Grim Reaper Gamers GOTY Results
It’s the end of the year and the Grim Reaper Gamers Community looks back at all the best games of 2017. We polled our community to determine what our favorite games were this year. We had a few surprises, but it mostly came down to what you saw most of GRG playing throughout the year. Even had a nailbiter for Best Co-Op. So take a read and let us know in the comments if it’s what you expected.
Our categories are as follows:
- Best Sports / Racing Game
- Best Survival / Battle Royal Game
- Best DLC or Expansion Pack
- Best Action or Adventure Game
- Best Single Player Game
- Best First Person Shooter
- Best Multiplayer Game
- Best Co-Op
- Best Game of 2017
Best Sports / Racing Game
Forza Motorsports 7
Fast cars and incredible graphics put Forza 7 as GRG’s top Sports / Racing Game of the year. Forza titles are the flagship racing game on XBox, and this edition takes it to a whole new level. Forza 7 looks and sounds amazing on standard XBoxes and is truly a treat on the new XBox X. It’s essentially lifelike with the 4K texture pack installed (of course it comes in at a whopping 100GB). With over 700 cars, 30+ racing environments and realistic weather this game offers plenty to see and do.
Runners Up: Madden 18, FIFA 18
Best Survival / Battle Royal Game
PlayerUnknown’s Battleground
You could argue that this is a bit of a niche or new category for Games of the Year. However, clearly PUBG has done something right. Perhaps a lot of things. You can’t argue with the number of downloads, simultaneous game sessions and sales which clearly point to this title being a success. At the same time, there are still a lot of complaints over the servers / optimisation and bugs. So, perhaps PUBG has done even better than the results show, since ultimately it has managed to overcome those hurdles to achieve the success it has.
For GRG, this game is pure adrenalin. From the moment of leaving the plane (when do I drop, should I try to steer away from others or just get to the ground fast?), all through the looting and general early movement (being spotted vs getting good gear), the pressure only mounts as the circles slowly get smaller and we’re all hurtling in toward a single central space. The gameplay is relatively simple but the real enjoyment comes from the tactics. You never have to play so well as when you’re facing other human players.
What really makes PUBG great for GRG? It’s never the same fight twice.
Runners Up: Fortnite, Conan: Exiles
Best DLC or Expansion Pack
Warframe – Plains of Eidolon
Warframe is a game that’s been steadily gaining new members over the years as they continue to add new content and improve the game. This year they released their biggest DLC to date, Warframe Plains of Eidolon and it changes how the base game of Warframe is played. They’ve abandoned the tight confines of past maps in favor of a brand new completely Open World area. Players can pick up quests and bounties from the main city of Cetus or just roam the open world area and farm materials or complete quests as they pop up. The variety of things a player has available to do is amazing. Hours upon hours of gameplay and it’s all completely free to play. Warframe and all it’s DLC is 100% free and arguably more fun than most AAA titles that cost $60 (Plus DLC prices).
Runners Up: Battlefield 1 DLC, Ark Ragnarok
Best Action or Adventure Game
Horizon Zero Dawn
Horizon Zero Dawn is a welcomed refreshing experience to the action/adventure genre. Guerrilla Games took a risk creating a open world adventure game in what is an already flooded genre. With a new story, characters, and gameplay tactics; players were awarded with beautiful lands and a ton of new content. Roaming dinos! Make that mechanical dinos and beasts. Players roam and salvage around the lands to create new tech and gear to survive this new take on a post apocalyptic world. This was a game that was released only to PS4 and made even the most die-hard XBox fanboys jealous. In GRG alone, this game was the “diamond in the rough” that caused a few fan boys to purchase their first playstation.
Runners Up: South Park: The Fractured but Whole, Zelda Breath of the Wild
Best Single Player Game
Assassin’s Creed Origin
Assassin’s Creed Origins is an immersion into a truly stunning world of ancient Egypt, with a beautiful series of cultures, characters, and more mission variety than any other game in the series. The combat system is challenging and thoughtful, and while the loot system doesn’t match up to games like Destiny 2, there are enough different weapon types and enemy variety to keep you swapping between weapons, catering for the situation. The RPG elements encourage challenges of their own that add tons of depth and continued replayability.
This entry into the Assassin’s Creed series is by far the most beautiful and vast. The visuals are fabulous on the Xbox One and do nothing but improve on the PC, Xbox One X and PS4 Pro. There are times when you are high on your eagles perch and feel that you can see for miles and miles.
Yes, it is still Assassin’s Creed, and the mechanics and ideas have not changed so dramatically that you’ll mistake it for something else, but the small changes and tweaks are enough to put new life into the slowing series.
Runners Up: Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Horizon Zero Dawn
Best First Person Shooter
Call of Duty WW2
Boots on the ground, Boots on the ground! The Call of Duty:WWII developer Sledgehammer Games heard our pleas and finally returned to a more grounded combat style. CoD magnificently returns to its roots, World War 2. And everyone is happy for it. Call of Duty is known for its non stop action and fast gameplay and CoD WW2 continues on that tradition. The updated graphics for the Xbox X look amazing and the game still runs at a CoD Standard of 60 FPS. This is a must buy for CoD fans.
Runners Up: Destiny 2, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Best Multiplayer Game
Call of Duty WW2
As was stated for First Person Shooter of the Year, CoD WW2 returns to boots on the ground – a style of gameplay that CoD Fans wanted to return to. Gone are the robotic leaps and wall walking. We’re back in the trenches and bombed out buildings of WW2. While we’re “boots on the ground” the action is always fast paced, this is a CoD game after all. Weapons are balanced and killstreaks are fun and rewarding but are not overwhelming toward gameplay. Finally, CoD offers players many ways to rank up or progress their character. Divisions, Weapons, and Level Prestige all keep players coming back for more.
Runners Up: PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Destiny 2
Best Co-Op Game
Destiny 2
The long awaited follow up to the incredibly successful Destiny released this fall and players dove right in. Due to the invading Cabal destroying everything, players are forced to basically start their characters over. All new loot and class abilities must be earned and there are plenty of ways to do that. What makes Destiny 2 GRG’s Co-op of the year is the ability to easily earn that loot with your friends. Destiny’s drop in / drop out style of fireteams makes it very easy to squad up and play with friends in the many activities the game offers. Fireteams can run together in the story mode, Strikes and Nightfalls (mini dungeons), Crucible (PvP) and the most importantly, the Raid. There’s always something to do, gear to grind and people to squad up with.
Runners Up: Ghost Recon Wildlands, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds
Best Game of 2017
Horizon Zero Dawn
GRG’s Game of the Year for 2017 was a very close race between Assassin’s Creed Origin, Call of Duty WW2 and Horizon Zero Dawn. Only one title could earn the coveted position of GRG’s Game of the year and that’s Horizon Zero Dawn. Our community chose this as the top game mostly for its compelling story, excellent voice acting, fresh mechanics and because it’s a new Intellectual Property. We need fresh new games and Horizon Zero Dawn truly stands out from the rest and rightfully earned GRG’s Game of the Year 2017!
Runners Up: Assassin’s Creed Origin, Call of Duty WW2