The Game Awards is the biggest gaming event of every year, and here are the nominees for this year of 2021. First, we have Deathloop from Bethesda/Arkane Studios, It Takes Two from EA/Hazelight studios, Psychonauts 2 by Xbox Game Studios/Double Fine, Metroid Dread by Nintendo/Mercury Steam, Resident Evil Village by Capcom, and Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart by SIE/Insomniac Games. All of these are amazing games, and only one of them will receive the Game Of The Year Award. Many other games compete for different categories, but in this article, we will be focusing only on the games that were nominated for game of the year.

Deathloop

From the creators of Dishonored, Deathloop is an amazing first-person shooter game, and it did not disappoint. While the game has its similarities to the Dishonored games, it still has a lot of brand new content to it. In Deathloop you play Colt, and he finds himself stuck in a time loop, and he is bound to live the same day over and over again. Colt’s objective is to try and break this loop, and to do that, he needs to assassinate eight targets that are known as Visionaries, and to do that, you will need to study your targets, and discover everything about them. However, you have limited time to do that, as you need to be able to kill the eight Visionaries in one day, as when the day ends, you will find yourself at the beginning of the loop. And to make things even harder, an agent called Julianna protects the time-loop, and she will always try to stop Colt.

Colt can use all different types of weapons during his journey, which will help him accomplish his mission with more ease. The game also gives its players the freedom to choose how they want to take on the game. You can go in guns blazing, or you can be stealthy, and avoid unnecessary combat. Movement is an important part of this game, and some skills and powers will help you move with more ease. 

Deathloop is a great game, and if you’re a fan of first-person shooters, you will have a great time playing. It comes as no surprise that it was nominated for game of the year, and it is a strong contestant to take that title.

It Takes Two 

The same company that created A Way Out, It Takes Two is also a co-op split-screen game, but its story is much lighter. The married couple Cody and May are struggling to make things work, and because of that, they plan on getting divorced. They decide to tell their daughter Rose that they’re getting divorced, and she is devastated. Rose is still a kid, and she uses her hand-made dolls that represent her parents, and she uses them to pretend that her parents are still together. And thanks to her wish, her parents, Cody and May, find themselves trapped inside these dolls. And to be able to return to their bodies, they are going to have to work together.

The game has a beautiful story, and it is filled with light-hearted and funny moments, but sometimes it can get just a little dark. However, it is the perfect game for you to play with your kids, significant other, or someone new to gaming, since the game is easy to play. Each level has its theme, and Cody and May will receive different abilities depending on the level. The most important thing about this game is teamwork, something that connects directly with its story. It Takes Two is a super fun game, and it deserves its spot as one of the games of the year nominees.

Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart

Insomniac games never fail to deliver amazing games, and Ratchet And Clank: Rift Apart was easily was one of the best games of the year 2021. It was five long years until a new game was released, but it was well worth the wait. The game is simply amazing, and it feels amazing to play in the dual sense controller of the PS5. A Rift Apart is visually amazing, each level is beautiful and filled with things for you to do and explore. Guns in this game are amazing and unique, and there are plenty of them for you to use.

In this journey, Ratchet and Clank find themselves stuck in another dimension, with no way out. That happened during a parade in their honor, and Clank showed Ratchet something called a dimensionator, and he made it so that Ratchet could go and look for other Lombax. But Doctor Nefarious invades this parade, and his objective is to steal the dimensionator. During a struggle, Ratchet accidentally shoots the dimensionator, causing it to malfunction, and it ends up sending Ratchet, Clank, and Doctor Nefarious to different dimensions. Clank is found by another Lombax named Rivet and embarks on a journey to reunite with Ratchet, stop Doctor Nefarious, and return to their dimension. Ratchet finds himself alone and begins to search for his partner and friend Clank.

A Rift Apart definitely deserves a spot on the game of the year candidates, as it still is one of the best games for the PS5.

Metroid Dread

Metroid Dread was an amazing surprise for fans of the franchise, and it did not disappoint. It is probably the best Metroid game, some say it is even better than Metroid Prime. This time players go on a journey with the bounty hunter Samus to a planet called ZDR, since there have been sightings of a species called X, a dangerous parasite that can mimic any creature it infects. This species was thought to be extinct, so Samus is sent to investigate the planet, and to eradicate these parasites. When arriving at the planet, Samus is confronted by a Chozo warrior, and after being defeated, this warrior strips her suit of almost all its powers. So now you must explore this world, and acquire new powers so that you can defeat any threat that is in your way.

Metroid Dread platforming is amazing, and the controls are perfect. Combat also feels very smooth, and Samus now can even parry her enemies, leaving them vulnerable for her to finish them. Most of her suit’s power-ups can be recognized from previous games, but there are also some new ones. The boss fights in this game are extremely entertaining and challenging, and the sections where you must fight and escape the EMMI robots are really fun. Nintendo did a great job with this game, and hopefully, we will get another one in the near future.

Psychonauts 2

Psychonauts 2 was announced back in 2015, and after six long years, it was finally released, and it was completely worth the wait. Players take control of Raz once again, a young acrobat that is training to become a Psychonaut, an international task force that uses psychic abilities to stop those with evil intentions. In this game, Raz must once again enter the minds of people, as a way to help them. He must now enter the minds of the Psychic Six members, and help them overcome the trauma that they developed after fighting with Maligula.

It is a third-person platformer, and Raz will need to use his Psy-powers to help him explore the mind of other characters. Psychonauts 2 is an amazing game, with fun platforming and puzzles for you to solve. The story will get you hooked, and every character in the game is extremely charming.

Resident Evil Village

In Resident Evil Village, the story of Ethan, the protagonist from Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, is continued. We get to see that he got to live a happy life with his wife Mia, and they even ended up having a daughter. Sadly, all of that is taken away, in a surprise attack, you see Mia get shot, and the one responsible for that is no other than Chris Redfield. Ethan is unable to do anything, and he is forced to see his daughter being taken away from him. Ethan is also being taken somewhere, but the vehicle he was in ends up crashing, and he is the only survivor. After the crash, Ethan finds himself in a strange village, that seems to be deserted. So now he needs to explore this village, find a way to rescue his daughter and discover why Chris did what he did.

Resident Evil Village is still a first-person shooter, but this game is more action-packed. You will fight against waves of enemies, and some crazy monsters. Players found this game to be similar to Resident Evil 4, which is considered to be the best Resident Evil game. That is because of the crazy monsters, this time there is even a merchant that helps Ethan, by selling him weapons and other resources. Resident Evil Village deserves a spot among the other nominees for game of the year.

Who Will Win?

All the nominees this year are amazing games, and it is hard to decide who deserves to win the game of the year award. But that doesn’t stop us from trying. Deathloop or Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart are both strong choices for taking the award. So how about you, who do you think is going to take home the game of the year award?