Let’s take a look at some great games that stole our hearts this year

Hyderabad: In hindsight, 2021 was a year of delays even before it started as a lot of games and gaming devices that were launched in 2021 were supposed to have reached us in 2020. The PS5 finally arrived in India and has only gotten rarer as Sony has struggled to ramp up production to meet […]

Hyderabad: In hindsight, 2021 was a year of delays even before it started as a lot of games and gaming devices that were launched in 2021 were supposed to have reached us in 2020.

The PS5 finally arrived in India and has only gotten rarer as Sony has struggled to ramp up production to meet global demand. Microsoft has struggled too with the Series X as official ‘Halo Infinite’ competitions have been forced to use developer kits. Similarly, the shortage with Nvidia and AMD chips has been staggering.

Despite an unending dearth of gaming hardware and delays of your favourite games, 2021 was still a great year for the players as the few games that did arrive were truly amazing. This week, we look at Game On’s ‘Best Five’ for 2021, games you should catch up on if you haven’t already.

First person shooter: Halo Infinite
One of the best FPS franchises returns with a bang and a campaign that is simply fantastic. ‘Infinite’ builds on the Masterchief’s iconic story with style as its campaign is fast, direct and simple. With a variety of guns and enemies, it brings back the joy of the story in FPS games. If the amazing campaign wasn’t enough, the multiplayer element of the game is absolutely free, talk about two games at the price of one. Make sure to give ‘Infinite’ a try if FPS is your genre of choice.

(Playable on Xbox One, Series S, X, and PC)

Game with a story: Life is Strange – True Colors

If a good story is what you like, then the ‘Life is Strange’ franchise never disappoints and with ‘True Colors’, the game’s storytelling and character building abilities scale new heights as you navigate the life of Alex in the charming mining town of Haven Springs. The music and visuals are simply spell-binding and the supernatural is wonderfully showcased as you marshal Alex’s empath abilities to help those around you. The story here is slow, charming, pleasant and then simply sinister.
(Playable on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Series S, X, PS4, PS5 and PC)

Racing game: Forza Horizon 5

With 2021, Microsoft is truly back and finally delivering a fair fight on the gaming front as games from both its iconic franchises make our final list in 2021. ‘Horizon 5’ is the best racing game set in Mexico with a variety of terrains and biomes. It is everything an open world racing game can be and more. With wonderful episodic tales, over-the-top showcase events, complex long-drawn racing spectacles and some of the finest cars in its catalogue it has a lot going for it. There are a few glitches and bugs though, as the world is simply too big and the racing physics can get discombobulated at times.
(Playable on Xbox One, Series S, X, and PC)

Action game: Returnal
The first of the Sony exclusives on this list, ‘Returnal’ is beautiful and scary in even measure. A game where you play a woman space traveller that is stranded on a planet that is out to kill her, ‘Returnal’ is one of the finest experiences on the PS5. A game that taps into the unique hardware of the console to render some truly mind-bending visuals and then augments them with the haptic and tactile feels from the PS5 controller, this is the best advert for current gen gaming hardware. Add to this a heroine who never gives up and overcomes everything thrown at her by a hostile environment, this is 2021’s version of ‘Control’ but also so much more.

(Playable on PS5 only)

Game experience: Deathloop

There’s not much to say here as you play a character that is stuck in a time loop that he helped build and now wishes to destroy. His old team wishes to stop him at all costs and it must be all done in less than a day before the loop resets. A visual masterpiece with endless replay value and some amazing powers, ‘Deathloop’ allows players to either play as Cole to break the loop or as Julianna in the multiplayer mode to protect the loop and stop other players from breaking it.
(Playable on PS5 and PC)

Honorary mentions: No list is complete without mentioning a few names that could have made the cut but came up short. 2021’s honorable mentions are ‘Kena’ and ‘Resident Evil: Village’. They are games that are bound to be fun if you do choose to play them.
So that’s it with 2021, bring on 2022 please!

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