As the 2010's draw to a close, so too does the last full year of the 8th Generation of consoles, as game creators gear up for an exciting 2020 that will see the PS5 and the Xbox Series X battle against the still popular Switch and whatever comes next for PC and VR. However, it's time to reflect on the ups and downs of gaming of the past 12 months, as I take you through my Best and Worst games of 2019!
We'll begin, as we always do, with a headfirst dive into shit. First up, my worst game of 2019:
The Worst Game of 2019 - Dangerous Driving
The Burnout series is something very near and dear to my heart; A racing game brimming with aggressive play and competition, it turned the genre on its head with its focus on destruction and crashing rather than reaching first place. So over a decade after Burnout Paradise became the swansong for the series (save for a remaster), we have Dangerous Driving. Born from ex-Criterion developers here in the UK, it was written up as a spiritual sequel to the original Burnout games, going back to a track-by-track progression system and a focus on quick, hazardous stages with plenty of vehicular carnage.
What the game actually is however, is a soulless, clunky and overall empty game that accomplishes so little, I'd rather take my chances with a new EA published effort. Dangerous Driving feels cavernous from the moment you boot it up. Instead of trying to licence any music to put in the game, Three Fields Entertainment instead decided to let you integrate with Spotify to construct your own playlists. It's a great idea on paper, but it means the game ships without any sense of character whatsoever. Where previous Burnout games have used their soundtracks effectively to add a sense of urgency and adrenaline to their races, your first Dangerous Driving track will probably be like mine: A barely conscious slog round an uninteresting track with nothing but tinny engine noises to excite you. And that's not mentioning how deeply unsatisfying the cars are to control, handling more like full shopping trolleys on ice than an actual racing vehicle. The tracks too are limp, offering little in the way of character or memorability to make you enjoy racing around these locales. Three Fields even failed to make the crashing any fun, the one thing they've been making games about since leaving the EA conglomerate. It takes far too many hits to actually knock your opponents into submission, whilst the player is seemingly made of cardboard and kill switches and can be knocked out of action even by trading paint with an obstacle.
It's a wholly unsatisfying affair and probably the worst purchase I've made this year. This may have been the first game of the generation I sought a refund for, had I realised that the window for refunds on PS4 closes after 14 days and I had missed it like a wally. Instead, Three Fields runs off with twenty of my Queens English Pounds, in return for what feels like a personal insult.
What the game actually is however, is a soulless, clunky and overall empty game that accomplishes so little, I'd rather take my chances with a new EA published effort. Dangerous Driving feels cavernous from the moment you boot it up. Instead of trying to licence any music to put in the game, Three Fields Entertainment instead decided to let you integrate with Spotify to construct your own playlists. It's a great idea on paper, but it means the game ships without any sense of character whatsoever. Where previous Burnout games have used their soundtracks effectively to add a sense of urgency and adrenaline to their races, your first Dangerous Driving track will probably be like mine: A barely conscious slog round an uninteresting track with nothing but tinny engine noises to excite you. And that's not mentioning how deeply unsatisfying the cars are to control, handling more like full shopping trolleys on ice than an actual racing vehicle. The tracks too are limp, offering little in the way of character or memorability to make you enjoy racing around these locales. Three Fields even failed to make the crashing any fun, the one thing they've been making games about since leaving the EA conglomerate. It takes far too many hits to actually knock your opponents into submission, whilst the player is seemingly made of cardboard and kill switches and can be knocked out of action even by trading paint with an obstacle.
It's a wholly unsatisfying affair and probably the worst purchase I've made this year. This may have been the first game of the generation I sought a refund for, had I realised that the window for refunds on PS4 closes after 14 days and I had missed it like a wally. Instead, Three Fields runs off with twenty of my Queens English Pounds, in return for what feels like a personal insult.
