Introduction
It's the end of the gaming year, and it's been one hell of a year too. 2020 in general has been a shit show, and just like everything else around us, that damn COVID-19 virus did a number on the gaming industry.
Not only did it force a lot of companies to do development from home, it destroyed major events from local gaming tournaments all the way to the huge trade shows like E3 and PAX. While the industry tried to move things into an online space, it just was not the same for us. So things were slow for a while, with game releases coming out in very minimal quantities, leading to some games that would have just been passed by turning into huge hits and others into obsessions never seen before.
As things start to return to normal and the games industry catches up with its releases, it's time to look back at some of the games that have been great, average, and downright terrible with my usual brand of weirdness.
The "Left In The Shrink Wrap" Award: Star Wars Squadrons
When Star Wars Squadrons was announced, it looked like it would be the revival of the spaceship shooter genre. At a glance, Star Wars Squadrons did everything right when it came to making the game. It had everything a Star Wars fan could ask for in the squad based flying and fighting, and the addition of V.R. compatibility was the icing on the cake. Star Wars Squadrons was set to be one of the best Star Wars games out there. Upon launch I even had a copy shipped to my home from Amazon thanks to them dropping the price to $30 for launch preorders only, a steal at the price. But at the moment it sits on my game shelf, still sitting in the plastic shrink wrap it was sent in. Why? No idea really. I love the idea of Star Wars Squadrons and really want to play it, but for some reason I just can't seem to install the game onto my PlayStation 4. Maybe I ordered the game wrong, should have gone with PC instead of PS4, maybe it needs VR for me to finally give it a go, who knows. I might give it a try during the post-Christmas game release drought.
Star Wars Squadrons was reviewed by Conner B upon release and got 4.5 out 5 stars.
The "Love The Series, Forgot This Game" Award: Borderlands 3
Borderlands is a series that I have loved since the second game came out and I finally had the facilities to play the game with online co-op. I would spend many hours playing Borderlands 2 with my friend TJ (TJ Omega on Youtube)and we would have some long amazing play sessions filled with stupid antics and funny moments. We even played the DLC content together, having a lot of fun even through moments that were meant to make us cry in the Tiny Tina D&D DLC. When Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel was released, we jumped into it once again and played for many months, even though my objections to the absolutely stupid Australian stereotypes contained in the game. However, when Borderlands 3 hit, something was different. TJ and I tired to play together, but constant issues with the Epic Games Launcher and the game itself killed our excitement to play. Even though when we did have our only play session with Borderlands 3, I managed to break the game in the first mission. Outside of the PC experience, I was able to obtain a copy of the game on PlayStation 4, so I could play with Scott on console, but we never did. To this day the game sits, uninstalled and unplayed on both PC and PlayStation 4. I know the game was released in 2019, but a year later I still haven't tried to play it again. A shame on me.
Borderlands 3 was reviewed by Diego Perez upon release and was given 3.5 out of 5 stars.
The "Popular For One Minute" Award: Fall Guys
The worldwide pandemic has changed the way games are played, with more people moving into online streaming and also social online games being the new way to keep in touch with other people. So while some people were playing Jackbox Games, others started playing a small independent game called Fall Guys. Fall Guys is a competition obstacle game in the same vein as the TV shows MXC and Takeshi's Castle, where elimination is the objective. Fall Guys quickly gained popularity in the streaming community, and caught the eyes of Sony, leading them to place the game on their PlayStation Plus platform. This was like what Sony did with Rocket League, and much like Rocket League, Fall Guys became the most played game on the internet for a time... But as it is with the streaming community, and also a flood of hackers into the game, things moved quickly onto the next game: Among Us. Even releasing a Season 2 and a bunch of popular IP inspired costumes like Sonic and Godzilla couldn't stop Fall Guys from fading out of the spotlight as quickly as it entered it.
Fall Guys was reviewed by William Kok upon release and was given 4 out of 5 stars.
The "Waste of Data" Award: WWE2K Battle Grounds
The WWE2K series has had a bad run of luck recently. With WWE 2K20 being a completely unplayable mess, you'd think that the next game 2K Games would bring out would be something worth owning to make up for the last game, but no. What we got in WWE2K Battle Grounds was nothing short of a glorified mobile game. The game play is something out of a button mashing game for children instead of a decent wrestling game. Sure, its somewhat enjoyable when you're playing in a group with friends, but that's it. Online is a mess due to the terrible 2K servers, and then there are the micro-transactions. In order to gain access to over 75% of the available roster, you have to pay the slowly accrued in-game currency to unlock them and just about everything else in the game, including costumes, arenas, moves, outfits for created characters, entrances, everything. WWE2K Battle Grounds should have been the game to revive the WWE2K game series, but in the end it becomes another nail in the coffin. Hopefully, WWE 2K 22 is something much more worth the time and cost, or even the upcoming AEW video game, anything would be good for wrestling fans at the moment.
