I played a lot of great games this year but my favorite was Advanced Warfare. The gameplay and setting are very fresh and exciting to engage with and the designers clearly knew what makes these games rewarding. I also think Kevin Spacey's performance and the advanced mocap and animation technology is going to entice a lot of creators from other mediums to take another look at gaming. The rest of the cast was truly excellent as well, the game is pretty much a buddy film starring Troy Baker and Balthier from Final Fantasy XII. Lastly, this is the game that set the new standard for this medium's technology. So far we've had a lot of great-looking games that run decent, and decent-looking games that run great, but this is the first next-gen title that both looks and runs fantastic. I had to adjust myself at first because I wasn't used to playing such a responsive game at such high visual fidelity.

Overall, a great year. It's never been easier to find new games that suit your tastes.