Favourite games of 2019
This last year has been a pretty great one for both blockbuster and indie games, but we’ve also had some major disappointments.
I wasn’t able to finish as many of the games I started as I would’ve liked to this year, so as with all “top of…” lists, the below very much represents an incomplete sampling.
With that out of the way, find my personal favourite five games of 2019 below, as well as some honourable mentions, biggest disappointments, and a backlog of games I didn’t quite manage to get to (here’s to hoping I can knock them out early in 2020 before March madness hits).
All games were experienced on an Xbox One X console, using a 4K TV.
Without further ado, here are…
My top five games of the year
5. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
Given Modern Warfare (MW) is one of my most played multiplayer games of the year, even though it only dropped in the last quarter, it’s a shoe-in for this list. The month between MW’s multiplayer beta and its final release felt insufferably long, and all of a sudden, there was no other game that would satisfyingly fill its void in the meantime. The ridiculously addictive multiplayer gameplay, however, is not the only reason for its inclusion on this list.
I am one of the minority of players that loved Infinite Ward’s prior Call of Duty entry - 2016’s Infinite Warfare. In fact, that game's singleplayer campaign may be my favourite Call of Duty campaign of all time. It was fantastic to see then that Infinity Ward delivered - and then some - when it comes to the campaign of this provocatively titled Modern Warfare reboot.
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare was a genre-defining game for first person shooters, and pushed the industry forward both from a campaign and multiplayer perspective. It’s a relief then that MW 2019’s campaign is just as satisfying. The game’s Townhouse mission in particular is spectacular, and ranks as one of my most impactful gaming moments of this year, if not even the decade. It’s very hard for me to think of another FPS level where I fired fewer than 15 shots, yet my pulse was racing.
On a technical level, this game is an absolute marvel, in particular when played on PC or an enhanced console like the Xbox One X. Photogrammetry mean textures and materials look more realistic than ever, especially in how they interact with the game’s lighting. MW’s visual design is top notch, and only bested by its sound design - there has never been another shooter where every weapon handling action, every reload, every spent shell casing ejecting, every shot fired, sounds and feels as good as it does in MW.
There are very few games on the market that make proper use of the overhead speakers in a Dolby Atmos-based sound system, and MW does a spectacular job. Whether it’s a helicopter flying overhead, an enemy creeping over some creaking floorboards above you, or even just some ambient noise, I was constantly blown away by the positional audio in this game.
For all the reason’s above, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) is my top five game of 2019.
4. Resident Evil 2 (2019)
I should probably start this part with a pretty major admission: the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 is only the second RE game I’ve ever played (the other being Resident Evil 7) - a combination of the fact that I’m not generally a huge fan of horror games, and the clunkiness of previous franchise entries being a major stumbling block for me.
If you’d told me last year that both a reboot and a remake would be making my yearly top five, I would’ve thought you were crazy. It’s even crazier to think that one of those would be a Resident Evil game.
Resident Evil 2 is a perfect example of how a remake should be approached, if one is indeed warranted: not just a graphical upgrade, but a game fully re-made from the ground up to meet today’s gaming standards. This game is visually gorgeous, the sound design is fantastic (and creepy as hell), the game drips with atmosphere, and the gameplay feels modern and intensely satisfying.
While it might’ve been harrowing, playing this game in the dark of night with the living room lights off and the headset volume cranked up was the perfect way to experience it. I’m not sure “enjoyed” is the right word, but I enjoyed RE2 enough to play it twice - to experience both Claire and Leon’s story lines, though they are somewhat similar in this remake.
The Resident Evil 2 remake is a game I can easily recommend to fans of both horror as well as tight action - and the story is very engaging to boot. It’s my top four game of 2019.
3. The Outer Worlds
The Outer Worlds, a sci-fi first person shooter RPG, is a delight to play primarily because it is a perfect execution of a type of RPG that we don’t really get any more. It’s a semi-open world that’s exciting to explore without being exhausting. It has the strength of Fallout’s world-building, except the combat is great and things are colourful and not just a dreary brown and grey. Developers Obsidian are practically RPG royalty at this point, but their games are certainly known for a certain level of… yank and bugginess. The Outer Worlds is neither - it’s stable, as close to bug-free as a game of this scale can be, and feels great to play.
And the scale of this game, from a certain perspective, is insane. The level of choice presented to the player is close to unmatched, and I haven’t felt anything like it since playing the Mass Effect trilogy (and if you take those games one at a time, and ignore the trilogy-spanning decisions, The Outer Worlds affords you vastly more freedom). You can kill any character you come across, including the quest givers, and still complete the game. Or you can complete the game as a pacifist, choosing to kill absolutely nobody.
