Best of 2021
The best games from the worst year.
List items
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Although this game has been available since 2019 in Early Access, 2021 was the year that it was finally released, and the year which I became completely addicted to it. Hell Let Loose pits two teams of 50 players against one another across massive maps based on historical WW2 battles. The game places a heavy emphasis on squad based mechanics, but unlike Battlefield there are limited roles for each squad, and each role is meaningful - one medic, one engineer, one assault, one machine gunner, etc - and tiers of voice channels that allow squad leaders to communicate and relay messages to other squad leaders. The game is admittedly punishing, with most of the guns being able to kill with a single shot, minimal HUD information (including no hit detection, except the highly satisfying "ping" which comes from scoring a headshot), no scopes or attachments for any of the weapons, and slow heavy movement. But it's the closest you're ever going to get to feeling like you're in a Tom Hanks movie, and it's both terrifying and glorious to watch a match unfold. There's nothing quite like scurrying along a Russian trench with Societ Rockets blaring overhead, or firing through the cindering trees of Hurtgen Forest while your teammates panic over comms because they've just spotted a Tiger Tank grinding down the road towards their garrison. Hell Let Loose isn't for everyone, especially not those who enjoy a more arcade style of FPS like Call Of Duty or Battlefield, but for anyone willing to learn the game it delivers an extremely polished and exciting experience unlike any other.
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I played 3000+ hours of Dota2 before I walked away, and I hadn't touched another MOBA in years. I thought I was out, but then Pokemon Unite pulled me back in. It's got all the horrible trappings of a terrible F2P game (The battle passes, the stupid cosmetics, the limited time events and half a dozen different currencies) but all that garbage is layered over the top of a MOBA that is fundamentally good. A lot of the toxic behavior that permeates the larger MOBA's is absent as a result of the limited communication options that Nintendo Products are famed for, and each game is only 10 minutes long - it's much easier to forgive bad teammates if you're not locked into a game that will last an hour. As a result I played a lot of Pokemon Unite during this years many lockdowns.
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Finally, a good RTS multiplayer game! Until AOE4 arrived I was still playing Company Of Heroes 2, a game that was released in 2013, which says a lot about the pitiful state of the RTS genre right now. Fortunately Age Of Empires 4 has delivered, and it's been an absolute joy to watch a lot of the old Starcraft 2 streamers embrace it with open arms - especially being able to watch some Day9 and Artosis streams again. Age Of Empires 4 has succeeded because it held true to it's glory days, namely Age Of Empires 2, but with some very welcome tweaks that make each of the 8 playable civilizations unique and interesting.
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I didn't see this one coming, but the social aspect of this game was too powerful in a year when many people were living in some form of isolation. I think the best aspect of Valheim was the flexibility of it's crafting, encouraging an impressive mix of form and function to every construction.
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Returnal should have been Game Of The Year. I'm convinced that if everyone who wanted a PS5 had gotten one then this game would have been Game Of The Year. It's very good. It's unique, and slick, and looks amazing in that Alex-Garland-Esque nightmare kind of way. Now that you can save mid-run it's become a lot more accessible. Would love to see more of this.
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The best thing about Resident Evil games is how absolutely fucking moronic the protagonists are. Beautiful idiots, the lot of them.
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Probably the best couch co-op, ever? Incredibly versatile game design which is constantly throwing fun new mechanics at the players at a fast enough rate that the game never feels stale or repetitive. It's got a gorgeous style, is well written, and has a surprisingly satisfying conclusion. It's impressive how funny this game is considering it's fundamentally a game about two adults getting a divorce.
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I've never really liked Halo (Apart from ODST) because I found them mostly repetitive, and the multiplayer modes aren't particularly engaging - I'm a fan of objective based multiplayers and, these days, battle royales. But Halo Infinite has a grapple hook that is so good it actually invalidates every other complaint I have.
It makes me want a FPS spider-man game.
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