The Best Video Games Of 2015

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Polish: Wiedźmin 3: Dziki Gon) is a high-fantasy, action role-playing video game set in an open-world environment, developed by CD Projekt RED. Announced in February 2013, it was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on 19 May 2015. The game is the third in the series, preceded by The Witcher and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, which are based on the series of fantasy novels by Polish author Andrzej Sapkowski.

Played in a third-person perspective, players control protagonist Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunter known as a witcher, who sets out on a long journey through the Northern Kingdoms. In the game, players battle against the world's many dangers using swords and magic, while interacting with non-player characters and completing side quests and main missions to progress through the story. The game was met with critical acclaim and was a financial success, selling over 6 million copies in six weeks. The game has won multiple Game of the Year awards from various gaming websites, critics and game awards including Golden Joystick Awards and The Game Awards.

Plot:

The game begins with Geralt of Rivia searching for his lover, the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, with Vesemir, a senior witcher. Yennefer had previously tried to get in contact with Geralt, but had been forced to flee in order to avoid the fighting between the warring powers of Nilfgaard and Redania.

However, it is Yennefer who ultimately finds Geralt. Accompanied by a Nilfgaardian honor guard, Yennefer informs Geralt that Emhyr var Emreis, the emperor of Nilfgaard, has summoned Geralt for an imperial audience in Vizima, the nation's capital. In Vizima, Emhyr tasks Geralt with finding Ciri, the emperor's biological daughter and Geralt's adoptive ward. Ciri is a Child of the Elder Blood, the last heir to an ancient Elven bloodline that bestows her with the power to manipulate space and time. Emhyr believes that she is on the run from the Wild Hunt, a retinue of spectral elves determined to capture Ciri and use her abilities for their own malicious purposes. Geralt agrees to search for her, but for her benefit, not Emhyr's. Yennefer instructs him to begin his search by getting in contact with a Nilfgaardian spy in Velen.

Unfortunately, the Wild Hunt reaches the spy before Geralt, torturing him to death. Geralt manages to recover the spy's notes, which indicates that Ciri sought refuge in Crow's Perch, the castle of Velen's self-appointed ruler known as the Bloody Baron. The Baron refuses to help Geralt find Ciri until the witcher locates and returns the Baron's own missing wife and daughter. Geralt quickly discovers that the Baron's wife and daughter are missing of their own volition, driven away by the Baron's abuse and alcoholism. Geralt learns that the Baron's daughter fled to the city of Oxenfurt, but her mother's trail goes cold.

Without further clues, Geralt turns to the second lead from the spy's notes, which leads him to an old acquaintance, the sorceress Keira Metz. Keira informs Geralt that a mysterious Elven mage had been searching for Ciri as well, and after guiding him through the mage's laboratory, Keira directs Geralt to the Crones of Crookback Bog, ancient spirits that assert dominion over Velen. The Crones order Geralt to destroy the Whispering Hillock, a rival spirit in the area, in exchange for information about Ciri. After dealing with the Hillock, the Crones reveal that they had tried to kill Ciri and deliver her corpse to the Wild Hunt. Geralt vows to return and kill the Crones, but not before realizing that they have imprisoned and enslaved Anna Strenger, the Baron's missing wife. Returning to Crow's Perch, the Baron reveals that following her stay with him, Ciri made for the Free City of Novigrad. The Baron then sets off to rescue Anna. If Geralt killed the Whispering Hillock, as the Crones commanded, the Baron manages to save Anna and vows to find a healer to restore her devastated mind. If Geralt released the Whispering Hillock, the Crones grow angry with him for disobeying them, and curse Anna, eventually killing her. The Baron subsequently hangs himself out of grief.

