The best games of 2024

The Prince of Persia series seemed to have forgotten about its 2D roots after phasing into a long run of third-person action titles. Then along comes Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. The 2D perspective returns but it’s so much more than just a throwback to its original perspective. There’s a heavy emphasis on combat and exploration. Plus, the combat flow feels great from the game’s opening as you unlock more powers. Those powers, too, are critical for exploration, tempting you off the main path for treasures and precious in-game currency for compelling unlocks. The Lost Crown’s plot is more engrossing than its storytelling execution, but the utterly addictive gameplay ensures that players will be counting down until the next time-bending entry in this spin-off series.

The Last of Us Part II was divisive when it launched in 2020. And that’s not likely to change, even after a few years have passed. For me, the only difference was I knew what was coming instead of experiencing the first-half heartbreak and second-half lack of connection to the new playable character. Even though I’m in the camp that lost a lot of love for the series after the structural missteps of Part II, the Remastered version is still worth playing. For starters, there’s the full campaign, and at least half of that should have you fully engaged. Then there’s the great No Return mode, which is an addictive roguelite addition that brings the game’s still-excellent core gameplay front and centre. Whatever you think of Naughty Dog’s sequel, the Remaster is absolutely the best way to play it (until the inevitable PC port).

Helldivers 2 has come a long way since its rocky launch. But spreading so-called “managed democracy” around the galaxy has never been easier now that the dark days of server issues have been mostly ironed out. If you want to battle against overwhelming sci-fi odds, Helldivers 2 as a solo player is like a proper horror experience. Even when you jump into co-op matches—the best way to play the game—there’s still plenty of horrific tension, but it’s mostly curbed by meme-stacked comms, hilarious accidental friendly fire instances and a whole lot of fun. Come for the straightforward co-op shooter but stay for the high-lethality power fantasy of an ever-expanding arsenal of awe-inspiring guns and powerful Stratagems.

If you, like me, find yourself drawn back into the love-hate embrace of Dead Cells at least once a year, Oblivion Override may help to break the trend. Fans of that beloved roguelite metroidvania classic will be right at home with Oblivion Override. That’s why I got it to scratch that itch. And scratch it does, albeit replace Dead Cell’s fantasy setting with a sci-fi dystopia. Melee brawling is very much the name of the game in Oblivion Override, and the tight controls will have you trying increasingly riskier combos to end fights faster. When you’re not brawling, you’re exploring or managing a range of practical unlocks to boost your chances of surviving just that little bit longer. The art style is clean and gorgeous in a way that makes this very gaming handheld friendly, too.

One of my earliest scary gaming memories is playing Wolfenstein 3D with the sound up and the lights low. My next is the terror of Alone in the Dark. Sure, part of that terror was fixed camera angles and wonky controls. But fast-forward 30+ years and Alone in the Dark has finally received the rebirth treatment it deserves. The game name may be the same but the 2024 rendition of Alone in the Dark benefits from the better instances of survival-horror that have helped shape the genre in more recent times. Unlike the action-packed Resident Evil 4 remake, Alone in the Dark plays out at a slower pace, heavier on puzzles, exploration and intrigue than combat. But it does all three of those elements in a compelling way, and when the horror lands front and centre, it hits hard enough to forgive its initial absence.

Valve may not know how to count to three in game sequels, but plenty of others have gone out and made “Half-Likes” for those hankering more Half-Life. Case in point, Phantom Fury. This Ion Fury sequel has a different dev and feel, but fans of old-school first-person shooters will feel right at home with it. Jump back into the combat boots of Shelly Harrison and shoot up a storm in an unapologetically gory romp. While it doesn’t do much to advance the genre, you should be sufficiently distracted by the killer arsenal and combat aplenty, best played in half-hour bursts.

Forget about full-priced AAA games that need the latest, greatest hardware to get the most out of them. Minishoot’ Adventures may have an unassuming title, but it’s impossible to not fall in love from the first time you boot it up. The handcrafted art style makes this very playable on modest PCs, including cheap laptops and, of course, gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck. That’s where I spent most of my time with Minishoot’ Adventures, absorbed in an addictive gameplay loop of twin-stick action, sci-fi world exploration, and a whole mess of unlocks that keep you coming back for more.

