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Oscar's Games of 2022

2022. For a variety of reasons, I don't have a lot that I particularly want to say about this year. So, let's just get to the list.

Best Ongoing Game: Grand Theft Auto Online

Turns out, Grand Theft Auto Online is a very good game! Los Santos continues to be a very well realized open world that is absolutely brimming with content. Absolutely insane, off the wall, ridiculous content, but none of those are bad things in my book.

You can help Dr. Dre save his music from fake Suge Knight and then rob a casino! What more do you want?

Runner Up:

Fortnite

Game I Loved Despite Itself: WWE 2K22

I can’t believe WWE 2K22 is actually good. I’ve long been a defender of this franchise, but after the disaster that was WWE 2K20 and whatever WWE 2K Battlegrounds was, my expectations were in the toilet. Perhaps it’s just the fact that this franchise had long hit rock bottom that allowed this above average entry to become something I’ve already clocked nearly 200 hours in, but I’ve had a legitimately great time with a wrestling game - something that, barring a spectacular exception, I can not say has happened in a while.

WWE 2K22 isn’t perfect, not by any stretch. The Rey Mysterio Showcase lacks a lot of his most substantial matches, MyFaction is a microtransaction mess that has locked a ton of coveted wrestlers behind it and unable to be used in regular play, and it still has the usual slew of glitches that make a WWE game a WWE game, but despite everything, it leaves me optimistic for the future.

Runners Up:

Best Collection: Atari 50: The Anniversary Collection

Atari 50 is the new gold standard that all video game compilations should strive for.

There have been video game compilations in the past, obviously. But there are few that come to mind for even approaching the level of reverence and care taken that Atari 50 has for its subject, filled to the brim with interviews, original advertisements, and even design documents.

It doesn't just present you with a list of games, it shows you why titles like Combat and Haunted House were so important. The choices made that allowed Millipede to surpass its predecessor, how Pong was such a phenomenon that the initial prototype machines literally ran out of room to hold quarters. Plus you also have the fantastic Atari Reimagined titles like VCTR-SCTR and Neo Breakout. It even gave me a new perspective on the much maligned Atari Jaguar!

Not only is Atari 50 the standard that all video game compilations should strive for, it is now the standard on which they should be judged.

Runners Up:

Coolest Thing: Clone Hero

Clone Hero's been around for a little while, but the 1.0 release finally came out this year, adding in a pre-installed 17 song setlist, drum support, and a few other things. As a long time rhythm game fan, Clone Hero is also the coolest thing in the world.

As the name implies, Clone Hero is a Guitar Hero-clone, but the nature of the beast has allowed for so much more than I could have ever imagined. Just the very fact that you can add functionally every song that's ever been in Guitar Hero, Rock Band, and a whole litany of customs already makes this an incredible package to scratch that rhythm game itch, but once you factor in features like modcharts and online play, as well as a fantastic and dedicated community, Clone Hero is the definitive Hero experience.

Runners Up:

Best Remake/Remaster: Destroy All Humans! 2: Reprobed

The remake of Destroy All Humans! took a game from the bygone era of B-Games and brought it over to modern times incredibly well, warts and all. Destroy All Humans! 2, to my surprise, has far less warts than I expected.

Probably the game I had the most pure fun with this year, small additions such as Crypto's new S.K.A.T.E. ability completely open up the mobility and making the maps feel so smooth to navigate, as well as adding bonus objectives to missions, forcing you to think of new ways to approach a simple A to B situation - both these additions were also present in the remake of the first title.

Where DAH!2 shines, however, is in plain and simple better mission design and a more engaging story, even if the 60s setting does cause it to lose some of that fun Plan 9-esque style of the first game. But, ultimately, sometimes it's just fun to wreak havoc on humanity!

Runners Up:

Best Game of 2022: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is a title that I don't wish to say too much about, only that it deserves to be experienced first hand.

Seriously, there isn't more of a write-up. Play The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe. It is on the illustrious list of what I can only describe as perfect experiences.

Runners Up: