Game of the Year Awards 2019

“The game takes place in the Halcyon system, named for the corporation who owns and runs it, with a few settlements on planets breaking off from the control of the company, and sub-contractors who find ways to make money and survive in the system as well. You enter the scene as human who was revived after being frozen in croystasis on a ship long thought lost, finally located by a slightly mad scientist named Phineas Welles who is wanted by the Halcyon board for assorted criminal activities. Phineas informs you that you were selected to help him find a way to unfreeze the thousands of others. With that, you are dropped onto a nearby planet and through an unlikely accident soon gain control of your own spacecraft. This proves to be an excellent setup for a RPG that feels a lot like a blend of Fallout and Mass Effect.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Innocence, The Walking Dead: The Final Season, Disco Elysium

“The environments are absolutely gorgeous. The 2.5D art that Frozenbyte has created is beautiful, and every level of the title is striking. And there’s not a ton of repetition to be found in where you travel, either. You’ll venture from lush meadows to snow-soaked caves to a nightmare engulfed academy. Each one distinct in its own way.” – Eric Hall

Honorable Mentions: Sayonara Wild Hearts, Concrete Genie, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

“The attention to detail is worth calling out. Capcom has certainly pumped a lot of money into making Resident Evil 2 look stunning and the gross-out gore has never been more revolting. The extra eyes, oozing viscera, and gallons of blood have been lovingly smeared all over the game in keeping with the series’ tradition. The motion capture and voice work are also exceptional. Resident Evil 2’s small cast has always allowed for the game to keep an intimate feeling despite sprawling across multiple locations with giant monsters – and that intimacy is well conveyed in the motion capture work, allowing actors to have strong chemistry.” – Josh Hinke

Honorable Mentions: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Gears 5, Metro Exodus

“Dark and electric, this is the edgy soundtrack of a break-up, its beats gleefully skipping along under the breathy feminine vocals. The music stands perfectly well on its own, and that would be impressive enough, but what really is excellent is how it compliments not only the visuals but the gameplay. Simogo probably could have licensed some indie-pop acts for Sayonara Wild Hearts, but it would have felt less personal. With some help, the team has come up with something that feels singular to this experience. The music, visuals, and gameplay all fit together so perfectly it’s almost impossible to imagine what came first, because they all feel birthed from the same bizarrely brilliant idea.” – Josh Hinke

Honorable Mentions: Need for Speed Heat, A Plague Tale: Innocence, Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince

“Multiplayer has some pacing changes, with more emphasis on sound cues and open map design. Footsteps are loud, benefitting those waiting and listening, and automatic player callouts raise situational awareness. The devil is in the details and there are many fine touches to maps and a pretty great audio package.” – Ben Thomas

Honorable Mentions: Metro Exodus, Borderlands 3, Resident Evil 2 (2019)

“The environments are incredible, with top marks for lighting, texture work and art design allowing the game to retain an incredible atmosphere throughout, whether you are creeping through some disgusting flooded tunnel or bouncing your way through a desert sandstorm in a jerry-rigged van with terrible suspension. The audio is also very strong, with weapons in particular sounding far punchier and more detailed compared to previous Metro games. The growling, skittering and sometimes squishing noises of mutants are used to incredible effect to build tension as you explore some claustrophobic long-abandoned structures while waiting for whatever is making these terrible noises to jump out and try and eat your face.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: Resident Evil 2 (2019), A Plague Tale: Innocence, Control

“There’s some great production quality in these live action clips. While the scenes vary greatly in their scope and location, players will get to experience many low-key and intimate moments. The domestic scenes are the best parts and really highlight the skills of these seasoned TV and movie actors. With great professional performances and an intriguing plot that spans over a year, it could easily pass for a quality mini-series.” – Alex V

Honorable Mentions: The Outer Worlds, Control, Death Stranding

“The playable protagonist Amicia consistently demonstrates a steadfast conviction, and her younger brother Hugo frequently exhibits wide-eyed curiosity and innocence that makes them immediately likable. The game’s cast of characters is elevated by a voice cast that does a splendid job. There are a wide range of emotions squeezed out of this limited cast of characters – fear, excitement, despair, anger, determination, and everything in between can be heard in the subtle intonations of the game’s dialogue.” – Christian Kobza

Honorable Mentions: Parvati (The Outer Worlds), Kim Kitsuragi (Disco Elysium), Tiny Tina (Borderlands 3)

“In many ways, Disco Elysium feels like the game the cRPG genre needed. It’s been nice to see the genre return and while I can get tired of reading endless paragraphs and made-up history, I do love clicking through trees of dialogue, getting to know a character. The nature of this genre plays to the strengths of a detective story, allowing you to interact with the world through specific clues and conversations. And ZA/UM has taken it a step further by building a whole skill system to help explain how you interact with the world. It’s a smart idea, but it’d be nothing without the wonderful characters and intriguing mystery that propels you through the game.” – Josh Hinke

Honorable Mentions: Anno 1800, Total War: Three Kingdoms, Imperator: Rome

“The story is one of the stronger showings, if you compare it to the back catalogue of the studio’s other titles. It sets itself up like episodes of a TV show with an underlying thread – the capture of the Mole – running through. Despite being a spinoff game that reuses locations, it manages to elevate itself through great acting, gameplay, and improved mechanics. The city sandbox is as grimy and vividly realized as ever. Brutal combat, tons of side quests, and dozens of opportunities to distract yourself means you can easily waste dozens of hours in Judgment.” – Peter Ingham

Honorable Mentions: MLB The Show 19, Days Gone, Death Stranding

“Gears 5 offers a familiar action experience that should satisfy fans who gravitate towards its expanded multiplayer options. There’s a wealth of modes and unlockables to strive for. Whether you want to play cooperatively or competitively, there’s tons to do here. The game looks sharp on the Xbox One X at 1080p. The textures and visual effects offer a good amount of detail, and the framerate holds steady across all solo and multiplayer modes. Levels have a nice variety to their color palettes and lots of minute touches to bring life and authenticity to the world.” – Alex V

Honorable Mentions: Uncontested

“Astral Chain successfully combines great action, exploration, and puzzles together with a strong narrative. It’s a yet another success for PlatinumGames, and for Nintendo as a Switch exclusive. It has great action that’s not only fun to play, but also incredibly original. Equally enthralling is the narrative, despite its anime sensibilities. The RPG elements are successfully implemented as well, helping each of the Legions feel versatile and individual. Adopting a slightly cel-shaded look helps Astral Chain look quite good on the Nintendo Switch without pushing the console’s technical boundaries.” – Alex V

Honorable Mentions: Pokemon Sword and Shield, Luigi’s Mansion 3, Tetris 99

“Control succeeds through dynamic combat, captivating characters, and slick pacing. The strange world inside the Oldest House has secrets, powerful items, and a broad range of enemies to fight off. Supernatural abilities, paired with a versatile service weapon, offer truly great action in environments that crumble gloriously. With tight control of the player’s experience and imposing visuals, the overall quality comes within shouting distance of the Max Payne series.” – Ben Thomas

Honorable Mentions: The Outer Worlds, A Plague Tale: Innocence, Astral Chain

“Developer Frozenbyte had issues with the development cycle on the third iteration, and, following the muted reception to the last entry, the future of Trine appeared to be in jeopardy. After a handful of new IPs, however, the studio decided to return to their platforming franchise. The extended four-year break may have been for the best, though. In the wake of the weak third entry, Trine 4: The Nightmare Prince is a return to form for the franchise. The puzzles require creative thinking, but are far from challenging, and the level design is superb.” – Eric Hall

