Though 2021 hasn’t been the best year worldwide, gamers have had a lot to keep people busy. It’s been a solid year for interactive entertainment. Today WhatsOn brings the top 5 games of 2021 so far!
Dark Pictures: House Of Ashes
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC
The game is about US Marines reenacting Aliens in a creature feature set during the 2003 Iraq war. House Of Ashes is the latest in the Dark Pictures series, but rather than the schlocky B-movie feel of them, this feels like a 2003 action-thriller, as shit goes incredibly sideways and your characters desperately try to make the night. The masterful part of House Of Ashes is the way it leads you into a horror movie with you as the main star.
Death’s Door
Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
Deathloop
Platforms: PS5, PC
Deathloop deserves the recognition as one of the best games of 2021. The Arkane Studios’ latest title is just as impressive as its library of hits. Deathloop thrives because of its addictive gameplay loop, finding the player repeating the same day in order to solve a bigger plot. It’s exhilarating, like its combat, and set in a ’60s-themed environment that encourages the player to explore every crevice. This game takes stealth and action gameplay to the next level, introducing some of the most unique ways to take on multiple objectives at once.
Life Is Strange: True Colors
Platforms: PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC, Google Stadia
The game is an emotional, heart-wrenching, yet beautiful about loss. This unexpected game of the year manages to impress with its authentic storytelling and relationships all while introducing one of the best protagonists in the Life Is Strange franchise yet. True Colors excels in its core gameplay mechanics that the series is best known for, but it also managed to bring fresh ideas to the table.
Metroid Dread
Platforms: Nintendo Switch
Metroid Dread has already proven divisive. It’s fiendishly difficult at times; complex to navigate; and changes enough from the classic Metroidvania formula to frustrate some older fans, while keeping enough of that formula to prove obtuse to some newcomers. Though some of those sections are difficult to play, and the game’s frequent boss fights even more. You will die, and die, and try again. And there’ll be no magic moment when it all clicks together. But instead, attempt after attempt you’ll master new moves and perfect dodges, until that heaving, tentacled monster that killed you in 30 seconds the first time round suddenly can’t hit you at all.
