![]() ![]() It’s ironic, then, that Deathloop‘s ultimate goal is to put an end to that fun and break the time loop, thereby restoring consequence to the world. Let’s face it: being a rampaging murder machine is hella fun. #Turnip boy commits tax evasion avocado full#(That’s not a throwaway mention you can actually make enemies slip on candies as if they’re banana peels.) Save-scumming isn’t a possibility, so when your best-laid plans go awry, it’s time to pump some chumps full of lead, psychically fling them off buildings, or when all else fails, run like hell. Say goodbye to surgically-precise manoeuvres and shadowy corridors say hello to gratuitous explosions and candy machines made of injection-moulded, pastel-coloured plastic. Deathloop is a loud game, layering blaxploitation swagger over a funky ’60s retrofuture aesthetic. (And you’ll be booting people off cliffs a lot, because the game has a dedicated “Kick” button.) It’s just you, your magic powers, and a whole lotta guns. There’s no morality meter keeping track of how many partygoers you boot off a cliff. No longer will the world fill up with rats if you kill too many people or turrets turn against you if you absorb too many alien powers. It’s positively liberating compared to Arkane Studios’ other recent efforts, like Dishonored or Prey. So what if you end up severely injured or even dead? Everything resets tomorrow you’ll be fine. But while those games are tense, harrowing affairs, Deathloop uses its time loop to explore a world without consequences, and in doing so, it revitalizes the immersive sim genre. Deathloop joins titles like Housemarque’s Returnal and Luis Antonio’s 12 Minutes in having the player character repeat the same period of time over and over and over again. Time loop games are having a moment this year. Unless otherwise stated, all screenshots are my own. And finally, my three least favourite games of 2021. Then, I have some unique awards based on categories selected by the Gameological community, formed from the ashes of the A.V. Following that, I have honourable mentions and a handful of regular mentions. I was asked to contribute my top 10 list to community-driven pop culture site The Avocado, so that list is copy-pasted from there, with minor edits. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find a game on this list that you’ll love. It means that everyone’s year-end lists are bound to be eclectic, diverse, and a little off the wall. (Look, I know other at least one other person played it it was recommended to me in a Kotaku article.) But in some ways, that’s a good thing. Lots of great titles came out this year, but there was nothing like a consensus pick that critics from a wide array of outlets could point to and say, “Yeah, that’s my game of the year.” Heck, my own personal game of the year is one that I haven’t seen on anyone else’s list. ![]() Current-gen consoles haven’t really been able to take off due to supply shortages, and COVID-19 is still causing delays in releasing new games on all platforms. However, for now, we’re in 2021, an odd transitional year in gaming. I hesitate to call it a silver lining-there’s really nothing good about a deadly disease-but it’s certainly going to influence what this list looks like next year. Maybe 2022 will be the year where we all dust off the consoles we bought in a flurry back in 2020. But people did have fun going out to restaurants, playing board games together, and even taking a vacation or two, at least until omicron sent us all back indoors. Okay, fine, nobody’s shooting zombies in meatspace. Who can blame them? Humans are social creatures, and as fun as blasting zombies together in Left 4 Dead can be, it’s way more fun to blast zombies together in real life. But it seems like this year, people drifted away from digital pursuits, eager for more face-to-face interaction. We’re still in the midst of a global pandemic, and as I write this, we’re in the grip of a 5th wave driven by the highly contagious omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. If 2020 was the year when everybody got big into gaming, then 2021 was the year when everything went back to normal. ![]()
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