Roll out the red carpet, ignore the vomit by Ms. Croft, and make sure to compliment Kratos’ outfit. It’s time for the awards!
We’re back for another booze soaked awards ceremony. Lara’s already drunk herself into oblivion, so that’ll save some hassle, but I’m pretty sure the bartender has been assassinated by Agent 47 so I suppose we have an open bar now.
Anyway, it’s the usual deal. Only games I’ve played this year, and they aren’t all necessarily ones I’ve reviewed for the illustrious Big Boss Battle. There will be some honourable mentions towards the end as I really did struggle to narrow down my list this year, even with my playing fewer big name games than usual. Without further ado, our first winner is:
Ludicrously fast first-person rogue-like in which you have ten seconds to live unless you keep on entertaining your viewers by murdering robotic billionaires. It’s a sentence that sums up the game pretty perfectly. Mullet Mad Jack condenses the idea of classic FPS games into the purest form with you hurtling down corridors, shooting anything that moves, kicking down doors, and honing those twitch reflexes.
Finishing a floor allows you to pick a perk for the rest of the chapter, meaning you get that rogue-like build refinement that so many people enjoy. Brilliantly, dying only resets you back to the start of the chapter, and seeing as each chapter is only ten floors, you’re rarely set back too far. You tend not to be thinking about that at the time though, as you’re hyper focused on hitting every target first time and making lightning fast decisions. Add to that the glorious 90s anime aesthetic, and you’ve got a shooter that’s hard to beat.
Pacific Drive
I almost didn’t give this game a go. As much as I enjoy a rogue-like, the idea of combining one with unpredictable car physics put me off. I’m glad I ignored my hang-ups and sat down with this bizarre fusion. Pick a destination, choose a route, and try to get there with your car in one piece as you collect resources to upgrade your car when you return home.
The simple concept is mixed up with so many fun twists though. Anomalies in the various zones force you to consider how you drive when you know you’re about to be launched into the air, whilst your car developing quirks means that you can’t always rely on your headlights to guide you. Sure, you end up seeing the same environments more than a few times, but the promise of something unique just ahead keeps you pressing on. It doesn’t hurt that the visuals and sounds are pretty stellar too.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
That’s right, brothers! The emperor has gifted us with his tools of destruction! Let us use them in his name and purge the xenos! Yes, I know the Space Marines are the baddies, but playing as one in Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is so enjoyable. Cleaving through absolute hordes of Tyranids never gets old, and victory against major enemies feels well-earned once you’ve mastered the melee combat system.
Whilst the competitive multiplayer isn’t the strongest element of the game, the campaign and operations mode more than make up for it. A great story filled with the lore that 40k fans love so much, and a slew of extra missions to play cooperatively give you a lot of content. Add to that the unlockable cosmetics that allow you to represent your favourite chapter and you’ve got a Warhammer fan’s perfect action game. Did I mention it’s pretty? Because it is. The first time you see a swarm of hormagaunts running across the scenery only to realise they aren’t background art but actually running at you is something you’ll remember.
Between this and Thank Goodness You’re Here, it’s been nice to see a little bit of northern British representation. Rare enough in gaming. They couldn’t be more different though, with Still Wakes the Deep being an intense horror experience set on a North Sea oil rig in the 1970s. That alone sounds pretty terrifying, but once you unearth what’s beneath the surface, things get so much worse.
Working on the oil rig feels oppressive and horrible right from the off, with it being dangerous and underfunded. But once the key event happens and characters start changing and mutating, all of that seems insignificant. You’ll then need to make your way around the rig, trying to find your way off whilst horrible creatures that used to be your friends try to eviscerate you. There’s a story here too, with your character’s reason for being here being slowly revealed as something quite heartbreaking. An impressive visual style and genuine northern voice work, including a Gaelic voice over option, really cement the atmosphere too.
Cryptmaster gets the final nod thanks to being quite so unique. A word based dungeon crawler doesn’t leap out as an idea that should work, but the sheer amount of work that’s gone into allowing you to interact with the world makes this work. You are four heroes who are long dead and are raised by the titular Cryptmaster to return to the surface with him. You’ll fight, complete quests, and level up as in so many other RPGs, but it’s the words you use that make this unique.
Everything is driven by your typing in words, and Cryptmaster is ready to respond to pretty much anything you throw at it. You fight by typing in the names of your skills, and you’ll respond to characters’ questions by giving one word answers. The fact that pretty much anything you can say has been considered is impressive. Even the levelling up system is based on you working out what the name of a skill is and typing it in so it unlocks. If you’re looking for the most unique game of the year, this is almost certainly it.
Some of those honourable mentions. Hollowbody and Crow Country are excellent throwback survival horrors that are tightly made and respect your time far better than bigger name horrors out there. Reveil has an interesting story that’s let down a little by some stealth mechanics, similar to Indika with its absolutely bananas tale. For something a little different, Beat Slayer offers a rhythm based rogue-like hack and slash game with a neat visual style.
Well folks, that’s it for another year. I’d recommend you leave your drinks as there’s a good chance Agent 47 has poisoned them. Someone might want to drag Lara out of here so she doesn’t decide to start minesweeping the leftovers. We’ll get the cleaners in so we’re ready for 2025!
