Should You Pre-order a Game? (Plus Best Titles this Year)

Okay, I'm guilty of doing what's essentially gaming-taboo, three times this year: pre-ordering!
I've pre-ordered Metal Gear Solid V, Black Ops III and Fallout 4 - easily the most anticipated titles Q4 of 2015.

Verdict? Well after a year in review, I definitely don't regret pre-ordering Black Ops III. I got to pre-load the entire 50 GB for PC and I was good to go for Zombies by 12 am.

Pre-ordering Metal Gear Solid V (my favorite game this year, hands down) made me nervous; After all I couldn't wait to play it since Ground Zeroes last year.

No one knew about the existence Black Ops III before April, I mean we expected it since BO2, but it wasn't set in stone until that Snapchat snap (is that what you call them?), with the "Listen only to the sound of my voice" tag. My favorite Call of Duty pre-launch and in-game campaign, by far!

As for Fallout. I've heard of Fallout 4 coming for years now, but having only joined the franchise in at title four (not withstanding the spin-offs like New Vegas), I didn't know what to expect, besides the rumors. It was hyped at E3 and I was like "Fallout? Right the "War, war never changes" game with the vaults and VATS system. Graphics are not Witcher-class by any stretch, but looks fun with all the customization!"

I was impressed by it - the scale of the world, the extensive weapon modding and the face-sculpting feature for character customization. So, I knew I was going to try it out. It was between this game and Star Wars Battlefront and I chose Fallout.

 Don't get me wrong, Battlefront's graphics are gorgeous, (especially on the PC), but this is where Fallout and Battlefront butt heads:
Put simply, Battlefront = graphics, Fallout = gameplay. Which is more important? The answer may be lackluster, but both are! It really all depends on the player.

Take Grand Theft Auto V for instance, Los Santos is massive and the cars are stunning and fast - but the faces aren't like L.A. Noire at all.

That's because GTA's graphics aren't its selling point. It's its scope. You can do whatever you want in those games and I've had a while to explore - I played San Andreas at I was seven (not recommended) and was mesmerized that there were arcade games in a game! If that wasn't enough, it just takes a search on YouTube with a two words like "GTA mods" or "GTA fails" to see that this game is a criminal Second Life.

I love PC games for the visuals solely - no frame cap, better textures, soft/hard lighting effects and infinite configuration. If your PC can support it, the game will run it - mods and all.

But are graphics enough to keep a player engaged? Crysis 3 is the best I can think of - the game is no doubt gorgeous - but the story for the most part is just okay, until the end - unlike Crysis 2 with a beautiful story/graphics medley. Fallout however is contrary - okay graphics and terrific gameplay and with what I've seen so far, the story is fantastic, set in a post-apocalyptic nuclear warzone.

So which do I prefer? As an avid max-settings PC gamer, I have to say I prefer gameplay; no amount of modding can remedy an anticlimactic story or terrible ending, (e.g. Mass Effect 3, even though the rest of the game is unbelievable.) Mods can fix bad graphics.

Horrible graphics only make the developers look behind-the-times, whereas poor gamplay tarnishes their rep for years, (going back to ME3, EA/Bioware's still warding off death threats). So in short, gameplay is tantamount.

Back to the topic at hand, I can't recommend pre-ordering a $60 game until you've looked into it and are almost sure it's going to break ground. What do you think of the trailer? What do you like about the gameplay? Have you played any of the previous games?

As for when to pre-order a game, I believe 1-2 weeks before its release. That gives you enough time to look into whether it's what you expected. Often times professional reviewers get early copies of the game and post their thoughts in spoiler-free articles for consumers to read. The companies also upload many pre-release trailers during their marketing campaign, so you can see what interests you about the game.

Then again, when Gamestop's doors unlock at 12 am and after camping out for three hours you get the game, then scurry home to put it in the disc tray - then an hour later you realize it isn't exactly what you expected, (but now you can't return it tonight, because you waited too long and they're closed), just bring it back! The problem with physical games, if I remember, if you bring it back it becomes "used", so you only get about $50 back. But with the digital version, for PC's Steam at least, you get two hours to try it out then you can get your money back if it's not for you.

I hope that clears that issue up nicely. Just as a bonus, I'll do a mini-review of the games I bought:

Call of Duty is practically the same game every year with the exception of Treyarch's Black Ops, which should in my opinion be a franchise of its own, (forever team Black Ops.) If you're still considering buying it or getting someone else to for Christmas - do it. It's my favorite Call of Duty game since Modern Warfare.

The Zombies and Nightmares modes are my favorite in the game - but I won't spoil them for you.

As for Metal Gear, I expected greatness and got it. It's my favorite game this year. Even more than it's missions, I love the character development of the game - especially with Quiet, the new recruit. She's my favorite MGS character, and she's not just a female Snake! Quiet, as the name suggests, hardly says a word at all and she grows on you - you just love her more and more after every mission.

As for the next few games I'm gonna pre-order: Rise of the Tomb Raider for PC (the first game was amazing - beautiful graphics and survival-based story, the complete package in my view) and Tom Clancy's: The Division, a third-person shooter, set in post-apocalyptic-viral-outbreak NYC.

So just a fun way to wrap this post, have you bought any games this year or thinking of it? Which ones?