

3. Dark Souls 2 – An action RPG video game. The third game in its series, Dark Souls II was developed for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 by From Software. The game was directed by Tomohiro Shibuya and Yui Tanimura with Hidetaka Miyazaki’s supervision. The game had its official launch in North America on March 11, 2014, with the PC release launching on April 24, 2014. Taking place in the world of Drangleic, the game features both player versus environment (PvE) and player versus player (PvP) play, in addition to having some co-op components.

The story revolves around a male or female Undead human known as the “bearer of the curse”, who has nearly lost their mind and gone “hollow” in their search for a cure. They have traveled to Drangleic, which is rumored to be home to powerful souls that can help Undead regain their humanity and avoid this fate.

2. Destiny – An online first-person shooter video game in a “mythic science fiction” setting. It was developed by Bungie and published by Activision. The game was released on the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One on September 9, 2014.

Destiny is set in the 28th century, a post-apocalyptic future. The setting follows a prosperous period of exploration, peace, and technological advancement known as the Golden Age. In a universe where humans have spread out and colonized planets in the Solar System, an event known as “the Collapse” saw the mysterious dissolution of these colonies, the end of the Golden Age, and mankind teetering on the brink of extinction. The only known survivors of the Collapse are those living on Earth, who were saved by “the Traveler,” a white, spherical celestial body whose appearance centuries before had enabled humans to reach the stars. The Traveler now hovers above the last safe city on Earth, and its presence allows the Guardians — the defenders of the City — the ability to wield an unknown power, only referred to as “The Light.” Upon mankind’s first attempt to repopulate and reconstruct after the Collapse, it is discovered that hostile alien races have occupied mankind’s former colonies and civilizations, and are now encroaching upon the City.

1. The Evil Within –  A 2014 survival horror video game developed by Tango Gameworks and released by Bethesda Softworks for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows. The game is played from a third-person perspective in which scavenging for supplies and learning when to fight or run are key factors in surviving.

While investigating the scene of a gruesome mass murder at Beacon Mental Hospital, Sebastian Castellanos encounters a malevolent and powerful force. After seeing the slaughter of his fellow officers by a man wearing a white hood and covered in burn scars, Sebastian is ambushed and knocked unconscious. He awakes in a deranged world with Krimson City undergoing massive earthquakes, unreal shifts in terrain and hideous creatures called Haunted wandering the landscape.