I’ve voiced the opinion that I don’t think 2020 was a very good year for games… but each time I’ve done this with my friends, I’ve been respectfully told I was wrong and that actually it was a good year for games, so each to their own I guess. 

Looking over the years releases, with titles like Demon’s Souls, Spiderman: Miles Morales and Ghosts of Tsushima, it seems that maybe this just wasn’t a good year for my type of game. That’s not to say any of the above are bad and in normal years I would absolutely enjoy these games. It’s just that to me, these games are all what I would call “fine”. Completely inofensive and good if not very good versions of their respective type of games, it’s just that none of these games get my juices flowing or excite me in any way. They are clean, crisp competent games but they do nothing new. 

In the industry, we often speak about the ‘Nintendo Bump’ and I think we are at the point where we have to talk about and acknowledge the ‘Sony Bump’. Sony release a first party story based title and people are all too eager to lose their minds. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not for one moment saying that Ghosts of Tsushima is a bad game, it’s just that it’s fine. It’s good but the entire time I spent with it, my socks were firmly on my feet and remained un-blown throughout. Perhaps given the outrageous overreaction to The Last of Us 2, I’m wasting my breath. I think we are long beyond the notion that the general discourse has any sense whatsoever. Especially considering the full blown torrent of Twitter abuse I received from one individual for daring to say that this years Mario 3D All Stars was a lazy port and such fantastic games deserved to be treated with a bit more care.

Alas, this is where we are here is my list.

Looking back at the year, it seems that I spent most of my time playing older games and due to current events, much more time playing multiplayer games as a vehicle of keeping in contact with friends. It’s because of that, that this is a list of my favourite games played in 2020 rather than games that came out in 2020.

Best Games of 2020

No Man’s Sky

This game is an utter enigma. Entire games can be easily lost and you will look back and realise that you have achieved absolutely nothing.

Still, this is a real testament to the developers. No Mans Sky has somehow ridden out the valid criticisms it got upon release and turned itself into a really high quality product. 

Mafia 2 Remaster

There’s not much to say about this and in all honesty it’s pretty much money for old rope. It looks and feels like a game of its age and at a glance, it seems that very little has been done to bring this game up to modern standards. 

I’m fully aware that the fun I had with this game is built on nostalgia, but that’s ok. Fun is fun and I enjoyed my time revisiting Empire Bay.

Mafia Remaster

Very much the same feelings as with Mafia 2. I bought the collection earlier in the year and it was nice to have a trip down memory lane. In fairness, a little more work went into this one than Mafia 2, but I enjoy a game about the Mafia and wish there were more of them.

NBA 2K20

I know the new one is out now, but a friend and I spent a lot of time playing this in 2020 and in between bouts of utter rage, we had a great time with this. If you can find someone with a similar level of skill to you, then the matches you can have are utterly captivating and perhaps more so than any other sports game on the market just now. I wish the NBA was more easily accessible in the UK, because this really started a bit of a love affair with the sport.

Asassin’s Creed Valhalla

I’m not 100% sure I know how this game has managed to sneak into my top 10. The criticisms I’ve levelled at Ghosts of Tsushima are all absolutely applicable to the AC games. Slowly it seems that Ubisoft games are making the slow creep towards becoming the same game.

With all that said, the subject matter spoke to me this year. At the time of writing I’ve played about 50 hours and have stopped for a while, but I know I will come back. It’s a relaxing and oddly compelling game that is relaxing to play. It lacks the story of a Red Dead and lacks the precise gameplay of a Bloodborne or even dare I say Ghosts of Tsushima, but what it is, is something that inexplicably is larger than the sum of its parts. This is yet another run of the mill Ubisoft/AC game but I still loved it. 

Two Point Hospital

I’m not actually sure when this game came out, but it came to Game Pass this year, which is where I picked it up. I was a huge fan of the Theme Hospital games in my younger years and this let me relive the nostalgia with a game that is more approachable than Theme Hospital is today.This in my opinion is the best of the ‘Theme’ style games and I will fight anyone that disagrees. 

Tetris Effect

This is hands down the best version of Tetris to be released… maybe since the original. This is another older game that appeared on Game Pass this year and what a game this is. I completed it twice through in a single sitting. First on Normal, then on expert. I then spent the next few days looking for people to play against online, without too much luck. It’s a shame there seems to be no online community for this game because I think I would still be playing it today if there were.

Monster Train

This is a genre of games I have bounced off for many many years. Periodically I will try to get into Hearthstone only to be turned off by the deck building mechanics. I even have some friends that play the Star Trek CCG, the Lord of the Rings one and others that dip in and out of Magic the Gathering, but for some reason they never stick. I discovered that it may be the deck building aspect when Slay The Spire came along, as I dearly loved that game as well. Monster Train is another such run based card game and I can’t get enough of it. If card games are something you have always admired from afar, this is definitely one for you to take a look at.

Last of us Part 2

This game had everything going against it from a David perspective coming up to release. I dearly loved the first Last of Us, to the point that I have a tattoo of the game on my arm, but the first game felt like a complete story in its own right and the announcement of a new one had me feeling like it was little more than a cash grab. Even when I started playing it, during lockdown in a pandemic I might add, the game felt utterly oppressive to the point that it was a real effort to try and play it. The game also felt like it was about a third too long and to an extent I stick by that feeling, even if I couldn’t point at any filler to pull out. 

With all that said however, this is an absolute masterpiece from top to bottom. The Gameplay is the best that Naughty Dog have ever done and their world design is second only to perhaps Red Dead 2. The messages it wanted to portray were perhaps a little ham fisted, but they did a fantastic job of showing different perspectives and the need to have compassion. Until we can relate to our enemies, then we are doomed to a repeating cycle of hate. If we can take that message as a society, then perhaps we will be in a different place in years to come.

Apex Legends

Out of nowhere, Apex has become my go to comfort blanket game in 2020. The brains behind the revolutionary Call of Duty Modern Warfare who again revolutionised the genre with Titanfall have once again shown us why they are the best in the business when it comes to FPS games with Apex legends. Many will disagree, but this is hands down the best online shooter and best Battle Royale game on the go today. Not without its faults, this handles well and two years after release, the developers have managed to avoid many of the trappings that have killed off other Battle Royale games.

This is a true heavyweight in its class and if you have even the vaguest inclination towards online shooters, then it’s worth your attention.

I Wish I Had Played

I was going to write about each of these games individually, but what’s the point? I’ve not played them. Below you will find the top 4 games I wish I had played this year but haven’t made it there yet.

Hades

Flight Sim

Spelunky 2

Gears Tactics

Disappointment of the Year

DOOM Eternal

The worst thing about this game isn’t that it’s a misstep, it’s the realisation that what we thought was a group of developers understanding how to make a modern DOOM game was maybe a group of developers that actually just stumbled across a formula that worked. The first DOOM was an utter masterpiece and almost completely perfect, however the sequel turned things up to the point that it just wasn’t fun. The beautiful simplicity of the first game was gone, instead replaced by a game that was needlessly and overly complicated and long. Instead of continuing the current course, it veered off in a direction that will make me very wary of the next one. Less is more in some cases and this is absolutely true when it comes to DOOM.