Happy as we all our that 2020 is finally over, it has to be said it was a pretty solid year for gaming. Animal Crossing stormed ahead in sales with unexpected levels of enthusiasm from new fans, the indie releases offered a great deal of variation from the usual titles we expect each year, and there was plenty of social media excitement with controversies surrounding the Game of the Year awards and the split opinions of submitted titles. But the biggest gaming news of the year was without a doubt the launch of the ninth generation of home consoles with Sony’s PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X/ S. And seeing how many of us have had more time off than ever this year, besides playing catch up on that frightening pile of back catalogue that seems to have gotten bigger somehow, it’s fair to say there’s been no shortage of brand-new releases to escape from the madness.
1 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons (Switch)
It was a surprise to see so many gamers willing to sign up to Tom Nooks latest “get rich” scheme, inevitably putting every Switch gamer into heaps of debt to further his 40 million unit selling tanuki empire. That being said, it’s no surprise at the end of this very long year to see Animal Crossing: New Horizons on a list of the year’s best games. Released worldwide on March 20th, originally planned for a 2019 release, Animal Crossing: New Horizons became the first console game to reach five million digital sales within a month, which are ironically attributed to the widespread “stay at home” orders issued due to the current pandemic. Even gamers who had little to no interest in the series before sought solace in Nintendo’s chirpy anthropomorphic village.
New Horizons takes place in real time where players can customise their human character and land on and explore a deserted island, catching, gathering and crafting items, and placing buildings to create a thriving community of lazy villagers while you, the player, do all the hard work. With returning characters from Isabelle, K. K. Slider and the Nook family (of course…), the worldwide impact of Nintendo’s life sim is unquestionable, coming at a time where social distancing and lockdown have created a need for escapism by offering a charming, tranquil setting to explore and create as little or as much as you want. On the other hand, Doom Eternal released on the same day for those looking for something more… explosive.
2 – Doom Eternal
Releasing alongside Animal Crossing: New Horizons yet bearing as few similarities as possible being a first-person shooter carving a bloody route through mounting bodies of freakishly mutated demons and the rejected spawn of hell, Doom Eternal follows up from the 2016 Doom with more gore, metal, and mayhem than before. Doom Slayer returns to battle the demonic armies of Hell with as many weapons as his impossible storage capacity allows, with a few new tools to gut and maim, including a grappling hook, energy sword – the “Crucible Blade” – and Assassin’s Creed-esque retractable Doomblade. Set eight months after the outbreak of demons on Mars, Earth has been overrun with 60% of the population wiped out and under the control of the Union Aerospace Corporation. Think Weyland-Utani, but with demonic portals. Alongside an expanded arsenal, Doom Eternal‘s combat encounters are faster paced and bloodier than ever, with greater emphasis placed on story, platforming, and an adequately hard-hitting soundtrack that lives up to the hardcore nature the Doom series has been remembered for.
3 – Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild looked back to past entries for inspiration yet managed to take the simpler approach to open world exploration offered in the original NES title to reinvigorate and perfect the modern 3D open world experience we now see so often. With the sequel coming… sometime soon (we hope), Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity sought to hold us Triforce hunters over until Ganon’s next nefarious plot to takeover Hyrule.
Like Hyrule Warriors before it, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity takes the gameplay style from the Koei Warriors games and fuses it with Breath of the Wild mechanics. Taking control of key Zelda characters, from Impa, the Four Champions, Zelda and of course Link, you slay your way through hordes upon hordes of Bokoblins, Lizalfos, and harder commander units such as Moblins and the dreaded Lynels, with visual design, characters, and maps lifted directly from Breath of the Wild to Link it more directly to the story. For those who have completed Breath of the Wild, the story of Age of Hyrule will be somewhat familiar as the events are hinted at throughout Link’s adventure, from the ruined villages and castles to flashbacks that took place 100 years prior to the game’s main story. Being a time of warfare in Hyrule, the use of the Warriors chaotic style, with its massive clashing armies, serves as a storytelling mechanic that helps to give the events leading to the ultimate decimation of Hyrule a proper sense of scale.
