Game of the Year 2024: PC, PlayStation and XBOX

Well, another year has passed, during which quite a lot of new and interesting games were released in the world. As always, they always give us positive emotions and impressions, delight us with their variety and interesting plots. And if a sequel of some old game comes out, then the joy from this event can be even more than from a brand new game.

The Game Awards 2024 took place in mid-December, and we thought it was about time we had our gaming recap too. So make yourselves comfortable and let’s get going!

We would like to remind you that all results in one or another nomination are subjective opinion of the author of the article. You may or may not agree with it. This opinion is not the truth

Best Adventure Game

Traditionally, we won’t start with the most important nomination, but no less important or interesting – best adventure game of the year. It’s our most intense nomination, because we’ve gathered the most contenders for this title – as many as 5 games.

We’re going to start with the best adventure game of the year.

It won’t be a secret (although you might have already guessed from the picture) that the winner is Black Myth: Wukong. From the first day of release, all gaming news was related to it in one way or another, from the announcement of the release of the much-anticipated Japanese game, to the first reviews, walkthroughs, tips, etc. They beat the ratings, was on the rumor mill of everyone who is even slightly interested in the game industry. And is it really so, what is the impression about it?

Yes. A short and concise answer, but how much is in it. Like any game, you can find its flaws here too: both subjective and objective. For example, someone may think that the graphics are not on a high enough level, and there is too much action and fighting here. However, the story, the atmospheric setting of ancient China and the main character outshine all these disadvantages, showing players a good adventure game.

But in this category we have other entrants that, although they didn’t win, deserve a mention.

For example, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. When the development was announced, many people thought that this was the long-awaited remake of the once popular game series. However, it turned out to be something else entirely. It looks colorful and bright, but for “old” fans, it has nothing in common with the original. The game doesn’t pretend to have a strong story, but if you want to have fun, then the new Prince of Persia is perfect for it.

Star Wars Outlaws is not a great example of an adventure game, but this is the only place we can mention it. Many people have been looking forward to this game because every Star Wars adventure game is worth its weight in gold. Especially after Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. But unfortunately the launch didn’t live up to expectations, and even the adorable beast of the main character didn’t save the day. Nevertheless, if you are not afraid of bugs or somewhat primitive plot and mechanics, then play the game and plunge into this amazing world of Star Wars universe.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – was released not so long ago, and there are already reviews and reviews on it. Some like the game, some think it’s too simple for late 2024. But the fact remains that fans of Indiana Jones movies and Harrison Ford fans will like it the most. The game has a story (cool, right?), puzzles and even action. So, you can easily go on a journey with Jones and enjoy the adventure.

Astro Bot. This game can be called the most universal game of the year, considering that even at The Game Awards 2024 it was nominated in 5 categories, winning 4 of them and becoming the game of the year. The fun adventure of the little PlayStation robots will appeal to kids and adults alike. It also gives you the chance to experience several other popular games like God of War, Horizon, and more.

Best Multiplayer Game

Multiplayer games are growing in popularity year after year because not only are they fun in their own right, but they allow you to play with friends or other players, not just bots. This year there are 4 nominees for best multiplayer game, but the winner for us is Takken 8. The new installment of the rather lengthy franchise continues to please and not disappoint older fans, and is quite successful in attracting the attention of newcomers. In this part is not such a big plot, but here there are three new characters, significantly improved graphics. The latter, by the way, pumped up to such a level that you can see how sweat droplets roll down the body of fighters. It doesn’t really affect the game itself, let alone the controls, but it’s fun.

Other games in this category are just as good, however. For example, PlayStation exclusive Helldiver 2 literally blew up the media space in early 2024. This game will definitely appeal to those who like action and “meat” shooters. The game is quite fun (hehe), with good gameplay and not bad graphics. The only downside for some is that there is no single-player version and there is no story. Well and because of the monotony, such a game can get boring after a few dozen hours. But all this is subjective, and Helldiver 2 definitely deserves your attention.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 – surprised us this year in general. We’re used to mentioning the games in this series in a less than positive light. Maybe they listened to the players and finally released something really good? The main thing in the game is an interesting story, which is interesting to follow, especially in the cutscene of the last few years. But there’s not much in the way of new mechanics to look forward to.

And last but not least, the nominee is Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2. Well the classic as Waha fans know it. Lots of enemies, massive carnage, cool graphics and dynamics.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is a classic as Waha fans know it.

Best VR game

VR game development has slowed down a bit over the past couple years. PlayStation has been spending a lot less of its energy on development, though it did just recently release a second-generation VR helmet. However, tittles are coming out and even delighting fans. The first place we unconditionally give Batman: Arkham Shadow. The game received high praise from both players and critics, and was also awarded in a similar category of The Game Awards 2024. The graphics and story are top-notch, so it can be considered a worthy continuation of the VR trilogy Batman: Arkham.

But aside from the Batman game, we only have one other title in the nomination – Metro Awaking. The game is definitely inferior to Batman, but it does have its pluses. For example, Metro will definitely appeal to fans of the series, because the plot continues to lead us through the same story, where we learn new details about already familiar characters. Someone may say that the game came out not painfully dynamic, and the locations look monotonous, but… But actually it is a classic of games about this universe. Metro, so-and-so in real life is not painfully diverse, especially on nuclear war.

Best DLC

In addition to new games, developers aren’t forgetting about the games that have already been released in previous years by rolling out DLC. Unfortunately, it’s not always something super massive, some games may just add a new character or even character skins. But sometimes the add-ons can pull a small game on their own in terms of scale and elaboration. We chose Elden Ring: Shadows of the Erdtree as the winner.

