Now is the time for giving… and spending (pic: Valve)
The two warring PC stores have begun their Christmas sales and they’re offering £10 off every purchase until January.
Steamville Holiday Market has opened for business, which is Valve’s rather twee way of saying that their Steam winter sale has begun.
As well as just cheap games there’s a whole meta thing going on with Festivity Tokens to earn, which you can then trade for money-off vouchers and stuff like chat stickers and emoticons.
You get 131 Festivity Tokens for every £1 you spend and you need 5,000 tokens to get £3.80 off your next purchase. Which seems… complicated.
You can also earn 100 tokens by completing a Steam quest, which involves thinks like adding games to your wishlist or joining a group chat room.
Frankly, it all sounds like too much hard work to us, but at least you get an automatic £10 off when you sign into your account at the moment, for anything costing £13.99 or more. And then another £10 off once you make another purchase, ad infinitum until 2 January.
The Epic Game Store’s store also has a gimmick, although it’s not quite as convoluted.
They’ll be giving away a free game every day for the next 12 days, starting with the superb strategy game Into The Breach, which we strongly advise everyone go and download this instant.
Epic also has a coupon system that works exactly the same as Steam, so you get a $10 coupon for logging in (we’re guessing that translates to £10 here, but the Epic store still struggles with the concept of other countries outside of America) and then another one when you make a purchase.
That cycle will continue until 1 January or until you’re a penniless waif, whichever happens first.
Super Mario Odyssey – have you played its best level? (pic: Nintendo)
A reader reveals his selection of some of the greatest moments in gaming, from St Francis Folly in Tomb Raider to Zelda’s Forest Temple.
As it’s that time of year where best of lists are prevalent, I thought I’d do something a little different and focus on the best levels within games, rather than the games themselves. There’s only one rule here, and that’s only one level allowed per gaming franchise (which makes things very tricky indeed).
Here are my personal 15 favourites:
Tomb Raider Anniversary (2007) – St Francis Folly
Yes, you’ve not read that wrong. I’m going for the Anniversary version of this legendary level over and above the original. Whereas it is fair to say that the Anniversary version as a whole slightly dumbed down some of the exploration, its version of St Francis Folly was arguably more complex and involved. This is certainly the case in the themed rooms involving the Greek gods (the Damocles section is pure evil).
In the level itself, some entertaining platforming and column climbing leads to Lara emerging at the top of a vertigo-inducing high room. The vertical descent is a challenge in itself but added to that are four separate sub rooms, each representing a themed challenge based on a legend of a Greek god, to pick up four keys. It’s a fantastic level and, in my opinion, easily the best in the Tomb Raider canon.
The only thing the Anniversary version does not improve on over the original is the fantastic music that plays when Lara emerges at the top of her vertical descent – A Friend Since Gone – which has itself been the subject of a fine article by GameTripper.
Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan (2005) – Over the Distance
I can’t recommend the original Ouendan game enough to those who haven’t played it. It was re-skinned as Elite Beat Agents in the West – which is a fine game in its own right – but there’s something about the Japanese original that makes it that bit more special. The Over the Distance level is the tearjerker (which was replaced by the You’re the Inspiration level in Elite Beat Agents).
This heartbreaking tail of a bereaved girl and her recently deceased boyfriend (who was presumably killed in a motorcycle accident) trying to communicate with her to tell her he loves her is as sad as gaming gets; but also uplifting at the same time. The actual original J-Pop hit Over the Distance by Hitomi Yaida is well worth checking out on YouTube.
Super Mario Odyssey (2017) – New Donk City Festival
It’s really difficult to pick a stand-out Mario level. There has been a great deal of discussion in the Inbox and in Reader’s Features recently over which is the best 3D Mario game. I think, on balance, I would lean towards one of the two Galaxy games over and above the others. But a) it’s a close run contest and b) neither of them have a moment like this, which is a joyous celebration of all things Mario and his history.
Mario having assembled the band himself, they then break into the supremely catchy Jump Up Superstar song whilst Nintendo celebrate their own legacy via what amounts to a Donkey Kong tribute, all played entirely interactively by the player.
Astro Bot: Rescue Mission (2018) – Free Willy
It’s very difficult to explain just how different (and special) playing in VR is to somebody until they have actually tried it themselves. I noticed recently that somebody in the Inbox had said that playing Astro Bot reminded them of the sense of wonder they got from playing a new console when they were younger and that is exactly how I felt when playing Astro Bot too.
Free Willy is the second time there is an underwater level in the game – so it lacks the initial amazement of just how that feels in VR – but compensates via a middle section containing some seriously undulating wave action. The miracle of VR means that your brain is tricked into thinking that you’re actually standing in the ocean in a choppy sea or, alternatively, one of those rubbish wave machine efforts that you’d find in an indoor resort. You literally find yourself holding your breath and bobbing around as you’re about to go under a wave – it’s that good.
Star Wars: Battlefront (2015) – X-Wing VR mission
Whilst on the subject of VR it would be remiss not to mention this stand-alone free expansion mission included as part of the original Star Wars: Battlefront. I can well remember the hyperbole from GameCentral at the time they tried this out and, to be honest, it played a large part in my ultimately picking up a PlayStation VR unit. Who doesn’t want to fly an X-wing?!
In its own right it’s a very good stand-alone mission, piloting an X-wing as part of a squadron that ultimately leads to something of a showdown against a larger enemy. The extra immersion that VR adds (again) has to be experienced first-hand as it’s impossible to put into words.
The closest I can get is that when I was nine-years-old I found the old sit-down Atari Star Wars cabinet in a Blackpool arcade and thought it was the greatest thing I had ever seen in my life. This mission had the same effect.
Super Metroid (1994) – Tourian
Tourian is actually the ‘worst’ level in Super Metroid – in terms of it being the most linear; as effectively it is a short journey with some tricky enemies (including the metroids themselves) to the final battle with Mother Brain. Why, then, is it a level that you must play before you die? The simple answer, of course, is that to get to Tourian you, by definition, have already played the rest of Super Metroid and, in doing so, you have played through the greatest game ever made.
Contra 3 (1992) – Level Three
Even after all this time Contra 3 is still by far the greatest run ‘n’ gun game ever made. Recent homage Blazing Chrome was perfectly fine, but it paled in comparison to this – its inspiration. Level 3 is the second horizontally scrolling level, as the regular levels are interspersed with top-down Mode 7 levels.
Just what happens in this level (in well under five minutes) is breathtaking; starting with avoiding harpies, an attack on some form of helicopter drill, climbing a wall to be attacked by some form of giant mechanical insect, bombed by a bomber plane and then, finally, attacked by a giant mechanical ape and a couple of his robot pets. You can picture the design meeting now at Konami (when they were at the top of their game) – where they basically must have just said ‘throw the kitchen sink at it!’
The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998) – Forest Temple
Picking just one Zelda dungeon (or should they be called temples? Most of them are) may well be the trickiest decision on this list. Even the unpopular Zelda games usually have at least one or two great dungeons. One of my favourites, for example, is within the much-maligned Spirit Tracks.
Similarly, for some people, time hasn’t been kind to Skyward Sword, but there is no doubting the quality of some of the dungeons in that game. In the end it’s hard to ignore Ocarina and the first dungeon that you encounter as adult Link – the Forest Temple.
There is definitely an uplift in puzzle difficulty here and a haunting atmosphere throughout. This culminates in one of the great Zelda boss battles involving Ganon, a horse, some paintings and a newly acquired bow and arrow. It’s as good as that sounds.
Resident Evil 7 (2017) – Happy Birthday
This one was a tough call between the wooden lodge in the original Resident Evil (the one containing Plant 42) and this, frankly, downright nasty piece of work. In what is effectively Resident Evil meets the Saw movie franchise; you get to play the last moments of the ill-fated cameraman Clancy after he is trapped in Lucas’s puzzle rooms.
I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that it’s pretty disturbing stuff (or, indeed, that Clancy is ill-fated) but what really sets this level apart is that what you’ve learnt in playing through it becomes crucial later on in the game. The puzzles are almost worthy of a good point and click adventure too.
Dark Souls 3 (2016) – Anor Londo
Yes, the third one. It’s not a typo and the game has been out long enough now for this not to be a real spoiler. Anor Londo is widely thought to be the best area of the original Dark Souls – culminating in a certain notorious double boss battle which separates the men from the boys.
Its inclusion (in significantly less sunny form) in the third instalment of the Souls trilogy was nostalgia in its purest form; starting with an initial inkling that you may be heading towards somewhere familiar, but not really knowing for sure until you see those unmistakable steps up to the cathedral – and then having it confirmed by that familiar Souls chime that heralds in a new area. And then immediately thinking: what is behind that boss door? It’s in the same place as last time. It couldn’t be them again could it?
Beat The Beat: Rhythm Paradise (2012) – Ringside
I have a soft spot for rhythm action games and the Wii iteration of this franchise is arguably the best of the series. The Ringside level, however, is really something else. It’s as camp as Christmas and involves a masked wrestler being interviewed post fight set to (as you’d expect) music.
It’s absolutely hilarious, both in terms of some of the garbled language and the wrestler’s monotone gruff answers (accompanied by ludicrously camp posing). To be honest, if you’re not at the very least smiling having completed this one you really need to have a word with yourself.
Strider (1989) – Level 2
There must have been something in the water in the very late 80s and early 90s in terms of these side-scrolling action games. Released a year or two before Contra 3, this is another game that clearly decides to throw everything they can at the player over the course of one level. This is the one everyone will remember as the mountain descent level in the snow. The variety is astonishing.
Attacked by wolves? Check. Attacked by a giant mechanical gorilla (what is it about giant mechanical gorillas?) Check. Ascending a mining shaft? Check. Attacked by jetpack man? Check. Legendary mountain descent with added explosions? Check. Attacked by ED-209 like creatures with added lightning storm background? Check. Take helicopter rides (not a typo – there’s more than one) up to airship whilst dropping bombs on you? Check. Defeat three female ninjas on airship to finish level? Check. Phew!
Shadow Of The Colossus (2006) – Avion
For those struggling to picture this one, it’s the giant bird of prey that patrols the foggy lake. It is well documented that Colossus is not an easy game to play – not in terms of its difficulty as such but in terms of the feeling of loneliness and regret you feel whilst playing it. Avion is the fifth colossus that you fight in the game and, at this point, you will have started to feel that something is not quite right (notwithstanding the fact that the last colossus you fought was one of the very few that, frankly, had it coming).
A foggy lake is a very tranquil and isolated place to be doing your colossus slaying. However, as much as the whole scenario feels a little bit off, your emotions of pity are countered by the sheer exhilaration of jumping on a giant bird’s wing and holding on for dear life as it takes off around the lake. There are not many other games that can toy with your emotions like this one – driving you forward when you know it’s not really right to keep going.
Tetris Effect (2018) – Dolphin Surf
Without labouring the VR point too much, Tetris Effect is much improved in VR mode but perfectly serviceable in standard mode. This is (obviously) the level with the dolphins and whilst, admittedly, there are more spectacular levels in the game with better soundtracks – this one gets one major thing completely right; and that is allowing you to actually celebrate your victory.
At the start of the level the Tetrimino blocks are coming down fairly slowly but, later on, they start to come down faster than they ever have done before in the previous levels. It’s a huge difficulty spike and you find yourself panicking and trying to stay afloat, struggling to cope with the speed of it all (although it seems quaint compared to what comes later on!).
Just at the point when you think you can’t hold on any longer there is another change of speed but, surprisingly, the speed drops to a very easy level and remains that way until the end. The game realises that you’ve got through the tough part and, as a result, now starts to make the dolphins leap in unison out of the water with every new successful line as they cheer on your victory. So few games allow you to properly enjoy winning and this one feels particularly sweet.
What Remains of Edith Finch (2017) – Barbara Finch
if you haven’t played What Remains Of Edith Finch then you really should go and rectify that in its entirety right now. It’s a fairly short game and it won’t take you too long to get to this classic level. I will try not to spoil this one too much; but let’s just say it has the best use of licensed music I have ever heard in a game (taken from a ‘seasonal’ horror film).
It’s so clever how it uses the familiar music to build tension and a sense of dread in what otherwise is not a particularly scary game – despite the fact that it deals with a number of deaths of family members. My overwhelming impression upon completing the level – ‘that was so clever’.
By reader simjhpy (gamertag/Twitter) aka Ace Attorney
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
At least Elite Beat Agents meant to be Christmassy (pic: Nintendo)
A reader offers a selection of favourite video game tunes that sounds Christmassy, even if they were never originally intended to be.
Depending on how long you’ve been forced to spend in supermarkets this season, nothing can get you in the festive spirit better than your favourite Christmas soundtrack. Hopefully you haven’t been exposed to too much Wham, Slade or – heavens, forbid – Paul McCartney’s wintry offerings.
There isn’t much in the way of actual Christmas content in video games, even many ice levels don’t sound all that Christmassy, but there are still plenty of tunes that will get you in… da mood, Ariel. I’m not even going to try to quantify the examples I’m providing here. And I’m sorry if I haven’t talked about one of your obvious favourites here – I can only play so much. But what I do talk about is sure to hit you hard in your mulled wine glands. Which are definitely real.
The season of giving can be a tough time of year, and many a Christmas song will reflect the holiday blues from A Winter’s Tale to Happy Xmas (War Is Over). Video games will have their own examples. So, we’ll start with the tears, move on to longings for the Christmases we remembered best and finally onto the joy. Now, let’s get emotional!