Arriving in Novigrad, Geralt discovers that the Church of the Eternal Fire, a militant religious organization patronized by Redanian King Radovid, is carrying out a pogrom against mages and non-humans in the city. Rendezvousing with Triss Merigold, his former love interest, Geralt learns that finding Ciri hinges on finding Dandelion, a bard and old friend with whom she had made contact. This leads Geralt to navigate a complicated web of entangling alliances within Novigrad's criminal underworld, chiefly between Sigismund Dijkstra, former head of Redania's spy network, and Whoreson Junior, a sadistic casino operator. After a complicated series of crosses and double-crosses, Geralt finally finds and rescues Dandelion, only to discover that Ciri teleported to the windswept archipelago of Skellige. While in Novigrad, Geralt also assists Triss in spiriting away fugitive mages (which can lead to a romance with her), and begins plotting the assassination of King Radovid with Dijkstra, along with former associates and Temerian loyalists Vernon Roche, Ves, and Thaler.

After being shipwrecked on the shores of Skellige, Geralt meets with Yennefer, who has been investigating a magical explosion in the region which she believes is linked to Ciri. The two attend the funeral of King Bran, Skellige's ruler, to discover that the island nation is caught up in a conflict of succession as Bran's son Svanrige is in conflict with Cerys and Hjalmar, the children of a powerful nobleman, for the throne. At the wake, Geralt and Yennefer steal The Mask of Uroboros from the druid Ermion, which can be used to see visions of the past. Yennefer has Geralt use the mask in the forest decimated by the explosion, leading them to discover Ciri traveled to the island of Lofoten. The pair travel to Lofoten only to discover that the Wild Hunt attacked the village; Ciri was only able to escape with the aid of a man named Skjall, who was subsequently renamed "Craven", banished from the village for cowardice, and later died trying to redeem himself. Finding his body, Yennefer uses necromancy to get information from him about Ciri--after saving her from the Hunt, Skjall witnessed a deformed, baby-like creature wandering Skellige's shores. Summing up the clues, Geralt determines that the creature Skjall witnessed was Uma, a cursed being he had previously seen wandering the halls of Crow's Perch. Returning from Lofoten, Yennefer attempts to sever the connection she shares with Geralt (as per the magic of a djinn), but realizes she cannot. Geralt can then affirm his love for her, or sever their relationship altogether. Before leaving Skellige, Geralt also intercedes in the crisis of succession, determining whether Hjalmar, Cerys, or Svanrige ascend to Skellige's throne.

The pair retrieve Uma from Crow's Perch, and present him to Emhyr in Vizima. Discovering that lifting the curse on Uma may hold the key to finding Ciri, the trio decide to take him to Kaer Morhen, an abandoned witcher school. There Yennefer and the other witchers lift the curse on Uma, who reveals himself to be Avallac'h, Ciri's elven companion. Avallac'h reveals that following the attack on Lofoten, he teleported Ciri to the abandoned Isle of Mists for her own safety. Geralt resolves to rescue Ciri and return her to Kaer Morhen, but realizes doing this would attract the Wild Hunt. After assembling a small army of companions at Kaer Morhen in preparation for the coming battle, he travels to the Isle of Mists. Although he finds Ciri in a deathlike state, Avallac'h's magic awakens her in his arms. Ciri reveals why the Wild Hunt wants her power: Eredin, the King of the Wild Hunt, is afraid of his own world being destroyed by a mythical power known as the White Frost, and is determined to use Ciri's power to conquer new worlds, regardless of the human cost. Ciri teleports Geralt to Kaer Morhen while the Hunt chases after the duo. After a brief reunion with Yennefer, Triss, and Vesemir, the Hunt attacks. During the battle, Vesemir is killed by Imlerith, a Wild Hunt general, trying to protect Ciri. Distraught, she releases all her uncontrollable powers, causing Eredin and the Hunt to retreat; Avallac'h then casts a spell rendering Ciri docile. Geralt, Yennefer, Triss, Ciri, and the other allies then hold a funeral for Vesemir.