Honorable Mentions: Gears 5, Devil May Cry 5, Need for Speed Heat

“Hunt: Showdown is an undeniably solid multiplayer experience that succeeds at feeling unique. Its fast and lethal PvP encounters might prove too much for some, and the content is on the thin side relative to the price, but what is here is fairly polished and offers a good amount of exiting action and tense standoffs. Those who enjoy the high stakes encounters of battle royale or DayZ-like games, but also like the idea of some PvE and a deep progression system to go along with them, should definitely give Hunt: Showdown a look.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: Death Stranding, A Plague Tale: Innocence, They Are Billions

“The twenty or so hour campaign is very well paced, with a solid cast of characters and a compelling narrative that ends in one of the most memorable final missions I’ve ever experienced. The mix of action, stealth, scavenging and set-pieces returns from previous games, and though most of it will feel fairly familiar to series veterans, everything has been improved. The biggest addition to Exodus is the inclusion of a few much larger open areas with a number of locations you can explore that aren’t tied to the main story. Though the game is by no means an open world, you’ll go through some levels that are far larger and more freeform than anything the series has seen previously.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: A Plague Tale: Innocence, Resident Evil 2 (2019), The Outer Worlds

“Kings Canyon is a suitably large area for the 60 player (20 squad) setup and it looks great. Like other Battle Royale games, players begin in a dropship and can land anywhere they can reach via gliding. From the beginning, Apex defines itself, as one player is designated the “Jumpmaster” and has full control over where the squad lands. Movement and gunplay is also exceptional. Many of the guns are replicas of those from the Titanfall games, albeit with balance tweaks, and they offer great punch without being unwieldy. Apex Legends is free, which is fantastic. Seriously, go play it now. There is tremendous value in the base game and you’ll acquire some cosmetics by levelling up at a decent pace.” – Ben Thomas

Honorable Mentions: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Hunt: Showdown, Borderlands 3

“Sekiro’s combat is a master class in game design. Enemy encounters are quick, tense, and endlessly satisfying. From Software has a firm grasp on a combat system’s ideal rhythm, flow, and feel. Its small blemishes do little to taint the excellent combat and tight traversal that most of the game is composed of. Seeing it through to the end is an exercise in patience, quick reflexes, and persistence; but each defeated boss along the way provides a tremendously cathartic endcap to each of the game’s astounding locales. Sekiro’s relative simplicity is a departure for From Software, but the streamlined systems allow you to spend most of your time on the remarkably fun part: running around as a nimble ninja and stabbing some bad guys.” – Christian Kobza

Honorable Mentions: Borderlands 3, Resident Evil 2 (2019), Control

“There is a lot of enemy variety, from the classic rabid wasteland psychos to organized military forces and a wide variety of beasts and mutants, each with their own weak points and behaviors. Some enemies will work together in interesting ways and figuring out the best approach to these fights adds a touch of strategy to the proceedings – but only a touch. A few improvements to core mechanics also help; you can now mantle up high objects and grab onto ledges to pull yourself up after jumping. Powerful weapons like shotguns or explosives will knock enemies around with some ridiculous over-the-top ragdoll physics that feel like a perfect fit for the action. As a shooter, Borderlands 3 easily surpasses its predecessors.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Gears 5, Apex Legends

“Sekiro is an action hack-and-slash that contains plenty of Dark Souls DNA, but it streamlines and simplifies many of the sub-genre’s typical mechanisms to great effect. There’s no stamina bar arbitrarily limiting your capabilities, gone are the days of dumping points into inaccessible stat sheets, and weapon durability is scrapped altogether. By shedding the more convoluted and stress-inducing RPG mechanics, Sekiro feels like a much more focused experience that concentrates on its core tenants of sword-wielding combat and exploration – both of which are executed extremely well.” – Christian Kobza

Honorable Mentions: Astral Chain, Control, Resident Evil 2 (2019)