Final Fantasy Prelude
An odd choice to start with, perhaps. Almost any version will suffice of the iconic anthem, but best to listen to anything purely vocal or orchestrated. If Heaven were actually real, this is what the angels would be singing as you walked among the Chorus. And there is something so desperately sad about this music, as if the prelude were to some tragedy or was the lament over a profound loss. The notes seem purpose built to stab you in the heart and twist the blade. The cascading of the piano and the pseudo-Christian feel puts certainly myself in the feel of the season. But in the melody, there is also a swell of hope, just like Yuletide itself. That the nights may well be at their darkest now, but a brighter day is not too far away.
A Christmas Gift (You’re The Inspiration) – Elite Beat Agents
This is a game I haven’t played, not ever having owned the Nintendo DS it appeared on, but oh boy have I seen this mission alright! The song, originally sung by Chicago and made more famous by Deadpool, was first introduced to me here. Technically this is a festive-style remix, which I should probably disallow, but it’s the player interactions that give the song its more seasonal stylings. And boy, if you are human, this is likely to hit you like a brick in the face.
I really can’t say any more than that. Just go watch it. Even if it’s a version with the weirdly fetishised ladies, just make sure that you see and hear this. That you’re not allowed to fail this, so I hear, is a brilliant touch. You can’t let Lucy down! Get a girlfriend for Teddy! Aw man. The feels.
Kazarov Stonehenge – Dark Chronicle
This evocative number first played when Max, the game’s protagonist, meets his mother again for the first time in years. That’s hardly a spoiler, if you thought that wasn’t going to happen from the moment she was mentioned, then I’m afraid you may not know how stories work.
Regardless, this music has a bittersweet feel to it, as I picture a doomed couple dancing underneath the shelter of a bandstand as a gentle snow falls down around them in the cold, night air. The moment is fleeting and they’ll never see one another again and so cherish even this small amount of time. A slow waltz for a last encounter.
Silent Night – Shenmue
A traditional Christmas Carol should put anybody in the right frame of mind for the holidays. This was my favourite as a child and still one of them – I can never decide between this, Away in a Manger or O Holy Night – Shenmue does not provide vocals. It is, instead an instrumental version that invokes midnight mass so much I can almost smell the incense.
This is a personal one for me having spent my entire education in Catholic schools. It always tugs on my heartstrings while still leaving me feeling hopeful.
Star Light Zone – Sonic The Hedgehog
Many of us will have spent time with one of Sonic or Mario’s adventures at Christmas during our formative years, and this was the most Christmassy of the first game’s music. Working as a lovely apology to the previous level of Labyrinth Zone – Star Light Zone was just a very pleasant place to be.
Sonic Team decided to take it down slow, with a little smooth jazz number. The original Mega Drive tune has many remixes, but only a handful capture the essence of what I feel was originally intended. There is something sweet and romantic to this, like hearing a jazz band play for the only couple left on the dance floor, building towards that first kiss underneath the mistletoe.
Merlin’s Magical House – Kingdom Hearts
Think back to your first pet. Those holidays when you were happy to see extended family visit, play with the cousins your own age. Your first time in a toy store. The first time you saw a Christmas tree. Tasted a candy cane. You can almost smell the spices of a mulled wine when you listen to this.
The almost religious tone, along with the silly feel of the percussion, makes you think you’re in the greatest toy shop on Earth. Or Disneyland. When I was young, this was Toys ‘R’ Us. This music always makes me think of it, especially their early adverts. It wasn’t necessarily about the toys you got but imagining all the wonders that could be there.
It’s Good If It Ends Happily, Isn’t It? – Dynamite Headdy
I love this game. This, appropriately enough, is the music that plays during the rather sweet end sequence. You’ve beaten Dark Demon and it’s time for peace to return to the land. It is heavily reminiscent of the ending to Sonic 2. Because the central conceit of the game is that you’re seeing a play take place in front of a theatre audience (this game is very weird), you can see workers start to pack up the scenery of the stage. The panels of the sky being taken down by ropes and cranes.
It’s all just so darned nice and heart-warming. Like being crooned at by Bing Crosby.
Red Star – Super Mario Galaxy
This is the flying theme to Super Mario Galaxy. Do I really need to say anything else, here? How can you not be filled with Christmas cheer at the sound of it? How is such a thing possible? I feel this would still have strong seasonal vibes if the game had been released in August.
It obviously conjures up images of soaring through the sky and it is but a baby’s step away from inferring that it is a cold, December sky – Santa racing across the world to deliver all the presents to the boys and girls before morning. All the stars are out, the children far below are asleep, the magical feeling is so powerful you can all but touch it.
Claris and Elliot Ending – NiGHTS Into Dreams
And finally we come to this. This will also get the tear ducts flowing, but in a good way. Some background on the characters: Elliot wants to be better at basketball while Claris wants to have the confidence to be able to sing in public.
After beating the game with both kids, you get this very special ending. The city in which the two children live, Twin Seeds, is celebrating their centenary with a parade and a concert. Elliot gives one of his buddies a high five after having beat their rivals at a game. Elliot sees a poster for the concert: Twin Dreams. He gets a vision from NiGHTS and he decides that he should go. He bursts in and who should be performing but Claris, decked out in a classy, white ball gown. She is surrounded on stage by strange, floating diamonds the same colour as her gown.
The music is clearly building to a crescendo as Elliot recognises her, beams with delight and races towards her. Then Claris starts to sing. A beautiful, wordless melody of happy reunions and triumph through adversity. The diamonds crumble into an ethereal snow, swirling about her as though she were in a globe. And then, the stage melts away and Elliot and Claris are left standing facing each other on a surreal field near a tree, exactly where they came in. Each has achieved their dream and found a new friend. Which is the perfect note on which to end. Because isn’t that part of what Christmas is all about?
I can promise you, there won’t be a dry eye in the house, but you’ll be left with a warmth and optimism that is so very precious and so very easy to lose sight of. Which I hope you will retain if you have it and find it again if you’ve lost it. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!
By reader DMR
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
GameCentral names the best games of 2019, from the award-winning Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice to indie gems such as Baba Is You.
2019 might not quite be over yet, but it is in terms of new game releases. As the last full year of the current generation you might have hoped for a slightly better selection, but while there weren’t too many all-time classics there’s still a lot of very good games and a pleasing amount of variety in terms of genres and setting.
There was one difficulty compiling this list though and that’s that we’ve always had a strict rule not to include remakes or remasters in our top 20, to ensure the emphasis is on new games – and especially given remakes like Shadow Of The Colossus and Zelda: Ocarina Of Time are essentially exactly the same game as before, but with better graphics.
But Resident Evil 2 is clearly one of the best titles of the year, so we’ve given that an honorary mention alongside Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and Zelda: Link’s Awakening. Because if nothing else, 2019 has been a great year for remakes.
As usual, you’ll have the chance to vote for your own favourite games of the year in our annual reader’s poll at the end of January, which has no restrictions in terms of remakes or anything else.
In the space of a decade, FromSoftware has gone from an obscure Japanese developer, best known for so-so giant robot games, to one of the most revered studios in the world. Sekiro is not technically a SoulsBorne game but it is similar enough to Dark Souls and Bloodborne that you can imagine what you’re in for, if you’re told it’s basically those games combined with a stealth-based ninja game like Tenchu. Except it’s even better than that, with some of From’s strongest combat, level design, and boss encounters so far. Yes, it’s still incredibly difficulty but that difficultly is directly proportional to the quality of the game and the satisfaction you get from playing.
Another Japanese master who have had a similar trajectory to FromSoftware in the last decade, PlatinumGames’ output might not be quite as consistent, but this is their best straight action game since Bayonetta 2. It came out of nowhere too, with almost no promotion from Nintendo, but thankfully did surprisingly well in terms of sales. The third person melee combat is classic Platinum but the whole gimmick with also controlling a monster on a chain is used to imaginative effect and the way the game world is fleshed out with police procedural side quests and hanging around back at headquarters is all endearingly bizarre. Despite working with a clearly very small budget the amount of content and depth of combat is astounding.
The best indie game of the year is a wonderfully clever puzzler where your little rabbit creature – the titular Baba – is trying to escape from a series of single screen rooms. There’s no way to do so ordinarily but each area is described by three-part sentences such as Rock is Push or Flag is Win. These rules can be switched around, so that Rock is You or Rock is Win and suddenly victory is possible. The minimalist graphics and high concept gameplay may seem off-putting at first but the whole experience is so endlessly clever, with clearly many solutions the developer never imagined, that it’s enthralling from beginning to end.
4. Apex Legends (XO/PS4/PC)
Despite the ongoing success of Fortnite the much-prophesised explosion of battle royale games never came to be. Most efforts have been fairly low budget indie titles, while even big names like Battlefield have failed to offer a challenge. The exception has been Apex Legends from Respawn Entertainment, arguably the best of its breed and in terms of raw gameplay a considerably more refined game than Fortnite. There have been some complaints about the post-launch support, but even as a free-to-play game this is very generous with its content and the balance of each character is being maintained well.
5. Total War: Three Kingdoms (PC)
The Total War series has been going for almost two decades now and it’s kind of shocking how it’s never thought to base itself in China before. The Three Kingdoms era has been the subject of many video games before, most infamously Dynasty Warriors, but it’s romanticised view of ancient Chinese history, and many over-the-top characters, works perfectly for the format. There are options to make the game more realistic but adding one-on-one duels and more dramatic diplomatic negotiations works extremely well and makes this the best historical entry in the series so far.
6. Wreckfest (XO/PS4/PC)
It’s tragic how FlatOut and its immediate sequel were so quickly forgotten, after proving to be amongst the most entertaining racing games of the mid-2000s. It’s probably because they didn’t take themselves very seriously, with the focus on not just beating your rivals to the finish line but smashing them into tiny pieces beforehand. Wreckfest is the spiritual sequel by the same developer and it’s a real joy, with some very advanced destruction effects and an amazingly entertaining demolition derby mode. It’s not just dumb fun either, as the realistic damage becomes something you have to create new tactics around, as you try and avoid all the bits of mashed up rivals littering the track on your subsequent laps…
7. Devil May Cry 5 (XO/PS4/PC)
Between this, Resident Evil 2, and the ongoing success of Monster Hunter: World it was quite the year for Capcom, especially as a new sequel to Devil May Cry was by no means a guaranteed success. They went the back to basic route, with scenarios and characters purposefully meant to pull on nostalgic heartstrings, but it worked. In gameplay terms Nero and Dante play very differently and new character V was an excellent addition, with completely different powers that nevertheless still follow the basic rules of Devil May Cry’s stylish action.
8. The Outer Worlds (XO/PS4/PC)
Fallout hasn’t had a good few years lately. Fallout 4 is not aging well and Fallout 76 was a disaster before it even started, but The Outer Worlds offers a serious alternative. Or rather a non-serious one, as it adds back in the dark humour that was so key to the early titles, while also being considerably less bug-ridden than Bethesda’s much bigger budget games. It’s by many of the people that worked on Fallout: New Vegas, as well as two leads from the original 2D Fallout games, and based on this first outing is set to be one of the most important new action role-playing franchises of the next generation.
9. Sunless Skies (PC)
Console versions have been mooted for next year but in case that never happens this inspired mixture of survival game and visual novel is one everyone should seek out, not least because it has the best script of any game this year, or arguably the whole generation. Set in the same strange, post-apocalyptic version of Victorian London as 2015’s Sunless Sea, you now explore outer space in a steam train, which sounds whimsical and silly but while the game can be that at times, there’s plenty of gothic horror and H. P. Lovecraft influences that constantly keep you guessing as to what strange sight you’ll come across next. The combat is still only a minor element, but it’s significantly improved on the previous game and makes this perhaps the most well hidden gem of the year.
10. John Wick Hex (PC)
Ask anyone to imagine what a video game adaption of John Wick would be like and they’re almost certain to describe some kind of third person shooter similar to Max Payne. We doubt anyone would suggest a (sort of) turn-based strategy game from the creator of Thomas Was Alone, but that’s what John Wick Hex is… and it’s glorious. It’s also extremely original, and the most interesting new strategy game of recent years in the way the action is always moving forward and you’re just pausing it to make your decisions. Despite that clinical approach the action still feels extremely authentic to the movies and if it weren’t for the low-tech visuals this would be the perfect movie tie-in.
11. Metro Exodus (XO/PS4/PC)
Post-apocalyptic landscapes continued to be the setting of choice for many video games this year but the ones in the Metro 2033 are especially harrowing and dangerous. Time has moved on a little in this sequel, so that the surface is moderately safer to explore, as you and your fellow military survivors go on a train journey across a ruined Russia. The mix of linear and open world areas works extremely well, allowing you to focus on one or the other depending on your preferences. Despite some clichéd characters the script is also much more philosophical than most similar games and actually has something to say about human nature and its penchant for self-destruction.
12. Football Manager 2020 (PC/Stadia)
Yearly sports games always have their ups and downs but 2019 saw one of the best entries ever for Football Manager, with some major quality-of-life improvements and the literally game-changing new Development Centre. It also balances the complexity of its simulation with the need to be accessible for new players a lot better than previous entries, with inductions specifically designed to teach the basics in as compelling a way as possible. The 3D match engine is still substandard but while FIFA and PES have both put in solid entries this year, it’s Football Manager which is the best sports game of the year.
13. Outer Wilds (XO/PS4/PC)
Doomed to be forever confused with The Outer Worlds, even though they’re nothing alike, this laidback sci-fi puzzler is one of the most original and enjoyable video game experiences of the year. The set-up is that you find yourself caught in a time loop where an entire solar system is destroyed with only a 22-minute warning, before inexplicably returning again and again. Groundhog Day and Zelda: Majora’s Mask are the most obvious points of reference, but Outer Wilds is more unique than that, with a game world that’s enormous fun to explore and experiment in, as you slowly solve the mystery of what’s going on.
