Team Talk | What’s your game of the mid-year (2019)?

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Somehow we’re already into the second half of 2019. After getting over the disturbing realisation that the unrelenting passage of time is all too quickly sending us towards an inevitable death, we took a minute to discuss our favourite games released so far this year. Check ‘em out!

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by Sam Sant

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@SlamShotSam

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by Team PTC

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@pass_controller

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Sam | Resident Evil 2 

Who’d have guessed that my most anticipated game of 2019 would be here? Predictability aside, Resident Evil 2 actually faced some tough competition in what’s been a pretty stellar start to the year.

Sekiro, Devil May Cry 5, Apex Legends, Bloodstained - all are worthy candidates, but returning to Racoon City proved so irresistible that I’ve actually lost track of how many times I completed the game. Maybe five? With review commitments and needing to keep up with new releases, finding time to revisit games even once is somewhat of a rarity, which should illustrate just how gripping Capcom’s horror remake truly is.

Seeing things unfold from the different perspectives of Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield, across two scenarios each, proved irresistible even when the bulk of the journey remains the same. Ain’t nothin’ wrong with that though when memorising the iconic police station and its interconnecting surroundings is all part of the fun - plus the scares just keep coming.

How does a game stay scary on subsequent playthroughs, you ask? In this case, through sheer relentlessness. Zombies in Resident Evil 2 are the toughest I’ve ever seen, repeatedly springing back to (un)life after eating several bullets to the head. Then there’s the persistent Mr. X with his goofy fedora and sex offender trench coat, which are unnerving in themselves, nevermind when attached to an unkillable brute.

Chris | Guacamelee 2 

I dismissed the original Guacamelee as nothing more than one of the countless gimmicky indies that litter digital storefronts, but I rushed to download the sequel - not even six months after it's eventual Xbox One release this January - for reasons completely unrelated to needing a game to discuss in this here Team Talk… Ahem.

Whilst the developers clearly had a lot of fun writing the story, I'm happy to report that the gameplay is all business. Complex systems are disguised as simple mechanics, thanks to intuitive controls, and challenging sections never feel daunting, as muscle memory builds quickly once you get into a rhythm.

The fusion of Mexican wrestling culture and old school platformer is an odd one, for sure. I mean, I like both morphine and ice cream, but you don’t see me blending the two together to create some brain-ruining horror-shake. I hold myself to higher standards than that.

Thanks to DrinkBox Studios’ superior ingenuity though, it works! Guacamelee 2 is refreshingly lighthearted, unashamedly immature, and charmingly addictive. Kinda like morphine. That last part, anyway.

James | Metro Exodus

While a newcomer to the Metro series when I sat down at a preview event earlier in the year, the legacy of the series was long-established as one filled with claustrophobia, survival-horror-tinged action beats and a rich lore to draw from, being based, as it is, on a series of books.

Little did I know how accessible the game would turn out to be and how much fun I'd have with it, despite the frequently underwritten female characters and the odd technical hitch here and there. It certainly did enough to earn a well-deserved 10/10 in my review, anyway.

Its success shows the power of single-player narrative experiences today, even when they aren't exclusively on PlayStation, and the people at 4A Games seem to have the balance right between storytelling and actually providing an engaging gameplay loop.

Of course, the move by publisher Deep Silver to release the PC version exclusively on the Epic Games Store soured the experience for many of the master race, but at least they honoured existing Steam pre-orders. That’s good, right?

Will we see another Metro adventure in the future? While there are no more books to draw on, there are certainly more stories to tell, so here’s hoping!

Liam | Chippy

I’ll be honest and say I’d never heard of Chippy until a Steam code popped into my inbox whilst I was sunning myself in Spain, but after watching some footage and reading about its main concept - which sees you dismantling hulking bosses piece by piece until you’ve exposed their vulnerable core - I was eager to get cracking.

The problem was, like some sort of fool, I’d left my laptop at home - I just knew a Switch, a 2DS XL, a small library of books, and a family wouldn’t be enough to keep me busy by the poolside! Fortunately, the wait was worth it, as Chippy really is quite something.

A twin-stick shooter of the bullet-hell variety, it’s one of those addictive games that has you coming back for more despite repeatedly kicking your arse, which is a strange phenomenon for me, given that I normally avoid those like the plague.

Game of the mid-year might be a bit of a hollow victory seeing as my pickings were incredibly slim (shout out to Swords and Soldiers 2, Crackdown 3 and the fun-yet-frustrating Band of Bastards), but Chippy definitely deserves the nod, if only for forcing me to roll up my sleeves and finally ‘git gud’.

Rob | Heaven’s Vault

How quickly is this year disappearing, folks? As summer's sticky heat reaches me up on Ditchling Mountain, Brighton, I ponder Sam's latest topic: what has been my game of the first six months of 2019?

I had a great time at Rezzed once more, thoroughly enjoying Codemasters' latest DiRT and F1 games - review for the latter on the way - but my personal highlight has to be Inkle Studio's Heaven's Vault.

Honestly, I don't think I've ever been so spellbound by an adventure outside of the Zelda series. Inkle's recipe is thus: one part branching narrative; one part third-person adventure; one part point-and-click; a large dollop of beautiful art/animation; a heaped teaspoon of ethereal soundtrack. I think we can all agree that makes for a most delicious gaming soup, no? 

Put it this way - it's going to take one helluva game to knock Heaven's Vault off its perch when it comes time to decide my overall game of the year. Bon appetit!

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What's your favourite game of 2019's first six months? Let us know with a comment.