Shacknews' Chatty community has voted! And they have decided on the community's Top 10 Games of 2020! This is not to be confused with the main Shacknews Top 10 Games of 2020, which is decided on by the staff*. This list is decided on purely by the posters in our Chatty forums.
(* - The Chatty's list does, however, count as one collective vote and is factored into the overall Shacknews Game of the Year list)
I've been revealing the Top 10 list over the course of the week and now it's time to wrap it all up and conclude with Chatty's Game of the Year for 2020! Here's your list, along with some words from the esteemed Chatty posters.
10. Call of Duty Warzone (65 points, 3 first place votes)
"It perfected Battle Royale while using the excellent and smooth Modern Warfare engine."
-freakynipples69
"Best most refined BR in terms of game play hands down."
-Phipple
9. Ori and the Will of the Wisps (71 points, 1 first place vote)
"Incredible aesthetics, loved the gameplay, great story/characters."
-Head Rush
8. Crusader Kings III (72 points, 2 first place votes)
"It's awesome and deep."
-Outlawsundown
"Political intrigue, espionage, war, a sprinkling of inbreeding and incest. It's The Sims crossed with Downton Abbey."
-Argle Bargle
7. Animal Crossing: New Horizons (115 points, 5 first place votes)
"I love this site and i was not disappointed. It's relaxing and everyone makes you feel appreciated!"
-badkitty64
"Got some quality gaming time in with the gf."
-j0nchan
"My kids vanished in this game for 3 months"
-rosewood
6. Cyberpunk 2077 (189 points, 7 first place votes)
"Immersive and fun regardless of what gaming hiveminds say."
-Shadebane
"Its slick aesthetic and combination of open world/tabletop RPG features were well done, plus the fact that its launch owned bones on PC. Every now and then it sucks to be a console gamer!"
-]pm[chem
"This is the Shadowrun game I have always wanted, minus magic and fantasy races. Feels like an infinite Deus Ex game that let's you stealth or go out guns blazing. Despite all the bugs, the writing, characters and animations, especially of the very polished main/companion side missions are excellent and rival anything I've seen in a first-person RPG before. Shame the broken open-world aspect is compared to GTA since it's nothing like it and not even meant to be. If you want to play boring coppers and robbers with really bland story missions go play GTA instead."
-Mad Brahmin Disease
"Overhyped, buggy, unpolished, unfinished; these are all accurate descriptions CD Projekt Red's much hyped Cyberpunk 2077 but despite all of that it manages to be an absolutely fantastic game where the great elements far outshine the its shortcomings."
-infobiter
5. Ghost of Tsushima (192 points, 8 first place votes)
"Gorgeous game and amazing technical feat on a console."
-smackpiece
"Perfect combat, epic story. And multiplayer on top was just amazing."
-virus
4. DOOM Eternal (197 points, 9 first place votes)
"Improved on the combat and level design of the first time while filling in the gaps of its resupply system."
-Jrsol
"An innovative and original advancement of the Doom formula. Your mileage may vary, but for me, this was firing on cylinders I did not know were in the engine. Expansion content solidified number 1 spot. (Had TLOU2 been a PC title, it would be in this slot for me)"
-fleabug
"Doom Eternal and The Ancient Gods Pt 1 are perhaps the best single player FPS id has ever made. It is certainly the most frenetic single player shooter I've played. Like Dark Souls and Celeste the game teaches you to GIT GUD, and boy is it satisfying when you can take on whatever insanity that id throws at you. Doom 2016 handed you the power fantasy on a silver platter while Doom Eternal makes you actually powerful. Also, this is a Quake site and I will do the needful."
-Serpico74
"Big improvement over nuDoom and finishing on Nightmare difficulty felt like a real achievement."
-SigENeaT
"It was even better than Doom 2016. Everything improved."
-jsb2
"I'm not done ripping and tearing!"
-ConfusedUs
"I got lost in a Doom game for the first time since the 90's. You literally rip and tear for dozens of hours at top shelf graphical fidelity and at 150+fps on a game that came out in 2020. And they give you a fucking sword! I don't know what everyon's problem is. Make this the Game of the Year."