(Dis)Honourable Mentions
Frequent readers will be wondering where the honourable mentions are this year for the worst and best games. This year, I have elected to roll these two sections into one, in order to highlight a very important issue surrounding games this year. This means that whilst these games aren't wholly bad, they also aren't wholly good. You'll see what I mean when you read the next section.
Apex Legends and Crash Team Racing: Nitro Fuelled
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These two games find themselves in limbo this year due to one singular issue which we'll get to in a moment.
Firstly, Apex Legends might be the best multiplayer game I've played since TitanFall 2, which is fitting since it's from Respawn Entertainment. It's battle royale done right, offering a nice degree of character to it's playable legends and addictive gameplay that makes playing with randoms just as fun as strategising with friends. I myself has actually won some games, which means it must be quite accessible as when it comes to competitive shooters, I'm what you'd call 'shit-tier'. Similarly, CTR: Nitro Fuelled is a wonderfully realised remake with excellent animation, tight controls and nostalgia-inducing remastered music. It's a true love letter to those who held the original CTR in such high regard and was fairly priced with a plan of additional content practically unrivalled by any game this year with it's monthly events which added tracks, skins and new characters.
Unfortunately, both Apex and CTR find themselves relegated from the top 5 this year because their respective publishers in EA and Activision got far too fucking greedy and ruined their otherwise brilliant games with excessive and predatory microtransactions. Apex Legends, a free to play game, of course offered microtransactions from the start and was initially not a main offender, but it's Iron Crown event was the straw that broke the camels back. A limited time event, developers chose to hide rare items and skins behind extortionate pay walls, including a unique item that would set a player back £200 before they even have the chance to get it in a random loot box drop. Some of the developers then jumped into a Reddit thread where rightfully angry fans were criticising the decision, only to cross the line and start referring to their player base as 'freeloaders', 'dicks' and 'toxic asshats'. All of this to protect the interest of a publisher so money hungry, it would willingly make public enemies of those who played their free game for free, like that wasn't the intention.
CTR was so far the other way, in that it's live service model was supported on a free economy of earning in-game points to unlock it's post-launch content, shockingly making people play the game to unlock more of the game, which is sadly a novel concept for 2019. It was a refreshing way to keep player numbers up, with extra content like a playable Spyro the Dragon character revealed days after the game shipped. However, all of this was torpedoed only one month after launch, as the second in game event started and implemented microtransactions into the retail priced game, allowing players to unlock the new content with an overprices premium currency. Whilst certainly not as aggressive as the Respawn devs, Activision reminded us why it and sister company Blizzard are so reviled in the gaming sphere with an action that effectively ruined the competitive nature of the games new online multiplayer and turned away players who wanted to experience the game they had already purchased without having to pay again.
So there we are: Two brilliant games ruined by the people who birthed them into the world. I spent a lot of time with both, and I do really enjoy them still, but I cannot in good conscious support and rank two of the worst examples of what is wrong with the industry at the moment.
Now onto the actual top 5.
Firstly, Apex Legends might be the best multiplayer game I've played since TitanFall 2, which is fitting since it's from Respawn Entertainment. It's battle royale done right, offering a nice degree of character to it's playable legends and addictive gameplay that makes playing with randoms just as fun as strategising with friends. I myself has actually won some games, which means it must be quite accessible as when it comes to competitive shooters, I'm what you'd call 'shit-tier'. Similarly, CTR: Nitro Fuelled is a wonderfully realised remake with excellent animation, tight controls and nostalgia-inducing remastered music. It's a true love letter to those who held the original CTR in such high regard and was fairly priced with a plan of additional content practically unrivalled by any game this year with it's monthly events which added tracks, skins and new characters.
