Our highest review scores of 2015
While our Game of the Year awards trickle out, we figured it was worth taking a look at all the games that scored at least an 80% or above. Some will be familiar and some utterly foreign, which we hope will shed some light on a few underdog titles, and at the very least, drive home the point that, damn, 2015 was a damn good year for games. Over the years we might see a few of these crop up on our annual 100 best PC games list.
We ordered the list by ascending score, but keep in mind, review scores are an attempt to quantify someone’s distinct, nuanced thoughts on a game. It’s an inherently flawed process. More than anything, they’re there to summarize our overall recommendation of the game, which you can determine from the text itself, or bounce off our review score guide if you want to boil it down further. Leave the number debates outside, because all of these games are worth playing in some capacity. Instead, take the time to review the list to jot what you might have missed—or, just shed a tear for having one of the best problems you can: too many good games to play.
A note on affiliates: some of our stories, like this one, include affiliate links to stores like Amazon. These online stores share a small amount of revenue with us if you buy something through one of these links.
Arma 3: Marksmen
80% | Read the review
Making a major impact to every basic combat operation in Arma 3, Marksmen is a substantial and successful overhaul.
Cities: Skylines: After Dark
80% | Read the review | Amazon
Provides nice visuals, new buildings, and some fun options for crafting and managing your city.
Grim Fandango Remastered
80% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review
A confident remaster of a true classic. The puzzles have aged badly, but the sparkling humour and world design still shine.
Grow Home
80% | Read the review | Amazon
Phallic imagery and sore wrists don’t stop this from being uniquely charming. Definitely worth a few quid and a few hours of your time.
Invisible Inc.
80% | Read the review
Engrossing tension between empowerment and disempowerment, greed and fear, across an eminently replayable system.
Resident Evil HD Remaster
80% | Read the review
A brilliant, brutal survival horror dripping in atmosphere. It’s from the oldest of schools, but still offers a rewarding challenge.
Satellite Reign
80% | Read the review
Satisfyingly freeform missions and rich systems to play with, set in one of the prettiest cyberpunk cities on PC.
SOMA
80% | Read the review
A masterpiece of audio and visual design, SOMA is atmospheric, cerebral, and occasionally frustrating.
Sunless Sea
80% | Read the review
Wonderful writing resting on top of infirm foundations. Almost a classic, Sunless Sea falls a few leagues short of its final destination.
The Swindle
80% | Read the review
An immensely satisfying mix of platforming, stealth, action, and resource management, with character.
Technobabylon
80% | Read the review
An old school point-and-click adventure with a captivating story, strong characters, and a rich, well-realised sci-fi setting.
World of Warships
80% | Read the review
World of Warships is Wargaming’s finest vehicle combat game, but its free-to-play model is getting prohibitively expensive.
Endless Legend: Guardians
81% | Read the review
A strong if familiar set of additions to a classy 4X game.
Kalimba
81% | Read the review
Kalimba is a beautiful, cheerful platformer that finds a neat middle ground between reflex-oriented running and taxing puzzle solving.
Grey Goo
82% | Read the review
Two very similar factions dull its edge, but Grey Goo’s old-school take on strategy still makes it one of the most interesting new RTS games in
Replay: VHS is not Dead
82% | Read the review
Occasionally punishing, but still a fun, time-bending, mind-rending platformer.
Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings
82% | Read the review
Casual and silly yet still tense and exciting. It's a shame there's no online multiplayer.
Tales of Zestiria
82% | Read the review
It’s got nothing on Final Fantasy at its best, but it’s still an excellent example of the genre with some fun twists on RPG traditions.
Victor Vran
82% | Read the review
A limp story and weak jokes are worth putting up with for Victor Vran’s great combat system.
The Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone
82% | Read the review | Amazon
A satisfying, self-contained adventure that plays to the series' strengths, but doesn't add anything novel outside of its storytelling.
Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China
83% | Read the review | Amazon
A stripped down stealth offering that reinvigorates Assassin's Creed by putting attention back on the sneaky stuff.
Evolve
83% | Read the review | Amazon
A refreshingly asymmetrical FPS with terrific competitive depth, but the thrill of the hunt eventually begins to wane.
Football Manager 2016
83% | Read the review | Amazon
Still untouchable on the footy front—but shelf life and that inconsistent 3D engine chip away at its tender achilles.
Project Cars
83% | Read the review
Beautiful, bold and varied. Slightly Mad are uncompromising in their simulation.
Total War: Atilla
83% | Read the review | Amazon
A barbarous twist on Rome II, with a handful of fixes.
Westerado: Double Barreled
83% | Read the review
Gunfighting can become a key-mashing hassle, but otherwise it's a very enjoyable western adventure.
Heroes of the Storm
84% | Read the review
The most any studio has done to open up a complex genre to a new audience. Inviting, entertaining, and deceptively deep.
Axiom Verge
85% | Read the review
A massive, challenging retro-flavoured shooter that takes the Metroid formula and runs with it. Old school, but with a modern edge.
Mushroom 11
85% | Read the review
Both genuinely original and a smart physics puzzler, but aggravating in places, Mushroom 11 falls a few inches short of a classic.
Guild Wars 2: Heart of Thorns
85% (Editor’s Choice) | Read the review | Amazon
A great expansion, and a promising sign of things to come. Issues aside, Heart of Thorns is a clever addition to one of the best MMOs around.