“Just the right amount of motion blur and a subtle camera shake when going fast leads to a fantastic sense of speed; sprint races at night where you are whipping along freeways during a downpour, trying to stay ahead of an opponent, lose the cops and dodge traffic were some of my favorite and most thrilling moments in a racing game in recent memory. The handling works best when you are blasting along freeways at ridiculously high speed, using nitrous to edge past opponents – something you get to do lots of at night with sprint races.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: Trials Rising, DiRT Rally 2.0, F1 2019

“Despite some trepidation on my part going into a complex and well established strategy franchise in a late entry, I found the experience of getting into Anno 1800 very welcoming and enjoyable. Hours melted away as I became engrossed and invested in each successive empire, with the pace of new technologies and structures always providing immediate and distant goals to work towards, even though the story of the campaign mode doesn’t quite manage the same. If you have any proclivity towards city builders or strategy games, Anno 1800 comes highly recommended.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: Age of Wonders: Planetfall, Total War: Three Kingdoms, Imperator: Rome

“Taken as a whole, A Plague Tale: Innocence is an abundantly pleasant surprise. It’s a legitimately compelling adventure with a bevy of flaws, but it does more with its historical setting than many ever attempt to. The core gameplay isn’t the main draw here, but its tried and tested mechanics allow you to quickly solve the simple puzzles and get back to experiencing the game’s many awe-inspiring sequences and basking in desolate 14th century France. It isn’t very flashy and its replay value is limited, but those willing to overlook its shortcomings will be met with a veritable smorgasbord of standout sequences.” – Christian Kobza

Honorable Mentions: Judgment, Disco Elysium, Telling Lies

“While The Outer Worlds doesn’t have a massive scale or super slick cinematic presentation, it is a tight and very well put together science fiction RPG that offers an impressive amount of choice in character building and narrative-altering decisions. Though some aspects of the experience such as combat difficulty and resource availability could use some fine tuning, those who are looking for a finely crafted and highly replayable RPG in the vein of Fallout New Vegas or Mass Effect should definitely pick up this promising new IP from Obsidian.” – Tim Reid

Honorable Mentions: Disco Elysium, Borderlands 3, GreedFall

“FIFA 20 helps the franchise return to form after last year’s slightly underwhelming outing. The gameplay has been touched up in all the right ways, and while it’s disappointing not to see big progress for the offline modes, FUT and other multiplayer offerings continue to thrive. The new Volta mode is almost like a DLC in itself, offering a new way to enjoy the sport that’s fully realized and well executed. The presentation is still great, with strong matchday atmosphere and great soundtrack. FIFA remains among the most steady franchises going around, and this year offers good value for both new and returning fans.” – Alex V

Honorable Mentions: MLB The Show 19, NHL 20, NBA 2K20

“Following the ill-advised move to 3D from Artifacts of Power, The Nightmare Prince rightfully restores the series to the world of 2.5D platforming. It’s very much a return to form for the franchise, as it hardly strays from what was the standard prior to the last entry. The skillset of each party member remains the same, and so does the way you approach each puzzle. You’ll typically need to combine the abilities of at least two of the three heroes in order to proceed. Sometimes it involves conjuring a box with Amadeus and grappling it with Zoya. Or maybe you’ll create a ramp with the wizard in order to shove a boulder off it with Pontius.” – Eric Hall

Honorable Mentions: Trials Rising, Katana Zero, Super Mario Maker 2

“There will be many who will want to compare this game to Rez or Harmonix’s Amplitude, but that feels hollow. This game is so stylish and enthralling, it is unmatched in the genre. My only complaint is that there isn’t more of Sayonara Wild Hearts to jam to. I hope that Simogo releases an extended cut of the game or some songs as DLC because this game is an absolute delight. I can’t recommend Sayonara Wild Hearts enough. Even if you don’t like pop music, even if you don’t like music games, this is an ostentatious joy ride, I couldn’t help but love it. And I believe many others will have as much fun as I did.” – Josh Hinke

Honorable Mentions: Tetris 99, Tetris Effect