It’s been a hell of a year and in many ways it’s been a year that many would rather forget, but as is traditional it’s time to count down what I’ve been playing and enjoying (or not) this year. Funnily enough I’ve found that despite having a lot more free time than usual I’ve not actually been gaming as much as you would assume. Part of that comes down to a different kind of work I guess. With the ways it crumbled for the Soul Reaver Alpha it meant we had extra time to sort things out for that – and that in turn has kind of laid the ground for other work in that vein which followed. Something I really wasn’t really expecting at the start of the year that has really blossomed and looks to be a fixture for some time to come. There should be more Arcane Tomes and other videos to come in the new year but for now lets look at my games of 2020.
Honorable mention:
Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Alphas
The Also Rans/Maybe Next Year/I’m not too sure about these:
Okay these are games I didn’t manage to get through or couldn’t get into. I don’t really have the heart to call them bad games. Most of them probably aren’t bad at all, but I’ve started and for whatever reason not been engrossed enough in these.Devolverland Expo
It’s Devolver
Digital, what can I say? Their humour and approach to the industry as
a whole constantly knocks it out of the park and I thoroughly commend
them for it. This is another brilliant little gaming idea like their
attempt to rip themselves off with Devolver Bootleg last year. This
time no-one can get to E3 so they made a game of it. Brilliant idea,
great fun, but at that time a lot of other things were going on.
Among Us
Perhaps the big multiplayer of 2020. It seems to be a great laugh. Got it on sale and played a few times but didn’t really get into it and I had a lot of other things going on at the time. I can see why it’s popular and I love its idea, its simplicity and its meme-worthy-ness. Even got an Among Us plush for Christmas
Yakuza 0
A recommend from a friend – and probably a good choice given the endless ‘Yakuza: Like a Dragon’ ads around. It struck me a little bit like Shenmue but with more gameplay. Combat seemed great but dialogue and save method were awkward – and I had a few bugs and other issues which persuaded me to look elsewhere. I may well come back to it though.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
It looked so good, it got great reviews and from the game I could tell it was probably justified. I wanted to like it so much, but technical issues conspired against me. I have a system above the recommended specs and yet even with everything cranked wayy down to a secret level that should run on a potato it still wouldn’t run smoothly – and being a game relying on split-second combat decisions stuttering and frame drops is not good. Hoping they’ll update and optimise this one.
Far Cry
Okay so I went through my Ubisoft back catalogue part way through the year and the Far Cry series came up. It seems to be a big deal so I tried it and I couldn’t believe how cheesy this one was. I tried to get into it, but it just seemed so bad. Perhaps it goes into ‘so bad it’s good’ territory but I couldn’t stomach it long enough to find out
Far Cry 2
Next try in the Far Cry series and next failure to be able to see it through... Far more reluctantly though. Everything on this one seemed another world better the its predecessor and I can see why so many people love it and consider it the best in the series to this day. It seemed to have a lot going for it but I just couldn’t get into it and had other things going on and other games taking my attention so I put it down and never got back to the Far Cry series. Perhaps next year.
Iron Man VR
Okay this one is my fault. I moved house in January 2020 and though it would be a breeze to set the VR back up. I may have miscalculated. Consequently I couldn’t get this to work. I couldn’t move without punching a table or the floor and it just felt crap trying to restrict the movements. I’ll have to rethink how to set up the VR in my new home and look into it.
Beyond Two Souls
Kind of had a little period going through Quantic Dream games and this one seemed interesting but the seriousness of its approach (compared to its unintentionally hilarious predecessor) meant I lost interest rather quickly. I think it’ll probably be picked up again on the way to Detroit: Become Human.
Ghost of Tsushima
Wow. This one is epic. It looks to be heading towards the top of the list… But I’ve only just got it and haven’t really played enough to be able to rank it properly yet. Look out for it on next years list.
Disappointments:
Heavy Rain
To be honest I’ve toyed with putting this one in a category all its own because it wasn’t really a disappointment. But it is something else. Ridiculously so. Games don’t really have “so bad it’s good” like films do and yet this one definitely falls into that category. The acting is terrible, the animations are janky the controls are awful - it took me 30 mins to work out how to leave the first room and it’s filled with quick time events and triggered by over the top button and direction combinations. Everything is unintentionally hilarious and few games have made me laugh so much. Honestly. You have to play this game.
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune
I finally got around to going through the Uncharted series and ended up being thoroughly disappointed by this one. I love Amy Hennig thanks to LoK but this game just felt like one shooting gallery after another. I mean the voice acting was pretty good, the story was serviceable and the environments are nice (although you don’t get to explore them enough and there’s perhaps only one level that gets the balance right – not so coincidentally the one that took inspiration from Soul Reavers deleted Undercity level), But beyond that it just got a little stale and boring and even the characterisation seemed to be all over the place. I can’t see why this one is fondly remembered. Sequels definitely improved things drastically (as you’ll see below). But if you’d told me Amy made three Uncharted games and the zombie guy made one. I’d assume this was the one by the zombie guy.