Look, it’s no secret that I’m a sucker for Star Wars games. I’ll give anything with a whiff of “a long time ago” in it a chance, even if it’s far, far away from looking like it’ll be good. And, unfortunately, there’s a lot of trash. But not in recent years. Dark Forces Remaster is another fine addition to the recent run of Star Wars games. It’s a Nightdive remaster, which means it was always in great hands, but the real shining star is how well the core blaster-heavy gameplay loop holds up today. There are welcome modern features like a weapon wheel, but purists will appreciate the remastered cutscenes and additional behind-the-scenes content (plus a new level). It plays really well on a controller or handheld gaming console, too.

In 2023, Sons of the Forest was my most anticipated game. Now that it’s hit 1.0 in 2024, Sons of the Forest is a polished and expanded experience that’s well worth your attention. Played alone, you’re in for a nervy time of scares above the surface and true horrors in the expansive underworld. In co-op, both survival-game busywork and threat management become a whole lot more manageable. Like its predecessor, you can play Sons of the Forest as a compelling survival game, but the real joy is in the breadcrumb approach to storytelling that rewards the deeper you dig into it. Sons of the Forest is the horror-survival game by which all others are measured.

First things first: unless you’re a super hardcore player, ignore the recommendation to leave autosaving disabled (and maybe even manual saving). I made that mistake and, after replaying the opening battle multiple times, I restarted the game because Conscript’s fixed-save-points approach is extremely rigid. Time-saving disclaimers aside, Conscript is a great showing of Aussie talent at a reasonable price in a survival-horror game inspired by the original Resident Evil. Ammo is scarce. Inventory space feels scarcer. And there are more foes to dispatch than you have tools to deal with. Despite the pixel-art graphics, the many horrors of Conscript still cut deep.

No, that’s not a typo in the quote above. Anger Foot has a game name that says it all: furious fast-paced action that’s propelled by one hell of a kicker. As in, you’ll kick a lot of enemies as you blast through short-lived levels designed to appeal to the Hotline Miami crowd. Boot open doors then launch foes with your foot to adrenaline-pumping tracks. That’s the basic pitch. Thankfully, Anger Foot has more to offer with a kick-arsenal of enemy-dropped weapons. Forget about reloading. Just lob your empty shooter at the next foe, snatch up their gun and get blasting. Anger Foot is the kind of game you can play in short romps or longer foot-fetish sessions.

I loved Ghost of Tsushima on PS4, adored it on PS5, and I’ve fallen in love with it all over again now that it’s finally on PC. Yes, the game is gorgeous, particularly running on an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Super, which helps with stunning 4K fidelity and a healthy frame rate via DLSS 3. The Ubisoft-like approach to Ghost of Tsushima’s open world is as addictive today as it was in 2020, with a solid variety of tasks (even if haikus are still laborious) and a great mix of stealth and action to keep things interesting. But the real shining star is the story and character work, with Sucker Punch taking a stab at what’s arguably the best PS4 storytelling in an era that had God of War and The Last of Us.

Look, it’s easy to throw hate at Star Wars Outlaws. There is some dated design and the brief apparently didn’t let Massive Entertainment play too much out of the confines of what most people would expect from an Ubi open-world Star Wars game. Still, that doesn’t change the fun factor. If you’re a Star Wars fan keen on a heist story with a compelling protagonist and multiple planets littered with interesting characters, that’s enough to justify the price of admission. But the core gameplay loop is constantly dragging your attention away from what you want to do with other things you feel you need to do. Couple that with loads of unlocks, plenty of activities, satisfying blaster battles and some downright gorgeous graphics (particularly with a 40-series graphics card), and Star Wars Outlaws is well worth a visit.

Ask Age of Empires purists which game is best, and you’ll hear a lot of “Age of Empires II” but not far behind that is fan-fave Age of Mythology. It’s my favourite in the series, and I’ve been hanging out for Age of Mythology: Retold since it was indirectly announced after the Age of Empires II and III Definitive Editions. The best bit is Retold is absolutely worth the wait. For the $40 standard edition, you get arguably the best campaign in the series, which boasts familiar Age of Empires gameplay spliced with over-the-top mythological units and god powers. It looks better than fans of the original remember, brimming with content (and mod support), plus it has some seriously impressive new features designed to bring new fans into the fold.

