GOTY 2015: New IP

It's easy to forget about games that are released early in the calendar when time comes to summarise the best game of the year, and Evolve did have some trouble retaining what was a fairly healthy player count at the beginning of 2015. Surely there is some major effort being put into post-mortem reports that may or may not become publicly available as to why this happened, but it's not the fault of the basic premise and fiction Turtle Rock Studios created for this 4 on 1 monster hunt.

Evolve became the poster boy of this new trend of asymmetric multiplayer, and while other games with this setup have been cancelled (Shadow Realms), delayed (Fable Legends) or failed to really set the world on fire (Sword Coast Legends), Evolve did deliver some tremendous moments upon its arrival earlier this year. There was something tremendously captivating about the idea of four players having to work together to take down a superior but lonely adversary.

There story was mainly told through the characters, the environments and of course through the monsters themselves. It was the stories we created while playing that really stuck in our heads. Part of what we evaluate in this category is the potential for future sequels and with Evolve we were left with the feeling that Turtle Rock have only scratched the surface of the potential that lies with this concept.

When it comes to Nintendo's first-party offerings, the prolific platform holder normally likes to stick to familiar IPs such as Mario or Zelda, which is why it was surprising to see a brand new IP revealed in 2014 in the form of ink-based shooter Splatoon. The project was unlike anything that Nintendo had worked on before, a 4v4 online third-person shooter, presumably designed to compete with the likes of Call of Duty or Battlefield, albeit framed through the lens of youth.

It was great to see what Nintendo could come up with working outside of its regular stomping ground, and equally nice to see something new and unique added to its already popular roster of games. Not only was it a fresh, colourful new title, it also won its fair share of awards this year.

It's no surprise why this game took off, the art is vibrant and fun, the gameplay is spontaneous and exciting and the matches are short and sweet. It may have been lacking in content at launch but Nintendo have made sure to keep the game going strong, releasing regular updates including maps and weapons among other features to keep all players invested in what the game has to offer.

It will definitely be interesting to see what else Nintendo will do with their fledgling franchise, as there's a lot of potential to develop the concept further. But for now, anyone who doesn't own Splatoon should definitely pick it up, with a large arsenal, creative arenas, and hundreds of customisation options, it can provide hours of quick, colourful fun!

There are plenty of new IPs, but few boast the same originality as Until Dawn, making it our pick for best new IP of 2015. The game takes many cues from Quantic Dream titles like Heavy Rain and Beyond: Two Souls, with a heavy focus on narrative and player input mostly relying on QTEs, but never before has a video game so brilliantly captured the essence of a movie genre as Until Dawn does with horror. Containing every stereotype the genre possesses it's this faithful recreation that makes the game so enthralling. A year after a mysterious tragedy occurs a group of teens meet back at the scene of the accident, a spooky old lodge up in the snowy mountains (because that's a totally sane thing to do). You're not given much reason to become overly attached to any of the characters, but there is a real sense of guilt at watching one of them die horrifically as a result of your ill-thought-out choices.

A lot of the time though it's not entirely clear where you went wrong and it's the ambiguity of your decisions that keeps things deliciously tense throughout. Gameplay switches between each of the eight friends and you have complete control over who lives and who dies based on your actions.There's a big emphasis placed on the butterfly effect, that the decisions you make now can have a drastic impact later. We don't want to spoil specific situations here so we'll keep things fairly general. Should you annoy someone mid-way through they may hold enough of a grudge to condemn you to a grizzly demise later on, or if you choose to give your weapon to someone else you may find yourself unable to defend yourself further down the line.

As with all decision-based experiences the game itself goes along the same general path regardless of your actions, but there is admirable scope within to tailor your experience. Brilliantly, finding collectibles expands the narrative giving the protagonists more clues as to what's going on and a better chance of survival. Also should your character meet their maker all subsequent events with them are locked out so it's a game you'll want to play multiple times to get the full experience. While it's not exactly scary there are some fantastic jump scares and moments of tense decision making where you're genuinely torn over what action to take.

Adding to the authentic movie feel is the stellar performances from a cast of talented, and some fairly well known actors, including Hayden Panettiere aka Claire from TV show Heroes and Rami 'Mr. Robot' Malek. A genuinely refreshing horror experience that blurs the line between cinema and games makes Until Dawn a worthy winner of our best new IP accolade. Also if you're the kind of person that loves yelling commands at the screen during horror movies this is definitely the game for you.