2015 was a pretty great year for video games. Despite growing concerns surrounding a myriad of issues currently facing the industry, the year still saw the release of many high quality titles, both independent and AAA. From games as epic in scope as Fallout 4 to as simplistic and fun as Rocket League, the diverse range of marvellous titles made 2015 a strong year regardless. But there can be only one Game of the Year, and while 2015 had no shortage of strong contenders, one game more than any of the others encompassed everything we love about the medium into one massive and spectacular package; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Highly anticipated after the critical and commercial success of The Witcher 2, developer CD Projekt RED managed to meet expectations in a way that was wholly satisfying on every level. While not perfect (no game is), The Witcher 3 makes up for any minor problems with a high level of quality that extends to every aspect of its production. It is the pinnacle of what modern video games are capable of achieving and was rightfully rewarded for it, demonstrating that despite what so many publishers would have you believe, single player gaming is in fact not dead. Yes, despite some very fierce competition, The Witcher 3 truly is deserving of being labeled the Game of the Year for 2015, and heres why.

10. The Insane Sense Of Scope

Theres no shortage of open world games these days, so at face value The Witcher 3 doesnt appear to be particularly special in this regard. While other titles like Fallout are truly open, allowing the player to cross from one end of the entire game world to the other with no load screens, Wild Hunt is composed of a couple of large maps separated by load screens. While some would argue that this fact makes its world less impressive than that of Fallout or others like it, the fact remains that the scope of The Witcher 3s world is overwhelming. The sheer amount of detail to the environments is staggering, as is the amount of things to do. Even though there are load screens between the maps, they are all huge in their own right and rendered in real time. There is breathtaking imagery to be found in The Witcher 3, and it does an amazing job at immersing you in the world. Also, the reality is that the entirety of The Witcher 3s map is genuinely bigger than most other open world video games currently available, including Fallout 4. Just because it uses loading screens to achieve this size without sacrificing detail doesnt in any way diminish the final result, which is an incredible achievement, and one to be commended.