Seething for revenge, Ciri and Geralt travel to Velen and kill both Imlerith and two of the three Crones of Crookback Bog. Emboldened by these victories, Geralt and Ciri travel to Novigrad and help Triss and Yennefer reform the Lodge of Sorceresses to aid in their fight against the Wild Hunt. They also learn about the Sunstone, found on Skellige, that can lure Eredin out and trap him into a location. Geralt also follows through with the assassination plot against King Radovid; afterwards he must side with Vernon Roche or Djikstra on future plans, resulting in the death of whoever he does not side with. In Skellige, Geralt finds the Sunstone with the help of Phillipa Eilhart, the sorceress who struck the killing blow on Radovid.

Making their last stand on the Skelliger isle of Undvik, Avallac'h uses the Sunstone, which draws the Hunt and their fleet out. Geralt and his allies, along with the Nilfgaardian fleet, attempt to defeat them. Geralt defeats Caranthir, the Hunt's navigator, and moves on to face off against Eredin in a brutal fight and emerges victorious. However, the White Frost begins to descend on Skellige. Ciri insists that only her Elder Blood can stop the White Frost before it consumes all life on every world, and after a heated discussion, Ciri goes through a portal and confronts the White Frost, ending the threat by destroying its source.

The epilogue of the game varies according to the choices the player made in the game. Concerning Ciri specifically, there are three possible outcomes: if Geralt presented her to Emperor Emhyr, the assassination of Radovid is carried out, and subsequently sided with Roche, then Ciri will reluctantly accept the throne of Nilfgaard, reasoning that she could do more good for the world as an empress than as a vagrant monster-hunter; if Geralt did not present her, then Geralt and Ciri fake her death, and Ciri becomes a wandering monster-hunter like Geralt; if Ciri died stopping the White Frost, then Geralt hunts down the last Crone to recover Vesemir's medallion, his only memento of Ciri. This ending ends with monsters swarming the house Geralt finds the amulet in, with his fate left ambiguous.

Fallout 4 is an open world action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks. The fifth major installment in the Fallout series, the game was released worldwide on November 10, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Fallout 4 was rumored several times prior to the game's announcement. The game was announced on June 3, 2015, and the first gameplay footage of the game was shown at Bethesda's own conference at the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo. The game features full voice acting for the protagonist, a first in the series.

Fallout 4 received positive reviews from critics, with many praising the world depth, player freedom, overall amount of content, story, crafting, characters, and soundtrack. It shipped 12 million units and generated 750 million dollars within the first 24 hours of its launch.

Plot:

Fallout 4 is set in a post-apocalyptic Boston in the year 2287, 210 years after a devastating nuclear war, in which the player character emerges from an underground bunker known as a Vault. Gameplay is similar to Fallout 3. The player completes various quests and acquires experience points to level up their character. With first- and third-person perspectives available, players can explore Fallout 4 '​s open world setting at will, allowing nonlinear gameplay. Companions can accompany the player on their voyages to assist them in battles and help with scavenging. Players have the ability to construct and deconstruct buildings and items, and use them to build a settlement, which can attract and be inhabited by non-playable characters.

Just Cause 3 is a 2015 open world action-adventure video game developed by Avalanche Studios and published by Square Enix. It was announced on November 11, 2014. It is the third game in the Just Cause series and is the sequel to the 2010 video game Just Cause 2. It was released worldwide on December 1, 2015 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, receiving positive reviews, with critics praising the open world, destruction mechanics, and its promotion of player agency, while criticizing performance issues and the uninspired narrative.

Plot:

Six years after the events of Just Cause 2, Rico Rodriguez returns to his homeland of Medici, a fictional Mediterranean island under the brutal control of dictator General Sebastiano Di Ravello, who has set his eyes on world domination. Wanting to stop him, Rico goes on a journey to destroy his evil plans.

When he arrives at Medici, he meets up with his childhood friend Mario Frigo and scientist Dimah al-Masri, who are now serving in the rebellion to overthrow Di Ravello. They proceed to liberate Manaea, Medici's former capital, and destroy the Vis Electra power plant, which powers a military base. Furious with the rebellion's success, Di Ravello orders his soldiers to raze the town of Costa del Porto. With Rico's help, the rebellion turn the tide on the military. They also learn that Di Ravello plans to use Bavarium, an explosive and magnetic mineral, as a means to conquer the world.

