Well, the results are in and finally we have it: the DualShockers Game of the Year 2022. It’s been one hell of a journey to get here, made to feel all the longer due to the release of a certain indomitable epic released right near the start of the year, which left us pretty much exhausted by April. But we had to power on, because as it turned out the year would come to pretty much be defined by single-player epics (surely putting to bed the myth that single-player games are dying).
We’re a diverse bunch with diverse tastes though, and beyond the big hitters it was great to see some weird and wonderful indie games rank highly for us–the kinds of games that just a few short years ago it’d have been hard to imagine seeing the level of success that they had in 2022, or even existing at all. In the event that you need a recap of our fabulous team's journey through the year's best of the best, here's the lot:
- Jeff Brooks, Evergreen Editor
- CJ Kuzdal, Evergreen Editor
- Shivam Gulati, Evergreen Editor
- Elijah Beahm, Features Editor
- Robert Zak, Lead Features Editor
- Matthew Schomer, News Editor
- Chris Harding, Multimedia & News Editor
- Jack Coleman, Lead News Editor
- Damien Lykins, Managing Editor
So from slashing swarms to usurping ancient gods, here’s the DualShockers Game of the Year 2022, starting with a brief summary of some games that didn’t quite make our Top 10.
Honourable Mentions
The Last of Us Part 1
How much of this somewhat controversial remake’s greatness comes down to the greatness of the original game? Is it more a remaster than a remake? All valid questions, but none negate the simple fact that this is the best version of one of the greatest stories in video games, and if you haven’t played it already, then this is the way to do it (though maybe when it doesn’t cost $70, hmm?).
Marvel Snap
With Midnight Suns and this, Marvel went a bit leftfield with its licensed video games this year, and it paid off. Marvel Snap is a very well constructed card battler that offers tons of creative deck-building possibilities with all the swagger and stylish presentation of Marvel IP. It gets plenty of goodwill points for being one of those free-to-play games that you can actually enjoy without spending a ton on microtransactions too.
Norco
The magical-realist point-and-click adventure set in a downtrodden but characterful depiction of near-future Louisiana was runner-up on Rob Zak’s GOTY list. He declared it one of the most atmospheric, darkly funny, and outright best point-and-clicks of all time, and implored that you at the very least play it on Game Pass if you haven’t already (which you probably haven’t, so you should).
Gotham Knights
A solid cast of DC up-and-comers step out from Batman’s shadow in this open-world adventure that sees you duffing up do-badders in a stylish rendition of Gotham City. While the game can be played co-op, our very own Jim Gordon Elijah Beahm feels the story stands up perfectly well solo (well, apart from a shaky final act, that is).
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners 2
Our solitary VR representative is a continuation of the excellent story of its predecessor. The perverse pleasure of stabbing screwdrivers into zombie bowels and scrambling their guts and chainsawing them in half is still there, while the story–as ever–is the classic story of survival we’ve come to expect from the series. It’s a little jankier and buggier than the original, but still a gloriously gory time.
Now that we've gone through the almost-winners, it's time to get on to the main event — DualShockers' ten best games of the year.
10 Stray
You have to give it to Jack Coleman; he tried really hard for the world to forget about Stray, but in the end, the dystopian cat-venture manages to just about slink into our top 10 of 2022. While its platforming was routine and its mechanics simple, there was enough detail in both Stray’s evocative robot-ridden world and the cat’s impressive feline mannerisms for you to flick a furry tail at.
Stray thrives in its little playful moments. If you treat it like a typical platformer about getting from A to B then you won’t get much out of it, but if you embrace its feline charms then it can really dig its claws into you. As Matt Schomer put it in his GOTY list, “Want to jump on places where a cat shouldn't be? Make biscuits on a rug? Attack your friend's tail for no reason? Stray's got you covered.” And if you don’t want to indulge in those things? Well, then go sit in the corner right there next to Jack.