14. Samurai Shodown (XO/PS4/PC)
Mortal Kombat 11 may have been the best-selling fighting game of the year, but while it is a decent sequel this reboot of the SNK classic was our favourite fighter of 2019. It’s great because not only does it honour the legacy of the originals, but its much slower, more considered action feels genuinely different to anything else around at the moment. When a single hit can cause huge amounts of damage you have to take a much more tactical approach to combat, that’s very refreshing for the genre. With the addition of Terry Bogard into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate it’s been a good year for SNK and hopefully Samuari Shodown will be the first of many successful reboots for them.
15. Devotion (PC)
We hesitated to put this game on our list as it’s no longer available from any legal source, after the developer got into an absurd amount of trouble with Chinese gamers over an obscure reference to the country’s leader. Since developer Red Candle Games are Taiwanese that caused so much scandal even the country’s deputy prime minister got involved. Tragically, Devotion is no longer available on Steam and it looks like it may never come back, despite it being one of the best horror games of recent years, with strong political and philosophical elements to its complex storyline. Even comparisons to Silent Hill may be underselling it, which makes the game’s erasure from existence all the more upsetting.
16. Untitled Goose Game (XO/PS4/NS/PC)
The Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions only came out a few days ago but whatever format you play it on Untitled Goose Game is a pure joy. Its unlikely premise is that you play as a horrible goose whose entire life is devoted to upsetting the inhabitants of a sleepy English village. From soaking hapless gardeners to dropping buckets on people’s heads, the game plays out like a more whimsical version of Hitman, complete with stealth mechanics and a proper physics system. Except instead of a bald man murdering people you’re a goose annoying everyone.
17. Luigi’s Mansion 3 (NS)
For all its positive qualities, the Nintendo Switch is not a console where you expect to show off games to friends just to demonstrate how good the graphics are. Luigi’s Mansion 3 is the exception to that rule though, with gorgeous visuals that almost look like a low-res Pixar movie, as you help the cowardly Luigi to bust ghosts in a hotel filled with a host of ingenious puzzles and boss battles. If only it had dared to be a little more complex, and offered a little more of a challenge, it would’ve been a game of the year contender but as it is it’s still one of the best Switch titles so far.
18. Control (XO/PS4/PC)
The creators of Alan Wake and Quantum Break go multiformat with their latest third person action adventure, that mixes elements of Metroidvania with an X-Files style plot about weird goings on at a secret government headquarters. The story and setting isn’t quite as captivating as developer Remedy seem to think it is – and the enemies are often disappointingly mundane – but the action is excellent with better Force powers than Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (even though that game is pretty decent in itself). It’s not perfect, but once you get the flying and telekinesis abilities it becomes one of the best action games of the year.
19. Asgard’s Wrath (PC)
Although we were very fond of Ghost Giant, the best VR game this year was undoubtedly Asgard’s Wrath, the flagship title from Oculus. As a showcase for the current state of the art in VR it’s almost entirely successful, but it’s also a very good first person role-player in its own right. Not only does it work much better than Skyrim VR (since it’s been made with VR in mind from the start) but it has plenty of original ideas itself, including multiple character, animal minions, and transforming to giant size. It’s not the deepest role-playing game ever made but it is a genuine milestone for VR titles, and not just a jaw-dropping tech demo (although it is that too).
20. Knights And Bikes (PS4/PC)
We had a struggle with this final spot in our chart as we tried to decide whether to give it to either Knights And Bikes or A Plague Tale: Innocence, both of which are in contention for the best storytelling of the year. It’s Knights And Bikes which just edged it though, with its charming tale of delinquent youths that at once echoes elements of The Goonies (but set in Cornwall) but with a darker centre to both characters that feels more honest and human than you’d expect of most video games, let alone one centred around the joys of riding a bike and jumping in puddles.
Honorary mention:
Resident Evil 2 (XO/PS4/PC)
We don’t include remakes in our top 20 lists but if we did then Resident Evil 2 would be number five this year. The basic story and level layout is still essentially the same as the PS1 original but the glorious new visuals and over-the-shoulder camera angle work extremely well to maintain the same atmosphere of dread and panic – especially when Mr. X is on the prowl. With a surprising amount of gore and hints of the original cheesy dialogue it exceeds even the original Resident Evil as one of the best remakes of all time. Although Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled and The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening are no slouches either.
Christmas video games have never really been a thing (pic: IMDb)
A reader lists some of his favourite Christmas themed video games and laments the fact that there aren’t more.
Christmas always evokes nostalgia and without fail there will be a large proportion of us who will embrace it fully.
It’s perfectly acceptable to listen to the same old Wizzard or Pouges track year on year, despite few having any knowledge of either’s extensive back catalogue or even being able to name a second song of theirs. Yet we are still happy to listen to the same songs on repeat every year because… Christmas.
Likewise, you’ll be hard pressed to find someone in the school or workplace that hasn’t seen Home Alone or Elf at least once in the past few years and there’s always new seasonal movie sections each year. Everyone will have an opinion on their favourite Christmas songs, or Christmas movie* yet nobody will have a favourite Christmas video game, namely because there are so few!
Sure there are a some that spring to mind, there’s James Pond 2, the obscure Christmas Daze by Sunsoft, Christmas NiGHTS by Sega (which is more of a reskin of the first level of NiGHTS), and a downloadable episode of Saints Row 4 that I quite enjoyed.
There are the movie tie-ins from Home Alone and Batman Returns of the 16-bit era, but these offered little in terms of that warm fuzzy December feeling – or any appeal to today’s gamers. There are some more recent battle royales and MMOs that offer seasonal skins, but again there’s very little in the way of story or nostalgia.
It seems crazy that when it comes to entertainment products and services that video games are by far the biggest market, well above film and music, yet so underrepresented by seasonal content. It’s bizarre that no publisher has exploited this and created an AAA Christmas related title.
It’s not like it would need to be a lot of work. You take most existing games and with a few changes to the assets make it Christmassy. Take any Zelda game, give Link a beard and a red outfit, replace the sages with reindeers to rescue, have Link open presents instead of treasure chests and add some weak dialogue about having to save Christmas and boom. Christmas classic! And don’t get me started on Mario! He wears red already and all he needs to do is grow his moustache out a little!
While the above approach may be a lazy one, it’s not like we crave variety (given that Call Of Duty and FIFA are best sellers year on year) and given that the games would only be played for the six weeks leading up to Christmas I’m sure gamers would prefer something shorter that they are familiar with, rather than getting invested in a 50+ hour game that will take them months to obtain all the collectables.
If developers were to create something original? Even better! With any investment there’s risk but done right I’m sure it would be one that pays dividends year on year. Sure, it might only be played for a just over a month each year, but do it right and create a game that evokes nostalgia and creates new memories and people will still be playing it 20 years from now!
There are games aplenty trying to take the title for best in class for first person shooter, football sim, platformer, or best racer. But I believe developers are missing a trick here and the crown (or red velvet hat) for best Christmas game is one I hope does not remained unclaimed for much longer!
By reader Huw
*My favourite Christmas album: The Killers Don’t Waste Your Wishes, favourite movie: Die Hard
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
2019 saw two new console reveals and Google enter the games industry, but what were the other big stories and how will they impact 2020?
The fact that next gen Xbox and PlayStation consoles were announced this year did not come as a surprise to anyone. These things are always open secrets, and most of the hard information still comes from leaks rather than official announcements, but the launch of the new formats next year will, as always, change the face of gaming.
But there were other stories and trends that will also have almost as much impact, including the increasing weaponisation of influencers as marketing tools and what might finally be some level of synergy between Hollywood and the games industry…
1. How to make a successful video game
It’s always good to see a major publisher making the effort to push a new IP, especially when it turns out to be a great game like Apex Legends. But watching EA promoting Apex Legends was a fascinating instruction in how the modern video games business work. Developer Respawn only started teasing the game a day before its launch, before paying 100 influencers (including Ninja, who was allegedly paid $1 million for his efforts) to stream the game. The end result was 1 million players in eight hours and 50 million in a month.
But while still successful now, once the influencer money ran out interest in the game quickly peaked and Fortnite was soon back on top as the number one battle royale game. Some of that was down to miscalculations with the first battle pass, and Respawn’s refusal to work their developers to the bone, but despite its ongoing success Apex Legends never quite became the next big thing.
2. More a trickle than a stream
At the start of the year Microsoft and Sony were terrified of the prospect of Goggle entering the video game market. But now that 2019 is over, Google’s Stadia is something close to a laughing stock. Not literally, because Google has enough money (if not patience) to throw at the idea until it’s successful, but the lead up to launch was an endless parade of bad press, with Google constantly having to explain that it isn’t the Netflix of gaming and that most of the promised features didn’t actually work. The service itself did, which is the important thing, but with no major exclusives and embarrassments like launching with a two-month-old version of Borderlands 3 they’ve got a lot of work ahead of them convincing people that Stadia is the future of gaming.
3. Successful project
By comparison with Stadia, Microsoft’s Project xCloud (it’s just a codename) was much better received, even though it’s only in beta at the moment and there’s indication of when it’ll transition into a paid-for service. The reasons for Microsoft’s warmer reception is pretty straightforward, and a lesson to any company looking to launch a new console or service: it’s all about the games.
That won’t last, but clearly Sony has a backlog of news to unveil at some point in 2020 – probably fairly early on in the spring. Although it’ll also be interesting to see what plans they may have for streaming, as although they’ve recently given PlayStation Now a power-up they’ve also teamed up with Microsoft, of all companies, for what’s presumed to be their equivalent to Stadia and Project xCloud.
5. What’s in a name?
A new console announcement is always going to be the biggest news of any given year, and in 2019 we had two. Project Scarlett, as it was known at first, was revealed at E3 in June, although as with Sony the tech specs have so far been kept very vague – with most information coming through leaks.
The new console got a second surprise unveiling at The Game Awards in December, revealing an usually vertical design and the instantly controversial name of Xbox Series X. The fact that Microsoft had to issue a statement a few days later, to clarify the name, shows they’ve learnt little about giving their consoles sensible monikers, but the trailer for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 was impressive enough to suggest everything to do with the console itself is looking very promising.
6. Death and rebirth
Fortnite has been the biggest thing in gaming for two years now, but what goes up must come down and by the spring the chinks in Fortnite’s armour were beginning to show. In-game sales were down and the honeymoon period was clearly over. Something had to be done and whatever you think of the game it’s impossible not to be impressed by Epic Games’ attempts to combat the inevitable decline in interest.
The first pushback was the hugely successful Fortnite World Cup in July, but the main event of the year was the complete destruction of the original Fortnite map, whose death throes attracted an audience of millions and left many more frantic when the game was down for several days – before being reborn as Fortnite: Chapter 2. There’s evidence that in-game sales quickly began to drop again, but you can’t say that Epic hasn’t been putting in the effort to keep Fortnite relevant.
7. Apple Arcade
Although it hasn’t got nearly as much traction amongst hardcore gamers as the news over Stadia and Project xCloud, the most successful new service launch of the year has been Apple Arcade on iOS. For just £5 a month you get access to over 100 titles, all of which are guaranteed to be microtransaction free.
It’s a fantastic service, at least as good as Xbox Game Pass, and something Apple is planning to spend $500 million on overall. Whether they’ll ever start to push more console style titles, and offer a more direct rival to the other streaming services, remains to be seen but on the basis of Apple Arcade you’d have to say they’re welcome to try.
One of many pro-democracy images created by fans that features Overwatch’s Mei (pic: u/galoder)
8. A Blizzard of anger
Most video game controversies are pretty insular affairs and usually revolve around things like publishers do something anti-consumer or games not working properly. But one of the biggest news stories of 2019 revolved around some very serious real-world issues, after a Hearthstone player was banned for making comments supporting the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
Blizzard’s unapologetic response to the aftermath caused protests of its own amongst fans and even employees, until eventually they at least partially gave in. At the height of the controversy Chinese Overwatch character Mei was being widely used by activists in Hong Kong, although many ordinary gamers seemed to forgive Blizzard remarkably quickly, in their excitement over announcements for Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 at Blizzcon a few week later.
9. Influential value
As if the early success of Apex Legends wasn’t illustration enough of how important influencers are to video games companies the rush to poach popular streamers from Twitch started to involve some serious money by the end of 2019, starting with Ninja.
Some reports suggest that Microsoft may have paid over $50 million for Ninja, even though, in terms of audience numbers, Mixer is only a minnow compared to Twitch. Shroud and Ewok quickly followed but while Dr. Disrespect and others vowed loyalty to Twitch, YouTube and Facebook Gaming also made moves for other prominent figures – a trend that is certain to continue in 2020.
10. Epic rap battle
One of the more unsavoury stories of the year involved a nasty war of words between Fortnite publisher Epic Games, Valve, and their various ‘fans’. The new Epic Game Stores launched in December 2018 and quickly tried to establish itself by signing up exclusive deals with various PC games, with one report suggesting they paid £8.38 million for Control alone.
This led not only to Epic’s Tim Sweeny quarrelling with Valve but getting involved in an embarrassing rap battle with an angry fan. Inevitably it was gamers who took things the furthest, with death threats aimed at anyone that dared sign a deal with Epic, including obscure indie title Ooblets. All over the fact that games they probably had no interest in were being sold on a different online store.
Detective Pikachu – a video game movie that doesn’t suck (Picture: Warner Bros/Pokemon Company)
11. Interactive movies
By the sheer law of averages it had to happen sooner or later, but 2019 saw the release of the first genuinely good (or at least mostly good) video game movie, in the form of Pokémon: Detective Pikachu. It was only a minor hit, but it did segue into complaints about the hilariously awful Sonic The Hedgehog trailer, where the main character seemed to have been designed as some sort of nightmare-fuelled monster instead of a cute blue hedgehog.