Unfortunately, both Apex and CTR find themselves relegated from the top 5 this year because their respective publishers in EA and Activision got far too fucking greedy and ruined their otherwise brilliant games with excessive and predatory microtransactions. Apex Legends, a free to play game, of course offered microtransactions from the start and was initially not a main offender, but it's Iron Crown event was the straw that broke the camels back. A limited time event, developers chose to hide rare items and skins behind extortionate pay walls, including a unique item that would set a player back £200 before they even have the chance to get it in a random loot box drop. Some of the developers then jumped into a Reddit thread where rightfully angry fans were criticising the decision, only to cross the line and start referring to their player base as 'freeloaders', 'dicks' and 'toxic asshats'. All of this to protect the interest of a publisher so money hungry, it would willingly make public enemies of those who played their free game for free, like that wasn't the intention.
CTR was so far the other way, in that it's live service model was supported on a free economy of earning in-game points to unlock it's post-launch content, shockingly making people play the game to unlock more of the game, which is sadly a novel concept for 2019. It was a refreshing way to keep player numbers up, with extra content like a playable Spyro the Dragon character revealed days after the game shipped. However, all of this was torpedoed only one month after launch, as the second in game event started and implemented microtransactions into the retail priced game, allowing players to unlock the new content with an overprices premium currency. Whilst certainly not as aggressive as the Respawn devs, Activision reminded us why it and sister company Blizzard are so reviled in the gaming sphere with an action that effectively ruined the competitive nature of the games new online multiplayer and turned away players who wanted to experience the game they had already purchased without having to pay again.
So there we are: Two brilliant games ruined by the people who birthed them into the world. I spent a lot of time with both, and I do really enjoy them still, but I cannot in good conscious support and rank two of the worst examples of what is wrong with the industry at the moment.
Now onto the actual top 5.
The Best Games of 2019
5- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Oh look, EA is capable of not being a total shithead! Full disclosure, I have yet to finish this game, but I have certainly played enough to know that I am going to have fond memories of it. Respawn Entertainment had everything to prove by taking on a single player Star Wars game; EA surely would have used this games failure as an excuse to shutter the studio and engulf it's IPs after the success of Apex Legends and cult following around it's fan favourite TitanFall 2. Luckily the EA curse seems to have evaded the team, as they knock another hit out of the park. The more simplistic Souls-like features a heavy focus on story, exploration and customisation and thankfully features no microtransactions or pay-to-win. In actual fact, it's a pretty great game. It is hampered with some performance issues and long loading times, but the locales are detailed, the mechanics harsh but fair and the characters really likeable. But above all that, it proves to the most hated company in America that a single player, story driven Star Wars RPG is not only viable in the market, but actually needed. Here's hoping a sequel can refine the formula and bring balance to the Force.
4- Luigi's Mansion 3
The third entry into the beloved spooky puzzle adventure series is easily the best yet and a must buy for Switch owners. The beauty of LM3 is found in the theming of each level of the towering hotel setting. Each floor offers a different theme that runs from it's enemies, to it's puzzles and to it's collectables. This commitment to variety makes the experience far more interesting and fresh than the much revered original game. Luckily, this has been married with the improved controls from Dark Moon, paired with quite the inventive combat system. This makes the game incredibly addictive to play. With this variety comes some actual challenge in grabbing hidden gems and even in some boss fights with puzzling tells to their weaknesses. And that's not even considering the excellent presentation of the game: Graphically, it's a huge jump up from Dark Moon, with stellar comedic animations for the Big L, his scared stiff animation being a particular highlight that effects his walk cycle. And of course, the inclusion of Gooigi and the implementation of co-op in the story campaign is wonderfully realised, and offers a truly brilliant drop in-drop out experience that works in tandem with that thematic progression of the hotel floors. A quality Nintendo game through and through that puts Luigi back in the spotlight, which we all know is where he belongs.
