March 2013: Best Release

Our award for the Best Release of 2013's March goes to BioShock Infinite!
I'll come out and say it- there are times when the video gaming industry these days appears to be lacking in innovation. While gameplay engines have undoubtedly progressed tenfold since their SNES heyday, and many titles' visuals look rather stunning, this writer has frequently been left wanting by blockbuster games' limited narrative ambition of late. For that reason, and for surpassing expectations further than ever thought possible, BioShock Infinite is a worthy winner of this (last) month's Best Of 2013 award.

Make no mistake, there was some steep competition in the past month. Doctor Who and Game Of Thrones both had great returns on the small screen late on in March, Being Human provided us with an incredible finale to its entire run, Derek Landy's Tanith Low was a charming read and two nearly-just-as-brilliant games came alongside Irrational's with Tomb Raider and Gears Of War: Judgement. Nevertheless, none of these experiences could ever hope to match the sheer ambition, intelligence and pay-off of Infinite's storyline, one of the single best plot experiences I've seen in gaming blended with a brilliant innovative FPS system and gorgeous aesthetics.

Naturally, part of the hardship of discussing such a brave and bold narrative venture at this point is the risk of leaking spoilers. You can find articles on Infinite's ending by the dozen across the net, yet I'd rather you dear readers get to witness all the surprises and incredible thrills of the campaign for yourselves. Pick up the original BioShock first, then head over to Infinite, since doing things in that order will give you all the more respect for the latter product. As I've mentioned, the pay-off from the various narrative arcs in the latter is far greater than any other video game instalment I've seen in a long time.

The discussion as to whether BioShock Infinite could be our Game Of The Year 2013 will of course last until the end of the year. Whatever the outcome, we can rest assured that Infinite is one of the best games of this year, of this generation, and possibly of all time, and so deserves your attention more than anything else in March. Injustice: Gods Among Us, The Last Of Us, Grand Theft Auto V, Batman: Arkham Origins, Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag and Watch Dogs? The gauntlet has been well and truly laid down!
JANUARY 2013- LES MISERABLES
FEBRUARY 2013- BEING HUMAN: THE TRINITY
MARCH 2013- BIOSHOCK INFINITE