Elden Ring: Shadows of the Erdtree.

The Elden Ring add-on sends the hero to a brand new region, the Shadow Lands. This add-on will appeal to those who have played the base game and understand the lore of this world. Otherwise you will find it complicated and incomprehensible. Even the developers themselves say that they have never made such a large-scale DLC before. So players should definitely pay attention to it.

Also in this category we have Atomic Heart: Trapped in Limbo. It can hardly be called a truly full-fledged add-on, at least not in the way the fans imagined it to be. There’s not much of a plot, the hero jumps around a strange but interesting location made of cookies, gingerbread and other confectionery.

Atomic Heart: Trapped in Limbo.

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The Starfield: Shattered Space DLC proved to be massive, adding another planet to the vast cosmos. Unfortunately for many, it didn’t fix the two main problems with the game itself – a weak story and an unremarkable protagonist. Of course, if you enjoyed the game, you should definitely try out this addition. If the game didn’t catch on, it’s unlikely that the DLC will fix your opinion.

And if it did, it’s unlikely that the DLC will change your mind.

And finally Alan Wake 2: The Lake House. The add-on diversified the gameplay, the new story, like the original, has plenty of notes and recordings. But the developers also added a new monster that you will have to face if you decide to play this add-on, so it’s a cool addition, especially for fans of the game.

Best exclusive

There weren’t many worthy exclusives this year. And for our nomination, we’ve chosen just three. Each of them is a worthy contender for this award, but everything in the game has to be perfect to win.

The winner is Astro Bot, a fun, colorful game that has captured not only the hearts of PlayStation fans, but gamers around the world.

Astro Bot is a fun, colorful game that has won over not only PlayStation fans, but gamers all over the world.

Also nominated are Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which is currently only available on Xbox, and Rise of the Ronin. We’ve talked about the first one before. The game turned out to be good, but it also has some flaws that prevented it from becoming the exclusive of the year. Rise of the Ronin is a dynamic open-world role-playing game about the most difficult period in the life of samurai and Japan. The action takes place at the end of the 19th century. The game turned out to be really interesting, those who played Ghost of Tsushima will appreciate it. However, it also has a couple of flaws – the plot is a bit boring and the grapheon is a bit weak. But it’s recommended.

Game of the Year

And here we finally reach the main point of the article – the game of the year. Yes, perhaps our decision is predictable, but there’s no denying the obvious. We announce (drum roll) Astro Bot as the game of the year. Well, how can you get past these cute bots that travel through more than 100 levels, get into different worlds and can be controlled with a variety of game mechanics? The bots have won many nominations and awards for this game, and they deserve it.

Astro Bot.

The Black Myth: Wukong, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Batman: Arkham Shadow were equally great games. All of them are worthy of mention and playing, and some for themselves consider them to be the best games. But the main difference is that all three of these games, different in genre, difficulty level and mechanics. And Astro Bot is something universal and interesting that everyone can enjoy.

Astro Bot.

Something that can’t go unmentioned

It’s time to talk about games that unfortunately didn’t make it into any of the nominations, but nevertheless deserve you to learn about them and definitely give them a try.

Frostpunk 2 is a sequel to the city-building game about survival in an icy post-apocalypse. Interesting setting and plot of the first part, partially managed to repeat in the sequel. And fans are divided into two groups: some of them think that the second part was much worse than the first one, while others find its charm and interest in the sequel, continuing to explore such an unusual world.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is also a sequel to an indie game that captivated players with its graphics and interesting plot, in which the protagonist suffers from psychological and internal problems. The second part, alas, turned out to be much weaker in terms of plot. Yes, it’s beautiful, but in some games it’s not enough. However, it is possible that someone will appreciate the new part.

The acclaimed Balatro surprised everyone this year. The card-based indie game managed to beat all preconceptions and get nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2024. It was very surprising, and besides that it took away the win in several other categories. Balatro pumped classic poker, so it definitely deserves your attention, especially if you have a soft spot for card games.

The Game Awards 202424

Metaphor: ReFantazio is an RPG from the creators of Persona. All in all, that’s already enough to form some opinion about the game. It has a cool aged design, cute and nice characters, and a rather interesting plot. It doesn’t grab stars from the sky, but fans of this direction should definitely like it. And at The Game Awards 2024 the game took a couple of wins in nominations. So look out for it.

Something you’d rather not talk about (or remember)

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It’s probably time for our most favorite and most interesting section in the article. As much as you want, you can praise the game of the year and argue about the choice, listing all the advantages and disadvantages of this or that game. But forever you can only talk about the failures of the year, which sometimes come out so bad that it’s good.

This year, for example, Unknown 9: Awakening distinguished itself. Not only are the graphics very weak, but the story doesn’t really carry the game, and the combat is sad. In general, the game could be great if it came out 10-15 years ago, but for 2024 it is extremely weak.

Unknown 9: Awakening.

But the absolute winner, which even the developer now doesn’t even remember, was Concord. The game was taken off sale two weeks from launch, and the servers shut down in September. Being able to look at all the components of the game individually, it’s not all that bad – yes, it looks like Overwatch, but there are some twists and turns. Characters were supposed to become interesting and “different”, some new mechanics, etc. But something was still missing. It’s hard to enter the free-to-play sphere with a paid game, where everything is tied to servers. It’s more difficult to attract an audience when competitors have everything the same, but for free and already set up for the game. And there is nothing fundamentally new in Concord, alas. So in theory, the game is not as terrible as you might think from the beginning, but in practice… in practice…

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