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Look back on the best games of 2017 with this YouTube supercut

2017 in Gaming: The Year in Under 2 Minutes
2017 has been nothing short of a landmark year for video games. In addition to acclaimed entries in some of our favorite series of all time, we’ve also seen entirely new experiences that subverted our expectations and made us remember why we fell in love with the medium. YouTube user Malcolm Klock has created a two-minute supercut showing the best games of 2017.

Set to music from the underrated The Evil Within 2, Klock’s video begins with a look at some of the most breathtaking vistas we’ve seen in 2017, including areas of Assassin’s Creed Origins, Horizon Zero Dawn, and Rime, as well as beautiful water locations in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice. Each of these games offered a new spin on the broad “action-adventure” genre, with both Breath of the Wild and Assassin’s Creed Origins reinventing several key elements of their respective series.

Next, Klock highlights some of the most memorable characters from 2017, including Chloe Price from Life is Strange: Before the Storm, William Pierson from Call of Duty: WWII, William from Nioh, and Chloe and Nadine from Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. The Lost Legacy was eligible for inclusion as it was a standalone expansion, while downloadable content and remastered gamers weren’t shown in the video at all.

The supercut includes a few minor spoilers as it highlights painful and emotional moments in 2017 games, including fiery scenes in both Hellblade and The Evil Within 2, as well as an injury suffered by a particularly important character in Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus — if you’ve made it more than 30 minutes into these games, you don’t have to worry about the video ruining a surprise.

Klock also included some great action scenes in the video, such as a battle between Superman and Batman in Injustice 2, a showdown with a robot dinosaur in Horizon Zero Dawn, and the Baker family destroying their mansion in Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Things then wind down for a brief moment of reflection, ending on a gorgeous shot of Princess Zelda overlooking a forest in Hyrule. We can only hope 2018 can have as many great video games as this year — and that loot boxes will be killed for good. You can check out Klock’s other year-in-gaming videos on his channel, going back all the way to 2011.

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Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
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A mech carrying things overlooks a destroyed world in Armored Core 6's reveal trailer.

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Best OS upgrades

Quick Turn
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Repair Kits
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Assault Armor
Do you find yourself getting swarmed and annoyed at how hard it is to get those little pests off of you? Assault Armor is your "get off me" move that creates a small blast surrounding your mech that deals damage and stagger on anything that's too close for comfort. You don't hurt yourself using it, and each upgrade you invest in lets you use it more times per mission.
Explosive Weapons
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Direct Hit Modifier
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The best weapons in Armored Core 6
A boss fight in Armored Core 6.

Time to load up for your next mission, merc. Your mech is your real character in Armored Core 6, and the different components you attach to it can completely change how it functions. There are different legs, cores, and all types of ways to change up your mech, but the most immediate and important has to be your weapon loadout. These can range from melee weapons and shotguns to massive missile launchers and Gatling guns. Since your mech can hold weapons in both hands and on each shoulder, there's a lot of room to experiment and give yourself options. Still, weapons aren't cheap and credits aren't always easy to come by as a gun for hire, so here are the best weapons in Armored Core 6 to invest in first.
Best Armored Core 6 weapons

Vvvc-774LS Laser Slicer
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VP-60LCS Laser Cannon
If you need an early shoulder-mounted laser weapon, the VP-60LCS is a great one you can pick up in Chapter 1. They do decent damage, but the real usefulness comes in their staggering ability. Their rate of fire is essentially as fast as you can pull the trigger, and without a need to reload, you can rely on them whenever you need to so long as you don't overheat.
DF-GA-08-HU-BEN Gatling Gun
Sometimes we just want to hold down the trigger and make our problems go away. That's what Gatling guns are for, and this one ranks among the best. Each round will obviously do little damage, but with 1,300 rounds to chew through, not much can hold out against its sustained fire. Having one or two of these in your hands to follow up after stunning enemies with a laser weapon results in the perfect combo.
Songbirds Grenade Cannon
You won't have access to heavy explosives like the Songbirds until around midway into the game, but it is a must-buy as soon as you can. As you would expect, these explosives deal a ton of impact damage that has a decent area of effect if you're firing near a group. As a cherry on top, the grenades also inflict a high amount of stagger, so they're quite useful against bosses as well.
BML-G1/P07VTC-12 Vertical Missile Launcher
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