What was the best game of the year 2020? Here are the top games of 2020, as voted for by GameRevolution’s team.
2020 has nearly come to an end and we couldn’t be happier. You don’t need a gaming site to tell you that this has been a hell year, filled with trials and tribulations that no one expected we’d face. But even though the world has turned upside down, there has been one constant: video games. This year we’ve seen the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, watched as virtual reality hit new heights, and have above all else played a number of incredible games. But what was the best game of 2020? Which game was so good that we’ve almost been able to forget the heaps of bad stuff piling onto our already struggling shoulders? As we jettison 2020 into the ether and hope it never returns, here’s GameRevolution’s Game of the Year 2020 as voted for by our team. Let’s hope that 2021 will have similarly fantastic games, but that it’ll be a better year for humanity in general! Crash Bandicoot was dead, killed by 20 years of bad sequels and aimless spin-offs like many other nostalgic icons from the past. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time’s goal of resurrecting the bandicoot could have been a gut-wrenching, Pet Sematary-esque horror show, but instead ended up breathing life into the bandicoot as though it had never flatlined. Crash 4 has tight platforming with varied level design that pulls from other heavyweights in the genre while also not forgetting its roots. By delicately balancing the new and the old, Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is not only an excellent experience from beginning to end, it’s also the best Crash game by a fair margin. Read our review Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is the best kind of remake — it still delivered the same feel of the original skateboarding classics, though improved them in every way imaginable. THPS 1+2 is how we remembered the classic PlayStation games, but not as they actually were. It was the video game equivalent of rose-tinted glasses, removing all the old-school clunkiness and replacing it with smooth skating and a slew of customization options. A pure, jubilant shot of ‘90s straight into our veins when we needed it the most. Read our review Not every game has to be innovative to be excellent. Ghost of Tsushima was never poised as the next big thing. Instead, it’s a refinement of the third-person open-world formula that’s been immensely popular over the last ten years. Jin Sakai’s story is straight out of a Kurosawa flick, and the game’s setting is one we oddly don’t see very often. Despite the allure of samurai, popular series like Assassin’s Creed have avoided Feudal Japan as a setting. Of course, there are some anachronisms here and there, but for the most part, Ghost of Tsushima does a wonderful job of sharing facets of both Japanese and Mongolian culture respectfully. Sucker Punch managed to make Tsushima Island, with its beautiful and diverse landscapes, as much of a character as any of the game’s cast. The excellent combat and wide array of exploration opportunities make this game a must-buy for fans of the genre and one of the best PS4 exclusives to date. Read our review Half-Life: Alyx should be the system seller for virtual reality headsets, however, access is still limited to those with a capable gaming PC. For those who have played through Alyx and know both the story it tells and the gameplay elements that it masterfully implements, you know that it’s a crying shame that it’s going to be years before others can appreciate and understand the greatness.
