This year saw some blockbuster releases in the game world. “God of War” (2018) made the leap from PlayStation to PC and “God of War Ragnarök” finally made its appearance after being postponed for a year. Other highly anticipated games like “Horizon Forbidden West” and “Elden Ring” arrived to much fanfare this year also. While there was no shortage of heavily marketed titles, as the year draws to a close there are a few emerging that may have slipped under the radar.
“Stray” was developed by BlueTwelve Studio and released for PC and PlayStation 4/5 midway through the year. It became a quick favorite for PlayStation users and won the ‘PlayStation Game of the Year’ at the Golden Joystick Awards on November 22nd. It is nominated for an award in 5 categories at The Game Awards upcoming on December 8th.
Stray is a third person action-adventure game that follows a kitty protagonist through a walled city into which it has literally stumbled. The city is populated by friendly robot citizens for your user-controlled kitty to interact with. Your feline hero is accompanied on its journey through the immersive world by a robotic helper, B-12. B-12 emerges from its backpack home as needed during the trip through a world built on trash and the discarded remains of long-lost humanity. There are some open world elements but movement is restricted to a limited path. Our hero, along with B-12, must navigate through puzzles to progress the narrative and avoid being overrun by the mutant bacteria Zerks or Sentinels. Stray is a captivating and relatively family friendly game that is certain to become a quick favorite.
Another critically acclaimed title that might have slipped past you is “Neon White.” The indie title from Angel Matrix has been nominated for several awards this year. It released for Nintendo Switch and PC in June. The premise is simple, ourprotagonist is anything but a good-guy. White is one of several assassins handpicked from Hell to exterminate the demons which are overrunning Heaven. The winner earns the chance to reside in Heaven afterward. The narrative and performances may be less impressive than higher-budget games but the action is enough to keep the game moving along and suck players into the world.
This third-person action platformer is familiar in many ways. Progression and level completion requires users to parkour through its levels with speed and accuracy. That may be where the familiarity stops. Neon White combines numerous game genres: speed running, FPS, and puzzle platforming. To hit the leaderboards, you must combine perfect timing and quick reactions to combine the movement through the 3D world with the playing cards which can be discarded in order to grant White special attacks. The gameplay makes Neon White unique an interesting in this year’s games.
When it comes to unique and interesting, “Metal Hellsinger” definitely lands at the top of the list. It was released across platforms for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox X/S. This rhythm based first person shooter is a welcome diversion.
Players drive the mysterious character ‘The Unknown’ through the depths of hell fighting demons as she seeks revenge for having her voice stolen by ‘The Red Judge.’ It’s all very vague but storyline is definitely not the point of this game. This is a classic shoot ‘em up game in the style of Doom. The soundtrack is amazing and filled to the brim with amazing metal artists like Serj Tankian (System of a Down) and Randy Blythe (Lamb of God).
The music is more than just a heavy backdrop to the FPS game, it is integral to the scoring system and gameplay. On beat weapons fire and reloading increases the strengths of player attacks and increases the scoring multiplier. The game, like the music, is fast paced and there are long shooting runs that move players through the levels. The rhythmic component of the game is immersive and creates the feeling that you are stomping your feet in the middle of the most amazing metal concert of all time, all while killing demons.
The last game you might have missed, but should definitely check out, is the most recent installment of an arcade classic. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge” is everything fans ever wanted from a TMNT game and more. It follows the traditional side-scrolling beat ‘em up format and the graphics will teleport you back in time to the 80’s and 90’s when the franchise was at its peak. Artistically, this game is a more polished version of the games we already loved. The turtles look how everyone remembers them with improvements in quality but no major deviations. The accompanying soundtrack is a standalone success. It is a compilation of throwbacks and some new original songs made specifically for the game by artists like Mike Patton and Ghostface Killa.
There are two game modes, Story mode and Arcade Mode. Story mode is a little more in-depth with unlockables and side challenges. Arcade mode begins with everything unlocked but is the most reminiscent of the original series of games. The characters are voiced by original actors from the 1987 serieswhich completes the nostalgic experience. This time around there are six playable characters, all four turtles with the addition of April and Splinter, each with unique weapons and attacks. The game itself will support of to 6 players in co-op play, which is a great bonus at a time when co-op play is becoming more limited. It was released on all platforms, including PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming, and is one game that the whole family will love.
These games are surprising gems in a year full of big franchise releases. They are a welcome diversion from epic tales that sometimes take themselves too seriously and gameplay that often entails a major time commitment.