4 – Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Available as a launch title for PS5, Spider-Man: Miles Morales continues the story of the 2018 Spider-Man, placing new web-head Miles Morales in his own flashy spider-lycra. Evolving the same basic core gameplay as its predecessor, new powers aside, Miles manages to feel unique from Peter and as his first time defending NYC on his own, that feeling is passed into how he handles in-game. He’s certainly not as elegant as Peter when he lands after a dramatic swing, but little details like that only add to his charm and character. Like his original appearance in Brian Michael Bendis’ Ultimate comics, he does whatever Peter can; spins webs and catches thieves. But with a few additional powers to set himself apart: namely invisibility and bio-electric shocks known as “Venom” attacks. Plus, his own wardrobe of snazzy suits to unlock, of course, in addition to his arsenal of gadgets including holographic fighters and electric-shock Remote Mines. Set after the events of Peter Parker’s Spider-Man story, Miles Morales uncovers a conspiracy with the Roxxon Energy Corporation, encountering a new group called the Underground led by the mysterious Tinkerer. All the while armoured goons launch RPGs and all manner of high-tech weaponry at him from rooftops as he learns about the responsibilities of being able to web-swing across New York. No one said being Spider-Man was easy, after all…
5 – Hades
Hacking and slashing his way out of the Underworld to be free from his dispassionate father, the overlord (or rather underlord…?) of the Underworld himself, Hades, players take control of Zagreus on his journey through the randomly generated maze of the Underworld to reach Mount Olympus. With the other Olympians offering support on his journey, Zagreus will encounter notorious Underworld denizens from Sisyphus and Eurydice, to heroes from the renowned Achilles and Theseus. As Supergiant Games latest hit, Hades was something of a supergiant itself, winning itself numerous awards, including Game of the Year from several notable publications, and has received critical acclaim for its gameplay and narrative. 2020 may have been like a moment of aristeia for the indie developer, boosting its kleos much like some of its mythical heroes. With the likes of Bastion and Transistor, Supergiant Games have a history for creating great indie gems already, however it’s clear that Hades takes some of the flaws and criticisms of their past titles and uses it to perfect the bold, isometric roguelike action RPG that brings dynamic lighting and colouring to the dungeons and halls of Hades’ Underworld kingdom that would catch the eye of any Olympian onlooker.
6 – Streets of Rage 4
The classic brawler returns after 26 years with Streets of Rage 4 – the last title having been released in 1994 on Sega Mega Drive/ Genesis. Like previous entries, Streets of Rage 4 continues to develop the classic ‘90s “Bare Knuckles” beat-em-up, side-scrolling arcade style with local and online multiplayer options. Beating waves upon waves of unrelenting street goons is as addictive and exciting this time round as ever before, with a new more cartoony art style that still retains elements of the original 16-bit design. Naturally the gameplay has evolved since the last street brawl, with a new combo system and ability to juggle opponents, allowing for longer combos, while the story takes place 10 years after Streets of Rage 3 and sees the return of fan favourite Axel, with a few new characters who fit well within the series. But Axel isn’t the only retuning Streets of Rage veteran: series composer Yuzo Koshiro joins primary composer Olivier Deriviere to bring back the signature sound that helped define the series from the beginning. For fans of the series or anyone interested in brawlers, Streets of Rage 4 lives up to the legacy of the series.
7 – Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Perfectly blending a Japanese action RPG with a farming simulator, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin tells the tale of a spoiled warrior and harvest goddess, Princess Sakuna, who along with Tama, her familiar, and a band of humans, is banished to the Isle of Demons after the humans accidentally enter the Lofty Realm – the home of the gods. Sakuna is split between two gameplay styles: a side scrolling hack and slash RPG platformer, with explorable maps, and a farming simulator where, as the title suggests, players help the titular harvest goddess grow rice. It utilises a gorgeous art style with vibrant colours, capturing the aesthetic of a Japanese inspired world, with a 2.5D perspective employed during the side scrolling sections and a behind the player third person perspective during the farming segments. Like any good RPG, there is enough depth to the gameplay that keeps Sakuna from feeling stale, while switching from action platforming to farming breaks up the core gameplay.
