Games of the year 2020

With the ongoing pandemic, game development throughout most of 2020 was even more challenging than it usually is, with companies being forced to splinter off and the developers needing to work from home in order to keep creating the games we enjoy. Despite these limitations 2020 was no slouch in game releases, with many fantastic games hitting shelves and digital storefronts throughout the year. I played a great many of them, however only a select few really stood out to me as shining examples of what I want to see more of from the industry going forward.

DOOM Eternal

The hordes of hell are no match for my super shotgun

When Id Software released DOOM back in 2016, many saw it as a return to form for the company and series, with the game encapsulating everything that made the original DOOM games fantastic while translating it all into a modern game. DOOM Eternal does exactly what it needs to as it expands on what DOOM introduced with its fast combat and makes it far more brutal.

Every aspect of the gameplay is constructed to ensure the player is constantly moving, with swinging bars and jump pads spread about each arena to allow the player to move quickly and the limited supplies meaning enemies have to be killed in order to keep stocked up on ammo, health and armour; it is necessary in each combat encounter to stay mobile and keep killing in order to stay alive, which is a fact that DOOM Eternal knows well as it throws legions of demons at you.

At times the game can feel unfair with the amount of demons it throws at you - especially at the higher difficulties - however they all combine in such stellar ways that in the end you accept each death as your own fault. The weakest enemies stumble around as fodder for your weapons and health, as the mid-range enemies dart around the bigger ones as you have to constantly switch focus between all of them to stay alive. Every battle is heart-poundingly intense, forcing you to stay on your toes to conquer them.

All of this doesn't even begin to mention the killer soundtrack, the bosses that are all a massive step up from the previous game, the way the enemies gib and fall apart as you pump more lead into them, how the weapon mods and runes change how you can play the game in many different ways. If DOOM 2016 was a return to form, DOOM Eternal is the natural progression of the series and then some.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Prettying up a town has never been so much fun

March 2020 seems so long ago, back when we had very little idea just how long the pandemic would last as lockdowns started happening across the globe. As everyone was forced inside, unsure when it would be safe to leave again, we all wished for an escape of some kind, perhaps a trip to a calm, tropical island.

Considering this, it's no surprise that Animal Crossing: New Horizons ended up as one of the best selling games of 2020 and is among the 20 highest selling games of all time.

What made this game so memorable was the feeling of community it provided in the early stages of the pandemic. Admittedly, I haven't played it in a while, but for about 3 months after its release, I was on it every day, cultivating my island and keeping myself occupied with the game's busywork, and on the internet it seemed everyone else was, too. People's islands became their own slice of normalcy, a bit of control in the chaotic situation we found ourselves in, and a way to still interact with friends even if we couldn't meet in person.

Or, if that's a bit too grandiose for your tastes, it provided something to do at a time where most of us couldn't do anything. Catching fish and digging up fossils is far more interesting than staring at a wall all day, and the structure of the game reminded us that yes, another week has passed since the turnip seller only shows up on Sundays.

Whatever you got out of the latest Animal Crossing, it's impossible to deny that it came out at the perfect time; when the world needed a distraction or an escape, this game provided both in spades. Personally, I'll always remember those first months I spent building, decorating, and re-organising my island to be a place I could be proud of.

Phasmophobia

Scares and frights abound

With games like Dead By Daylight and Friday the 13th, it seemed for a while that the only multiplayer horror games around were ones that pitted players against other players, and while this concept could be quite fun, for me it never quite had the same effect as being chased or attacked by an AI controlled monster that could act more unpredictably than most human players. That is, of course, until Phasmophobia came about.

Phasmophobia has you, either with friends or alone, go into a location and find out what kind of ghost you're dealing with, as you have a guide to the types of ghosts you can encounter and what effects they have on the environment and the tools you bring in. The core idea is relatively simple but each game feels unique as you never quite know when the ghost will choose to leave you alone or when it'll decide to be aggressive and outright attack you. There are so many ways the game can scare you that even after hundreds of hunts it still manages to catch me off guard and get me terrified of every sound, movement, and light flicker.