After decades of talk about video games and movies melding into one – that clearly was nothing but talk – it did actually start to happen this year. Not only with the promise of good video game movies but Hollywood stars appearing in video games and actually making an effort with their performances.
Not only was there Death Stranding with Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, and Léa Seydoux but Keanu Reeves being in Cyberpunk 2077 was one of the biggest stories of E3. And then there was George R. R. Martin working on FromSoftware’s Elden Ring, which leaked before the news was made public but seemed so unlikely most people didn’t believe it.
13. Get Dexit done
The sad thing about compiling a list of the year’s most important stories is that it’s easy to spot the biggest ones because they’re the ones that involve death threats. Pokémon Sword and Shield might seem like a bright, cheerful game but its fans were furious that it didn’t include every single pokémon – as previous games have – a process they referred to as Dexit.
The game attracted an unusual amount of pre-release heat for the decision, with developer Game Freak clearly unused to dealing with that level of vitriol. Although their standoffish approach eventually proved to be the right strategy, as despite all the complaints the game immediately went on to become the biggest Switch launch ever and the second biggest Pokémon game in its history.
Nods for the best graphics, storytelling, soundtrack, and more are all up for contention in the annual Metro video game awards.
2019 might not be going down in history as a standout year for video games but it hasn’t been any kind of disaster either, with plenty of difficult decisions required for our Top 20 of the year. By comparison, our yearly awards aren’t designed to celebrate the entirety of a game, but one particular element that they do very well – even if it’s at the expense of others. Although this year all the winners are great games in their own right. Well, except for the winner of the worst game of the year award…
This has always been an award for artistic, rather than technical achievement, which is why it’s often won by indie games that try to do something other than the usual photorealistic replication of the real world. But technical competence is important, and in both senses Luigi’s Mansion 3 manages to be the best looking game on the Switch. In fact, it’s so far beyond things like Pokémon and Fire Emblem it feels like it’s on a different system, with gloriously emotive cartoon animation and some great lighting effects.
It also features some of the most destructible scenery of any game this generation, which is odd as most of it doesn’t have much gameplay purpose. But describing Luigi’s Mansion 3 as an interactive animated movie really doesn’t feel like hyperbole, and shows just what can be done with the right artistic and technical expertise on even modestly powered hardware.
We’ve given this award to both hardware and software in the past but, again, it’s most commonly indie games that win – and none more deservedly so than Baba Is You. Its premise is that you can manipulate the game world by switching around the little three-part sentences that describe each stage. Change Rock is Push to Rock is You and suddenly you are the rock, or take out the stop from Wall Is Stop and suddenly you can walk through it.
You’re not just changing the world but the internal logic of the game, in a way that’s reminiscent of basic programming but feels much more organic and gamified than other attempts at the same idea. It all works brilliantly well and helps create one of the best games of the year.
Unlike previous years there’s no clear stand out in terms of the various formats this year, a sign perhaps of the imminent replacement of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Nobody had a bad year, although a number of the Switch’s more prominent releases – such as Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Pokémon Sword/Shield turned out to be good rather than great.
And so the PC wins essentially by default, although there were a number of excellent exclusives this year, including Total War: Three Kingdoms, Sunless Skies, John Wick Hex, Devotion, and Asgard’s Wrath. No matter what happens to consoles the PC is always a safe pair of hands and that’s been proven yet again this year.
Thank goodness we already had this award category from previous years, or it would look like we invented it just to lavish more praise on Resident Evil 2. Not that it doesn’t deserve it. The Resident Evil 1 remake from 2002 is still one of the best ever but this reimagining of the PS1 sequel with an over-the-shoulder Resident Evil 4 style view works perfectly.
The graphics are phenomenal but what’s most impressive about it, and runner-up Link’s Awakening, is that the underling level design, structure, and even some of the puzzles are still exactly the same as they were in 1998. As a result of this anticipation for Resident Evil 3 is already off the scale – and frankly any other Capcom classic of the era (we are so hoping for Dino Crisis).
A relatively serious combat flight sim might not seem the obvious place to find the soundtrack of the year but the one for Ace Combat 7 is absolutely superb. In terms of not only the overall quality but how well it fits the setting and themes of individual missions. It also wins on sheer quantity, with over 100 separate tracks that genuinely seem to get better the further you get into the game.
Calm and precise when you’re in the tutorials, the music builds in tempo the bigger and more desperate the combat gets. And although you also wouldn’t expect a flight sim to have boss fights, Ace Combat 7 absolutely does and the music for them is especially glorious. With one of the best VR modes ever seen the whole game is sadly underrated and desperately deserving of more recognition.
2019 has not been a banner year for storytelling in games but there have still been some standouts, including Life Is Strange 2, Sunless Sea, Knights And Bikes, and A Plague Tale: Innocence. None of them are high profile but A Plague Tale did do much better than expected and was rightly nominated at The Game Awards. As the title hints it’s set during the time of the Black Death, but the atmosphere is more Lovecraftian than purely historical, with Medieval France overrun with almost demonic-like rats.
The story and graphics are highly compelling but it’s the portrayal of the game’s child protagonists, particularly the sweet-natured Hugo, which is the highlight. The game is full of horrors, both man-made and otherwise, but it’s its ability to show the goodness in humanity, as well as the bad, that elevates it above the cynical norm.
We do feel slightly guilty about this award ‘winner’, as it’s an indie game and no doubt subject to a tiny budget and equally small development team. But Universal Studios were involved as a publisher, so there must’ve been some amount of budget sloshing around, and it’s also hard to feel quite so forgiving when the Turok: Dinosaur Hunter franchise is being dragged through the dirt once again.
The game looks like a cute little adventure game but it’s actually a painfully difficult arcade title, with controls and a camera angle that make the precise movement and reactions required absolutely impossible. The whole thing seems to have been designed to look cute and absolutely nothing else, and you’d certainly gain more entertainment starring at the screenshots than you would playing it.
Runner-up: Contra: Rogue Ops (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and PC)
The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild – a great game, but is it the greatest? (pic: Nintendo)
GameCentral names the best video games of the last 10 years, including The Legend Of Zelda, Bloodborne, Portal 2, and more.
As if trying to decide the best games of the year wasn’t difficult enough, the fact that it’s also now the end of the decade (depending on who talk to – we’re certainly not getting into the argument of when it officially begins) means it’s incumbent upon us to also try and create a list of the best games of the last 10 years. An almost impossible task given the vast stretch of time and the fact that so many great games have almost no point of comparison.
And yet at the same time we’re pretty happy with our final top 10, even if there are lots of classic games we’ve had to leave out. Many have described this as a new golden age for video games and looking at the best of the last 10 years it becomes hard to argue against that. Although we didn’t want to get into the whole issue of the decade’s most ‘influential’ games, which is a very different question as to which are simply the best.
These are the games we enjoyed playing the most, so while Roblox or Fortnite may have been more successful that doesn’t necessarily imply anything about their quality. There are, obviously, hundreds of amazing games we’ve had to leave out but those closest to making the cut include The Witcher 3, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Undertale, NieR:Automata, Skyrim, Astro Bot, Splatoon 2, and Wolfenstein: The New Order.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Sony’s soft reboot of God Of War is that it wouldn’t have been nearly as effective if protagonist Kratos hadn’t been such an obnoxious sociopath in the earlier games. But time changes everything and the new game portrays his slow migration from monster to positive role model astoundingly well. Kratos’ story arc, and that of the other characters, is handled superbly, and all while being part of an action adventure that’s more than good enough to stand on its own merits.
God Of War also represents the most effective use of what’s come to be known as the Sony formula, with much better action than The Last Of Us and storytelling that, if only because of the more open-ended structure, feels as if it gives more agency to the player. The fact that it’s intended as the start of a new trilogy makes the prospect of the PlayStation 5 launch all the more enticing.
A lot can change in a decade and no one knows that more than developer BioWare. Today they’re in the precarious position of just coming off twin flops Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda, but back in 2010 they were in the middle of their greatest achievement to date: the Mass Effect trilogy. But even without the controversies over the third game’s ending it was always the second one that was the best – which was surprising really because in terms of plot it was really more of a side story.
The overall lore was never the most important element in Mass Effect 2 though, but instead the relationships you had with your crew; where romance was often an option but so too was simply being a friend who would listen or offer advice others would not dare to give. With its fair share of cornball sci-fi elements, and the option to play as an increasingly more amoral character, the end result was a near perfect mix of space opera, action role-playing, and virtual socialising.
With the announcement of Half-Life: Alyx for VR headsets the prospect of new games set in the Half-Life/Portal universe is once again a reality. But it’s Portal that’s going to be the hardest act to follow. The originals managed to catch lightning in a bottle twice in a row, which was especially hard for the sequel which was many times longer than the original and had a greatly expanded cast.
But it all works superbly well, with one of the best scripts in gaming and some equally wonderful celebrity voice-acting. But none of that should take away from the fact that Portal 2 is also a fantastically clever puzzle game, that somehow manages to find the perfect balance of difficultly where it’s a genuine challenge but there’s still no overt hand-holding. If there is ever another game then great, but Valve are going to struggle to ever top this.
Traditional action games have almost become an endangered species over the last decade. Not in the general sense, of course, but most action titles today are either multiplayer games or feature some kind of role-playing element. But Bayonetta 2 (and its predecessor, released in 2009) are good enough that they, together with the more recent Devil May Cry 5, have been able to hold the fort all on their own.
PlatinumGames has put out some great games this decade, but Bayonetta 2 has been the purest distillation of their talents so far, with a combat system that is superficially easy to pick up but subject to layers upon layers of additional depth, the more you learn the intricacies and unlock more moves and weapons. The bizarre plot and storytelling don’t do much to enhance the experience but Bayonetta herself is one of the best new characters of the modern era and due to make a very welcome return in Bayonetta 3.
We were unsure whether to include Capcom’s seminal fighting game in this list or not. Not on the basis of its quality but because the original edition came out in 2009. Ultra Street Fighter 4 though, which contains all the major DLC released for the game, came out in 2014, and since it remains the most important fighting game of the last two generations it seemed right to include it.
In many ways an expanded remake of Street Fighter 2, the fourth game revived the whole genre and effectively saved it from extinction. Although it’s much better now than it’s given credit for, Street Fighter 5 failed to follow up that success, with a poor launch and a lack of content, but every successful one-on-one fighter today owes that fact to the success of Street Fighter 4 and its elegantly simple but endless entertaining combat.
The best role-playing game of the decade does not come from any franchise you would normally expect but instead little-known Belgian developer Larian Studios. The true heir to Baldur’s Gate and the computer role-playing games of the 90s, Original Sin 2 is a staggering work of interactive fiction, with so much depth and flexibility it feels like almost anything is possible. Its world is one of the most interactive in all gaming, not just in terms of objects but the characters you meet and how you influence them, whether through the XCOM-inspired combat or simply talking to them.
From the character creation tools to the split-screen multiplayer (except on Switch), the game is impossibly generous in term of its features and yet still manages to have surprisingly witty and accessible dialogue. Original Sin 2 is an incredible achievement and it’s going to be fascinating to see what the same team does with Baldur’s Gate 3.
Although most of the games in this top 10 got a 10/10 score that doesn’t mean any of them are perfect, but if not for some performance issues on consoles XCOM 2 comes extremely close. Mind you, so did the original reboot, which also mixed top-level strategy with fast-paced, turn-based combat in a game whose infinite permutations ensure a completely different experience no matter how many times you play through its campaign to free the Earth from invading aliens.
But it’s not the depth of options that’s impressive about XCOM 2 but the fact that they never overwhelm what is a remarkably easy game for new players to get into. At a basic level the combat is no more complicated than pointing and shooting and the strategy level decisions open up slowly enough that you move from equipping soldiers to autopsying aliens to researching killer robots and it all seems like second nature. Expansion pack War Of The Chosen is equally good, and adds even more depth to what is undoubtedly the best strategy game of the decade.
If there’s one thing this generation has not been good at it’s introducing new IP. Almost everything, good or bad, has been a sequel or licensed game and yet some of the few exceptions have become amongst the most influential games of the decade. FromSoftware’s Dark Souls series inverted everything anyone thought they knew about video game difficulty and how far people were willing to push themselves if the game itself justified the effort. But it is the slightly more action-orientated Bloodborne that is so far the pinnace of From’s achievements, with absolutely peerless world-building and level design that draws you into a nightmare world that constantly evolves into something more and more terrible.
And yet always you’re given just enough hope that you can keep one step ahead of the game, with a combat system that, like the game world itself, proves to be far more varied and versatile than you first assume. Bloodborne is difficult, but only in terms of the amount of concentration and forethought it requires – raw skill is not really the issue. There’s been little sign of a sequel but if new game Elden Ring manages to be even half as good it’ll be a very special game indeed.
When a franchise has been going for 30 years and is already established as one of the most critically acclaimed video games series ever, a complete reinvention from the ground-up is the last thing you expect. But Breath Of The Wild is the most daring game Nintendo has ever made and it’s a gamble that pays off in every way imaginable. It not only reinvents Zelda but the whole concept of open world video games, while at the same still maintaining a very clear evolutionary connection with the original NES game.
Despite the massive size of the world map there’s something new to see and do around literally every corner, and yet the game is entirely non-linear and allows you to explore and experiment however you want. The lack of hand-holding is remarkable for a modern game in such a big name franchise, but the overwhelming feeling in Breath Of The Wild is one of freedom and it’s as exhilarating in the first few hours as it is hundreds later. Like all the games in our top four, a good argument can be made that it’s the best game ever made and almost makes you pity Nintendo for taking on the challenge of making a sequel.