The humour in The Outer Worlds is fantastic. It’s a truly funny, cutting, insightful game. The narrative embraces the space opera nature of its setting, but at the same time couldn’t be more relevant to the state of the world today.
What really sticks with me from The Outer Worlds, and makes me so excited for the single player DLC that’s still to come, are its characters - the various NPCs, as well as your party members. Their writing is impeccable, the voice-over work is outstanding, and after spending a couple of hours with them it’s hard to imagine that they are not, in fact, real people. The standout here is the first party member you get - Parvati - who had the most interesting loyalty quest line and was my favourite character to talk to throughout the game overall. Ashly Burch does a fantastic job voicing her, and deserved her Game Awards nomination ten times over. It’s no surprise that Parvarti has developed a near cult-like following of appreciation online.
The Outer Worlds easily could’ve been my number two game on this list, and those two spots did in fact move around several times. For the purposes of this list, it’s my top three game of 2019, but slots two and three can really be considered interchangeable.
2. Gears 5
We’re getting down to the meat of this list now, and the subtitle has already given it away - Gears 5 is my second favourite game of the year, which was a surprise even to me.
While I’ve enjoyed every Gears game across the last few console generations, it was always something that was fun for it’s over the top action and couch co-op mayhem, but I can’t say I ever bonded with the original trilogy’s characters the way many players did, and the narrative never quite won me over either. It was plenty fun, but all just a bit too… bro-ey to be taken seriously.
Who would’ve thought this would all change when the IP was handed from external developer Gearbox to in-house Microsoft studio The Coalition, who took over the franchise starting with Gears of War 4 and delivered a hell of a game - introducing a new cast of characters that I grew to love almost immediately, and refreshing the story in a way that resonated with me. Gears of War 4 was a bridging game of sorts, for The Coalition to prove they had what it takes to take on this franchise.
That game’s main protagonist, JD Fenix, is the son of original trilogy protagonist Marcus Fenix, and both still play a role in Gears 5. The game’s real star however, fellow Gears of War 4 newcomer Kait Diaz, and the vast majority of the game focuses on her. And what an excellent choice that was. Perhaps unexpectedly from the Gears franchise, The Coalition delivers a story that delves deep into the meaning of family, how we deal with trauma, and even what we can do to absolve the world of the (sometimes perceived) sins of our forefathers.
Kait is the absolute standout character in this story, voiced to perfection by Laura Bailey, and the emotional journey the player experiences with Kait throughout the course of Gears 5 lands like a gut punch… delivered by a bulldozer.
On top of the above, Gears 5 features perhaps the most stunning visuals of any game this late in the generation. Watching the opening scenes play out live in-game, it was hard to believe this was a game running on a current-gen console. The audio delivery is similarly excellent, making full use of a Dolby Atmos sound system setup.
It goes without saying that Gears’s signature crunchy, chunky, weighty third person combat feels better than ever, to the point that it’s hard to imagine how they could perfect it further. I’m sure we’ll see how once we’re playing Gears 6.
As mentioned before, it was a very close call between this and The Outer Worlds, but as of the time of writing, Gears 5 is my top two game of 2019.
1. Control
There is perhaps no game on this list that received as little marketing and initial press attention as my number one spot, which is Control. It’s “only” from an AA publisher and lacked the marketing push of bigger publishing partner behind it, but it’s easily a AAA game and represents developer Remedy’s finest work to-date.
For a while, I thought I might be the odd one out with this choice, but between the number of Game Of The Year awards Control has been winning from prestigious gaming publications the world over, as well several nominations and a win in the Art Direction category at the Game Awards, I’m hoping more people will check out this absolute creative triumph. Control is a masterpiece of a game, and will easily make my top ten of the decade, not just of 2019.
Remedy has never made a bad game, but Control is what happens when Studio Head Sam Lake’s brain is firing on all cylinders, and the studio has full creative control (apologies for the pun). Control’s gun play feels like Max Payne’s, but so much better. It’s world-building reminds me of Alan Wake, but so much better. It’s use of time-manipulating and telekinetic powers reminds me of Quantum Break, but - you guessed it - so much better.
Everything you do in this game feels amazing. The interplay switching between a gun with recharging bullets, and telekinetic powers with a recharging force meter, feels rhythmic, and so incredibly satisfying. When you defeat enemies, they explode in a cloud of coloured vapour that’s just straight up cool. The way main character Jesse Faden moves through the environment is a joy to behold. The environment itself, for that matter, is a joy to behold - and the way you interact is awesome. This isn’t one of those games where you can select just one or two types of objects to fling at an enemy. Jesse will rip concrete out of the floor if there’s nothing else nearby, and the floor will be damaged as a result.
