Video games in 2019 can be summed up in one word, callback. The biggest games of the year returned to form for some beloved franchises. The remaking of the most iconic Resident Evil game, a new version of Call of Duty 4, even EA brought back good storytelling in Star Wars. There were some true original bright spots but this year belonged to nostalgia. Here’s our best of the best in video games circa 2019.
GAME OF THE YEAR:
CONTROL (Remedy/505 Games)
Remedy’s new IP, Control, introduced audiences to a shared universe where Alan Wake and Quantum Break exist hand-in-hand. Those familiar with Remedy’s previous games even found a connection to Max Payne as you searched The Oldest House. On its own legs, Control was the peanut butter and jelly video game of the year. It spread some of the most intense duck-and-cover shooting on top of a weird world that felt like it housed every plot from the X-Files. 2020 will see new story content that will uncover more of Jesse Faden’s past and looks to tie in more of the Alan Wake part of the universe. Though if you haven’t played the game, you’re missing out on the only game in 2019 which hits its players with a true sensory rollercoaster. Control shares the top prize on our list but it is the best new experience of the year.
RESIDENT EVIL 2 (Capcom)
Capcom put out some incredible titles in 2019, but Resident Evil 2 remake was more than just a port. Built on the tech behind 2018’s RE7, this game took Leon and Claire from simple polygon backgrounds to a living environment that terrified the sh** out of you in a way the original could not. Raccoon City’s police station became an open world of sorts, where squeezing through the cluttered aftermath of a zombie invasion felt like an experience where anything can happen. Even if you remembered every minuscule detail of the original, there were still moments that elevated your heart rate. Not to mention 2019’s second most meme-able thing, Mr. X. The unstoppable tyrant blocking your quick exits and hunting you like a terminator after John Connor. Resident Evil 2 put the tension of survival back into Resident Evil and here’s hoping 2020 brings even more remakes of the publisher’s library.
BEST VR GAME
BLOOD & TRUTH (London Studio/Sony)
VR games have proven to be far from a gimmick. There was still a lack of a big-budget game to balance every Beat Saber that came out. Sony London finally began to tip the VR scale with Blood & Truth. The game is a full-sized expansion on their London Heist tech demo that came with PlayStation VR at launch. You play as a former army brit looking for payback when his gangster family is murdered by a rival faction. London Studio didn’t reinvent the VR genre but they did something no other studio has done with the tech thus far. Taking nearly 10hrs to complete the game’s story, it’s one of the biggest volume titles playable in VR. In order to make such a VR experience, you need more than just content. London Studio found the right pacing between its large action set pieces and slow moments that let your senses balance out in order to avoid eye exhaustion and movement sickness. Blood & Truth amounts to an action movie you get dropped in the middle of and its a raised bar for true VR games.
BEST FRANCHISE
Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order (Respawn/EA)
If you had said the studio that made Titanfall was going to make one of the best Star Wars stories in the modern era, I’d have said not possible. The crew over at Respawn Entertainment came up with something soo good, it’s been made canon by Disney/Lucas Film. Cal Kestis journey as a padawan that survived the purge from order 66 is like the Titanic of the Star Wars Universe. We know his mission to bring back the Jedi order can only be successful to a certain extent before the empire has to remain in power. Yet getting there is full of adventure that will have you sliding from mud paths in Kashiik, batting the toughest Inquisitors in the galaxy, and making friends with the best new droid in the lore (BD-1). Respawn has given Star Wars fans longing for a franchise worthy epic something to enjoy and a true master class in lightsabers. There have been good Star Wars games that put you at the control of a lightsaber and Fallen Order ranks among the top of them.
BEST STORY
LIFE IS STRANGE 2 (Don’t Nod/Square Enix)
Episodic games are hard to remember for deserved accolades. In fact, I had a hard time remembering when this story-driven decision-making game first launched. While it did begin at the end of 2018, the majority of its content launched in 2019. More than a sequel or a spiritual successor, Life Is Strange 2 took its world in a new direction through the eyes of two new characters. The brothers, Daniel and Sean, were a risky departure from the beloved friends Max and Chloe. As the Diaz boys escaped from the law, their inner turmoil and test of nature over nurture played like a modern take on Stand By Me. While the boys were good characters on their own, LIS 2, really ups its game in an expansion of its world by the people you encounter through every episode. If there was an award for best-supporting character it would go to the station wagon driving dude that reminds you of fat Seth Rogen. More so than the bubble of Arcadia Bay, players get the sense of powered beings existing on a global scale. I for one can’t wait till Square brings these characters into the Marvel universe as new members of the X-Men. That’s gotta be it, right?
It’s final episode recently launched on PSN, Xbox Live, and PC. Be warned, my path led me to one jaw-dropping crescendo.
