Top 10 Games Of 2019

For many reasons it’s been a challenging year for games & games players — and I don’t know what the future will bring, but I know 2019 had a lot of really cool video games.

My top ten games of the year are here, starting with three games that totally blew me away, followed by seven games that I enjoyed a lot.

1. Control

Developer: Remedy
Format: PC, PS4, Xbox One

What’s that? A third-person shooter of sorcery and firearms set in the’ new strange’ universe of cursed everyday artifacts and multi-dimensional mind-bending creatures.

Why are you going to play it? Games should be a journey, and if it keeps you guessing, the journey will always be more enjoyable. It’s unstable walls from the moment you reach the Oldest Building, and cursed objects put you on the back foot with little to guide you in the way of identifiable footholds. The mechanics are familiar as you psychically hurl enemy desks and polish them off with bullets, but the changing physical structure and vaporous tale under investigation leaves you guessing at every turn.And, probably, looking at your own head’s back. It beautifully riffs on’ new strange’ mythology, which shifts familiar mythical and magical ideas to everyday objects–building on its playable mix of powers and weapons with an amazing world of cursed fridges, spooky ashtrays, and world-changing Walkmans. It speaks volumes of the strange new setting of Control that reading files is almost as fun as blowing up stuff to find out why it takes a whole government agency to contain a small rubber duck. Leon Hurley

2. The Outer Worlds

Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Format: PS4, Xbox One, PC

What’s that? A space RPG set by megacorporations in the future, packed with eccentric characters, alien species, and tumors with bacon flavour.

Why are you supposed to play it? It combines the fun and frolics of running around deep space, followed by a weirdos gang carrying big guns, with nuanced corruption and colonization tales. In fact, it succeeds in delivering on the great promises of option of RPG. You can kill everyone you encounter straight away, ditch your team members and play alone, or try to do it with your charming skill points alone throughout the entire game. The tone is always tongue-in-cheek, but it still delivers with characters some truly touching moments, like your introverted engineer friend Parvati. The story doesn’t shy away from pushing you to make tough decisions, so before you start you might want to light a soothing candle, but that will only make you want to play it all over again as soon as you’re finished.Rachel Weber

3. Resident Evil 2: Remake

Developer: Capcom
Format: PC, PS4, Xbox One

What’s that? A modern-day remake of the classic Resident Evil 2 revamped and reimagined.

Why are you supposed to play it? Remodeling the original Resident Evil 2 was a huge risk that Capcom surpassed all expectations–offering a game of terror that was as important and influential as the first one. Tank commands, static camera and cardboard dialog are gone and a high-budget, contemporary third-person horror survival shooter with a shockingly stern and glittering gore shooter is in place.It plays like something new, from gameplay to guts, but, thanks to its odd puzzles and confidence, it somehow feels like classic Resi to keep you creeping through its lofty police station halls for most of the time, never quite sure where the next zombie threat will come from. Resident Evil 7 may have changed the fortunes of the series and reaffirmed their importance, but Resident Evil 2: Remake sealed the decaying contract. Leon Hurley

4. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order

Developer: Respawn Entertainment
Format: PC, PS4, Xbox One

What’s that? A challenging game of action that took the best bits of the recent history of gaming and turned it into an endearing adventure of Star Wars.

Why are you going to play it? Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is the nearest EA to catch what makes Star Wars so exclusive and grin-inducing. Like the film series before it, Jedi: Fallen Order takes influences from all over the shop — a touch of Fighting From Software, a pinch of Uncharted’s platforming set-pieces — and wraps them together to create a game that belongs to the world of Lucas, rather than just mirroring it. It is at times when you feel like you are a space samurai capable of slicing with furious skill through your enemies, as well as the little slices of lore you find while exploring the dense planets that make up your galaxy journey. There are undeniable rough edges, but they do not distract from what is the best game in years for Star Wars. Ben Tyrer

5. Apex Legends

Developer: Respawn
Format: PC, PS4, Xbox One

What’s that? A royal fight with clever features that its predecessors quickly snatched up with an entertaining cast of characters and fantastic seasonal events.

Why should you play it? When it took the battle royale format and revamped it, Apex Legends surprised us all, dropping us into a huge shootout with the ability to ping items for our squadmates and request items as needed without creating a danger house around us. Drop in to play a royal fight that doesn’t have a gimmick, but doesn’t pretend to be realistic, and you’ll quickly find out how easy it’s to get stuck for hours in the arena. Apex Legends continually adds new characters, mixes in events of limited time, and changes the game carefully as required. Apex Legends was a surprise launch that had a big impact with character-specific skills, mechanics that are flexible but not floaty, and weapons that sound as good as they look. Alyssa Mercante

6. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Developer: Infinity Ward
Format: PC, PS4, Xbox One

What’s that? A 15-year-old franchise reboot that’s more complicated and morally gray than its predecessors, fuelled by a brand-new engine churning out beautiful graphics.

