The 14 Best Game Trailers of 2014

By Marty Sliva

Trailers have the rare power to make us learn of a game’s existence, explain just what the heck it is, and get us salivating at the thought of getting our hands on it in just a matter of seconds. There’s an art to crafting a trailer that sticks with us long after we’ve finished watching, especially at a time like E3, where our senses are assaulted by hundreds of new games.

Here are 14 of our favorite video game trailers of 2014.

While all of us got stoked to see Bloodborne revealed at E3, the trailer that Sony and From Software released during the Tokyo Game Show solidified the game as one of our most anticipated of 2015. Amazing atmosphere, stellar monster design, and hints at how multiplayer is going to work all combined to make it one of the most exciting things of the show.

Crawl proves that you don’t need a AAA budget to deliver a mesmerizing trailer. This first look at the stylish multiplayer brawler pays loving homage to the days when we had to blow on a cartridge in order to get a game to play. The awesome music and fantastic narrator wrap the entire thing in an unforgettable bow.

It’s hard to imagine anyone topping the fantastic 2011 trailer for the original Dead Island, but low and behold, the sequel made its debut at E3 with an equally-rad trailer. Sure, it doesn’t actually feature any gameplay, but what it does instead is creatively convey the game’s tone, setting, and sense of insanity, all in the span of two short minutes.

What Ubisoft did with The Division’s cinematic trailer at E3 was akin to making a short film. Right from the get-go, the heart-wrenching cover of Silent Night sets a somber tone for the world’s descent into chaos. Through sweeping camera work and ingenious uses of timelapse, we see the the world lose almost all hope, with a final image of delivering the slightest glimmer of a chance of survival. Powerful stuff.

At the start of Tokyo Game Show 2014, Square-Enix released this stunning new look at the much-anticipated RPG. While that initial trailer at E3 2013 highlighted the game's new action-focused battle system, this new look showcased some of XV's quieter moments. This brief car ride around the game's gorgeous world acts like more of a tone piece to what Square-Enix is going for in this new game.

The Firewatch trailer released earlier this year during GDC was an amalgamation of so many fantastic elements. The gorgeous and unique art by Olly Moss, the moody and atmospheric soundtrack, the mysteriously-tantalizing writing, and the phenomenal voice work all combined to deliver a trailer that helped us dip our toes into developer Campo Santo’s first game, and left us anxious to dive right in come 2015.

The debut trailer for the successfully crowd-funded game The Flame in the Flood has a whole lot going for it. Its distinct art style, intriguing survival mechanics, and absolutely adorable dog all made me fall in the love with the indie at first sight. But holy hell, that music. The song by alt-country musician Chuck Ragan, who’ll be helming the game’s full soundtrack, makes it one of the best trailer of 2014.

This extended, five and a half minute look at The Phantom Pain from E3 2014 solidified the fact that Hideo Kojima’s next game is going to be something special. Amazing music, tons of hints as to where the story will take us, and some of the most impressive visuals ever seen in our medium made this trailer one that we couldn’t help from rewatching and dissecting long after E3 was over.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about the No Man’s Sky trailer from E3 was that it managed to convey the game’s promised sense of wonder, exploration, and sheer adventure in just a handful of minutes. In what seems like a single continuous shot, we get an idea of the infinite possibilities of flora, fauna, wild blue yonder ideas that Hello Games’ is striving for with No Man’s Sky.

It’s rare that a game reveal completely blindsides us, especially during the maelstrom of E3 announcements. But when Microsoft revealed the quiet, gorgeous, and tantalizing trailer for Ori and the Blind Forest during its press conference, most of us at IGN were completely floored. What starts as a beautiful tone-piece and introduction into this world and its inhabitants quickly becomes a primer on the game’s amazing mechanics and Metroidvania design mentality.

There are so many great and surprising things about the Rise of the Tomb Raider trailer, which revealed the game’s existence at E3 2014. Hearing a doctor talk to Lara about PTSD stemming from the horrific events of 2013’s Tomb Raider reboot clued us in to the very real, very dark tones of the sequel. Perhaps even more surprising was the news that the game will be an Xbox One-exclusive, at least for the time being.

“I like to think she’s out there somewhere. I imagine her someplace...warm. I’ve searched for her all over the world...would I even recognize her? She’d be old, like me now…” Through tremendous writing and impeccable voice work, the teaser perfectly sets the tone for developer Simogo’s follow-up to the incredible Year Walk and Device 6.

By the time this trailer hit, we were all well-aware that the Duck Hunt dog was a secret character in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. But regardless, this trailer for the character’s introduction into the multiplayer brawler was so cute, clever, and oozing with charm, that it quickly became one of our very favorite trailers of 2014.

Transistor remains one of our favorite games of the year, and this launch trailer from back in May does an incredible job of showing why. The rad score, mysterious writing, and incredible voice work all set the mood of Supergiant’s follow-up to Bastion, while the quick cuts of the stellar gameplay and beautiful art showcased why anyone with a PlayStation 4 or a PC needed to have Transistor on their radar.

So we had a lot of debate regarding this one. Obviously, the footage Nintendo showed at E3 2014 when they revealed the next major Zelda game was incredible, and it got one of the biggest responses out of the IGN staff at the show. But after a long discussion, we decided that this reveal wasn't really a trailer, per se, so we elected to not include it on the list. Still, it's super rad, and worth watching again.

Here's the other big one we talked about in regards to best trailer of 2014. P.T. wasn't so much a trailer, as it was an interactive experimental film/puzzle game that eventually revealed itself to be the first piece in Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro's upcoming Silent Hills. But none of that takes away from the fact that's it one of the most interesting, gorgeous, and terrifying things we played in 2014. Hooray, honorary mentions!

So those were our picks for the very best video game trailers of 2014, but what did you think? What are the strongest, most memorable trailers on our list, and what are some that you think we missed? Were you amazed by the short Uncharted 4 tease from E3? Have the recent Arkham Knight trailers gotten you hyped for the game? Let us know!