Games
2019 has been an excellent year for games, so here’s our pick of the top titles of the last 12 months.
2018 was big. A year of classics, from Red Dead Redemption 2 to Spider Man and God of War, it was always going to be a tough act to follow. 2019, however, has made a fair swing of it, offering incredible indies, blistering blockbusters and stunning sequels. Here, in no particular order, we run through our favourite games of the past 12 months; whether you’re interested in sword-swinging samurai, brilliant battle royales, or wreaking havoc with a haughty goose, 2019 had something for you.
Katana Zero
(Askiisoft, Nintendo Switch, PC, Mac)
Embracing a retro aesthetic can be a tricky thing. If it works, it works brilliantly – look no further than Netflix’s Stranger Things to see the level of success carefully embraced nostalgia can bring. When it goes wrong, well, things can get desperate – you can go from cool to kitsch, very quickly. Katana Zero, with its ‘80s neon, pulsing soundtrack and VHS video-like style, is an exercise in retro perfection – cool as a cucumber, slick as oil and more brutally violent than the Paul Verhoeven pics of the era it was inspired by.
The game puts you in the frankly fabulous robe of the titular Zero, a ruthless assassin traumatised by a murky past, seemingly exploited by shadowy figures. Offered assignments (read: targets) by a not-entirely-benevolent psychiatrist, the player is asked to slash their way through neon-drenched levels as a surprisingly deep story unspools, with the player tasked with making difficult dialogue choices that even allow you to cut off conversations that aren’t to your liking.
The work of developers Askiisoft and published by Devolver Digital (whose Hotline Miami is a key touchpoint for the game’s brutal violence and uncompromising swagger), Katana Zero adds depth to destruction, but never loses sight of one pure truth: swinging a sword through a swathe of bad guys to a synth soundtrack is deeply, deeply cool.
Luigi's Mansion 3
(Nintendo, Nintendo Switch)
Poor old Luigi, plain and tall. Always forever in his (shorter) brother’s shadow, yet there’s a strong argument that he’s the real star plumber of the pair. Luigi’s Mansion 3 might just be the most adorable, polished game featuring either brother this generation, and it’s mostly down to him. The way he runs, the way he drops everything in fright, the way he congratulates himself on a job well done. Adorable. They might as well have called it Luigi’s Mannerisms.
The premise is much the same as the two previous entries: you creep around a haunted building, solving puzzles and sucking up ghosts with your vacuum cleaner. But the scale is drastically ramped up: this is a 17-storey hotel rather than a mere mansion and you can also create a clone of yourself out of slime (Gooigi) when teamwork is called for. With floors including a shopping mall, a pirate ship, a film studio and an ancient Egyptian pyramid, it’s not much of a spoiler to say that Nintendo don’t seem to know what a hotel is, or a mansion for that matter, but that’s besides the point when you’re having this much fun, and Luigi absolutely is not.
Untitled Goose Game
(House House, PC, Nintendo Switch)
“Guys, hear me out, it’s Hitman, only with waterfowl.”
As pitches go, this is surely up there with the weirdest and yet the general bi-partisan internet consensus was that this was the best thing ever when a short preview was published online by Australian developers House House in 2017. And as it turned out when the game finally hit this autumn, it is. You’re a goose. You walk around a quaint British village ruining the locals’ days, crossing off your goose to-do list by lobbing slippers into the pond, stealing the possessions of small children right off their faces and hiding in bushes.
This is a small, tight game, but the options you have to achieve your goals are as numerous as the laughs along the way. Do you lure the market seller away from her stall by breaking her broom, stealing her pricing gun and dumping it in the canal? Or do you put a walkie-talkie in the garage, honk into it to gain her attention, then lock her in? It’s up to you. It’s this sandbox approach that means the critical acclaim House House earned has been well deserved. This is the best indie game of the year, and one of the best games full stop. But you don’t care. Why would you? You’re a goose. You just want to watch the world burn. Honk.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice
(From Software, PC, Xbox One, PS4)
Seriously, this game can get in the sea. If we were going to do a games-that-annoyed-us-the-most-this-year award, Sekiro would also be on it. It’s just so merciless. This third-person action game is faster, and in some respects arguably even harder than the punishing Dark Souls games that made From Software famous. You’re an undead samurai in a fantasy Japan; needless to say you have to zip around, clashing against titanically frustrating bosses that may cause you to scythe your controller in half. As always with From’s games, Sekiro does not value your time. Not until you start to learn the rhythms and intricate manoeuvres of your opponents, really watch them, or face restarting yet again, that is, at which point you’re rewarded with one of the most absorbing games of the year, in any genre. Don’t fight, dance.
Apex Legends
(Respawn Entertainment, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC)
Look, we’re used to the waiting game. Staring at the calendar, tapping our watches and desperately searching for nuggets of info on a game seemingly announced aeons ago is now par for the course for the modern gamer. What we’re not used to, is one of the year’s biggest releases being dropped on us (and in this case, dropped is appropriate) with so little notice we barely had time to pick up our pads.