Not only is it near impossible to compile a top 10 list of games of the decade but even once you do that you have to decide something almost equally divisive: which is best, Super Mario Galaxy 1 or 2? But the answer has to be the sequel, which somehow manages to make the original feel safe and unambitious by comparison.
Abandoning any attempt at coherence or storytelling its only mission is to entertain in the most imaginative and unpredictable ways possible, with a new idea on almost every level. Super Mario Galaxy 2 is pure interactive entertainment, that tries to ensure every moment, every action, and every button press is enjoyable in its own right. Combined with the equally inventive stage and boss design, and one of the greatest soundtracks of its generation, Super Mario Galaxy 2 is the best game of the decade and one of the best video games ever made.
Wii U – not Nintendo’s finest hour (pic: Nintendo)
A reader explores the most disappointing aspects of the last 10 years of gaming, from the PlayStation Classic to the Wii U.
Whilst I always look forward to the end of year (decade?) summaries and the best of lists to argue over, I thought I would offer an alternative perspective. Below are a few of my own, randomly selected ‘worst ofs’ from the 2010s:
PlayStation Classic
I’m all for retro. I think the recent spate of mini consoles has generally been of an excellent quality and offering an easy solution for those of us that want easy access to many of the classics from yesteryear. Except for the PlayStation Classic.
I wrote in recently, commenting on how Sony failed to generate consumer enthusiasm for this, despite the success of Nintendo’s mini offerings, but a combination of questionable game selection, poor emulation, and lack of analogue sticks has led to a real stinker of a console. One that can’t be given away on Gumtree in exchange for a couple of mince pies.
Sequels
What are we up to now? Far Cry 17? Modern Warfare 59? The economics of producing AAA games means that publishers are understandably not prepared to take risks, but it is depressing when many of this generation’s new titles have been genuine classics.
If FromSoftware relied on sequels there would have been no Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice or Bloodborne. Whilst Naughty Dog pushed out a number of Uncharteds, only when they branched out into a new world did The Last Of Us make its impact on gamers. I don’t expect the trend for sequels to change into the next generation, but I do look forward to any new genuinely new games that are released.
Microtransactions
Throw in season passes, pre-order bonuses, and loot boxes. I’ve reached a point of acceptance that this is an inevitable approach for publishers to recoup the cost of development (and occasionally make obscene amounts of profit) but, to me, this has been the biggest scourge on gaming in the last 10 years.
From including free-to-play mechanics in full priced releases to the blatant gambling mechanics aimed at fleecing real world money from the young or vulnerable, publishers have repeatedly shown there is no depth to which they won’t crawl to relieve you of your money.
Wii U Oh, the poor, poor Wii U. Unloved, largely forgotten, often ridiculed. Nintendo’s biggest misstep of the 2010s gave us years of keyboard business analysts shouting about how this was Nintendo’s inevitable demise, how they should become a software developer only (incredibly espousing the Sega model as one to follow!) and simply make their games available for all platforms. Losing everything that makes them unique along the way.
I loved the Wii U. On my own. Holding the tablet-cum-controller thingy gently on my lap. It was daring and different and utterly neglected. That the Switch has been so thoroughly embraced was to a significant degree based on the gaming foundations of the Wii U: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon, Mario Maker, Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, and more. Fantastic experiences that started life on the Wii U.
I don’t grieve for its premature death, all the great consoles are put out to pasture at some point. It’s the shortened life and unfulfilled potential that I mourn for. Now, if anyone wants me I’ll be playing one of my many Virtual Console games. Sniff. I’m not crying, you’re crying. Sniff.
By reader ProEvoSan78 (PSN ID)
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
This year has really all been about next year (pic: Microsoft)
GameCentral offers a retrospective of 2019 in gaming and looks forward to what can be expected in 2020 from Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony.
We’ve all seen this happen before. As soon as it becomes clear that next generation consoles are imminent, the big gaming companies suddenly clam up about their future plans and it’s left to leaks and guesswork to determine what’s actually happening. There was plenty of that in 2019, although Microsoft revealed slightly more than Sony, with a glimpse of what the Xbox Series X looks like and the implication that its launch games will include Halo Infinite and Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2.
All we know for sure about the PlayStation 5 is its name, but that won’t last once Sony puts its marketing machine into gear – probably starting with some sort of reveal event in the early spring. A few years ago, many would’ve predicted that this would be a very different kind of console unveil and perhaps the end of traditional generations. But it’s becoming increasingly clear that that won’t be the case, not this time.
Streaming is clearly the future of gaming but the faltering start for Google’s Stadia, and Microsoft’s very cautious approach with Project xCloud, suggests that it’s not yet ready for the big time. 2020 may well reveal other big name companies (Amazon has certainly been rumoured as being interested) joining the race to become the Netflix of gaming, but everything in 2019 suggests that will be a battle for another time.
In terms of the quality of its games, 2019 will not go down as a particularly remarkable year. We’ve already named Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice as our game of the year, but even it, and other top games such as Astral Chain and Apex Legends, are variations on well-worn themes. A lack of new ideas has been a problem for mainstream games all generation but if there’s any appetite to change that amongst the big publishers they’re now leaving it to the next generation to make their move. Although, predictably, the majority of next gen games known or rumoured about so far are sequels.
While it’s relatively easy to predict what Microsoft and Sony will be up to next year, Nintendo is, as always, another matter entirely. They only have one big name game confirmed for 2020 (Animal Crossing: New Horizons) and that’s only because it got delayed, so what the new year holds for them is very hard to guess at. Especially as the likes of Bayonetta 3 and Metroid Prime 4 may still not have been in the oven long enough to release next year.
Some rumours suggest Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 will be out sooner rather than later, but then rumours also suggested that the imagined Switch Pro would be released, or at least announced, this year, and that obviously never happened. Nintendo has frequently talked about the Switch lasting longer than normal for a console but whether they really mean that remains to be seen, as Nintendo has always proven perfectly happy to change previously stated plans if they think it’s for the best.
We’re also yet to see Nintendo’s response to the rise of streaming, although they have already streamed Switch games in Japan – so they’re obviously not blind to its importance. Neither are Sony and yet their plans are almost equally opaque, especially after the shock announcement that they would be using Microsoft technology (although very much on a corporate level and nothing to do with the Xbox division). PlayStation Now has only been a mild success at best, but it’s unclear whether Sony will admit that and launch a brand new service or just try and improve what they already have.
Indeed, it’s very hard to judge what Sony’s attitude is at the moment on anything. In previous generations they’ve frequently been accused of arrogance, even during their struggles with the PlayStation 3, but one of the secrets of the PlayStation 4’s success is that they’ve been able to control their vanity and avoid any serious PR disasters or hubristic mistakes. Will that continue with the PlayStation 5 or will they underestimate a clearly resurgent Microsoft?
Rather than how many teraflops the PlayStation 5 is pushing that may well be the most important question to be answered next year: will Sony pursue the same basic approach they’ve used this generation, or will their attitude be very different?
It’s not as if Microsoft’s plans are crystal clear either, as while they have been relatively humble about the Xbox One’s failings that’s not something they’ll want to dwell on. And although they’ve been making headlines these past few years about buying up developers, to bolster their first party studios, very few new games have been announced so far. More importantly, there’s the problem that everyone they’ve bought has been from North America or the UK.
Microsoft’s great failing, since their very first console, has been its inability to engage Japanese audiences or developers (or indeed anyone not in America or the UK). Every new generation they talk about working more closely with a wider range of developers, but it’s never happened and there’s no obvious reason to think that will change this time. Microsoft needs to get away from the stigma of being seen as the ShooterBox and just releasing the odd game from Rare is not nearly enough.
But perhaps the most positive thing about 2019 is that all three console manufacturers are in a very healthy position at the moment. The Switch and PlayStation 4 are amongst the most successful consoles Sony and Nintendo has ever made and Microsoft has clearly been preparing for this new generation for a very long time. It’s entirely possible for all three companies to be successful at the same time, which is exactly what happened last generation, and that would be the best outcome for gamers too – ensuring each company pushes the others towards making the best games and hardware they can.
Whether that’ll be evident in 2020 is difficult to say – the new consoles aren’t likely to come out before November and launch games can often be underwhelming – but gaming has an exciting future ahead of it and 2020 will be the first real glimpse of what it looks like.
Cyberpunk 2077 – a big game in a big year (pic: CD Projekt)
2020 has one of the busiest springs ever for new games but when exactly is the likes of Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Cyberpunk 2077 out?
For years now the Christmas rush has been getting less crowded and more and more games have been coming out in the first half of the year instead, but things are getting really crazy in 2020. Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Cyberpunk 2077, Marvel’s Avengers, and The Last Of Us Part 2 are all contenders for the biggest and most anticipated games of the year and they’re all out in the first five months. As well as a bunch of other great looking games.
We know much less about the second half of the year, which is of course dominated by the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. It’s worth bearing in mind though, that new consoles generally only have a dozen or so games released in their first year, of which only a handful are any good – so most of this year’s best games are likely to be current gen releases.
How many of those might also become cross-gen remains to be seen, but so far only Ubisoft has announced that their new games will be coming out on both sets of formats.
Confirmed video games for 2020
11 February – Ori And The Will Of The Wisps (XO/PC)
One of the last big Xbox One exclusives and the long-awaited follow-up to what remains one of the best Metroidvanias of the generation. There’s no clue yet if it’ll also be released on Switch.
14 February – Dreams (PS4)
The game creation tool from the makers of LittleBigPlanet has been in beta for a long time but February is the official launch date when everyone will be able to play it.
3 March – Final Fantasy 7 Remake (PS4)
Fans have been waiting for it for generations and now the first chapter of the Final Fantasy 7 Remake is almost here, and set to be one of the biggest games of the entire year.
13 March – Nioh 2 (PS4)
Considering how little of it has been seen in public we worry there’s going to be a delay here. But we hope not as the original is the best Dark Souls clone around.
19 March – PC Engine CoreGrafx Mini
It may not be the most famous retro format but we’re greatly looking forward to this new mini console featuring classics from Castlevania: Rondo Of Blood to Splatterhouse.
20 March – Doom Eternal (XO/PS4/NS/PC/Stadia)
It suffered a huge delay until this spring but the sequel to the Doom reboot was already looking great last summer and hopefully is even better now. A remaster of Doom 64 is being released at the same time.
20 March – Animal Crossing: New Horizons (NS)
This was also meant to be out last year but is now the only major game Nintendo game with a firm release date. Given how well suited the ultra cute life simulator is to the Switch we’re sure it’ll be huge.
24 March – Bleeding Edge (XO/PC)
The next game from Ninja Theory is not Hellblade 2 but this multiplayer-only, melee-focused multiplayer game. It’s looking pretty good too, with betas already available if you’re interested.
March – Half-Life: Alyx (VR)
Believe it or not there is a new Half-Life game out this year, but it’s not Half-Life 3. It’s a VR-only game set before the events of Half-Life 2 but whether it’ll still provide some sort of closure remains to be seen.
3 April – Resident Evil 3 (XO/PS4/PC)
Everyone knew it was coming but perhaps not this soon. After the amazing Resident Evil 2 though the sooner the better, especially as it has a brand-new multiplayer component as well.
16 April – Cyberpunk 2077 (XO/PS4/PC)
CD Projekt’s follow-up to The Witcher 3 is another massive release for the first half of 2020 and from everything that’s been seen so far it seems impossible the first person sci-fi role-player will disappoint.
24 April – Predator: Hunting Grounds (PS4)
This promising looking asymmetric multiplayer game has survived Disney’s buyout of 20th Century Fox, although no one seems to know what happened to the planned Alien game.
28 April – Gears Tactics (PC)
We’re not sure why this isn’t also on Xbox but it looks like a decent XCOM clone, at least in terms of the turn-based combat – we haven’t seen any sign of a meta strategy level element as well.
April – Minecraft Dungeons (XO/PS4/NS/PC)
Microsoft’s first big action spin-off for Minecraft is looking pretty good, with no requirement that you know or care about the main game – as long as you’re up for some multiplayer dungeon-crawling.
15 May – Marvel’s Avengers (XO/PS4/PC/Stadia)
Square Enix’s mix of superhero brawler and Destiny style multiplayer experience still has some questions to answer but was looking surprisingly good in the early playable previews.
29 May – The Last Of Us Part 2 (PS4)
The hits just keep coming in 2020, and there seems zero chance that this won’t be both a critical and commercial darling. But will there be a PlayStation 5 remaster this year as well?
May – Fast & Furious Crossroads (XO/PS4/PC)
Since Project CARS developer Slightly Mad Studios are making it there’s every reason to hope this might be the first good Fast & Furious game. And if not, well… we’ve lived this long without one.
Spring – Grounded (XO/PC)
The Outer Worlds developer Oblivion change gears with a multiplayer survival game where everyone is shrunk down to the size of an ant. So even if the game’s no good at least the setting’s different.
Spring – Dying Light 2 (XO/PS4/PC)
Techland has been taking a long time over this sequel but it does look a significant advancement on the first, with a better script, better gameplay, and a very malleable branching narrative.
Q2 – Empire Of Sin (XO/PS4/NS/PC)
Doom creator John Romero returns with… an XCOM clone set in Prohibition Chicago. That’s not what you’d expect from him but from what we saw it’s looking pretty good.
Q2 – Disintegration (XO/PS4/PC)
One of the co-creators of Halo is looking to make this the next big multiplayer game. We’re not sure it’s going to dethrone Fortnite but the squad-based tactical elements are interesting.
Summer – Ghost Of Tsushima (PS4)
Sony’s last big PlayStation 4 exclusive now has at least a vague release date, although we’ve still seen relatively little of its grounded, historical-based samurai action.
