15 Best Months To Be A Gamer (Since 2000)
2. November 2013 Next Gen, Black Flags And Links...
It took over seven years but game developers finally outgrew the current generation of consoles, leading Microsoft and Sony to announce their new, next gen machines. The Xbox One had a rough start to life, thanks to some bizarre policies implemented by Microsoft (nearly all of which were removed before launch). Sony didn't help by practically rubbing it in their face in a highly memorable E3 conference which shifted the tides massively in their favour.
Still, both consoles sold well and had successful launches, despite a lack of killer games on either system. The Xbox One's biggest titles included Forza Motorsport 5 and Dead Rising 3, though both were deemed inferior to previous instalments. The PlayStation 4's exclusive titles were highlighted by Killzone: Shadow Fall; another game that failed to really set the world alight, despite being very pretty.
Instead, Assassin's Creed steals a lot of the limelight for this month with the exceptionally good Black Flag. The third instalment in the series turned out to be somewhat of a disappointment, so it's even more impressive that Black Flag became a genuine Game of the Year contender thanks to some great naval gameplay that broke up the now stale stealth and assassination mechanics. On One and PS4, the game looked especially good and it's definitely worth checking out if you missed out before.
Nintendo also had a big month with two major titles Super Mario 3D World for the Wii U and The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds for the 3DS. 3D World in particular had a lot riding on it, as the Wii U was under performing thanks to a lack of software. Although it didn't sell as well as hoped it was still received well critically, restoring faith in Nintendo's next gen console. A Link Between Worlds was a sequel of sorts to the classic Link To The Past and for Nintendo's portable fanbase, it provided the first classic Zelda experience on the 3DS.
Metacritic Roundup: Super Mario 3D World, 93. The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, 91. Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, 86. Average: 90.