Mirror’s Edge Catalyst
Another one I’d been meaning to play for years and EA finally backing down on Origin and coming back on Steam was good reason to try. I’m not really sure why this one needed a reboot to be honest. I can see what they were trying to do with this but it just ends up being a little bit place in comparison to its predecessor. The open world and giving you many alternate routes is a nice idea but it doesn’t work as well as it should. The last levels are a rush and some of the jumping puzzles are excellent, but it just doesn’t work as well the original. A shame.
Last of Us
This one was a crushing disappoint thanks to the game being over-hyped and over rated when it really just seems to be an average zombie game. No not part 2, I’m talking about the first one. I'd been looking forward to playing this for so long and the felt I needed to play this before moving on to see what the fuss was about with 2. But seriously I wanted to put this one stone dead last because it is by far the biggest most disappointing game I’ve played this year, but that’s perhaps being unfair to it and is only reflecting the massive hype and praise this game has – but I just can’t see why. I expected so much more and yet I found it be be a slow, boring, ugly game with the same dull brown-grey textures pasted everywhere on repeat. The characters were so generic and predictable, the story was dull and again generic, boring and predictable and I felt like I’d seen it a million times before. The approach to zombies seemed to be fresh and I liked that, but they seemed to just throw that nugget away by just turning that idea into the same old zombie archetypes that have featured in a million other zombie games. There was one nice heartwarming moment towards the end of it, but it wasn’t worth the rest of the game for it. I was planning on playing part 2 and wanted to play through this to get to it to see what the fuss was about, but I can honestly say that part 1 was so much of a disappointment that I don’t think I’ll bother.
Watch Dogs
Did I mention my Ubisoft back catalogue play through? Well I played this expecting something like a modern day Assassin’s Creed with hacking and it kind of is, but at the same time nowhere near as good. The characters seemed forgettable an uninteresting the story wasn’t that great and the environment didn’t seem that interesting or unique either. Just more dull grey everywhere (sorry Chicago). I can really see where the downgrading complaints came from and I found the hacking to be somewhat ridiculously executed.
The Middle Ground
Superhot: Mind Control Delete
In truth this is probably just surfacing over a disappointment, although I’m not quite sure how. Everything about it screams bigger, better, badder. It’s cool, hilarious and amazing. You can pick up and throw and do so many other things, there are new powers and it’s an amazing laugh like its predecessors. So what went wrong? Well there's a new ‘lives’ system which kinda ruins it and if you fail you go right back to the beginning of the sequence. So rather than just replaying one level you have to do a load and keep your hearts intact. After hours of being stuck on one sequence I got bored and gave in. It’s a good game otherwise but someone didn’t think it through.
Subnautica
Came highly recommended from a friend and ended up highly frustrating me. For an indie game its pretty good and a really nice idea, but so many things went wrong for me. Resources are so scarce that you need to properly look after your health, you’ve gotta hunt and eat and drink to keep yourself alive...only first off it managed to spawn me in an area with no way to get water. Then it stopped particular resource I needed to progress from spawning. Then it glitched my base. Then it corrupted my save so I had to start again (seriously a known problem: you can’t just save and quit, you have to leave it a few minutes before quitting or it will corrupt and reset your save). Then it glitched a timer for an in game event that left it counting up after it happened so I had a timer on screen for the rest of the duration of the game. So frustrating. Then it’s so dark most of the time that you can’t see anything and end up going around in circles...and a full examination of the game areas reveals it’s mostly empty space devoid of interesting features and all the good stuff is down these narrow barely noticeable cracks that you’ll miss. Arrrgghhh!!! And yet when it worked and was like it was intended to be it could be wondrous, breathtaking and amazing. I loved the story, I loved the environments (that weren’t empty space), I loved the exploration (when it wasn’t continuously going around in circles in the dark) and boy did I love the base building. I actually went a bit over the top with that at the end – switched it to no cost and made the biggest most impressive base I could. There’s a lot to love about this one, but also massive flaws.
Watch Dogs 2
A world away from its predecessor – and a really good move. This is what the first one should have been. It does away with the moody personal vengeance plot and goes full into a tongue in cheek youth hacking subculture. I loved the characters, the environment, the puzzles and the zany feel of everything. Everything seemed like such a massive improvement and it’s such a better game for it. The villain is perhaps a little weak and it has perhaps tacked a little too far in dropping the seriousness – I felt like it went a little too cheesy with no serious backbone for long periods - still that made it easy to pick up and revisit anytime even if at times it’s lighthearted nature meant I only played is spurts without the compulsion I would have expected from a more engrossing title.
