I’m actually pretty happy with the games I voted for making it into this year’s Advent calendar, especially since it’s a testament to my close connection and definitely not spending at least 50% of my gaming time in 2024 on a certain game. Delayed “Elden Ring” obsession. The point is, I can show you my almost-successful picks, without malice or bitterness, unlike my loser colleagues who don’t have as many of them on the master list. Nyeniya.

echo point nova

All of us right understand that the best first-person shooters are the ones that let you go fast, and in 2024, the blazingly fast Echo Point Nova just fills a hole in my heart for sports shooters ——This is one of the reasons for the failure of “Tribes 3: Rivals”.

While its anti-friction hoverboard and free-throwing grappling hook are your primary tools for navigating Echo Point Nova’s vast archipelago of sky islands, they’re also designed for combat, often to thrilling effect. The battle arena is filled with ramps to jump on and buildings to rotate around, making even the simplest man-versus-mok shootout feel acrobatic; the challenge isn’t so much about pulling the ball faster as it is about pulling the ball faster. Hitting the target as it catapults through the air at 70 mph.

To some extent, this agility is forced. The bad guys have massive numbers advantage and you can only take a few hits yourself, so slowing down is suicidal. Despite this, I never felt like I was being swayed by the heavy-handed tactics of the game designers. Sliding rings around enemies is just too cumbersome.

kitten, big city

Kittens, Big City is a real cat simulator. Of course, maybe it doesn’t mean letting you sleep sixteen hours a day and then produce realistic dings for your owner to pick later. But its tight open world sets things up nicely and lets you perform all the antics that make cats such characterful pets: knocking over things, crawling into places you shouldn’t be, trying to jump past the cat’s field of view that’s too wide. You could argue that these are things we do when playing third-person adventure games anyway, so it’s especially appropriate to play as an animal that has this behavior already built into its walnut-sized brain .

It’s worth noting that this game was clearly made by people who actually know cats, rather than people who interact with them primarily through Reddit memes. That’s important, because while “Kitty, Big City” occasionally flirts with the silliness of “my human” internet, it’s ultimately a more sincere celebration of these strange creatures and what they can bring to our homes. of happiness. Even if they encounter some confusing little things along the way. In mine, this morning I tracked the shower water on the living room floor and then took a nap on a discarded sheet Not even a foot away From the special padded cat bed we bought for her yesterday. Any of these could easily form the basis of a Kitten, Big City side quest.

Revealed: Kitty, Big City is written by former RPS staff member Philippa Warr.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines 2

If Undertow is the modern game that best embodies the bleakness of 40k, then Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is the modern game that best embodies its scale. While Starfighter 2 is keen on making you feel like a massive metahuman super-killer decked out in head-to-toe blueberry power armor, its towering, gorgeously detailed environments and meticulously choreographed fight scenes will also quickly remind you of the forever The war is impossibly vast.

Still, even if you’re just a Space Marine-sized cog in a galaxy-sized meat grinder, there’s always a chance you’ll get stuck in some bug scraps. The shift in enemy forces in the sequel does make single-target shooting a little less satisfying, but it’s replaced by the intensity of close range, where you’re seconds away from disappearing beneath a swarm of fangs. A surprisingly complex melee system also helps avoid button-mashing boredom, and occasionally dive-bombing Tyranid droids adds even more kinetic fun when you strap on a jump pack.

I was hoping that Space Marine 2 would complement this “Nidstomping” and have something to say about life in the Empire besides “Spess mehreens are cool”, but it raises a lot of interesting thoughts about 40k – positive and critical – you can read elsewhere. Edwin’s article on the Space Marines themselves is one of them.