9 Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
For those who say that super-splattery co-op swarm shooter Darktide has failed to hit the heights of its predecessor Vermintide 2, we say ‘give it a few years, and it’ll get there, and possibly beyond.’ Complain though we might about Darktide’s progression, crippling ray-tracing, inter-mission hub, and other tidbits beyond the core loop, the missions themselves are thrilling 20-minute death runs that make you not just forget about the game’s problems, but make you forget yourself.
As you viscerally tear through hundreds of plague-maddened enemies for your uncaring Emperor, you’ll find yourself fully embodying the Psyker, Sharpshooter, Zealot, or lumbering Ogryn idiot you play as. It’s captivating and cathartic, in a way that at this point feels unique to developer Fatshark, and it’s the most fun you can have gaming alongside three friends in 2022.
8 Dying Light 2: Stay Human
Dying Light 2 is a strange one, delayed so many times that eventually the ever-building hype pushed through into despondency, making for a rather muted release and dwindling player numbers since then. That didn’t stop our video chap/Mouth of DualShockers Chris Harding ranking it as the best game of 2022, declaring it “leaps and bounds (literally) ahead of its predecessor and, in my opinion, any other zombie game shuffling around out there.”
Our reviewer Kyle Knight loved it too, praising its vast world, and the way its day-night cycle and player decisions dramatically affects the way you approach the game.
The ongoing support Techland will no doubt give Dying Light 2 won’t be able to fix the uninspired writing and story, but when you’re parkouring over zombies’ heads with a few of your friends in co-op, it’s quite possible that you’ll be having too much fun to care.
7 Marvel’s Midnight Suns
If X-Men did XCOM, but without the actual X-Men and a more ragged bunch of Marvel heroes, then you’d have Midnight Suns. And if there’s something we learned from big IPs doing the whole ‘turn-based tactics game’ thing this year (see Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters), it’s that it can work really rather well.
Midnight Suns sees you send the titular heroes, led by ‘The Hunter,’ into battles against the forces of Lilith–whose minions offer a pleasingly occult twist on the usual Marvel villains. Its fusion of card game mechanics with turn-based tactics makes for deep and engrossing battles, and it actually surpasses many similar games in terms of the HQ stuff, where between missions you can get to know your fellow heroes, build up relationships, and engage in some pretty solid world-building.
6 Blacktail
A latest-second addition to the list, Blacktail was given glowing accolades by our Elijah Beahm, who in a wave of inspiration that defied all reason, decided to review a game after The Game Awards essentially bookended ‘gaming in 2022’ (though we did try to warn Geoff Keighley that the TGA wouldn’t cover some of the best games still to come in 2022 - Blacktail included).
This first-person journey through Slavic folklore and myth casts you as Baba Yaga, a bow-and-magic-wielding young witch whose actions will decide the fate of the land. The game’s morality system, which seeps through into every little thing you do, drastically affecting your path through the game and its outcomes. Elijah described it thus: “Blacktail is a game to be savored, peeling away its world a little more at a time. If you meet it halfway, you’ll be left with a breath of fresh air rarely seen in the industry these days: a well paced game that only tries to be what it wants to be and never compromises that vision.”
5 Pentiment
Jack Coleman flew the flag for this beautifully presented manuscript-style murder mystery (with Robert Zak flying his own one at half-mast). Its premise, which sees you spend much of the game chatting with the simple god-fearing folk of a small 16th century Bavarian town, isn’t super-marketable, and lead designer Josh Sawyer admitted it probably wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for Game Pass, but once you’re in this heartfelt slice of history, it’s a place you don’t want to leave. As Jack put it, “There is so much life packed into the tiny environs of Tassing that it’ll begin to feel like home.”
It’s amazing how much you can learn from Pentiment about medieval crafts like baking, blacksmithing, manuscript-making, and printing, and is testament to the power of games to both immerse and educate us. The murder mystery offers plenty of intrigue, but really this is a great story about people both shaping and being shaped by the course of history, and it’s told by some of the best storytelling studios in gaming, Obsidian.