The Unfinished Swan
I had a major problem getting this to run in the first place but once I did I was very impressed with this. We’re talking small indie walking simulator (a genre which to be honest I quite like) but a very inventive and impressive one from the guys that did ‘What Remains of Edith Finch?’. It’s creative and interesting – like for example the first level is blank white and features only appear as you throw ink balls at the walls – and it only gets more inventive from there. It’s quite short but a nice rewarding experience.
Spiderman PS4: The City that never Sleeps
It’s the Spiderman DLC that I didn’t get around to playing last year – and okay it’s more of the same, but what’s not to like? It’s still amazing just getting around the city. Okay there’s not much added but it is still so much fun.
Abzu
Edging toward the top territory, Abzu is my second underwater friend recommendation and this one hit home with a splash. It’s essentially ‘Journey’ but underwater and with an environmental message. The environments were stunning, breathtaking and interesting, it was simultaneously engrossing and relaxing and I could’ve spent hours just swimming with the fishes. The story is vague but interesting to pick up and put the pieces together. I loved it.
Uncharted: The Lost Legacy
The second Uncharted title to appear on my list is technically standalone but it feels like DLC for 4. Gotta say I loved it. I found the environment beautiful and breathtaking with an appropriate sense of wonder. I found The puzzles intriguing and interesting, the story was good, the characters by this stage in the franchise just click and work so well together and I found myself loving a lot of this. Perhaps the only complaint is that it’s a bit short, but well worth a play and truth be told I’d put it in with the top ones were it not effectively a DLC
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Is it an indie game or a AAA? I don’t know but it is really inventive and interesting. A beautiful and immersive view of medieval France. It looks strange in the previews but it makes sense in context and has some nicely innovative and challenging puzzles that make you think how to control the rampaging rats. It’s a lovely game though it does go a little over the top at the end.
The Cream of the Crop – The top ten (although realistically any of the last 3 games could have been here as well)
Untitled Goose Game
My god. It’s so simple and yet so addictive and so fun. Why has no-one done a game like this before? You play as a naughty goose and your goal is to create havoc (and work out how to solve minor puzzles such as how to steal a guys slippers etc). Think of it like Hot Fuzz and you’re the Swan. It’s short and sweet but amazingly entertaining. A rare and somewhat unique treat of a game. HONK!
Control
Full disclosure: For most of my playthrough I though this was going in the middle ground section and was a bit overrated. I found the enemies spawning to be a bit boring and just wasn’t what I was expecting… and then the powers kicked in and that song by the Old Gods of Asgard started playing...and it just clicked and I couldn’t put it down. It reminds me a little of the Evil Within with its mind screwery and “what the hell is going on here?” environments and this enduring mystery of what is happening. It starts out almost like a survival horror atmosphere and then you start getting some interesting powers – and then it gets a little grindy to be honest and I found the enemies a little tedious but the confusion kept me going and the reward at the end is an exhilarating adrenaline rush that left me feeling cool and powerful and pushed me through the mysteries of the DLCs. Weird and wonderful and the Alan Wake connections are a fantastic bonus.
Uncharted 2
Well you should have noticed I’ve played them all this year but not mentioned them all so far, so they had to be rated highly. Amy Hennig takes everything that seemed to go so wrong with 1 and does it so right here. The story is great, the characters are great, the puzzles are thought provoking (and there are real puzzles now). The environments are beautiful and they learnt to give you that sense of wonder and amazement that was sorely missing from the first game. I mean you can really see from this why the Tomb Raider franchise started copying Uncharted’s homework (rather frustrating considering part of the reason Amy left Crystal was because they wouldn’t give her Tomb Raider when they got control of it – and there they go copying what she does elsewhere, but I digress). The only issues I could bring up are the rather weak villain and last boss battle – and maybe nitpicking but the finale seemed to repeat a few tricks from 1 which I wasn’t necessarily a fan of. But having said that it is an awesome game and I thoroughly recommend it.
Uncharted 3
Truth be told these could go either way around as both are amazing games, but I think I just give the edge to 3. Again the environments are spectacular, the characters are top notch as is the acting, the story is great, the puzzles are brilliant and I think the feel of the weapons, the puzzles and the better villain makes me lean toward 3 being slightly better than its predecessor. I don’t know what else to say. Where 1 made me question Uncharted as a serious series that was worth playing 2 and 3 blew me away. Great games.