3- Pokemon Sword & Shield
Despite the umpteen controversies and the full lash of cancel culture whipping away at this seminal Nintendo franchise, there is still little that stops Sword & Shield from being very, very enjoyable games. The first of the mainline series to be presented on a home console, the Switch exclusive games bring all the joy of catching, training and battling Pokemon to the most accessible level they have been in years. Much of the games meta features have long been locked behind cryptic descriptions in menus upon menus, but Sword & Shields greatest triumph may be making all of this information far more understandable and interactive that it has ever been. Couple that with the Wild Area; a BOTW-lite experiment that simulates what a true open world Pokemon game could look like, Max Raid battles that offer the fun of multiplayer PVE events that Pokemon Go is still lacking, and some of the best creature design and typing of recent games, you end up with a really satisfying game. Could it have been so much more? Yes, arguably it could have, and depending how you feel about cut Pokemon and features will colour how you will see this entry. For me, these issues were alleviated by the quality of life improvements and long needed streamlining of the series. It's not the ultimate leap forward fans were expecting when it finally came to consoles, but it still is a great game with plenty of content to see and revisit.
2- Untitled Goose Game
The indie darling of the year came in the form of a horrible goose, and there was plenty to honk about in this title. An achingly British village is the setting for this game of avian carnage, as your titular goose is out to be a dick to as many people as possible. It's a comedy stealth action game with effective sound design, from the flip flop of the goose's flippers to the intermittent piano score that punctuates every comedic payoff of your actions. The overall gentle nature of the game may be it's greatest strength, as the most violent thing you do in the game is startle a farmer into hammering his own thumb. This nature plays into the sitcom-style story of the game really well, as you wander from area to area ticking off a laundry list of things that need to be ruined, ending with a tense climax that flips the script on your titular goose. It's fairly short, meaning it can be clocked in about 3 hours, but that entire run time is incredibly enchanting. It's an absolute must-own for PC, Switch and Xbox One players, and soon a must-own for PS4 players too, and is a game that is sure to amuse even the most hardcore of gamers.
1- Borderlands 3
You'll be glad to know this one isn't a Nintendo game. Permit me to show my bias here, but the Borderlands games are easily some of my favourites of the decade, so seeing the franchise finally come home to roost with it's threequel is deeply satisfying. Borderlands 3 thoroughly doesn't fix what isn't broken, bringing the looter-shooter to current gen consoles after a 7 year wait. What it delivers is probably the best gameplay loop of the three mainline games; with a bevy of environments, challenges, enemies and unique loot drops to encounter, it's certainly feature packed and ready to be played for a long time to come. It falls down slightly in it's story, thanks to some particularly annoying new characters (Ava might be the Scrappy-Doo of the whole situation) and lack of interesting villains, but we all knew the Handsome Jack arc was going to be tough to top. There are also a number of technical issues that are consistent across all hardware, most notably a texture pop-in problem and a huge delay in loading the menus due to their context sensitive nature as holograms in the environment. The four new playable characters have deep customisation going on with some enjoyable destructive super moves to unleash on the hoards of Pandora and beyond. And the guns feel better and more unique than ever; Highlights include a throw-able gun that runs after enemies and shoots them, a rocket launcher that shoots explosive cheeseburgers, a gun that insults you every time you fire it and the gun that shoots other guns. This insanity of weapon effects spreads right through to the grenades, shields and boost items this time around, giving some of the most fun to be had in the series. I found myself running one particular planet with friends over and over again because the fast and frantic glee we were mowing down enemies and picking up fat stacks of cash and guns as we went. It's truly cathartic for me to finally get this franchise back at the top of the pedestal again. Easily the best shooter of the year, and for me, easily game of the year.
That's 2019 and indeed the 2010's over. Kicking off the next decade for gaming is Cyberpunk 2077, Square-Enix's The Avengers, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, No More Heroes 3 and the next generation of game consoles, starting with the Xbox Series X. It's looking like a bumper year for sure. Can't wait to be there.
That's 2019 and indeed the 2010's over. Kicking off the next decade for gaming is Cyberpunk 2077, Square-Enix's The Avengers, the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, No More Heroes 3 and the next generation of game consoles, starting with the Xbox Series X. It's looking like a bumper year for sure. Can't wait to be there.
 | By Mike Owen@ThatMikeOwen |