This isn't even mentioning the maps, which range from regular suburban houses to an isolated log cabin, a school, and the first location to be added after the game's release, a dark prison complete with creaky cells. Each level has its own creepy flair and distinctive layout that makes them memorable, be they the maze-like clinical structure of the asylum or the unsettlingly domestic street houses. Going off on your own is always nerve wracking, even if the ghost isn't active.

It is possible to play Phasmophobia on your own if you're brave enough, however the experience is truly complete with a group of friends for your ghost hunting posse. Either way this game is well worth the price of admission, with a solid core gameplay loop that can only be expanded upon since the game is still in early access, the only way for Phasmophobia and any game like it is up.

Demon's Souls

It feels like photo mode was created for this game

When the PlayStation 5 released, Sony obviously needed a game to release alongside it to show just what the console is capable of, and for that they turned to Bluepoint to bring back a classic game that people have been wanting a remaster for since the PlayStation 4 released. Fortunately, Bluepoint delivered a fantastic experience that is currently my favourite game on the PS5.

Demon's Souls is a faithful remaster which brings the great game that kickstarted the Souls series into the modern era with all the bells and whistles that entails. Graphically the game is amazing, with impeccible detail put into every inch of the environment which is designed to show off the sheer power of the PS5, as these lush areas are given without any noticable performance dips, even at hectic points in boss battles or enemy encounters. I'd wager you could stop and take a picture of just about any point in this game and it'd look gorgeous, which makes the photo mode in the game the most useful it has ever been.

On top of all this is the gameplay which, as it was in the original game, is as brutal and fantastic as ever. The classic staples that make up a souls game are all there and the feeling of exploration in each level is unparalleled, even in some ways with later games in the series. The way the levels spinter off and join back up makes them all fun to explore which, when combined with the challenging combat, makes progression through the game a joy to experience; even if you get stuck on an ecounter, you still have other avenues to explore to either level up or find an item in order to aid your progress.

If you have a PS5, I could not recommend this game enough. For the game that started off the legendary souls series, this remaster does Demon's Souls justice and then some, being a technical masterpiece that even after completing it, I still get enamoured looking at all the detail that can be seen in regular, undoctored screenshots. This game and this remaster are both stellar, few other words can describe it.

Ultrakill

I think I got red on me

Mankind is dead. Blood is fuel. Hell is full.

These are the words Ultrakill opens with, and it's difficult to do a better job of describing what the game's about than that.

Ultrakill is the perfect lovechild between classic movement-based FPS and style-based character action games as you leap up walls, slide on the ground and blast yourself across arenas all the while smattering them and yourself in the blood of your enemies. This game's focus on blood isn't just for show, it's your only source of health so you'd better get used to playing aggressively if you want to stay alive, slide into your enemies and blow them into chunks if you have to, but don't stop moving and don't stop killing.

These mantras are especially important with some of the boss encounters, which borrow more from character action games in that they pit you against a similarly equipped opponent, meaning you'd better move faster and shoot more accurately than them if you want to beat them. So many moments in this game are so fantastically exhilerating they put other games to shame, to the point where I don't think there's any game that quite stacks up to Ultrakill in terms of moment-to-moment gameplay.

This is all accompanied with a soundtrack that only amplifies the breakneck speed of gameplay, with so many high tempo tracks that fit the mood of the game's combat perfectly. Songs like "A Shattered Illusion" and "Panic Betrayer" have so much energy to them that it's impossible to imagine the game having any other type of music to go with it; every aspect of Ultrakill is designed to be as blindingly fast as it could possibly be, which puts it on another level compared to any other game in the genre.

There is so much to Ultrakill that just has to be experienced, as its energy is so unmatched by any other game, and while it's clear what other games have had an influence on it, Ultrakill builds upon them and mixes them into a unique blend of action that is incredibly addictive to play. The gameplay, sound design, music, and visuals are all stellar even on their own, but then they all culminate to create one of the best shooters I have ever played.