Just as 2022 wasn’t as good a year for video games as 2023, so too was 2024 not as good a year for them as 2023.
Which isn’t to say there wasn’t anything worth playing this year.
Here, in the order I played them, are my favorite games of 2024.
Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Publisher: Ubisoft
Systems: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Switch, PC
While this 2D, side-scrolling, hack & slash acrobatic action game really reminds me of how this series started twenty-five years ago, its fluid controls, modern conceits, and cool but fitting new mechanics make it feel more like an evolution than a throwback.
SCORE: 8.5/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Welcome To ParadiZe
Developer: Eko Software
Publisher: Nacon
Systems: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
While I’d rather spend time shooting zombies than crafting the ammo needed to shoot them, or building structures so I don’t have to shoot them, this zombie survival game’s less than serious approach made it more fun than most.
SCORE: 8.0/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Rise Of The Ronin
Developer: Team Ninja
Publisher: Sony
Systems: PlayStation 5
Though it has some seriously annoying issues (such as an uneven difficulty, and enemies with poor situational awareness), this third-person action / adventure game also has a lot of really fun hack & slash action set in a vibrant open world.
SCORE: 8.0/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Tales Of Kenzera: ZAU
Developer: Surgent Studios
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Systems: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
While it is very similar to Prince Of Persia: The Lost Crown — and, well, a lot of other third-person side-scrolling action games — ZAU is also an accomplished and often clever third-person side-scrolling action game, one that best distinguishes itself with its Africanfuturistic vibe.
SCORE: 8.0/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Stellar Blade
Developer: Shift Up
Publisher: Sony
Systems: PlayStation 5
Sure, this owes a lot to the Devil May Cry series and similar games, and the jiggle physics and revealing outfits are silly, but this sci-fi third-person acrobatic hack & slash action game was still a (mostly) effortlessly fun button masher.
SCORE: 8.5/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Star Wars Outlaws
Developer: Massive Entertainment / Lucasfilm Games
Publisher: Ubisoft
Systems: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC
While there’s a lot wrong with this open world action game — the infuriating stealth bits, the loose gunplay — there’s more good than bad, making it the Han Solo of Star Wars games.
SCORE: 8.0/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
The Princess Bride Pinball for Pinball FX
Developer / Publisher: Zen Studios
Systems: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Switch, PC
While their original pinball tables are always a lot of fun, the good people at Zen Studios outdid themselves with this one by making it feel like what a real Princess Bride pinball machine would’ve been had someone made one when the movie came out in 1987.
SCORE: 8.5/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Camp Bloodbrook for Pinball FX
Developer / Publisher: Zen Studios
Systems: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Switch, PC
As much as I love the virtual pinball tables they make based on movies, TV shows, and other video games, I also always appreciate when the good people at Zen Studios put their pinball skills to use on an original table…even when the original table feels like it was supposed to be based on a certain slasher flick.
SCORE: 8.5/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch / Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Systems: PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
Though adding the ability to sprint, slide, and dive in every direction while shooting isn’t the game changer some expected it to be, this year’s model does excel for having one of the most varied, exciting, and thus best campaigns we’ve seen in this first-person shooter series.
SCORE: 8.5/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Silent Hill 2 (2024 remake)
Developer: Blooper Team
Publisher: Konami
Systems: PlayStation 5, PC
Like the remake of Resident Evil 2 before it, this updated version of this classic 2001 third-person survival horror game captures the thrills and spirit of the original, but modernizes it, and thus becomes the best version of this game.
SCORE: 8.5/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
Indiana Jones And The Great Circle
Developer: MachineGames
Publisher: Bethesda
Systems: Xbox Series X|S, PC
While it wasn’t as Tomb Raider-y as I was hoping, or expecting, this does manage to be another great adventure for Dr. Jones by being a compelling stealth action / adventure game that has action as compelling as its story.
SCORE: 8.0/10 (Click here to read my full review.)
And that’s a wrap on 2024. What were your favorite games of the year? Tell me in the comments below.
Oh, also, if you’d rather be negative, here’s the link to my list of the Worst Video Games Of 2024.
