Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers to share their own personal PS5 and PS4 picks for 2022. Today, it's the turn of reviewer John Cal McCormick.
5. Cult of the Lamb
I really enjoyed my time with Cult of the Lamb. I 8/10 enjoyed it according to my review. It’s grisly, and dark, and bloody, and I named my cat friends in the game after my real life cats and then they died in horrible ways and it made me sad. That one’s on me though. I really should have seen that coming. Name your followers after people you don’t like. That’s my advice. I should have named them after people who wronged me, like that kid that bit me during a football game back in ’89. Yeah, you. Timothy. You son of a--
4. God of War Ragnarok
I liked Ragnarok a lot but I’m not as hot on it as a lot of people - especially other reviewers, it seems, given the staggering Metacritic score. I think the combat is great and some of the characters are fantastic – Odin, Thor, and Freya, in particular – but when it was all wrapped up I was left feeling more like “oh, it’s over” than anything else. Still, the bosses are much improved from the previous game and the highs generally are higher than that game, too, even if there are more lows. I don’t know. It’s good.
3. The Last of Us: Part I
Oh look, it’s PlayStation’s answer to a question that nobody asked. £70 for a remake that’s not even a full remake of a game that’s not even ten years old and has already been remastered once? Yeah, we all moaned about it. But then like millions of other idiots I bought it anyway and it was fantastic. Did I want it? No. Did I need it? No. Did I pay £70 for it and thoroughly enjoy every second of it? Yes, I did. What can I say? It’s just a great game and now it’s even better than it was before. Totally unnecessary but brilliant all the same.
2. Horizon Forbidden West
Horizon often seems like the red-haired step-child of the PlayStation family. People are really sleeping on it or dunking on it, perhaps because it’s just another ticky-box open world game or perhaps because Aloy actually has red hair. Maybe they should have sold out and made her blonde. Anyway, this game is, for me, one of the best ever PlayStation first party titles. The robot dinosaur battles are fantastic, the game is utterly beautiful, I really like Aloy as a character, and the story in this one is so wild that it actually made me laugh out loud at one point from the sheer audacity of where the narrative goes. Love it.
1. Elden Ring
Yeah, I know. But sometimes you just have to face facts. Elden Ring is one of the easiest 10/10s I’ve ever played. It’s a game that feels special from the opening moments and the map just keeps getting bigger and the secrets more rewarding and the boss encounters more thrilling. It’s awesome, in the literal sense of the word. It’s a game that inspires genuine wonder, repeatedly, for dozens of hours. I’m thinking of starting it again right now, and I already beat it twice this year. In any year this game would be in the conversation for Game of the Year, and in a lot of them it would win. An all time great.
What do you think of John's personal Game of the Year picks? Feel free to agree wholeheartedly, or berate relentlessly in the comments section below.
Comments 29
Cool list man, and great writing.
Almost the same list just replace Cyberpunk with Horizon and GTA with Blood Cult of the Lamb
Finally, Horizon Forbidden West is in a top 5 list from the folks at Push Square. I'm starting to think y'all secretly hate this game or something.
Glad to see Horizon getting some love on a list finally!
Thats probably the closest game of the year list to what I had in mind so far, just swap two of them around and replace cult of the lamb with plague tale requiem.
@shamirqushairi Well, it technically was even the red-haired step-child even here, as you saw Elden Ring stuff everywhere on here and the occasional article about Forbidden West.
Still, like others have said, it's nice that it finally appeared on a list. Not sure how it took this long, but it's nice regardless.
I love GoW but there are times I feel Horizon is a better franchise. Yeah it's your typical AC type game but there's just more fun and satisfaction taking down kangaroo robots than draugr. And yeah we sometimes have to put our opinions aside, "face facts" and acknowledge Elden Ring's greatness.
Good list..i've enjoyed reading about what push squares fave games have been thus far and its been pretty diverse. Nice to see that the community as a whole have understood that these lists are individual choices and not a "voted for" selection..
For me, this has been the best list so far. Though I’d change the order around a little.