BEST SPORTS
ZUMBA: BURN IT UP! (KUJU/505 Games)
No. You log off!
Sure, this is a broad category with games such as Madden, NHL, PES Soccer, and the awesomeness of MLB The Show. Even Nintendo’s new fitness diaphragm is in consideration but here’s why Zumba takes the 2019 title. Inclusiveness. You might think of fashion models dancing when it comes to Zumba, but this game makes the experience something for everyone. Featuring degrees of difficulty that stop at every exit from beginner to expert, Zumba: Burn It Up! features mechanics that feel like an upgrade version of Just Dance on the Wii. It checks the boxes for tons of licensed music from popular artists such as Cardi B. The game takes its own path by the visual style it chose. No animated characters, it features real people teaching you some spicy rhythmic gymnastics. As someone who never once took a Zumba class because of the intimidation, this gives my Nintendo Switch the honor of getting me off the couch and exposing my awful coordination to my friends. It’s a great time whether for drunken fun or to pursue an exercise goal. That’s not something I can say about any other sports or fitness game on the market in 2019.
BEST FIGHTING GAME
MORTAL KOMBAT 11 (Netherrealm/WB Games)
Until another contender comes along packing either extreme content or fighting game innovation, the best fighting game of the year will continue to volleyball between Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. Netherrealm’s latest in the interdimensional Kumite, Mortal Kombat 11, brought one of the most gorgeous layers of slickness in any fighting game. While its story mode and online versus modes were solid, MK11 continued to live through its expanded treasure hunt mode. We devoted more time to fighting ghouls in the Shaolin temple to uncover art, skins, and fatalities than playing through the single-player. It was a journey that felt like a love letter to close sections of Mortal Kombat’s story and if there was never another MK game, 11 would be a fitting end for the series.
BEST NINTENDO SWITCH GAME
MARVEL ULTIMATE ALLIANCE 3: THE BLACK ORDER (Team Ninja/Nintendo)
2019 held some decent Mario and Zelda offerings, but it didn’t feel like a mascot year for either. While Nintendo Switch had some great additions to its library, I found myself constantly coming back to the name successor in the Ultimate Alliance series, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order. Team Ninja and Marvel Games designed an experience that emphasizes the two sides of Nintendo’s hybrid console. A blockbuster game in digestible pieces for on the go, and a good Gauntlet style party game you should play on a large TV. You and four friends assemble a team of heroes from across the Marvel Universe to take down Thanos and that’s only the beginning. Even with a season pass gatekeeping content, the game still gives you a ton to unlock by the number of characters and outfits through Infinity Trials endurance mode. Why settle for Captain America when you could have Steve Rogers super solider outfit and my favorite brown-and-yellow Wolverine? The story may have been one that’s a bit overdone across all of Marvel, but UA3 has an undeniable fun factor. It became THE title I’d play with my comic reading friends who don’t game. We all agree it has a true Marvel soul. For that, it gets my Switch game of the year.
BEST XBOX ONE GAME:
GEARS 5 (The Coalition/Microsoft)
While 2019 may have given the Xbox faithful some big reasons to be optimistic for the future, we still don’t know just what the acquired first-party studios will bring to the console or when. But this year may have seen the game that will define the generation for Xbox One. Gears 5 continued the twisted history tale of Kait Daiz as she uncovers the mystery of the swarm. It gave fans a big action feel they’ve come to expect from Gears of War while trying subtle nuance ideas such as a semi-open world section much like Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Shouldered by tons of multiplayer content from traditional PvP battles to the new escape survival mode, Gears 5 is one of the best complete packages of the year.
BEST PLAYSTATION 4 GAME
DAYS GONE (Bend Studio/SIE)
Days Gone, the post-apocalyptic survival game long in development from the heritage of Syphon Filter and Golden Abyss finally saw a release in 2019. To say it had problems getting off the block is an understatement. Mired by mechanical issues at launch and sizable fix patches, the game was lambasted by many. However, its real struggle is a perfect example of how good something can be if you’re willing to stick with it. Deacon St.John’s tale of finding his wife against all odds is epic in its scope. You didn’t just feel like you were traversing a state on a motorcycle. The journey felt like crossing into foreign lands by how desolate and sparse the world appeared but rarely ever felt as such. When it worked, there was nothing in gaming quite like taking on a tsunami of “freakers” in Days Gone. Bend Studio should be commended on creating a video game that manages to make its players feel a true constant sense of danger around every corner. That’s something rare in a society that can feel like we’re too desensitized to things. Days Gone is simply one of the most relentless games of the generation from its team to the disc that goes into your system.
Those were our top games of 2019. It was a solid year but one that has a risk of being overlooked by the promise of new hardware in 2020. Hopefully, some of the games that graced us this year will still see life in the PS5 and Xbox Scarlett through backwards compatibility or special editions.