Dimah requests Rico to retrieve a Bavarium scanner, only to find out he's delivering it to Tom Sheldon, Rico's Agency coordinator. Angered because he knows of the Agency's operations in toppling dictatorships, he destroys the scanner before giving it to Tom. Rico and Mario later escort Zeno, a scientist defecting from Di Ravello. Di Ravello's forces launch a Bavarium missile aimed at a town. Rico prevents the damage by changing its course so that it destroys a military base instead. With the successes of recent operations, Mario steals some casks of wine from Di Ravello's stash and has Rico drive it to the rebels for celebration.

Some time later, Tom informs Rico that the Di Ravello's military are sending frigates after Mario and Dimah, who are out in the sea. He rescues them and they engage in a firefight with Di Ravello's forces. Rico meets Annika and Teo, two foreign smugglers also fighting against Di Ravello. In the firefight Mario is severely injured, and Annika offers to aid him if Rico is able to help her with favours.

The smugglers ask Rico to steal the Imperator tank, an armoured vehicle with a Bavarium shield. Rico and the smugglers later hit a Bavarium refinery, as well as trying out an electromagnetic pulse device reverse-engineered from the Imperator tank. Rico becomes wary of elements within the rebellion who act as a mole to Di Ravello, causing him to be able to grasp their every movement. During this time Mario recovers due to the smugglers' treatment. Di Ravello's soldiers attack the rebels' hideout. The rebels repel them and after that, destroy another power plant.

Rico escorts Rosa Manuela, a Medician politician, as she returns to Medici. Rosa recognises Zeno as Di Ravello's scientist and Rico finds out that Zeno is the mole. Rico stops a train carrying Bavarium out of the country, and help the smugglers free their comrades imprisoned by Di Ravello. Rico, Dimah and Tom stop another transport plane carrying a Bavarium bomb. The military attacks the rebels again, as a ruse to free Zeno. Rico confronts Zeno and destroys his helicopter.

The rebels engage in a final battle with the military, as well as destruction of Di Ravello's central command. Dimah cannot disable the missiles aimed at the base, so she pushes Rico away as the missiles hit the control tower she is in, killing her. The rebels learn later that Di Ravello has escaped in an advanced helicopter using the same Bavarium shield as the Imperator. Rico confronts him at a volcano island, destroying the helicopter Di Ravello is piloting. The player, as Rico, can choose to execute Di Ravello, or wait until he commits suicide by falling into the lava. After Di Ravello's death, it is implied that Rosa becomes president of Medici.

Star Wars: Battlefront is a series of first- and third-person shooter video games based on the Star Wars films by George Lucas. Originally published by LucasArts beginning in 2004, EA DICE has taken over the franchise following The Walt Disney Company's acquisition of LucasArts. Players take the role of soldiers in either of two opposing armies in different time periods of the Star Wars universe.

The series commenced in 2004 with Star Wars: Battlefront, developed by Pandemic Studios for LucasArts. The game received positive reviews and sold well. In 2005 Pandemic developed a sequel, Star Wars: Battlefront II, which was also critically and commercially successful. The games were followed by Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron (2007) and Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron (2009) for handheld consoles and Star Wars Battlefront: Mobile Squadrons for mobile devices. LucasArts made several attempts to get a third major Battlefront game off the ground before the Disney purchase. Subsequently, EA Dice acquired a license to develop a new game, Star Wars Battlefront, released on November 17, 2015

There is no plot to this game

Until Dawn is an interactive drama survival horror adventure game developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the Playstation 4.

Until Dawn was originally going to be a PS3 release with Playstation Move compatibility, but an announcement in August 2014 stated that it would be a Playstation 4 exclusive.

It was officially released worldwide on August 25, 2015.

Plot:

When eight friends become trapped on a remote mountain getaway gone wrong, things quickly turn sinister and they start to suspect they aren’t alone.

Every choice the player makes while playing as each of the eight friends – even the seemingly trivial ones – will carve out a unique story. The player's actions alone determine who survives until dawn.