I've finally downloaded Elden Ring to finally experience this much talked about game. Only once I've finished Tales of Arise though, Cult of the Lamb I'm tempted to pick it up in the sale. Horizon is a superb game I can't wait for the Burning Shores, Got the plat for that and Ragnarok.
Will play the Last of Us remake once it is heavily discounted love the remaster and part 2.
gotta give you props for that red headed step child joke. you got a chuckle out of me and I agree 100% horizon is super underrated. haven't finished the game yet so i'm curious at what you meant where the story goes.
Before I played it I was rolling my eyes at yet another Elden Ring love letter, but since I started it myself two weeks ago I can’t read enough opinions. I just can’t believe how fantastic this game is. Every single session is nothing short of an adventure.
Just this morning for one moment I thought “have I already seen most of it”, then I beat Margit, the Fell Omen and I was hooked for hours afterwards yet again.
@VivianXD2464 cyberpunk lol
@KilloWertz wdym i've seen it on other people's list here
@TheArt i've been playing it for a while and it's nothing like an ass assin creed game bro. nah fam...elden ring is overhyped.
The TLOU remake descript was spot on lmao
@Darude84 I don't get what you mean. can you elaborate a little?
Great list. Almost the same as mine. I wouldswap last of us for Pathfinder WOTR.
I'm on the fence bying elden ring but my previous experience with demon souls was a mixed bag..I just couldn't get much fun from the game after all..How elden ring compares?
@zebric21 I hated Demon’s Souls and love Elden Ring.
Horizon is an interesting franchise for me. There are parts I love about it like the combat and some of the sci-fi lore. On the other hand though it feels very by the book in terms of open world design. That's not necessarily a bad thing but it keeps it from standing out from the crowd.
I also just don't find the tribes interesting at all which is a problem since they are front and center in the game for the most part obviously.
My biggest issue is the gear leveling system. There's nothing that gets on my nerves like a game telling me to hunt for fox bones and not always give me fox bones when I succeed in hunting one.
Oh and Aloy talks too much. I'm with you on Ragnarok and Elden Ring though.
@middyone I mean it's no secret Horizon borrowed ideas which look typically Ubisoft in its design. It's just the robots, gameplay and graphics makes it stand out.
Elden Ring would've been overrated if it had that same open world structure but it doesn't. It's the sense of mystery and discovery. You're dropped in this world with no objectives, no maps, nothing. You're left to figure out everything by yourself. And then there's this huge golden tree far away you can't seem to ever get near. I mean it's just a feeling that's hard to describe.
Forbidden West is my personal game of the year, still mind boggling how good that game look and runs on a PS4. I hope it get loads more attention with the Burning Shores dlc.
oh ***** sorry. my list is-
1. Elden Ring
2. Gran Turismo 7
3. God of War : Ragnarok
4. Call of Duty: Morden Warfare II
5. Fortnite
6. The Last of Us Part 1
7. Horizon Forbidden West
8.. GTA V
9. Cyberpunk 2077
10. Fifa 23
This is the real quiz.
Forbidden West definitely deserves the praise. The game is utterly fantastic.
@middyone True, it was on one other person's list. The very first person to post their list (Stephen). I can excuse people for forgetting though since it was the first of several lists and over a week ago. Regardless, it deserved better.
@johncalmc Hello John and fellow Push Square readers! As someone who owns Elden Ring, but still not yet started it (I’ve never really gotten on with Souls games, but I really want to get into this one!) can you offer any advice to such a total noob like myself? For instance, is there a particular class that I should go with?
@The_Pixel_King Class doesn't really matter much. It only really determines what weapon, outfit, and stats you start with and you can easily override that by levelling up and putting points into something else.
That said, for a total noob, I would say go for the hits things really hard with a massive sword style. I think that's the easiest way to get into the game. Also make sure you only put points into stuff you need. If you're not going to use magic don't be wasting points in Intelligence, Faith etc.
Just play for a while and see how it's going. Look up an article on stats and what they do. Find a weapon type you like. Don't be afraid to summon for help. And if you get to an area that's too hard just go somewhere else, explore, level up, and go back later.
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