The Outer Wilds
A bit of an unexpected friend recommendation and something I was totally not prepared for. I went in blind and it blew me away. Yes it’s an indie game but one that has such dedication and inspiration that it must be seen to be believed. I almost don’t know how to describe it. You take the role of an alien astronaut in a their space program and you get to explore a beautiful solar system with an amazing simulation of physics and other cosmological phenomena and then after 22 minutes...it resets… and again...and you have to collect the clues and work out what is happening and unravel the mystery. A truly breathtaking and unique gaming experience.
Tell Me Why
A late entry into my list by Dontnod who made one of my favourites in ‘Life is Strange’. I’m a bit of a sucker for their games and they got me again here. Tell Me Why almost feels like it could ba a part of the LiS universe – it takes note of the issues of LiS2 and returns to a smaller closer atmosphere with well drawn characters and their issues alongside a case of supernatural powers and a central mystery – really ‘Tell Me Why’ is a very apt title. Taking the best mechanics of LiS1,2 and before the storm TMW really shines, makes you choose and plucks the heart strings like only Dontnod can. I was expecting this to be a short break but this is probably their best title since the original Life Is Strange.
Death Stranding
This made me so frustrated at times. I honestly thought it was going to end up much lower on my list but at the end it all comes together so well and it’s something so different that I can’t mark it down. Hideo Kojima shines away from the clutches of Konami and comes in with a game that is really inventive. Third person action adventure?, delivery simulator?, walking simulator? Who knows? You have to transport goods, but really think about the terrain and where to step and how to tackle it: one trip and you’ve screwed up. Build up you networks and connections along the way - with characters and other players as their structures appear in your world and together you try to rebuild America... and well, work out what exactly has gone on. A top notch mystery with great characters and story, breathtaking environments, cool music, a wonderful relaxing atmosphere, some Lovecraftian tension, plenty of “WTF?”, a strong pacifist stance and some mental gymnastics. It gets a little grindy and frustrating building up the networks in the middle but is well worth it in the end… and never before have I spent so long and been so frustrated over how to use a menu to organise packages exactly the way I wanted so I didn’t tip over a pizza. Well done Kojima, I salute you.
Uncharted 4
Blimey, what happened here? I wanted so much to hate Uncharted 4. After all it was the game where Amy who seemed to be doing so much right was booted off in favour of zombie man and yet I fell in love with this game. I didn’t know it was possible to improve so much and yet they pulled out all the stops and did it. The gameplay is brilliant, the environments are even more impressive and unique than before, the puzzles are fantastic, the combat is enjoyable, the characters and the acting are top notch and the little details in their conversations are great, the mystery is enthralling, the story and the background details are the finest in the series and makes it feel like a real living breathing world. And there are so many little nods and callbacks and unexpected extra bits. I really cannot say enough for this game. It is amazing.
God Of War (PS4)
Boy! Wow! This game felt like it was made for me and I loved every minute of it. The return of Kratos is done perfectly. Grounded in Greek and Norse mythology God Of War builds a fantastical open world with so much to see and do and screenshot and explore and be amazed by. The characters and story are simply amazing, the combat is exhilarating, the puzzles are brilliant. I just don’t know what more to say. It really is the epitome of epic. And can we talk about how a new developer took hold of an old franchise which was apparently dead and breathed new life into it while being respectful to the old – even putting it on a plinth and showing it off so it felt even more epic. I mean I would love this kind of treatment for our beloved LoK – and yet Corey is the one behind Dead Sun. How did it go so wrong there and yet so right here? Boy am I looking forward to Ragnarok.
And the winner is….
Red Dead Redemption 2
Well well well. I was playing this at the tail end of last year and didn’t get enough in to give it a proper review. At the time it felt like GTA in the old west, but it blossomed into so much more. The world is so rich and beautiful and diverse with so much going on – so many secrets and side characters each with their own little tales. The gameplay is exquisite. The story took a little while to get going but then hit me with emotion wrenching gut punch following gut punch – leaving me stunned and near the end it did something I’ve never seen a game do before (no spoilers!). The gang members became more than just characters: they were friends whose fate I deeply cared for. And after the apparent end of the story it did something else special, lovingly meeting up with RDR1. I cannot praise Rockstar highly enough for what they achieved with this one and with Houser now gone RDR2 may be the end of an era – sadly it’s probably all GTAOnline from here. But RDR2 hit me deep so much so that for months after completing it I was finding new things about the world – tall tales, real life call backs, so many little myths and legends and easter eggs that I missed, Perhaps the only complaint could be that even with its impressive length it feels a little unfinished in the last maps area that unlock – like they planned to give us whole new areas of RDR1 within RDR2, but never completed or filled it with activities. Such an awesome game that I’m gonna cheat a little....
Game of the Decade (Redux):
