Throughout last year, I frequently heard or read about lots of gamers wanting to wait to purchase a next gen system till 2015, or even later. This occurred even around the holidays when of course the best deals were available. As I was putting my annual end of the year awards together for 2014, I kept thinking about this - why were so many people wanting to wait, and more significantly, did they really need to? While financial reasons are understandable, a lot of these gamers had the money...they just felt there "weren't enough really good games out for the new systems" to warrant a purchase. Well, in my case, I did wait to buy (a PS4) till March of 2014, but I definitely wouldn't have waited any longer. Why? Because for me, 2014 had more than enough beautiful, exciting, and innovative next gen games to warrant picking up a new console, even enough by the middle of the year. Keeping in mind it is mostly based on games I personally played, and in a few cases, ones I watched and/or read a lot about, here's my list of the worst, and especially the best games that 2014 had to offer.

Let's get the less than stellar ones out of the way first ;)...

Dubious Honors

Worst Box Art

Nominees:

1. Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
2. Nascar '14
3. Stronghold Crusaders II

Winner: Nascar '14

This one's the most painful to look at because he's standing in the middle of the track with no one in the stands, no CARS anywhere in sight, and he even looks like he doesn't want to be in the shot. Ouch.

Most Overlooked

Nominees:

1. Lords of the Fallen
2. Bound By Flame
3. Murdered: Soul Suspect

Winner: Murdered: Soul Suspect

Most Over-hyped

1. Destiny
2. Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeros
3. The Elder Scrolls Online

Winner: Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeros

I almost gave this to Destiny, but after thinking about the price point aspects of Ground Zeros, it was a no-brainer. Charging $30 for about 2 hours of gameplay - even if there's some replayability - is in my book not only the epitome of cash-grabbing, but also of colossal over-hype.

Most Frustrating/Disappointing

1. The Crew
2. Prey 2
3. The Evil Within

Winner: Prey 2

Yes, Prey 2 didn't actually come out last year and that's in part why it won this category. The main reason - I was super stoked for it, and after multiple delays, starting over, and years of waiting, it gets canceled altogether. Moving on.....

Most Epic Fail

1. NHL '15
2. Assassin's Creed: Unity
3. Driveclub

Winner: NHL '15

Special Achievements

Best Achievement Art Style

1. Thief
2. Sherlock Holmes: Crime and Punishments
3. Titanfall

Winner: Titanfall

Best Box Art

1. Far Cry 4
2. Lords of the Fallen
3. Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (PS4 version)

Winner: Lords of the Fallen

Best Trailer

1. The Division
2. Magicka 2
3. Dead Island 2

Winner: The Division

Most Memorable Moment

1. Seeing Shangri la for the 1st time - Far Cry 4
2. The havoc launcher explosion and aftermath scene - Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
3. The 1st encounter with the Xenomorph - Alien: Isolation

Winner: Far Cry 4

Main Game I Wish I had played

1. Lords of the Fallen
2. Sunset Overdrive
3. Starwhal: Just the Tip

Winner: Sunset Overdrive

Design Awards and GOTY

Best Graphics - Technical

1. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
2. Watch Dogs
3. Infamous: Second Son

Winner: Infamous: Second Son

AW clearly had the better cut scenes, but as far as in game graphics and cinematics, to me, nothing beat Delsin and shiny virtual Seattle.

Best Graphics - Artistic

1. Sunset Overdrive
2. Far Cry 4
3. Guilty Gear Xrd -Sign-

Winner: Sunset Overdrive

This was actually the 2nd hardest category for me to decide on. It was mainly between SO and Far Cry 4 (2 words: Shangri la). But while certain areas of Far Cry 4 exhibited truly stand-out artistic flair, and Guilty Gear consistently looked great but did very little new, Sunset had it goin on all throughout the game - the varied colors, text-filled explosions, and the super stylish HUD, are but a few examples.

Best Level/World Design

1. Alien: Isolation
2. The Crew
3. Far Cry 4

Winner: Alien: Isolation

This one was also hard as Far Cry 4, again, was/is an absolute pleasure to explore and has tons of great side activities. But the picture perfect re-creation of so much iconic architecture from the movie, coupled with the awesome retro hardware aesthetic, made Isolation the clear winner.

Best Sound Design

1. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
2. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
3. Alien: Isolation

Winner: Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

It's no so much about the sound of the guns firing; just listen to the spatial and impact qualities of the shots. So perfect.

Best Music

1. Far Cry 4
2. Alien: Isolation
3. Destiny

Winner: Destiny

Best Voice Acting

1. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
2. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
3. Alien Isolation

Winner: Alien Isolation

Isolation won for me really because of one person - Andrea Deck. Her performance of Amanda Ripley couldn't have felt more real and in the moment. She even got the genuinely scared breathing/nervousness down (difficult indeed). Major props.

Most Humorous

1. Goat Simulator
2. Super T.I.M.E. Force
3. Sunset Overdrive

Winner: Goat Simulator

Best Characters

1. Watch Dogs
2. Dragon Age: Inquisition
3. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Winner: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Best Story

1. Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare
2. Watch Dogs
3. Dragon Age: Inquisition

Winner: Dragon Age: Inquisition

Best Gameplay

1. Alien: Isloation
2. Far Cry 4
3. Watch Dogs

Winner: Watch Dogs

And the granddaddy of them all...

Game of the Year

1. Watch Dogs
2. Dragon Age: Inquisition
3. Alien: Isolation
4. Far Cry 4
5. Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Winner: Watch Dogs

Super high end graphics do not make a video game. I know some people wrote Watch Dogs off because the final product didn't "appear" like the fancy E3 sizzle from a couple years ago, but they're all seriously missing out. The game is chock full of innovation in so many other areas, especially where it counts most - gameplay. Where other titles with a hacking mechanic assign it to a side activity, Watch Dogs lets you hack almost everything and everywhere in the game. Plus, the story's quite compelling, and most of the online modes are very unique, especially the CTOS mobile challenge. That one will knock your socks off.