8 – Carrion
As a repugnant, blood curdling mass of blood sucking tentacles and gruesome alien flesh, Carrion offered players the opportunity to see things from the perspective of the monster from our favourite classic sci-fi monster movies, from Alien to The Thing, in the shape of so freakish a biomass that it’s more horrifyingly a “thing” than anything recognisable and identifiable. Crawling and squelching through tight air-ducts, dripping blood through vents and shafts, our titular monster uses point-and-grab physics that feel realistic to reach out and drag unsuspecting scientists and other walking meatbags, only to be dragged and devoured by a mass of teeth hidden beneath the wriggling tentacles. Even its grotesque pixel art style manages to convey the gory, over-the-top practical effects blood and guts of our favourite ‘80s monster movies. Meanwhile the rag-doll physics of the human characters and their bisected corpses, severed limbs, and rolling heads that spew across laboratory floors, show an impressive level of detail not only in the animation itself, but the design of the game’s physics.
At its core, Carrion follows a Metroidvania style where our alien creature breaks out of a research tube to search for a way to escape from the facility. The story is told through the exploration of the research facility, uncovering parts of extracted DNA that trigger flashbacks to how the “Thing” was taken captive in the first place. While the experience is harmed by the lack of any map, making the explorative nature of the Metroidvania something of a confusing, at times frustrating experience, Carrion has a sadistically entertaining gameplay loop: terrifying scientists with low guttural growls before pouncing on them and joining their bio-matter to your ever-growing mess of flesh is disturbingly satisfying…
9 – Astro’s Playroom
One of the many great things about this title is, simply put, the fact that it’s free: and pre-installed with EVERY PS5 system as well! Leading up to the launch of Sony’s new Goliath sized system, a lot of hype and attention was placed, curiously enough, around the new controller. But what could possibly be so exciting about a controller for a system, you may ask? The new DualSense controller makes use of immersive haptic feedback, with adaptive triggers and built-in microphone which allows it to simulate the sensations of touch and recoil from different environments, items or weapons. When pulling back on a bow in-game, for instance, the adaptive triggers replicate the levels of force and tension to give that sensation in your fingertips. And to show all this new tech off, as well as some beautiful visuals, Astro’s Playroom acts as a showcase for the new features on your new PS5. Yet what you’ll find is much more than a tech-demo.
Ingeniously designed as a tour through the system’s internal architecture, Astro’s Playroom is, in its own right, a fully-fledged 3D platformer that harkens back to the memorable mascot days of the PS1 and PS2. Everything from its bright, colourful visuals, level design, slick platforming, character designs, and even its addictive collectathon gameplay add an unexpected layer of charm that feels as polished as any brand-new first party title. To say nothing of the fact that, in addition to all that, it serves as a tribute to the history and legacy of PlayStation, with easter eggs recreating iconic moments from popular gaming franchises to sound clips, and a hidden end-game section that’s guaranteed to spark the nostalgic emotions in even the most hardened PlaySation gamers. Not bad for a short “tech-demo”.
10 – The Last of Us Part II
We started the list with bubbly, cutesy, anthropomorphic animal buddies, and we’re ending it with a world brought to ruin by a rampaging, fungal-zombie apocalypse. As if the year hadn’t been gloomy enough with its own pandemic. Yet The Last of Us Part II manages to present the post-apocalyptic wastelands of Seattle with the same gorgeous flora and overgrown wilderness as the first entry, if not more beautiful than before, taking over the ruined skyscrapers and suburbs of yesteryear with vegetation and plant life. Albeit sprinkled here and there with the decomposed corpses of those who couldn’t outrun the infected or gun toting raiders, a few blood splattered walls, not to mention the various mutated infected running rampant and gorging on unwitting wonderers.
While Naughty Dog’s latest foray into the apocalypse may have had a mixed reception from players, it did manage to win Game of the Year – and for good reason. From the beginning, you’ll notice not only how stunning the game’s visuals are, but how tight the controls are and how the gameplay of The Last of Us has evolved. Ellie has certainly learned a lot since we last saw her with Joel, and it shows: new stealth mechanics and options for combat situations can be more brutal, yet innately effective and oh-so satisfying to pull off! And thankfully Ellie seems to have found a pocketknife, meaning no more need to worry about constantly crafting more shivs to take out the admittedly terrifying Clickers. The story is a bittersweet gut punch from beginning to end, and while many complained about the ending and what it meant for the characters involved, personally I think it had a more realistic approach considering the world they live in, challenging the black and white sense of morality often portrayed in popular media. The Last of Us Part II is, at its core, a revenge story – unsurprisingly, if you’ve played the first entry and/ or seen the trailers for the game. However, the narrative ultimately reinforces the idea that revenge isn’t always the best route and it can cost you everything, with moments in the story that truly test your emotional endurance.