Why should you play it? In favor of smaller, often claustrophobic campaign missions, this frenetic shooter pulls back from the massive military set pieces associated with its namesake. Those missions make you feel much better than other Call of Duty games have the weight and consequences of war, even if it sometimes teeters on the precipice of porn torture. It’s a landslide’s most beautiful game in the series, with a mo-cap barely dipping a toe into the uncanny valley and setting parts that are really jaw-dropping. Play the eight-hour campaign on the edge of your seat before beginning the multiplayer quest for several rounds of the best version of it yet–with top-notch gunplay and various types of game that match whatever mood you’re in at the moment (fancy a massive ground war, maybe?).Alyssa Mercante

7. Untitled Goose Game

Developer: House House
Formats: PC, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4

What’s that? A stealth game where you play like a terrible goose and wreak havoc on a little village.

Why should you play it? Move aside Assassins Creed and Metal Gear Solid: The village has a new stealth master and it just happens that they have an orange beak and a strong wingspan. Yeah, the stealthy puzzler from House House stole the hearts of the whole internet to let you become one of the most endearingly awful protagonists in recent memory.

As a goose, you’re trying to wreck the day of everyone, from tripping a person to making them fall into a puddle, pinching a glass of beer and tossing it into a river. For the iconic feathery anti-hero, no task is too elusive. Untitled Goose Game is pure joy bundled in a devoted honk click, comedy slapstick, and good times goosey. It has never been so charming and fun to be a public threat. Honk! Heather Wald

8. PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)

Developer: PUBG Corporation
Formats: PC, Andriod, iOS, PS4

What is it? One of its best features is PUBG’s assurance of difficulty, but it is also surprisingly lazy.

Why should you play it? PUBG is a blood sport under a fickle deity pantheon. Next, you’re falling out of the sky. You instantly pray as you hit the ground that the Loot Lords put in your hands a SMG or double-barrelled shotgun. Survive this birth and exodus, and turn your offerings to the Goddess of Circles, whose sphere of power dictates who lives and dies. You’ll see The Crate God (Kratos) later, hoping for a long-barrelled gift from heaven. Certain minor deities control the amount of vehicle petrol, the proliferation of 8X scale, and high-level protection. Of contrasting violence and breathing space, PUBG is an achievement. It’s a hyper-competitive sandbox shooter where you can be killed without any warning from half a kilometer away. It also has an authorun button so that thanks to your new Twitch subscribers, you can take a generous bite of your sandwich or yell. Until leaving adolescence, PUBG has plenty of issues to address, but its combination of nonchalance and military strength is intense, respectful of your time, and a strong source of war stories.

9. Sayonara Wild Hearts

Developer: Simogo
Formats: PS4, Nintendo, iOS (Apple Arcade)

What’s that? A fresh neon take on the rhythm-action game that is a sound and visual masterpiece.

Why are you supposed to play it? In Sayonara Wild Hearts, you have one intention–to follow your heart. There will be ups, downs, intergalactic accidents, and more, but one thing is clear, it will be a journey that you will never forget. It is like no other rhythm-action game, with a story that will carry you through every swell of love and crippling heartbreak that a young woman has ever experienced in a 45-minute gameplay experience in her life. It is delivered with a color palette reminiscent of the neon obsessions of the 80s, and with a personalized pop soundtrack that you will need to replay for at least a week later. You’re going to move from motorcycle to sword combat, pirouetting through the stars and dark chasms, dancing through the neon and all the rest. In every way, it’s beautifully crafted to create an intoxicating loop that will flood into your senses in a way that is close to euphoria. Sam Loveridge

10. Luigi’s Mansion 3

Developer: Next Level Games
Formats: Nintendo Switch

What’s that? A spooky spectacle set in a creepy high-rise hotel, with the other brother vacuuming ghosts and calling on his slimy Gooigi alter-ego to solve puzzles to try to rescue his friends.

Why are you supposed to play it? This is an important Nintendo Switch unless you have a life-threatening allergy for fun. Even then, the risk might be worth it. The Last Resort hotel is a marvel of beautiful visuals and puzzles that are supernaturally satisfying, and each floor has a new theme.Point your PoltergustG-00 vacuum to anything and everything for the company’s secrets, puzzle-solving, and simply destructive pleasure, or call green Gooigi or help with puzzles that need some creative thinking. It’s the kind of A+ action-adventure you’re anticipating from a major Nintendo game, but there’s no spare on making sure it’s as fun and unforgettable as it’s technically fantastic. Move over Mario as Luigi is 2019’s real star. Rachel Weber