The "COVID Time Killer" Award: Animal Crossing New Horizons
When it comes to games that shot to popularity during the worldwide pandemic, nothing got more popular than Animal Crossing New Horizons. This game was so popular that not only did it cause a sell out multiple times of the special edition Nintendo Switch consoles and the game itself, but it would become the most streamed game around, and also the game where people used it as an escape from the world they were trapped in. It's funny to think that a game where you spend all time working for coins (or Bells as the game called it) to exchange for pointless items to place in your house to gather dust, be social with your neighbors, and building a community would be the thing to play during a time where you can't work, spent free surplus money on pointless stuff, and couldn't talk to anyone around you at all. Animal Crossing is a basic life simulator at its core and its a wonder how everyone, including myself, would spend all day and night playing the game. But since life has returned to normal, I'm seeing less and less people playing the game since they have their actual lives to live now.
The "Overhyped Trash" Award: The Last of Us 2
Much like Death Stranding last year, sometimes there are some games that I just can't get on board with due to all the hype and bullshit the gaming community heaps onto it. The Last of Us 2 was that game this year. From the beginning of development where it was praised for just being a follow up to the hit game that came before it, all the way through to the reviews that spent more time praising the political and social decisions about having a trans character as a lead (even though she/he was a psychopathic killer), than actually looking at the game's story, game play or anything actually involving the game. Even now, The Last of Us 2 gained a lot of praise again thanks to it's inclusion in The Game Awards in almost every category. The reality is that The Last of Us 2 was a game that pretty much was designed to cater to the Generation Z crowd and not the fans of the first game. When you throw everything aside to win the "wokeness" award from the Twitter Gaming crowd, who didn't bother with the game anyway, then why should I bother with it either?
The Last of Us 2 was reviewed by Stephen Novak upon release and was given 3.5 out of 5 stars.
The "Life Support Program" Award: Xbox Game Pass
To say that Xbox hasn't been having a very good year is an understatement. While they did buy Bethesda, bringing them into the Microsoft fold to produce games exclusively for the Xbox platform from now till the end of time, there wasn't much for Xbox fans to be happy about. Many exclusive games like Halo Infinite have been pushed onto the back burner till sometime in 2021, leaving nothing for people to be excited about when the Xbox Series X/S was released in early November. Instead, Xbox doubled down on it's Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service, where you pay a set monthly fee to access over 100 games for a specific period of time (Unlike their previous Games with Gold service that gave you games that were tied to your account as long as you got Xbox Gold) before they are removed, leaving you without access to those games (Only Xbox developed titles stay on the service permanently). It's a great service for people who can play games very quickly, but if you want something long-term, then this isn't going to be good for you. Sure, Xbox recently bolstered the subscription service with EA and Bethesda titles, but it's a lackluster placeholder for a console with nothing great to offer at the moment.
The "I Swear I'll Play It This Year" Award: Watch Dogs: Legion
Watch Dogs Legion is a great game to play if you like games where anything is possible and you have some form of choice. Unfortunately, like a few other games I've mentioned in this awards article, I'm yet to play it. Mostly because I've been waiting for the PlayStation 5 upgrade to go live. By the time you're reading this, I've been able to settle down and give the game a go a few times and actually got some worth out of it. Like many people throughout the year, I followed the development of this game closely since the Watch Dogs franchise has a history of promoting one thing and then delivering another, but this time they actually followed through with what they promised. A great follow up to Watch Dogs 2, Watch Dogs Legion looks like the game I want to spend the holiday season playing.
Watch Dogs Legion was reviewed by Keith Mitchell upon release and was given 4 out of 5 stars.
The "Last Minute Delay... Again" Award: Cyberpunk 2077
By the time you are reading this, Cyberpunk 2077 will have been out for over 2 weeks and we would have a review published about it and videos all over the place for you to watch. We would have had it done a lot earlier, but Cyberpunk 2077 has been delayed so many times that we were beginning to think that the game was going to enter the realms of Duke Nukem in terms of if it was ever going to come out at all. I saw this game for the first time at PAX Australia 2019 after attending a development interview. I was impressed from the get go, but from there I tried my best to avoid every game play and story video that was released so that I would be surprised by the story and game play on my own. Safe to say that it all paid off once I had the game in my hands and was playing it for myself. Even after all the delays, it was worth the wait.
Cyberpunk 2077 was review by me upon release and was given a score of ? out of 5 stars.
The "Game I Loved This Year" Award: Marvel Spider-Man: Miles Morales
Forgive me, I'm a Spider-Man fan. I've always been a Spider-Man fan, and the 2018 Marvel Spider-Man game on PlayStation 4 was easily my game of the year that year. 2 years later and the PlayStation 5 gets a great launch title in Marvel Spider-Man Miles Morales. It was something that not only showed the power of the new console, but also expanded upon an already great game with a new character, new villains and a story that rivaled the previous game. Just like Miles himself, this game is a worthy entry into not only the best Marvel games ever made, but the award of Game of the Year in any awards show or article. I'm not sure what else to say about Marvel Spider-Man Miles Morales, so instead I'll just direct you to the link below to the review I did when the game was released.
Marvel Spider-Man: Miles Morales was reviewed by me upon release and was given 5 out of 5 stars.