Christmas – Xbox Series X
There’s no exact release date for either new console yet but if they follow tradition they’ll both be out in November, at almost exactly the same time.
Christmas – PlayStation 5
When Microsoft or Sony will announce a release date is impossible to say, but there’s a good chance it’ll be at dedicated events in the spring or early summer.
Christmas – Godfall (PS5/PC)
The first PlayStation 5 game to be seen in public is published by Gearbox, not Sony, and is also on PC. But that’s about all that can be divined about it at the moment, beyond a vague fantasy setting.
Christmas – Halo Infinite (XO/XSX/PC)
Clearly intended to be the Xbox Series X’s biggest launch exclusive, and yet at the moment we know virtually nothing about it. But you can expect that to change very quickly once Microsoft’s marketing gets going.
Christmas – Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (XSX)
Also introduced as a launch game, although plans do change. Its trailer at The Game Awards was certainly highly impressive in terms of graphics, even if we know nothing about the story yet.
2020 – Watch Dogs Legion (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
After disappointing sales for The Division and Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Ubisoft delayed the new Watch Dogs to sometime later in 2020. Although it always looked more promising than either of those games.
2020 – Psychonauts 2 (XO/PS4/PC)
One sequel we’ll only believe when we’re actually playing it (although technically we have seen a hands-off) demo, it’s staying multiformat despite Microsoft having bought developer Double Fine.
2020 – Rainbow Six Quarantine (XO/PS4/XSX/PS5/PC)
Rainbow Six in space seems a really odd way to go with the franchise, but we’ve never had a serious, grounded space marine game, so maybe this will be it. It’s not replacing Rainbow Six Siege though.
Also confirmed for 2020: 3 Jan – Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training For Nintendo Switch (NS), 17 Jan – Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (XO/PS4/PC), 17 Jan – Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE Encore (NS), 28 Jan – Warcraft 3: Reforged (PC), 4 Feb – The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance Tactics (XO/PS4/NS/PC), 4 Feb – Zombie Army 4: Dead War (XO/PS4/PC), 28 Feb – Marvel’s Iron Man VR (PSVR), 31 Mar – Persona 5 Royal (PS4), 24 Apr – Trials Of Mana (PS4/NS/PC), 5 May – Maneater (XO/PS4/NS/PC), 19 May – Wasteland 3 (XO/PS4/PC), Q2 – Phantasy Star Online 2 (XO), mid-2020 – Tell Me Why (XO/PC), Q3 – Outriders (XO/PS4/PC), Autumn – Axiom Verge 2 (NS), Autumn – Dungeons & Dragons Dark Alliance, 2020 – Evil Genius 2: World Domination (PC), 2020 – Kerbal Space Program 2 (XO/PS4/PC), 2020 – Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (XO/PS4/NS/PC), 2020 – Microsoft Flight Simulator (XO/PC), 2020 – No More Heroes 3 (NS), 2020 – Oddworld: Soulstorm (XO/PS4/PC), 2020 – The Settlers (PC), 2020 – Spelunky 2 (PS4/PC), 2020 – Streets Of Rage 4 (XO/PS4/NS/PC), 2020 – Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 (XO/PS4/PC), 2020 – Bravely Default 2 (NS), 2020 – The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope (XO/PS4/PC), 2020 – Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise (NS)
Possible video games for 2020
Everwild
Rare’s mysterious new game is presumably a next gen release, although they haven’t really said anything about it yet. The fact it was announced at all though may imply it’s out sooner rather than later.
Bayonetta 3 (NS)
It’s a long time since we’ve heard anything about the new Bayonetta, but then when it was announced in 2017 work hadn’t really started yet – so there’s a chance it’ll be finished this year.
Babylon’s Fall (PS4/PC)
PlatinumGames’ other big action title also went dark for a long time, before more news was promised this summer. With luck that’ll be a prelude to an autumn release.
Horizon Zero Dawn 2
Sony has never announced a sequel but there hasn’t been a peep out of developer Guerrilla Games for years now and Horizon Zero Dawn 2 as a PlayStation 5 launch title would make a lot of sense.
Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2 (NS)
There’s no official word on when the unnamed follow-up will be out but most rumours point to sooner than you’d think, as Nintendo has been doing a lot of hiring for it lately.
Overwatch 2
Of all the big BlizzCon announcements this year, Overwatch’s sequel seems the most likely to come out first, as it uses a lot of the same tech as the original – although 2020 is probably still 50/50.
Assassin’s Creed: Ragnarok
Rumours of a Norse setting seem an odd choice given the success of God Of War but whatever the setting, a new Assassin’s Creed of some sort is due out this year.
Unlikely video games for 2020
Elden Ring (XO/PS4/PC)
Given it’s supposed to be out on current gen formats we would say the chances of a 2020 launch were good, but since nothing has been seen of it since its announcement that’s currently hard to imagine.
Fable 4
That the developer behind Forza Horizon is working on a new Fable is an open secret but there’s no way of telling when it’ll be out, but nothing so far points towards it being an Xbox Series X launch title.
Dragon Age 4
Given the difficult couple of years BioWare has had it’s hard to predict what they’re up to at the moment, but nothing points towards an imminent release for a new Dragon Age. Or Mass Effect for that matter.
Metroid Prime 4 (NS)
Given the whole project was restarted from scratch only a year ago it’s far too early to expect a release date this year. We wouldn’t even bet on seeing any footage.
Beyond Good And Evil 2
Whatever’s going on with Michel Ancel’s sequel it’s clearly not happening very quickly, and with so many other Ubisoft games being delayed recently it seems unlikely it’ll be out this year.
Diablo 4
It’s probably not that far off, but a 2020 release for Diablo 4 is not something we’d bank on. There’ll probably be an alpha or beta though, before a 2021 launch.
Starfield
There’s a good chance we might get a first look at Bethesda’s next role-playing game this year, but considering nothing has been seen so far a 2020 release seems very unlikely.
The Elder Scrolls 6
Since Bethesda has already said the sequel to Skyrim won’t be out until after Starfield there’s zero chance of it appearing this year.
GTA 6
A new Grand Theft Auto is already overdue, but the question now is what do Rockstar do about the new consoles? At the very least they’ll want GTA Online on them, but will it be a port, an upgrade, or a full sequel? Maybe we’ll find out in 2020, but it’s unlikely to be out this year.
Ring Fit Adventure – gaming that’s good for you (pic: Nintendo)
A reader suggests playing games like Pokémon Go and Ring Fit Adventure can help keep you fit and help recover from a gluttonous Christmas.
It’s resolution season, and once again, for as long as I can remember, I’ve pledged to become a smarter, fitter, leaner, stronger, wealthier, funnier, and an all-round more appealing/dashingly handsome human being. While I have achieved some success, I have significantly more failures.
Through active video games (AVGs) like Pokémon Go and Ring Fit Adventure I would like you, dear readers, to learn from my successes and failures in the getting fitter, leaner, and stronger aspect of my resolution history.
AVGs offer an incredible, almost utopian promise: you can get fit and play video games at the same time. This is the dream for me, an ideal bridging of two of my favourite aspects of modern culture. Sadly, this logic is not shared across society, something I call the Active Video Game Paradox: I can play games and get fit, two things I love/want/need, but don’t, for some reason…
I wondered why this paradox existed. Ultimately, I think it boils down to the positioning of AVGs, which is as much a curse as it is a gift. You see, in my head, I’m thinking two things:
1. Are AVGs equally/more effective at health promotion and fitness development than sport/exercise?
2. Are AVGs equally/more entertaining, immersive, relaxing, and awesome (plus many, many more adjectives) than traditional, non-active video games?
The answer really needs to be a resounding yes for both, for a rational person to commit lots of time to AVGs. I call this positioning problem The Battle for Attention.
For health and fitness: AVGs like Pokémon Go are an engaging way to increase/maintain a healthy step count. Walking may be great at achieving cardio targets at an introductory fitness level, but there will come a time (a great time of developed fitness) when walking is not enough, although still useful, and different methods will be needed to achieve further progress/benefits. A good step count alone is not all it takes to achieve thriving health and fitness.
Another side of health and fitness, coming recommended at two times a week by the Chief Medical Officer, is muscle-strengthening exercise. This is important for developing muscle strength and bone density, which is awesome for quality of life, health, and longevity. This is where Pokémon Go fails and Ring Fit Adventure steps in with colourful visuals, a classically Nintendo storyline, and social hilarity to boot.
This game is your crash course to the main movement patterns that are useful for everyday living. As before, this is useful up to the point of adaptation, where it stops becoming muscle-strengthening exercise and starts becoming movement maintenance/energy burning. Useful, but eventually not enough to keep you moving forward on your journey to excellent health and fitness.
For AVG engagement there are some standout performers: Just Dance, Beat Saber (deep love), Pokémon Go, and Ring Fit Adventure. All exceptions to the rule, outliers. Ultimately though, non-active games have, on average, more fans/players, less risk attached to investors, bigger budgets, better community infrastructures, and, personally, significantly more engagement across the board.
I remain optimistic that a new experience will be built (maybe even by me…) that has the incredibly gratifying benefits of games and fitness, without compromising on the overall experience of either. Until then, if you’re new to fitness this year, let AVGs such as Pokémon Go and Ring Fit Adventure be your spirit guide, preparing you for an incredibly gratifying existence as a long term benefactor of sport and exercise. When you’re ready.
By reader Sam Peter Kirk
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
Dragon Age: Inquisition – you never know until you try something (pic: EA)
A reader explains how waiting to buy games is not only less expensive but encourages you to try things you would never have played otherwise.
Getting pumped for the Netflix Witcher series about to drop and having kept the Blood And Wine DLC for when I want to return to The Witcher 3, I started playing it a couple of days ago. Even if the TV series is rubbish (let’s wait and see) at least I can enjoy the cosy blanket of a favourite game to soothe me once I’ve finished shouting, ‘That’s not how [insert character] looks/behaves’ at the telly.
Going back into a favourite game started me musing on my habits. Being a gamer of limited means (some might recall), I have the habit of picking up bargains where I can, rather than play the beyond-my-budget latest releases. This results in me playing the games most people have long ago completed and consigned to the done pile or cashed in at the local CeX/GAME store. But oddly I’ve gotten some benefits from this behaviour, other than the cash saved.
Sometimes during a sale, I’ll buy a game that I wouldn’t normally have chosen, simply because of the price. I mentioned in a previous article that I picked up Borderlands and Borderlands 2 each for a few quid, and loved them in spite of not caring for the cel-shaded look which originally put me off buying them. These and other games became favourites, yet if not for the price I would never have played them, and thus would have missed out on the experience.
I recently finished Dragon Age: Inquisition Game of the Year Edition which I got for £10 in November 2016, and is currently just £8.24 (£6.24 with Xbox Live Gold). Having never played the earlier Dragon Age games, I was shocked at how I might have missed out on this fantastic world, and the hours and hours of gameplay and fascinating characters.
I have games I keep on the boil, both to keep my playing mix vibrant, and provide the comfort of an old friend. Hands up who’s finished Fallout 4? So that’s all of you except for the diehards. For me, Fallout 4 is still on the go because I won’t side with anyone so it never finishes, and everyone still accepts me so I can go anywhere. But what’s the point you may ask? You haven’t beaten it (you play games, you don’t beat them, in my humble opinion).
Well good and true reader, I’ll tell you. Games of this type have great background AI, they create situations and populate their worlds with people, things, and events. I’ve often watched an entire situation play out without my involvement, the game doing all the work.
Apart from my borderline obsession of following rivers to their source, in Fallout 4 I’ve walked (where possible) the remains of the elevated freeway system, followed the coastline, and am currently walking around Far Harbor’s coast. I’ve met new people, gone on new quests, had loads of fights, and even discovered new locations which seemed impossible having covered what I thought was the entire map.
In the just-completed Far Cry 5 I often couldn’t make it to the next location because of all the stuff the game threw at me on the way. I sometimes just started it up and wandered about having a fine old time. Who needs a quest when there’s a trail up a hillside and some beast roaring just over there? Most of these big open world games can provide hours of play, even after you think you’re finished, and might even surprise you with what they throw up, and these of course cost nothing more to keep playing.
I got fed up with Lara, the games seemed to get worse and worse like so many a sequel, but I picked up Tomb Raider Definitive Edition for £4 yonks ago. Tried it recently, loved the reboot, and am now looking forward to both Rise and Shadow Of The Tomb Raider, games I wouldn’t have otherwise considered buying.
Practice what you preach they say, and I’m as guilty as anyone of giving up on a game and thus not getting my money’s worth. Some may recall the fight for my soul regarding NieR:Automata. I so wanted to like it, but didn’t, seeing the cost cutting and other things in spite of the fantastic ideas. Having moaned in the Inbox, many people told me to try the multiple run throughs.
I dislike replaying the same game, but knowing that things do change with each go, I completed the next two playing as 9S and A2, and quite enjoyed it, especially the 9S chapter even though I would have bet serious money that playing as the whiney boy would of been hell.
Well, there you go, my two cents worth. Gaming on the cheap doesn’t have to be terrible. So I haven’t played the latest blockbusters like The Outer Worlds, and I still haven’t even played Red Dead Redemption 2 or Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, both of which you trendy people will be chuckling about as you sigh, ‘Those old things… that was years ago’.
Rounding it up, if a game is cheap enough, take a chance, it doesn’t matter if it’s an old time classic or a recently bombed mess that’s being dumped. Big open world games are great value, offering lots to do even if you don’t care for the main game. GC is always telling people to try something outside their normal choices and comfort zone, and I heartedly endorse this.
