2. Jacket (Hotline Miami)
First thing's first, have you played Hotline Miami? If not you're missing out on one of the underdog games of the year. I implore you to promptly dive on the Steam sale that's ongoing until the 3rd of December and nab it for a measly few pounds/dollars to discover its twisted neon-soaked Miami-murder-thriller appeal for yourself. With a top-down perspective and an extremely old-school game aesthetic, Hotline is a game of split-second timing decisions affecting whether or not you manage to single-handedly take down an entire room of goons with a range of blunt instruments, or end up on the receiving end of a double-barrelled shotgun. It's one of the most intense games of the year, completely more than the sum of its parts, and is the perfect marriage of the difficulty-spikes of old, with a control scheme perfected over many years of PC gaming (Although there is a PS3/Vita version out now too!). Protagonist of the game is Jacket, a mute serial killer who dons a variety of animal-themed masks before doing his bidding. If you're thinking that's a bit strange, you haven't seen anything yet. The plot for Hotline is one of the most bizarre, beautifully hand-crafted tales you'll experience this year, and that's without mentioning the genuinely outstanding 80's-electro-synth soundtrack that powers the uber-violence into it's own separate category of insanely cool vibes.