So, the end is nigh. 2021 is coming to an close and we step closer to the years 80’s movies classed as the distant future, made up of flying cars and ray guns. We may not have either of those, but we have had some good and some not so good games along the way. So, as the holiday of eating too much and falling into a food induced coma, as your relatives argue over whether to watch an old lady in a big house, whose family stories could rival a soap opera, give a speech about hardship and sticking together. I thought I’d take a look back at some of the good, the bad and the inevitable clangers, that have made up my gaming year of 2021.
Okay editors note… we know that the year of our lord 2021 was a shitshow so instead… we are just going to focus on the Good!
The good
Outriders – (People Can Fly/Square Enix)
This is probably a controversial one. I played Outriders with a friend in co-op for quite a few months. We loved it. The way it made us feel all powerful. The reason I started by saying this is controversial is because it was plagued by bugs in the end game content. Drop rates were as if the game threw all its loot at a wall and whatever stuck, is what you got. (Spoiler, most guns and armour doesn’t stick to a wall) It was pretty bad. This has been rectified through countless patches, and as far as communication with the community goes, I really can’t fault the studio that made it. With a recent release of New Horizon, a patch that has added more end game content and weapons, the game is looking in better shape than ever.
Necromunda: Hired Gun – (Streum On Studio/Focus Home Interactive)
This one sort of came out of nowhere. I’d heard rumours that a new Warhammer 40k game was in the works, but wasn’t excepting this. I’m a huge Warhammer 40k fan, and the fact this is an FPS, ticks all my boxes. Whilst not a traditional Warhammer 40k storyline, this one isn’t about Space Marines or Chaos or Xenos this time round, it still manages to retains the gritty, dark and brutal world that makes Warhammer 40k stand out. You play a hired gun (I imagine you saw that coming) on a ‘Hiveworld’ who’s job it is to seek out bounties and uncover a foul plot. It’s fun, it’s brutal and you get a pet dog that you can basically turn into a horrific version of K-9 from Dr Who. It ticked all the boxes and I loved every minute.
Back 4 Blood – (Turtle Rock Studios)
It’s basically Left 4 Dead 3. Do I really need to say more?
Destiny 2
Luke here…
So Lance once said he was totally off the Destiny bandwagon and wouldn’t be going back to Destiny 2 again, but I am here to add to the end Destiny 2 to the end of this article because, inevitably, Bungie released a bit of DLC for the title and Lance jumped back into it quicker than my kid throws a tantrum if I tell her no (pretty darn quick).
So with this in mind I am adding Destiny 2 to Lance’s good gaming moments of 2021, but I am also going to add the honorable mention of:
Ghost Recon: Breakpoint
No matter how many times we tell Lance that Breakpoint is a bad game, he fights us tooth and nail to convince us otherwise. So I am adding this as an honorable mention.
So that was Lance’s gaming of 2021. What did you think? Do you agree with Lance’s own admission that he likes some absolute clankers? Or are his choices totally justified? Let us know in the comments below.