Apex Legends, the incredible battle royale title from Respawn, makers of the equally incredible but sadly ignored Titanfall 2, was launched the day it was announced. This unheard-of strategy could well have been the gimmick Apex became known for, but Respawn are frankly too good at what they do for that ever to be the case.
Apex Legends arrived fully formed, with brilliant characters, fluid action, and a ‘Ping’ system that eased the reliance on microphones for players – making this free-to-play game even more accessible for anyone left intimidated by its genre forebears. With battle royales dominating the gaming landscape for the latter half of the decade, Apex may very well be their, well, apex.
The Outer Worlds
(Obsidian, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC)
Anticipation was high for Obsidian’s return to the open-world RPG and with good reason. The developers behind the stellar Fallout: New Vegas (the spin-off which many franchise fans argue is the peak of the series) had shown they could spin a brilliant yarn which delivered shades of grey as well as splashes of crimson. A long time coming, The Outer Worlds did not disappoint – marrying moral uncertainty, frenetic action and a bright, dangerous new world where players could either toe the corporate line or fight the power.
Arriving on the world of Halcyon after an extra-long cryonap (your ship was handily lost in space for 70 years), its unabashed consumerism and corporate greed (sound familiar?) sees your befuddled character plunged into the deep end of a society in violent flux. If that all sounds a bit on the heavy side, fear not – Obsidian’s sparky sense of humour and brilliant sense of memorable, loveable characters is apparent throughout, while combat is nicely varied.
The level of decision-making, however, and the way in which you can choose to grease the corporate wheels or throw a spanner in them, is where the game truly comes to life. Choice is everything in The Outer Worlds, and the pointed questions the game asks make its satire even sharper. Oh, and it’s loads of fun, too.
Gears 5
(Microsoft, PC and Xbox One)
The Gears of War series may have shortened its name, but the epic scope and stunning graphics the series of third-party cover shooters is known for remain. This is the prettiest, shootiest, most bug-exploding game of this console generation, with a touching story in the single campaign and several open-world areas that remove the on-rails feel of previous instalments to armoured boot. Incidentally, Gears 5 has been free from launch as part of Xbox Games Pass, so if you’ve got a PC or an Xbox One, there’s really no reason not to sign up and check it out (skip the multiplayer though).
Wargroove
(Chucklefish, Nintendo Switch)
Advance Wars! With puppies! Chucklefish’ Wargroove is very much our groove, the pixel stylings of the publisher’s mega-hit Stardew Valley combined with the turn-based units-on-a-grid combat of Intelligent Systems’ games for older Nintendo handhelds – on a new Nintendo handheld. We’re always down for a new take on the sub-genre pioneered by Final Fantasy Tactics, but in truth, this game would never have made our top 10 were it not for the developer's nimble approach to critical feedback, rapidly patching in solutions to major complaints like the difficulty level and lack of mid-game save points. Wargroove is a much more accessible game for them and a serious alternative to Fire Emblems: Three Heroes for those who want the strategy without the dating sim bolted on.
Control
(Remedy, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC)
Norman Bates’s assertion that ‘we all go a little mad sometimes’ seems to be something ace developers Remedy have taken to heart. The team behind Alan Wake and Max Payne have built something beautiful, brutal, and absolutely, unabashedly bonkers. Attempting to sum up the game’s story is tricky in itself: You assume the role of Jesse Faden, director of the Federal Bureau of Control (an organisation which is a sort-of corporate ghostbusters). You’re tasked with exploring The Oldest House (a House of Leaves-esque building with a loose sense of architecture and filled with supernatural entities) as you hunt for your brother.
This, however, is merely scratching the surface of a twisty, mind-bending narrative that escalates in lunacy as the player progresses through The Oldest House’s brutally beautiful corridors. Its ambition is vast – The Oldest House is explorable and almost everything is able to be manipulated by characters’ minds – though its combat and puzzling is remarkably clear-minded, offering satisfaction and a devilish challenge in equal measure. One of the strangest and best games of the year, Control make us wish more developers would embrace their mad side.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
(Respawn Entertainment, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC)
Uncharted meets Dark Souls but you get to use a lightsaber.
Okay fine, we’ll go a little further, though that description alone should inform players of why Fallen Order is gracing GOTY lists. In a year choc-full of Star Wars, from the final part in the sequel trilogy to the excellent The Mandalorian TV show, Respawn Entertainment (yes, them again) have delivered something special: a third-person adventure that truly makes you feel a part of the universe.
Taking place shortly after the events of Revenge of the Sith, as Cal Estis, one of the few remaining Jedi padawan, you’re tasked with evading Imperial forces while trying to find a way to restore the Jedi Order. Armed with a lightsaber from the get-go, Cal Estis is a brilliantly lithe protagonist, capable of leaping and swinging like a less desperate Nathan Drake and also of dispatching a group of stormtroopers with balletic swordplay. And the combat is incredible – modeled after the Souls games, this is no button bash, swing-and-hope experience. A lax attitude to enemies will be your downfall and adds greater stakes to each encounter.
Characters are memorable, the voice acting superb and the settings are stunning. While the story that unfolds is exciting and, at times, surprising, what’s most important is that this feels like Star Wars. That, and you’re able to force-push enemies off cliffs. Need we say more?