Apparently I’m such a sucker for the original Starship Troopers movie that I’ll play any game linked to its ultra-satirical, ultra-gory tone. There were Starship Troopers games of old but, more recently, I mostly enjoyed my time with RTS Starship Troopers: Terran Command. And now there’s Starship Troopers: Extermination. In its early access launch state, there’s not a lot outside of a proof of concept for Extermination. You and up to 16 other players choose from one of three roles and battle your way through waves of Arachnid bugs. There was seemingly only one map and mode when I played, not to mention no Australian servers. Still, if Offworld Industries can build on the promise of incentivising randoms to work together while endlessly quoting the 1997 flick, this may end up being worth the price of admission.

Jumplight Odyssey is a stylish riff on the space opera subgenre that combines run-based strategy games like FTL with the likes of Evil Genius and Rimworld. You control a sole spaceship on the run from an evil galaxy-spanning empire, but your biggest concerns have less to do with that trope-laden premise and more to do with the day-to-day of manning your ship. How do you use the limited floor space at your disposal? How do you maintain morale amongst your crew? These more-grounded questions are usually overlooked by strategy games playing in the same lane, but there's plenty to like about the intricate yet intuitive answers that League of Geek's latest offers up. 

After my 60+ hours with Starfield, I thought my single-game addiction had been sated for the back half of the year. And then along came Witchfire. While still in early access state with limited content, that wasn’t enough to stop me from sinking around 30 hours into what’s available. That’s great dollar-to-gameplay value for a mid-tier asking price. And that gameplay is so, so well honed. While the meta game needs some work (and is actively being developed), the main gameplay is a mix of Bungie’s honed gunplay with From Software-like brutal difficulty. About half of my time with Witchfire was spent feeling powerless. And then all of the knowledge of my successive runs with some timely upgrades and a sprinkling of blessing from RNGesus took me to the other end of the scale. While I was powerful towards the end, you can never fully disrespect Witchfire as it always has a way of punishing mistakes, albeit never in a way that didn’t want me to come back for another round of fun-ishment.

Vampire Survivors may not’ve been the first, but it is the game that put auto-shooters on the radar for millions of gamers. Since then, it feels like a battle royale-like rush as imitators pop up all the time, most of which don’t warrant attention. And then there’s Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. Fans of Deep Rock Galactic will understand the setting, humour and basics of bug-squashing and resource mining. But genre-shifting to Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is a genius move. I’ve already sunk 40+ hours into the early access version, and still find myself constantly drawn back in for more. The shooting may be automated, but it’s the mining component and by-design restricted maps that are the greatest contributions to auto-shooters. With tonnes of unlocks already and weapon synergies to play with, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor is an easy go-to for a quick 20-minute dive or hours of entertainment.

Moon Studios won over the gaming world with its Ori duology. Instead of doing the obvious thing with a third Ori outing, Moon Studios made a drastic genre departure with No Rest for the Wicked. While its early access launch was rough, subsequent updates are helping the honed gameplay rise to the top. Explore a dark world teeming with threats presented in an iconic art style. Master combat patience and parrying early on to get the most out of the combat, which is Souls-like through a Diablo camera perspective. Weapons are plentiful, challenging fights are abundant, and there’s a solid cadence of new content to keep you coming back ahead of the 1.0 release.

While people were debating the value of The Last of Us Part II Remastered—spoilers: it’s great, you should buy it—Sony stealth dropped one of the best bits of expanded content I’ve ever played. For free! In loose terms, Valhalla is a free DLC download for God of War Ragnarök that adds a roguelite mode. Unlike The Last of Us Part II Remastered’s No Return mode, Valhalla has a story with returning fan-favourite characters and a genuinely compelling mystery at the heart of a mode that’s carried by the bone-crunching combat. This is a no-brainer for any fan of Ragnarök, and I love how it feels essential to those looking to take any extra morsel of Kratos’ Nordic adventures.

Collectively, I’ve put thousands of hours into the Battlefield series. So when I tell you that I have chalked up 650 hours in Hell Let Loose, you’ll understand just how much I love this game. Admittedly, Team17’s takeover from initial developers Black Matter has been a bit shaky, but there’s still a decent cadence of new content, balancing updates and bug fixes. The real beauty of Hell Let Loose, though, is 50-vs-50 multiplayer matches with closely matched teams. It’s got a brutal learning curve in its presentation of all-out war, but once you start to understand its intricacies, Hell Let Loose rewards veteran knowledge and makes for the kind of clip-worthy gameplay that never gets old.

