Phill Cameron
The story of Wild Hunt is a personal one, set in a huge and unrelentingly beautiful world. And moving through it in that way makes you feel like a part of it, rather than an honoured guest, all eyes swung expectantly towards you.
None of this is to say that Shadow of Mordor isn't a great time, especially once you get to the second half of it, but it definitely feels more like a proof of concept more than a fully accomplished idea. The withholding of the uruk turning mechanic until the second half makes no real sense to me, and hurts the game pretty significantly, leaving the first half feeling slightly purposeless and confusing in terms of what you're supposed to do with all these systems. But once it gets going it offers something fresh and original, and at the same time something only a game with the budget of Shadow of Mordor could really accomplish, and that's extremely laudable.
The sheer variety and novelty of what Hohokum offers, as well as the attention paid to making sure that something as basic as the movement feels great (the only game I think does this as well as Hohokum is another Playstation title, Journey), means that Hohokum is going to be something I come back to, on occasion, for a pleasant escape.
A wonderful mixture of slapstick and precise competitive duelling, Nidhogg is thoroughly entertaining.
Dota 2 is an ocean-deep pool of rewarding nuance and strategy, but it will drown newcomers.