If you ask me about the status of my Halo fans in early 2021, I would describe myself as a “failed” Halo fan. Now ask me again, at the end of the year, I was like the person in that old viral video, he sang the Halo theme to a random woman in the parking lot. “You are a monk!” she exclaimed. Yes. I am a killing monk, and I am good at fighting rifles.
My love for Halo Infinite is almost evenly divided between its campaigns and multiplayer games, which is a huge surprise. I think after trial and error of various formats in Halo 4 and 5, 343 will stick to Infinite login. What surprised me was that they managed so well-and the campaign was so good.
As I said in the comments-to make some people who don’t understand that five stars don’t mean perfect (which means, special, must play)-Halo Infinite’s activities are not perfect. But it was absent-minded and polished its most important aspect to brilliance. Given the nickname “Infinite” and the times we live in, we can expect other elements that are not fully present in the game to be enhanced in future updates-but for now, what you have is a very compelling sandbox. You can spend a few hours enjoying various ways of system crossover and interaction, including Halo’s classic tactical enemy AI in more difficult difficulties.
I think that another victory lies in the way the game was developed-almost two parallel games, a single player game and a multiplayer game, sharing resources but not necessarily binding each other. You can feel how one side improves the other in the design, and the end result is nothing more than the return of a series that has been searching for its soul for many years.
One of the interesting things about the rest of this list is that the rest of the games are so close to Halo Infinite. Usually I have a runaway favorite, a complete, impeccable game of the year. The truth is that any of these games may be my favorite in 2021-but Halo just squeezed to the top of the list among other games. So… let’s talk about those.
Death Cycle-PS5 and PC
Deathloop has almost everything. It exudes style, has excellent sound performance, fascinating plot, and design of the world that attracts you with poppy colors and Art Deco style. Oh, it’s definitely a pleasure to play, having a set of abilities that can bring some very interesting combinations and killings.
Interestingly, I am usually not one of those Arkane people. I know that Arkane’s games are great—the quality of things like Prey and Dishonored can only be rejected by idiots—but for whatever reason, these universes have never caught me and hooked them like other universes. Deeply attracted, they turned around and became Arkane’s evangelists, chattering about them as the best studio on the planet.
Except, you know, Deathloop is that game to me. Of course, in many ways, this is a natural evolution of everything Arkane did before. It has many of the same advantages as these games. But it ended up with a package that spoke to me, which is one of my favorite games of the year.
Metroid Fear-Switch
From the moment it was announced, I secretly suspected that Metroid Dread would become a little bloody. The developer Mercury Steam proved that it knows how to make an excellent Metroid by remaking the Game Boy’s classic Metroid 2: Return of Sams, turning a rather slow game into a more approachable one, and at the same time Will not lose any sense of resolute loneliness and unfriendliness. In addition, Nintendo and the Metroid series steward Yoshio Sakamoto obviously had something to prove their vision for Metroid after their last attempt to plant other M.
Dread also shoulders a heavy responsibility for storytelling, and its mission is to close the original Samus storyline that was pulled away from NES all the way. It also does a great job-but the real fun here is the feeling of fear when you explore the innards of another hostile planet. This is not the best Metroid game-but it is there. Hope that with its success, the future of the 2D Metroid series will be guaranteed.
Hitman 3-PlayStation 4, 5, Xbox One, X|S series and PC
Many people will forget this bad boy because it was released earlier this year. But damn hell, Hitman 3 is absolutely huge. As a complete trilogy, IO Interactive’s achievements should not be underestimated, especially in the context of the developer’s turbulent ten years-a subsidiary of Square Enix, which was then independent and published by Warner Bros. Finally self-published.
Killer 3 represents a lot of things. This is the completion of an excellent set of games, the ultimate expression of the key ideas that drive the freedom and consequences of the killer series. But it is also IO Interactive gaining a foothold as an independent developer, and may become a real powerhouse in the future.
The final level? Well, it may not be the best killer level, but it is an excellent catharsis ending… and in its way perfectly shows why IO may be the perfect choice for the 007 franchise. Now this is a game I really can’t wait.
NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…-PS4, Xbox One and PC
I will keep this short. Think of it as a reward because it is a re-release of an old game. But here is this: In many ways, I actually prefer the original Nier, despite its clumsiness, rather than Automata’s brilliant, smooth and definitely better paper experience. This version has organized a lot and added new content, I just…I like it. This is a special game.
For more information about our selection of the best games of the year, please visit our GOTY 2021 archive page.
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