Protagonist Jesse Faden is played with a quiet, subdued, mesmerising confidence by Courtney Hope, who also played fan-favourite Beth Wilder in Remedy’s previous game Quantum Break. Remedy clearly loves it’s cast, as actors and voice actors from Alan Wake and Max Payne make very satisfying returns as well.
The narrative is the most confounding, mysterious, out there cosmic horror story that Remedy has every gone for, and I loved every minute of it. It’s The Lost Room crossed with Fringe crossed with the X-Files crossed with the SCP Foundation crossed with Norse mythology crossed with House of Leaves (which I have not, but cannot wait, to read) - all stirred together into narrative perfection by Sam Lake and his team.
Control is also a gorgeous game, and fully deserves its Best Art Direction award from the Game Awards. It’s the most complete vision of any fictional world I’ve interacted with in 2019. On PC, with ray tracing turned on, it’s currently ray tracing’s “killer app”. Seeing through a window, as well as your own reflection in that window, as well as light streaming through and everything exploding around you casting light and shadows on every object in the environment is truly a sight to behold.
This game has stayed with my long after I completed it, and having already played it twice. I can’t wait to revisit it’s world. Those that have played it will know what I’m referring to, and those that haven’t will hopefully play it and then recognise the reference: there’s a scene in this game where you put on some headphones, and enter the area known as the Ashtray Maze. What follows is not just my favourite gaming moment of this year, but of this generation. It’s breathtaking, it’s creatively daring, its a joyous delight, and I wish more games had this confidence to push the medium.
For all of the reasons above, and so many more, Control very easily earned the top spot as my personal game of the year for 2019. While the order of some of the other games in the top five went through a couple of iterations, the top slot never changed - it was always Control. This game is a stunning achievement, an absolute masterpiece of interactive entertainment, and I cannot recommend playing it strongly enough.
As promised, while I felt that these five were the games that deserved to make my personal favourite of 2019 list, there are a couple of honourable mentions - games that weren’t quite as ground-breaking or striking to me, but still took up plenty of time and were very enjoyable.
Honourable mentions
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Respawn delivers the best Star Wars story of the year, combined with a great combat system, though some level design can be frustrating.
Tom Clancy’s The Division 2
Is it basically just… more Division? In a new city? With a couple new additions? Yep - and as far as loot shooters go, it’s as fun as ever.
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
This was the first Ace Combat game I’ve ever played, and I had a blast engaging in its aerial combat.
Which brings us to the bummer part of this post unfortunately, being the year’s biggest disappointments. It’s difficult for any game to squander its promise as badly as Anthem did early on in the year, but a couple of others sure tried.
Biggest disappointments
Anthem
After an awesome, kinetic gameplay trailer that promised us “Iron Man, but sci-fi”, this half-baked effort under-delivered across the board.
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint
As far as sequels go, this was the year’s biggest disappoint. Wildlands was excellent, and this is just… bad.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood
2014’s Wolfenstein and its sequel are two of the best FPS games of the generation. Youngblood’s co-op is fun, but nothing else measures up.
Very lastly: the games I really wanted to play, but didn’t quite get to in 2019. Had I managed, there’s a good chance some of them might have made it into my honourable mentions, or even my top five of the year.
Here’s to hoping I find the time to dig into these in early 2020.
Backlog going into 2020
Outer Wilds
Outer Wilds is a space exploration puzzle game where you respawn in 22 minute increments. It’s on so many GOTY lists that I have to play it.
Untitled Goose Game
This game has one of the funniest, most charming premises of 2019: you’re a goose, and your job is to annoy random town folk. Yes please.
Observation
This game has a unique premise: an astronaut is stuck on a failing space station, and you’re in control of the station AI trying to help her escape.
Void Bastards
A first-person strategy-shooter rogue-like (so many dashes!) with a really cool explanation for why you get to live, die, repeat. Looks great.
That’s it for me in terms of my favourite games of the year. Keep an eye out for my upcoming favourite games of the decade (2010s) list, as well a similar exercise for TV shows and movies.
In the meantime, feel free to leave a comment below or get in touch with me on Twitter - what were your favourite games of 2019? What must-plays have I missed? Let me know!
Image credits (cover image, then post images from top to bottom): Remedy/505 Games, Infinity Ward/Activision, Capcom, Obsidian/Private Division, The Coalition/Xbox Game Studios, Remedy/505 Games, Respawn/EA, Massive/Ubisoft, Project Aces/Bandai Namco, Bioware/EA, Ubisoft Paris/Ubisoft, MachineGames/Bethesda, Mobius Digital/Annapurna Interactive, House House/Panic, No Code/Devolver Digital, Blue Manchu/Humble Bundle.
All images sourced using the IGDB.com presskit functionality.
