MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY: THE UNIVERSAL WEAPON

Before this year, I doubt many people knew who the Guardians of the Galaxy were, now over $750 millions dollars at the box office later, we’re all singing the songs from Awesome Mix Vol. 1 and dancing along with Baby Groot. The Guardians made quite the splash in the video game space this year as well, appearing in Disney Infinity 2.0, Marvel Heroes, Avengers Alliance, Pinball FX2, but perhaps the biggest surprise was the seemingly out of nowhere Guardians of the Galaxy: The Universal Weapon for mobile devices.

The Universal Weapon is everything that I’ve ever wanted in a GOTG game but on a small-scale; an RPG battle game where each of the team has their own unique capabilities. Groot, for example, is a healer while Rocket is a ranged fighter and both Drax and Gamora are great up-close melee combatants. Not only can you unlock the characters from the film, but characters straight from the pages of the comics like Angela, Vance Astro, Beta Ray Bill and Hulk in his “Planet Hulk” gladiator gear. Featuring a story penned by fan favorite series writer Dan Abnett and at a low-cost of $5, those who hooked themselves on a feeling this summer should get on their mobile device of choice and give this game a download.

HONORABLE MENTION: X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

Similar to The Universal Weapon, the mobile tie-in game to X-Men: Days of Future Past from Canadian developer Glitchsoft came to various app stores with little to no fan fare but is defintely worth a look. DOFP is a side-scrolling action game which normally causes me to throw up an avoid flag but it’s on-screen controls and play style are perfectly suited to the mobile platform. Much like The Universal Weapon, this game comes at an inexpensive price point and doesn’t hide content behind free-to-play shenanigans so expect to play as some of your favorite X-Men, each with upgradeable abilities, without having to grind for weeks on end. Better still, certain characters that were not available at launch are now available to those who download it now. If you’re already picking up The Universal Weapon, consider this a must as well.

3DS GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM

I was not a fan of the last Lego super hero game, Lego Marvel Super Hereos: Universe in Peril, so it was with much trepidation that I picked up Lego Batman 3 for the 3DS and found myself pleasantly surprised. This fall’s Lego game captures a lot of the magic found in the console version with some small tweaks to fit the underpowered handheld and carries over the best part of Universe in Peril, completing tasks for gold bricks, without hindering gameplay. TT Fusion, the developer of this handheld port, also wisely broke up each level into three bite-sized sections that are perfect for short burst gaming sessions and the inclusion of rail-shooter sections play out much better than the 2-D Resogun-esque space shooting found in every other version of this game. Anyone looking for a great Lego game on the go need to have this in their collection.

CURRENT GENERATION GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM

We’re one year into the current generation of consoles and comic book fans certainly had quite the range of games in which to choose from: The post apocalyptic zombie filled world of The Walking Dead, the seedy streets of The Wolf Among Us, the toys-to-life opus Disney Infinity 2.0, but the one game that eclipsed all of them was WB Games Lego Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.

While not quite up to par with 2013’s Lego Marvel Super Heroes, I honestly don’t know how TT Games can top that one, there’s a lot to like about this latest entry in the Lego Batman series. Now that the story has moved, well, “Beyond Gotham”, a lot more of the expanded DC Universe plays a larger part in the game’s story, so expect to see more of the Justice League outside of a few throw away levels like in Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes and now that TT Games has embraced the Season Pass model, there’s even more content coming above and beyond what the game is already offering. Oh yeah, and if haven’t spoken enough about it already, Adddddaaammmm Weeeeesssstttt.

GAME OF THE YEAR

WINNER: LEGO BATMAN 3: BEYOND GOTHAM

I don’t know how much more I can say about the latest entry in the Lego franchise, but even with the few minor gripes I had with it, it’s still a phenomenal game that will keep players of all ages occupied for many, many hours. Though it may not be a hardcore Marvel fans choice, anyone who simply likes comic book themed games of any type would be doing themselves a disservice by not having this in their collection, whether you play it one of the many home consoles it’s available on or on a handheld device.

 

So there you have it, my final choices for the top, and low, honors of comic book video games for the year 2014. Agree with my choices? Disagree? Feel free to express your opinion in the comments. I would also like to thank everyone who has read what has been published here this past year. Though I’m far from a well-known property and my numbers are not the biggest, it blows my mind to see even one or two people reading things I put out into the world. Prior to this year this site had 2,143 article views and this year alone, as of this writing, it’s sitting at 15, 356; that’s crazy! I’m just a call center employee with too much time on his hand and an unnecessary collection of games of questionable quality, yet seeing numbers like that when I log in everyday make me feel like a member of the EGM staff circa 2005 that I always dreamed of working with.

A lot of the thanks should go to my friend and roommate, Fonda Comerford, who handled all of the site redesign, from the layout of the “Dredd Month”/Arrow/Flash banners in their respective months, and the new logo/banner that’s up now. I greatly feel that her input and eye for aesthetics have attracted a lot of the views here that I simply couldn’t with my limited knowledge of web design.

Don’t expect me to start slowing down now, folks. I’m already thinking up new articles for deep into 2015 including a new undertaking that will run the entire year, something I’ve never tried before, that you’ll all be hearing about very shortly. Want a hint? I expect a lot of months “To Rock”, and around October you should watch out for your “Shadow, Man”.

Happy New Year to all,

Blair Farrell, content author for Comic Gamers Assemble.