-royalally
3. The Last of Us: Part II (204 points, 12 first place votes)
"It's simply the whole package; great story, gameplay and graphics all rolled into one."
-steve-o
"The shit rocks bro. You can try to deny it but you'll just look fucking stupid in the process. Tell me I'm wrong, come at me."
-fragasm
"Huge fan of the original, and welcomed the sequel with open arms. Despite playing TLOU2 nearly three times through, I still found little character quirks, plot details I missed earlier, or just little moments of nuance in the characters and their interactions. Love it. Can't wait to play it with better visuals on the PS5 (I hope)."
-focusdaily
"They managed to take everything good in TLOU1 and make it even better and add more amazing things. They top the storyline and make you actually feel incredible emotions. No other game has ever done it like that before. Beautiful, amazing, incredible game. Game of the generation."
-jamesray
2. Hades (306 points, 17 first place votes)
"Smooth gameplay with an addictive rogue-like loop that isn't punishing and actively progresses the story after 'failing.' Also incredible art and music."
-Sevogajre
"Great storyline for a rogue-like."
-Rice-Rocketeer
"A masterpiece in tight gameplay, voice acting, visuals, and storyline development."
-Ride-My-Rocket
"The way the game's story and mechanics worked in tandem were wonderful, and I couldn't get enough of the characters - all of them! The voice acting and music were sublime."
-xsoulbrothax
"It's one of the only games I played in 2020 that was actually released in 2020. The best game I played in 2020 was Hollow Knight. Hades was really good though, I played like 40+ hours of it and still do a run every few days. It's real good."
-snot3353
"A Rogue-lite that hooks you into doing more runs with actual engaging story as one of the main motivators on top of solid combat and item progression."
-Zoopy_Iscariot
"It owns."
-ninjase
"Came for the gameplay, stayed for the writing."
-yAak
"Come for the gameplay, stay for the story."
-briareos99
1. Half-Life: Alyx (322 points, 23 first place votes)
"Great story, amazing engrossing technology in the game but just the VR."
-Voodooraze
"This is the first VR game that I come wanting to play repeatedly and my desire to play was the same as other compelling games."
-spazzium
"Valve once again shows how it is able to push video gaming forward. Half Life innovated storytelling and interactivity in a unique fashion. Half Life 2 improved upon this, but introduced physics as a new method of interaction. Alyx utilizes the best of VR, while at the same time providing an experience that honestly cannot be replicated on a 2D screen. Every VR game I've placed since Alyx has to be held to the same bar, and to date, nothing has met that standard!"
-sergeon
"It owns."
-jaytima
"It broke new ground on bringing a AAA single player experience to VR and was stunning from front to back. I felt that Valve magic that you only get every so many years."
-megarust32
"Because ASIF won't stop talking about it."
-watcherxp
"Valve makes good games, and this was revolutionary VR also."
-Enkidu
"Amazing experience from start to finish."
-atom519
"First connected VR experience I've seen beyond Hellblade; very good motion controller support."
-rms
"The most immersive VR experience ever. Plus its a new Half-Life game. How is it not GOTY?"
-mrazzino
"True worldbuilding down to the wine bottle having liquid in it and innovation in VR."
-gameindustryplant
"Full disclosure, I have not played it or seen many gameplay videos of it. I just know so deeply in my bones that once I play it, I'll regret not putting it in the top spot here. I know it belongs here. DON'T DISCOUNT MY VOTE, I KNOW IT BELONGS HERE!!!"
-nwillard
"Near perfection."
-TOnez
"It transported me to a different world and scared the shit out of me while amazing me at the same time."
-glio1337
"Reinvigorated VR gaming."
-errational
"Technical quantum leap in gaming."
-greenshift
And that's the Chatty Game of the Year for 2020! Congratulations, Chatty! You've all chosen wisely! Be sure to come back at 2PM PT for the end of the Shacknews Awards and see if the staff agrees with you! (And if your votes changed the outcome of our Top 10.)