Like anything, I sometimes get a bit fed up with gaming, the same old shoot this, go there, escort this, etc. Rather than lay down your controller, perhaps another type of game or genre could be the answer. I just checked Xbox Live and they have 92 game less than a fiver, and an additional 166 if you’ll go up to a tenner. A new favourite could be two or three quid away.
For balance, the rest of you rich people should carry on buying new games, and pre-ordering fanboy stuff even though you don’t know anything about it. No, I’m not jealous, really, (tee hee)!
By reader Spooky Dreamer (SpookyDreamBoo – gamertag)
PS: Thanks GC, for another great year of gaming coverage. In a world of dodgy and biased information, it’s nice to get my daily fix of knowledgeable insight and fun and hear via the Inbox other gamers’ points of view and experiences. Rest well, ’cause new gen 2020 looks busy.
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
Pokémon Sword/Shield – what went wrong – and right? (pic: The Pokémon Company)
A reader discusses what he likes and dislikes about Pokémon Sword and Shield, and his specific problems with the Wild Area.
It has been really interesting, and surprising, seeing the reactions to the release of Pokémon Sword/Shield. I think it’s safe to say there’s never been such a divisive, controversial new entry in the long running series. I never imagined I’d ever see the day where the creators of Pikachu were receiving death threats, we live in strange times.
I should probably state now that I have no real sympathy for the campaign against Dexit. Having finished the whole game and caught over 290 pokémon (I never catch them all!), I can attest to there being more than enough pokémon to keep the game fresh throughout. I would argue that including the entire pokédex has become unwieldy and personally I would always welcome a focus on new pokémon over ones I have already seen. No, Dexit isn’t a problem in Pokémon Sword/Shield, but unfortunately there’s lots of other more fundamental things that are.
I should start by saying Pokémon Sword/Shield are still very good games. The classic turn-based battle system at the heart of the game is as captivating as ever. I had some really exciting, down to the wire fights against both the gym leaders and various online opponents. The new Dynamaxing works well, adding a new layer of tactics to battles and a little bit of grandeur to proceedings.
Catching and evolving pokémon is still absurdly addictive, with a brilliant range of impressive new additions that have a dash of British flavour added to them. I especially love Toxel and its evolution (I called mine Angst, which I’m pretty pleased with!). The new region of Galar looks really pretty, despite the admittedly dated graphics, with some nice art design in the main hubs. There really is a lot to love, the potential for something truly classic is there. But all that potential is undone by portions of the game that are just horribly underdeveloped.
At this point I could highlight the surprisingly low tech graphics, the complete lack of communication when trading/battling, the weirdly paced story that seems to mainly unfold in the last five minutes of the game, the almost psychopathic optimism of your rival Hop (actually I kind of found that funny to be fair) and many other little niggles.
But the big one is obviously the Wild Area. This was meant to be the new innovation, the exciting showpiece for Pokémon’s jump to the big screen and a home console. I expected to be amazed. Instead, when I first reached this open world area I was completely and utterly underwhelmed to the point where I ignored it for the majority of the game.
Graphically, the Wild Area looks extremely bland, offering a flat, fairly homogenous landscape. On first impressions it seemed strangely empty with plenty of fairly static wild pokémon but not really much else. Not quite the pokémon open world of my dreams. I honestly thought it was going to be an integral part of the game’s design but really it turned out to be little more than an optional extra with the main story taking place along the traditional linear routes.
It was so disappointing it actually made me question the worth of an open world Pokémon game at all. The games have always been fairly linear and the Wild Area was not convincing me it should be otherwise.
Once I finished the main story, I gave the Wild Area another try and started online trading and catching more new pokémon. At this point the open world gameplay did start to click more and I could finally begin to see the benefit of the more freeform gameplay it offered. Unfortunately, just as my interest was piqued I realised how small the Wild Area really is and swiftly exhausted all the areas I could explore.
Once the pokémon started to repeat, the gameplay of this tiny open world quickly ran out of steam. It disappointed me all over again. Now obviously Game Freak saw the whole thing as an experiment, but I have to say as such it is a complete failure.
It just feels like there was a lack of true commitment to the idea. The Wild Area needed to be much, much bigger, with more varied landscapes and a wealth of content to discover. There’s no point in doing half a job, if you’re going try something different you really need to go all in on it. At the end of the day I can’t help but feel that the Wild Area, and indeed the entire game, needed another year or so of development to really put out something worthy of the Pokémon heritage.
Game Freak would be well served by having a break from their yearly instalments and taking the time to get it right. I really hope for Generation 9 that they are brave enough to truly throw their weight behind their new ideas and invest themselves fully in them. After all, as Falinks would say if they could talk, fortune favours the bold.
By reader Ryan O’D
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
Minecraft – be careful who you play with (pic: Microsoft)
A reader explains his adventures running a Minecraft server for his children and how inviting a light-fingered friend changed everything.
My story is of the perils of playing Minecraft with a thief, especially when that thief is a child. Firstly, a little exposition.
My son and daughter play Minecraft daily. They’re rather obsessed with a YouTube series called Hermitcraft. Hermitcraft is the name of a server hosting an amazing hand-crafted world, made by numerous Minecraft YouTubers who create emergent stories through their interactions.
My children asked for a server of their own, which is called a realm on the console (aka Bedrock) edition of Minecraft. I joined the realm with them as an overseer because they planned to invite several friends, too.
The Hermitcraft server has a set of rules that ensure fair play. My daughter wanted to mirror them. My children called their realm Aquacraft. Their rules champion respect and support for one another. The punishment for crimes such as stealing, is a strike. Three strikes result in a month-long ban.
Things were fine until my son invited a friend, who we will call Peter. Peter is only seven years old and usually plays Creative mode, in which every item and block type is always available. The realm was set to Survival mode, which meant that all materials could only be obtained and crafted with effort.
Diamonds, iron and other precious materials went missing soon after Peter arrived. Initially I suggested it could be a glitch or players had perhaps misplaced their loot. Until Peter approached me a few days later, clad in a full set of diamond armour, holding a diamond sword. He invited me to see his sweet, secret room under his modest house in which he proudly displayed a set of diamond armour.
Given he had only been around a few days and had spent most of his time asking where we got our ‘stuff’, I found his achievement quite incredible… so much so I was suddenly compelled to check my own loot. I had no loot. But the night before, I had lots, especially diamonds. The wheels of doubt began to turn.
That morning, my son fell into lava whilst exploring a cave, which was most irresponsible. Luckily it was not real lava or a real cave, otherwise the irresponsibility would be mine. He was heartbroken, losing his treasured weapons, armour, and so on. It’s at this point we discovered the realm creates a backup every 30 minutes, meaning the owner can reset the world and characters to an earlier state at will.
We used time travel frequently over the coming weeks to replace pilfered items and loot. We added more rules. We forbade all players from entering anyone’s house without permission but if anything, the items going missing became even more random. It seemed the thief just wanted everything no matter how easy it was to obtain without resorting to thievery.
At this point the impact of Peter’s behaviour was being felt both in-game and in the real world. The other inhabitants of the realm were hiding chests, creating locks for doors, and stopped restocking their shops with new loot because it was being taken rather than bought. I even tried collecting up enchanted loot and precious materials and giving them to Peter as a gift. The thieving continued.
Catching the culprit in the act was rather difficult because the thefts seemed to occur on a morning before the inhabitants of the realm awoke. It turns out, Peter was playing in the silence of the early morning. I started logging in early to observe. I created locator maps for myself, my son, and daughter so we could always see where other players were. This was my masterstroke.
One morning, map in hand, I saw Peter log in. It didn’t take him long to leave his house. Nor did it take him long to enter my daughter’s house. I sneaked up on him like a sneaky silent thing before I sprung like a squirrel, and gently reminded him of the rules. Reiterating that there was a thief about. That finding him in someone’s house, rifling through their loot chest could cause the finger of justice to point at him.
Peter didn’t play for a while. The rampant kleptomania ceased. The realm was a utopia once more, but a few inhabitants confessed that the anxiety caused by the brazen burglar was causing them to avoid playing altogether. It wasn’t fun.
After several weeks Peter the pilferer returned.
One morning soon after, I entered my house to find my horse, who was housebound, missing. The upstairs window was broken. My home had been pillaged! There was only one clue with which to deduce who the culprit was. That clue was a horse. It seemed the thief had arrived on horseback and in their haste to steal my fine stallion, they’d carelessly left their own.
If only the horse had an identifying mark or perhaps a name, I could trace it to its owner. Tim was his name. Tim was Peter’s horse. I knew this because Tim went missing many weeks prior. Peter was upset, so I, as overseer and super sleuth, scoured the land to find Tim and returned him to safety. An act of kindness that one might remember when about to steal diamonds from a chest. The chest of the horse rescuer. The chest of the greatest detective in Minecraft history.
I banned Peter for a month. I also told tales to Peter’s mum. Our sanctions had been no deterrent to a kleptomaniac of Peter’s pervasive propensity. He has now returned once more, and we hope his return does not coincide with a new reign of terror.
The most difficult thing about this has been the real-world impact of his behaviour. I’ve been lucky that through carefully managed conversations I’ve been able to help my son understand how a friend might behave in such a way, particularly if their only experience has been to have everything at their fingertips.
It is to the children’s credit that they maintained a healthy relationship with Peter in the real world but I still find myself shocked at how quickly the whole feeling of the realm changed. Games take one away to worlds we had only dreamed of, but it turns out that no world is immune to the effect of a light-fingered lawbreaker. Even one who is only seven years old.
By reader Matt
The reader’s feature does not necessary represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.
You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. As always, email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk and follow us on Twitter.
Getting to the top
Thank you for your list of favourite games of the 2010s. It’s great to see Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Zelda: Breath Of The Wild at numbers one and two. All time placing for me. I’d also place XCOM 2 at number 3, a turn-based strategy so perfect that it’s usurped the position hitherto reserved for Advance Wars in my all-time top 10.
I’d also like to give a shout for Into The Breach, which I’ve probably completed on hard over a 100 times. As with XCOM 2 and Advance Wars, no two playthroughs are the same. Every time a challenge, every time they get you thinking, and every time a joy to play. I never seem to tire of them. I couldn’t in all honesty say the same about Galaxy and Breath Of The Wild. And while I’d rather not self-analyse this, if there’s one gaming moment that gives me more satisfaction than any other, it’s in XCOM 2 when you take out an enemy from an elevated position with a sniper.
All that said, another you place in your list, Divinity: Original Sin 2, I ought by this logic to love but despite starting over three times now I soon get stuck and am unable to find a way to progress. I get the sense that’s it’s a great game and your list makes me want to give it another go. It would be nice to read a feature from someone who has completed it on how best to approach it. I’m happy to do the same with Into The Breach if readers struggle with that. Ciara
GC: We’d certainly welcome a feature on Into The Breach, it’s a fantastic game.
Personal choice
I’ve really enjoyed your coverage over the Christmas period, I especially liked reading the Best Video Games of the Decade. It’s always fun considering which selections I agree with and which I don’t in these sort of lists, although I can very much appreciate the difficulty of the task. I’m very tempted to restart the Super Mario Odyssey vs. Super Mario 3D World debate again (wait a Galaxy game got the nod, I want a recount!) but the two big omissions on the list for me are Splatoon (either 1 or 2) and any representative of indie gaming at all.
Splatoon has been Nintendo’s greatest success of the decade both in terms of innovation and pure fun. To think a new franchise could outsell Mario and Zelda in Japan on its second title is mind-blowing, not to mention the cultural phenomenon that came with the game both online and in real life. As for indie games, there are an endless parade of worthy contenders that rival any of the games on your list. One of the big stories of this decade for me has been the rise of indies bringing back a level of invention, creativity and artistry not easily found in bigger budget games.
It would be really interesting to have a reader’s top 10/20 of the decade, I don’t know if this is possible? I realise you’ll have the 2019 top 20 to do too but perhaps they could be done on separate weekends. Assuming we’d only get to pick three, my personal choices would be Splatoon 2, Bloodborne, and Inside. I realise Inside is probably a bit of an outlier but it really has stayed with me and represents the true artistry that goes into gaming. The end sequence is one of the most exhilarating and oddly moving experiences I have ever had and could only have been achieved as a video game. What a marvellous decade of gaming it has been! Ryan O’D
PS: Super Mario Odyssey would be my fourth choice if you were wondering…
GC: We’re considering having a games of the decade vote next week and then maybe pushing the top 20 of 2019 back a couple of weeks, to avoid list fatigue.
Successful year
I just wanted to say thanks for another year of outstanding gaming coverage and reviews. You’ve been my go-to site for many years dating back to the Digitiser days. I didn’t get too much gaming time last year due to college but really enjoyed Untitled Goose Game and currently The Outer Worlds, both of which I bought based on your reviews.
Also, you guys helped me out with a gaming addiction survey earlier in the year for a project for which I got an ‘A’ grade, so thanks very much to you and all the GC readers who took the time to complete it, I really appreciate it. DENISDMENACE666 (PSN ID)
No presents
Hope Game Central and all its readers had a good Christmas and New Year. Over the Christmas period I thought I would gift a friend on PlayStation 4 a game on sale, but as other readers probably know you cannot send a gift of a game on PlayStation 4 to a friend, but you can do on Steam and Xbox One – as I have done this recently.
My friend on PlayStation 4 does not have an Xbox One or PC for gaming, so I can’t do this. The game in question was Life Is Strange Season 1. which was on sale for about £3. I can’t buy presents for all my friends, as I can’t afford it, so I thought I could get that game for him for a couple of quid. But I did not have the option to, which would mean I would have to spend out on a £10 voucher to give him, which is a lot more than a couple of quid when you are buying for a lot of friends.
I suppose if someone hacked my account and bought games as gifts for other accounts it would stop this from happening, but Steam and Xbox One allow you to buy games as a gift for friends. Andrew J.