If you’re anything like me, the fantastic first season of Fallout inspired you to revisit a Fallout game or two. For me, that was Fallout: New Vegas. But then Bethesda announced an ‘about time’ next-gen patch, which offered more than just performance and quality-mode options for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players. Admittedly, the smattering of new gameplay content may not be enough to warrant a full play-through, but you should absolutely spend some time checking out the player-created mods, especially if you haven’t touched Fallout 4 in recent years. Bonus points if you’re a PC player because the DLC-sized Fallout London mod is now available, which offers a welcome change from the typical US settings of the series.

Sure, it’s been on PS5 since 2021 but Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart hit PC in 2023 and it’s a stunning way to revisit or play for the first time. Unlike The Last of Us Part I, Rift Apart didn’t have a rocky launch on PC, so there aren’t any patch disclaimers required to get lost in a great game world. In terms of the game, you don’t need to have played any earlier Ratchet & Clank entries to get the most out of this interdimensional romp. For those with high-end rigs, the eye candy potential adds another layer of enjoyment to epic set pieces, satisfying platforming and plenty of combat encounters to (space) boot.

Games that launch in December aren’t typically meant to have big-budget bells and whistles. Then along came Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. While it veers a little too hard into Far Cry space, there’s a lot of fun to be found in Frontiers of Pandora. It also helps that the game is one of the best-looking titles you can play today. Massive Entertainment has worked wonders with Snowdrop in a way that continues to show the versatility of the engine. Get through the opening hours to when the game properly opens up, then make your own fun in terms of a range of mission types designed to suit different players: explorers, platformers and warriors alike.

On paper, a first-person RoboCop game shouldn’t work: a shambling tank with one iconic weapon doesn’t scream “this needs a shooter!” But developer Teyon has dug deep to make it work in the same way it did with Terminator: Resistance. The scope for RoboCop: Rogue City feels both bigger and smaller than Resistance, though. Bigger, in terms of all-important gameplay features, and smaller because it’s less ‘end of the world’ and more ‘end of futuristic Detroit’-type stakes. Having Peter Weller reprise the titular role is more than just fan service and the story is surprisingly compelling for a sequel to the first two flicks. More importantly, the action is meaty and the satirical one-liners are more on than off.

The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria is a game that didn’t drop with a whole lot of ceremony but it’s absolutely worth considering if you like survival games. But first, disclaimers. While you can play alone, it’s really not the best way to play. Like the big-name survival games—The Forest, Rust and Valheim (to name a few)—Return to Moria is best enjoyed with others. In fairness, that’s more a genre-wide disclaimer for those who aren’t thrilled with resource gathering and want to share the load. The Lord of the Rings backdrop is a nice touch for fans but not essential to enjoyment. Dig into Return to Moria with mates and you’ll soon be caught up in the charming dwarven groove of exploration, brawling and crafting.

There’s no denying that Assassin’s Creed needed to change tack. And change it did with Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla. Now Mirage marks a return to an old-school approach to the Assassin’s Creed formula with some of its better modern trappings. Forget about the intimidating 60+ hours required to beat Valhalla. Mirage’s main story can be bested in a quarter of that time. Admittedly, the prologue is a slog but when the beautifully recreated ninth-century Baghdad opens up, there are plenty of shiny distractions to tempt you off the main path. The focus is firmly on stealth, which is a welcome amplification, but combat is challenging enough when you’re surrounded by guards.

Mirror’s Edge was a solid sci-fi first-person platformer with clunky combat. Ghostrunner 2, on the other hand, picks up where its predecessor left off: fast-paced sci-fi platforming and brutal combat. It may look like a Cyberpunk 2077-inspired game, but that look is about where it ends once you get into the gameplay. Platforming is fast and fluid with multiple approaches to movement puzzles as things start to open up. Take one hit from an enemy, though, and you’re back to the nearest checkpoint which are, mercifully, generously offered. This high lethality means even the regular peons aren’t always a cakewalk. Jump in for a quick sprint. Or stick around for an endurance run. Either way, you’ll be entertained.

2024 has already had a few big gaming addictions for me. Helldivers 2. Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor. But before that, there was Blood West. I was so addicted to this game at the start of the year that I forgot to add it to this list (whoops). Blood West is an eldritch horror game with an iconic art style and an addictive gameplay loop. At first, you start out incredibly underpowered. The tension is palpable as you sneak everywhere, avoiding most fights. Then you get some upgrades. Then you get bolder. And then you overcommit and are punished for not respecting the high-lethality game. Death is punishing initially but there are ways to mitigate that. After 20+ hours with Blood West, I’m still not done and it continues to impress and freak me out in equal measures.