4 Vampire Survivors
A game of such incredible simplicity tends not to grab those top GOTY spots, but here’s a fun fact for you: Vampire Survivors made it into more of our individual Top 10 lists here at DualShockers than all but one (yet to be revealed) game. While the grand adventures have come and gone throughout the year, Vampire Survivors is always there, waiting for us in the shadows until we’re too lazy to play anything more complex, before it pounces.
The premise is simple: you wander around a large area as one of several vampire hunters.
Your attacks are automated, so you only actually control your hero’s movement as exponentially growing hordes of ghosts, rat-men, killer plants, giant mantises, you-name-it, descend upon you. Our Final Boss Damien Lykins doesn’t get nearly enough screen time on these pages, so we’ll use the wise words from his GOTY list to summarise our feelings: “Accidentally gearing your character into god-tier and mindlessly traipsing around while your super cool weaponized parrot decimates untold hordes of the undead with rainbow lasers with next to no effort is where it's at.”
3 Horizon: Forbidden West
Sadly, we live in a world where major publishers are often too wary of investing in bold new IPs. But if you (talking to said major publishers here) are ever in doubt that it can work, then just look at Horizon, which popped up from Killzone developer Guerrilla Games just five years ago and is now–thanks to this excellent sequel–one of the most beloved video game franchises out there. Forbidden West continues the tale of Aloy as she traverses the spectacular open-world landscapes of post-apocalyptic Utah, Nevada, and California in search of a fix for the world’s eroding biosphere. The sequel tightens up a ton of things from the original in the way of combat, more engaging side-quests, and engaging encounters with its trademark robo-dinosaurs.
Forbidden West almost came 2nd in our list if it wasn’t for its fairly routine approach to open-world design, so-so story and lack of compelling characterisation, which our Matt Schomer described as “Aloy’s weak character progression compared to Zero Dawn.” But these are relatively small shortcomings in an otherwise spectacular adventure.
2 God of War Ragnarok
With all those delays, it felt like the concluding chapter of Kratos’ Norse saga might’ve crumbled under the weight of anticipation, but we should never have doubted the PlayStation’s prodigal father (and his son). Our Jeff Brooks, who gave it a perfect score, called Ragnarok not just an incredible sequel but “a masterpiece in its own right.” The story and characterisation build on the powerful father-son tale of the original, expanding its focus to Freya, Mimir, and even the villainous Odin, all of whom suffer believable inner conflicts and turmoil. The Nine Realms of its open world are breathtaking, each one with distinct themes, breathtaking visual moments, and mechanical quirks that make exploration a magical experience only topped by one other game this year (and in many years years, for that matter).
It’s one of the best PlayStation games of all time, and a fitting end to one of the best video game stories ever told. Who’d have thought that the emotionally disregulated Kratos of the PS2 and PS3 days would go on to become the believably flawed, beautifully bearded man he is today?
1 Elden Ring
It tormented us, it dazzled us, it beat us into submission before motivating us to pick ourselves back up again to see the whole thing through. Having come out so early in 2022, most of us here at DS spent the rest of our year looking back on what a breathtaking and unprecedented journey it was. In some ways, Elden Ring added the simplest of things to that Souls template–an open world, a proper jump button, a horse–but it executed it in such a way that created an experience like no other. There are few feelings like looking out over those painterly vistas, knowing that there’s a whole realm of mystery and danger between you and every academy, keep, and golden tree looming in the distance. Elden Ring not only spread that distinctive Dark Souls style out over the open-world mold, but it also reshaped that mold in its own image, making open worlds feel exciting and dangerous again.
Elden Ring blew away any pretenders to the DualShockers GOTY throne, much like its first major boss, Margot The Fell Omen, blew us all away the first time we stepped up to him. Of course, we overcame him in the end, like we did many other bosses, and for all of Elden Ring’s sprawling ambitions, it still manages to make those moments of victory against seemingly insurmountable odds feel special.