A few days after releasing the new trailer for the upcoming sci-fi first-person shooter DOOM Eternal (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Switch, Stadia), the good people at Bethesda held at event in Los Angeles where they gave journalists a chance to play the first three hours of the game in anticipation of its March 20th release.
What follows are my impressions of the game’s opening levels, and will obviously contain some spoilers.
Like most years, 2019 had a handful of good games and a whole of lot of terrible ones.
Here, in no particular order, are the worst and most disappointing video games I played in 2019.
Like every year, there were far more bad games than good ones in 2019, especially when you consider all the crappy mobile game rip-offs. But there were also, as always, a couple that stood out.
Here, in no particular order, are the best video games I played in 2019.
One of the more difficult parts of video game design is finding the sweet spot of difficulty where it’s not too tough and not too easy but does get steadily more challenging as the game progresses. It’s an issue that undermines Sniper Ghost Warrior Contracts (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC), a realistic first-person stealth-action sniper game that shooter fans will either find engaging or punishing….and maybe both.
Four years after the disastrous self-titled reboot nearly destroyed it forever, and two years after somewhat redeeming itself with Payback, the Need For Speed series of open world street racing games has made a proper comeback with Need For Speed Heat (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC), which is not only the best game in this series since 2012’s Need For Speed: Rivals, and the best installment on this generation of consoles, but the best racing game of 2019.
For years, former Metal Gear Solid mastermind Hideo Kojima has been one of gaming’s more unique voices. So it should come as no surprise that his new open world, third-person action game Death Stranding (PlayStation 4, PC) is also unique — and exciting, and engaging… — even though the main action in this action/adventure game is walking.
While the proposed Monsterverse movie series is deader than a zombie with a gunshot to the head, the Universal Monsters are still very much alive and kicking. Or biting as the case may be. Director Guillermo Del Toro has said repeatedly that his movie Shape Of Water was inspired by Creature From The Black Lagoon, while the creator of the titular creature, Millicent Patrick, was recently the subject of Mallory O’Meara’s excellent biography / memoir The Lady From The Black Lagoon. There’s also the BBC’s upcoming BBC miniseries, Dracula, which clearly owes as much to Universal’s 1931 movie as it does Bram Stoker’s novel, while the entire film series recently inspired the board game Horrified: Universal Monsters.
And now two of their classic pinball tables are being brought back to life in the Williams Pinball Monster Pack for Pinball FX3 (Xbox One, PlayStation 3, Switch, PC, Mac, iOS, Android). Which is good news for both monster mashers and pinball lovers alike.
As fun as Fallout 3, 4, and New Vegas may have been, they’re not great as straight shooters; you really have to use the V.A.T.S. targeting system. But it’s a complaint action fans won’t be making about The Outer Worlds (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, PC, Switch), a Fallout-esque open world, sci-fi action role-playing adventure game from the good people of Obsidian Entertainment — a.k.a., the Fallout: New Vegas folk. And while this has its own problems, it still manages to be as effortlessly fun as, well, you know.
With every successive game, the Gears Of War series has evolved, adding new mechanics and modes to these third-person sci-fi shooters. But while the same can be said for Gears 5 (Xbox One, PC) as well, the changes are the most fundamental and impactful since the addition of the co-op survival mode “Horde” in Gears Of War 2, and the game is all the better for it.