STACK #159 Jan 2018

GAMES FEATURE

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Destiny 2 An improvement in almost every way over the 2014 original,

Bungie’s Destiny 2 is as much a space opera as the next FPS set in space, but with an undying charm. Helped along by the likes of Nathan Fillion’s witty Cayde-6, you are a Guardian; stripped of the light you earned in the first game, the Tower and the Speaker have fallen, and it’s up to you to somehow reunite the people of the Last City and take down the Cabal Red Legion that seek to destroy you, led by the nefarious Ghaul.

WOLFENSTEIN II: THE NEW COLOSSUS Machine Games return to the

GAME OF THE YEAR

HORIZON ZERO DAWN Though it was tight for competition this year, our game of the year deservedly goes to

Wolfenstein universe with an excellent follow-up to New Order from 2014. BJ Blazkowicz is back for yet another adventure in an alternative history where the Nazis won the war and are now ensconced in the US. The option to take a more stealth approach is present, but that's not what it's designed

Horizon Zero Dawn. From Guerrilla Games, the studio that brought us Killzone and RIGS: Mechanised Combat League, Horizon Zero Dawn is an entirely new IP with remarkable combat and crafting systems and an enthralling story. You play as Aloy; outcast from her tribe, she struggles to find out where she fits into the world, and must fight for survival in a wilderness full of deadly, corrupted Machines. Using her Focus, Aloy is able to target individual areas of Machines that are more vulnerable to attack, making combat a calculated affair. The crafting system, too, isn’t tedious, and allows you to gather resources to expand your carrying abilities and craft different kinds of

for. This is an out and out shooter and that's why it is so good. It's refreshing to play a single-player only game, and this one is as good as it gets.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

A launch title for Nintendo’s new Switch console, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is a masterpiece of open-world RPG expansion for an already existing IP. Returning players to the world of Link and Ganon – this time in the form of Calamity Ganon – Breath of the Wild is a branching adventure with endless sidequests, personalisation, and the strategy omnipresent in the Zelda games. Almost

arrows. The game is a refreshing inclusion to the genre, and the Frozen Wilds DLC in November an elaborate and beautifully crafted addition.

a year down the track and people will undoubtedly still be playing, looking for secrets as-yet undiscovered.

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JANUARY 2018

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