Winning one-handed
After writing in a couple of weeks ago asking for recommendations for one-handed gaming, I happened to try a few games that I otherwise wouldn’t have given time to and wanted to recommend. Super One More Jump is a simple platformer in the vein of Super Meat Boy. It’s challenging, in a one-more-go kind of way, and the levels are small enough that it’s perfect if you just have 5 to 10 minutes to fit in a bit of gaming. The benefit for me was that as soon as your character sets off, they rush towards the goal in perpetual motion, with no need for the inconvenience of any left-handed controls.
Bury Me, My Love is less a game, more an interactive story, told through text messages. You follow the journey of a couple looking to escape the war in Syria, with the inevitable dangers that entails. On the whole it manages to avoid the terrible, cliched writing of video games and, when most games will avoid any kind of political theme, it takes real-world issues to tell an effective story. Again, interaction is almost exclusively limited to the A and B buttons, supporting my rehab.
Both games have been extremely cheap/free through recent offers on the Switch eShop, so definitely worth a punt if they sound of interest. I guess my main point is one that GC often recommend: trying a different type of game to your usual genre(s) can be an effective palette cleanser. ProEvoSan78 (PSN ID)
Empty world
I’ve been wondering what else doesn’t feel right about Ghost Recon Breakpoint. I really don’t think Ghosts and Sentinel are enough. The game feels empty.
I believe that Ubisoft should have made it a busy island with lots of everyday people, like Wildlands. It’s just too boring going from mission to mission. Anon
GC: You could’ve stopped that last sentence five words earlier.
Rise of complaints
Just seen Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker and it was most impressive. I can’t see how there can be any complaints about it as such. It was better than The Last Jedi, and in my own opinion that film was good also in its own incredible way. I think ultimately the nine-part saga has a credible ending that answers most questions raised in the prequels and the original trilogy. Non-stop action and non-stop light movie drama. Doubt it will win any Oscars, but it will win the hearts of the fans.
2019, I feel, has been a fun year for games, which has set 2020 up with some must-have titles and more info on the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft. Gaming is still great and the gaming community here on GameCentral and other sites, and the streaming folk on Twitch, continue to be awesome, making my life interesting and fun and that is very important to me in my life.
Have a happy new year! Alucard
GC: No complaints? It was better than we feared, largely because our expectations were rock bottom, but its flaws are too numerous to count.
Chief addition
As has been speculated numerous times before now, I for one still haven’t given up all hope in seeing Master Chief make an appearance in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. I know he’s never starred on a Nintendo platform before but neither had Final Fantasy’s Cloud at the time of his entry into the game.
I’d like to think though at this stage that Smash Bros. transcends further than that of the exclusive club it once was, long time players usually have a favourite character but I wouldn’t turn my nose up if, for example, the likes of Batman, a Ninja Turtle, or even Godzilla rained down fire on the stage.
I think as long as a character has appeared in a video game and all parties are willing to make it happen so long it ‘fits’ in with the universe, then why not?
Smash Bros. kinda reminds me of Mario Kart at the moment, not at all stale, no way, but where do they take it from here? With hovering karts and upside down tracks they’ve really evolved Mario Kart to the point where I think it could’ve done F-Zero out of a job, perhaps. Well, I hope not.
I’d also love to see Super Mario RPG return, on a grander scale. I wonder if Nintendo would ever consider using their plethora of IPs in a role-playing game, all mixed in together in an epic tale where different Nintendo universes collide to defeat a common foe?
I can imagine a twist which sees Professor Gadd tinkering with a warp pipe only to see Luigi jettison into space, only to be accosted by Star Wolf before Star Fox and crew arrive to police the situation. Of course, these aren’t the only characters from space, as a certain bounty hunter often lurks in isolated areas. As a dogfights ensue, the whole parade realise their efforts are wasted on each other, at which point Samus joins your party, and so on and so forth.
Yes, I got carried away, back to my point: Master Chief to join Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as the last and final character DLC. His introduction cut scene could even be announced as ‘Master Chief drops in to Finish the Fight!’ Bad Edit
GC: Nintendo has said there will be more DLC characters after the initial five.
Inbox also-rans
May I wish everyone at GameCentral a happy new year. The same to every gamer and everyone. Bless you all. Anon
In the grand scheme of things, it’s very minor… but why, all this time after launch, does the Switch only offer two options for the interface theme (black or white)? ttfp saylow (gamertag)
Now playing: Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Red Dead Redemption 2
This week’s Hot Topic
As the first week back after the Christmas break, the question for this weekend’s Inbox is an obvious one: what are you looking forward to from gaming in 2020?
You can find a list of all the most prominent upcoming games in our preview of the year but feel free to mention anything that has a good chance of coming out in the next 12 months (although try to avoid random guesses). What new games are you most looking forward to and which do you expect to be the most successful?
Of course, a huge part of 2020 is going to be the new consoles, so what do you hope and expect to hear about in regards to them, and how likely do you think it is that you’ll buy one of them this year?
The small print New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
1 (1) Pokémon Sword/Shield (NS)
2 (4) Luigi’s Mansion 3 (NS)
3 (3) Ring Fit Adventure (NS)
4 (5) Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (NS)
5 (6) Minecraft (NS)
6 (9) Tsuri Spirits: Nintendo Switch Version (NS)
7 (7) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (NS)
8 (10)Super Mario Maker 2 (NS)
9 (8) Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (NS)
10(11) Super Mario Party (NS)
(C)2019 Enterbrain, Inc. All rights reserved.
U.S. all formats chart - November
1 (1) Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare (XO/PS4/PC)
2 (-) Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (XO/PS4/PC)**
3 (-) Pokémon Sword (NS)*
4 (-) Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield dual pack (NS)*
5 (-) Pokémon Shield (NS)*
6 (4) Madden NFL 20 (XO/PS4/PC)
7 (-) Death Stranding (PS4)
8 (5) NBA 2K20 (XO/PS4/NS/PC)
9 (-) Need for Speed Heat (XO/PS4/PC)
10(3) Luigi’s Mansion 3 (NS)*
*does not include digital sales
** does not include Steam sales
Note: U.S. charts are organised by revenue not unit sales
The chart above lists our best reviewed titles of 2019, as of the end of June, but as usual does not include remakes, remasters, expansions, re-releases, compilations, games not yet released in the UK, or versions of games previously released on other formats.
GTA 5 – the game of the 2010s (pic: Rockstar Games)
FIFA and Call Of Duty dominated UK retail sales in 2019, but Fortnite is still the biggest free-to-play game in the world.
2019 is over, and so are the 2010s as a whole, but despite all the hundreds of games that have been released in the last 10 years we don’t think anyone is going to be surprised by what the biggest seller was.
Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto 5 has rarely been out of the UK top 10 since it was first released over six years ago (it’s still at number six this week) and it’s now been confirmed by GfK as the best-selling game of the whole decade in the UK.
You can see the whole top 10 below, with 2010’s Call Of Duty: Black Ops the second biggest seller and Minecraft at number three.
Best-selling video games of 2010s - UK retail
1. Grand Theft Auto 5
2. Call Of Duty: Black Ops
3. Minecraft
4. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
5. FIFA 14
6. FIFA 13
7. FIFA 15
8. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2
9. FIFA 11
10. FIFA 12
As with all GfK data that only includes retail sales and ignores digital, which accounted for only a small percentage of sales at the beginning of the decade but is now well over 50% for most titles.
That may help to explain why FIFA 14 is the highest ranked FIFA title, at number five, although FIFA 20 certainly did well this year – easily beating Call of Duty: Modern Warfare to become the best-selling retail game of 2019 in the UK and earning around £73 million in revenues.
Pokémon Sword and Shield may have been the third best seller, but without sales numbers for Shield, and the dual packs, it’s impossible to know for sure what the final total was.
Unusually, the ERA (Entertainment Retailers Association) provides actual sales number, showing how far ahead FIFA and Call Of Duty are from the rest of the pack – with only Rockstar Games usually coming anywhere close.
That’s what happened in 2018, when Red Dead Redemption 2 only just lost out on the number one spot to FIFA 19. Call Of Duty’s sales were up in 2019 and FIFA down, but overall the UK market fell by 3.4% to ‘just’ £3.77 billion.
That’s the first year without growth since 2012, which was also the year just before the introduction of the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 – so this downward cycle before a new console generation is all part of the usual pattern.
Nevertheless, physical game sales fell 21.7% in 2019 to £702.5 million, with spending on online and mobile gaming increasing by only a modest 1.1% to £3.17 billion.
Best-selling video games of 2019 - UK retail
1. FIFA 20 – 1,502,191
2. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare – 1,192,211
3. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 465,062
4. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – 438,465
5. Red Dead Redemption 2 – 306,392
6. FIFA 19 – 278,417
7. Pokémon Sword – 273,991
8. Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled – 267,285
9. Grand Theft Auto 5 – 247,357
10. The Division 2 – 237,226
Hard numbers are even more difficult to come by for digital-only games like Fortnite, but according to analyst group SuperData free-to-play games accounted for 80% of all digital sales in 2019.
Fortnite was the most lucrative game for the second year in a row, making a staggering £1.4 billion from in-game purchases in 2019. Although on a worldwide basis that was only a little behind Korean game Dungeon Fighter Online on £1.2 billion.
In terms of paid-for games, FIFA 19 (not 20) was the most successful, making £601 million from microtransactions. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare was only just behind though, on £494 million, with Grand Theft Auto 5 on £455 million.
In-game purchases did see an overall drop though, with sales declining by 5%. This was primarily blamed on the smaller number of major new releases, which is another common side effect of an approaching new generation of consoles.
Overall digital sales still saw growth of 3% though, bringing in a total of £91.9 billion in 2019. Of that mobile accounted for the biggest slice at £49.3 billion, with the PC on £22.7 billion, and consoles on just £11.8 billion.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 – no jetpacks for the new game (pic: Activision)
Treyarch veteran David Vonderhaar says he still has PTSD from the fan reaction to Black Ops 3’s jetpacks and won’t be bringing them back.
It’ll probably be at least April or May until this year’s new Call Of Duty is announced, but it’s already an open secret it’s going to be Black Ops 5 – as trouble at Activision means that developer Treyarch are returning to the series a year earlier than usual.
But multiplayer lead David Vonderhaar seems to have confirmed one fact about the game already: it won’t have jetpacks.
2015’s Black Ops 3 did, but the response from some players, who didn’t like the generally less realistic tone of Call Of Duty games from that era, seems to have been enough that Vonderhaar has already ruled out jetpacks for the next game.
NO.
— David "Vahn" Vonderhaar (@DavidVonderhaar) January 5, 2020
Such short-term memories. You hung me from the highest branch. No. NO. I have PTSD.
— David "Vahn" Vonderhaar (@DavidVonderhaar) January 5, 2020
Responding to tweets from fans, Vonderhaar insisted that not only was there not going to be any jetpacks but that he was still suffering from PTSD from complaints about Black Ops 3.
That prompted a lot more tweets, but the comments were surprisingly constructive, offering support for Vonderhaar and some thoughtful defences in favour of jetpacks – such as this one from Phixate:
‘Jetpack CODs are the ones that promoted and rewarded players for playing aggressively. Boots on the ground CODs promote a slower killstreak-acquiring mentality which results in a lot of camping. It’s a shame the majority of COD fans prefer the latter play style.’
Given that last year’s Modern Warfare – the first in several years to be set firmly in the modern day – has been the most successful entry for a long time, jetpacks and other more sci-fi equipment always seemed unlikely.
But while everyone seems to agree that Black Ops 5 will be the next game there are few concrete details about it. Rumours suggest that it will take place during the Cold War, possibly including the Vietnam War, but there’s nothing in the way of evidence so far.
If it follows the usual schedule the game will be released this autumn and will likely also launch on the new PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X consoles.
Will the DualShock 5 have four extra buttons? (pic: LetsGoDigital)
A new patent for the PS5 gamepad controller suggests it may have four new buttons on the back, as new leaked photos appear online.
At first it seemed like the DualShock 5 controller wasn’t going to be much different from the current PlayStation 4 gamepad – just a slight redesign with no lightbar and better haptic force feedback – but a new patent suggests there may be more to it than that.
The Japanese patent was translated by LetsGoDigital, who also published these unofficial renders, and it describes four extra buttons on the back: two at the bottom and another two that can be moved up and down, depending on your grip.
As with any patent, there’s no guarantee that this will make it to a final product but it’s immediately reminiscent of the upcoming controller add-on for the PlayStation 4, which adds additional buttons to the back of the DualShock 4.
Moveable buttons are an unexpected new feature (pic: Sony)
It’s very odd to be adding that sort of functionality to the PlayStation 4 this late in the day, but if it’s something that’s going to be replicated on the PlayStation 5 that makes a lot more sense.
What the patent’s describing is a bit different though, so it may be that the DualShock 5 will be more similar to the Back Button Attachment and that the patent was just an earlier idea.
It’s assumed Sony will unveil the PlayStation 5 and its controller publicly sometime this spring, but meanwhile there’s been a string of leaked photos of the devkit – the version of the console used by developers to make games.
They usually look quite different to the consumer version, and we’ve seen photos like these before, but this time the leaker also managed to snap a photo of the controller.
It’s not clear whether it is actually a new one though, or just an old PlayStation 4 gamepad, but it seems like there’s maybe something going on with some extra buttons at the bottom.
The photos come from someone who works as a cleaner at Ubisoft, who posted them on Reddit with easily traceable personal information and the plea to not share the images…
We assume this must be his first time on the Internet. We also assume he must’ve been sacked by now.
Was this really worth losing your job over? (pic: Reddit)
