Year of 2024

Arkham Batman once again - freeflow combat, detective mode, gadget exploration - blended seamlessly into the fully fleshed out Gotham City. The best Batman simulator so far, and a fitting end for the series

Just a train manager trying to get by as an apocalypse happens. The environmental storytelling and simple gameplay work perfectly together to make the world feel much larger than yourself

A shooter campaign that's good fun at the start, and then every level has a different new toy to play with. Somehow it still keeps the whole experience tight and focused, never outstaying its welcome (kinda wish it would)

Obsidian gives us another exploration of the nature of evil, examining the compromises a person makes in a brutal world to protect what they have. Brilliantly written, Tyranny asks you to make judgements, manages your reputation, and attempts to describe the language of power

Gorgeous environment and sound design, with an amazing attention to style and detail. Combined with chunky, attentive gameplay mechanics, the resulting immersion compounds the fear of surviving Sevastopol, into genuine terror

A balls-hard top-down shooter with mechanics that require co-operation, Helldivers keeps adding pressure until your (collective) cool breaks and chaos ensues. Managing to snatch victory back from that chaos feels so good that i can almost understand the appeal of military fascism - almost

An unusual one, at least for me; as much as i can appreciate Berseria's particular combat style, letting the party AI take the wheel meant i could focus on tweaking and improving character stats - and taking in the unfolding quests and relationships of the cast. Maybe i just have a weak spot for JRPGs

Each level is so intricately detailed, with branching side-goals and multiple routes to achieve everything, that examining them from every angle and planning your attack feels like a game on its own. Add to that the different characters (and their abilities) and you have a stealth game with deep potential for experimentation

A soft reinvention of the franchise, rolling it back to just exploring a creepy house in a hidden part of America. Gameplay is tight and focused, narrative is interesting and well done, and the aesthetic has that gross-but-can't look-away quality to it

Deconstructed Metroid: Fusion, plated expertly by the chef. The mechanics, aesthetics, and narrative of ESA feel so specifically designed, and interlock so neatly, it's like slowly taking apart a clock. The vibes here are immaculate

.....

I haven't seen a game so accurately express the longing of existing so close to adventure, but having it be forever out of reach. Just trying to make enough to survive one more day, while those around you are spending infinitely more on new guns and spells. It's a tough reality to depict, but it also manages to capture the small (but important) joys of a familiar face, a good routine, or a whole day to yourself

You would expect a rhythm game to have a good soundtrack, and maybe win the award, but what makes Thumper unique, as a game, is that it feels like you are playing it like an instrument, becoming an active participant in the music itself

An exclusively co-op game that effectively recreates the bomb-defusing scenes in movies. After playing a few sessions, my partner was proactively asking for us to play more, which means it automatically wins something. It also means it's really fun

Quite easily the most innovative game i played this year; learning how to move like a snake is one of those brain muscles you didn't know existed before, and so there's a real tangible joy at feeling it develop from nothing to.. well.. something you can beat the game with

Three of the oldest games i played this year, but i'm happy to say they (mostly) hold up. There's a few dodgy choices best left in the past, but everything else is designed so timelessly that if you told me any of them were released yesterday, by some tiny indie team as a retro throwback, i would see no reason to doubt you