The 20 Best Video Games of 2021 So Far
Which games impressed professional reviewers the most during the first half of the year? Above, we rank the best-reviewed videogames released between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021 by Metascore. Games must have at least 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion.
Note that ...
If a game was released on multiple platforms, we included only the version receiving the largest total number of reviews (usually, but not always, the PS5 or PS4 version).
Multi-game compilations and newly released ports of games released in prior years on other platforms are excluded, unless they are substantially different from the prior release(s) (for example, an HD remaster of a previous-gen game that also adds some new content).
Another notable PS5 exclusive, this April release is the first big-budget game from Finnish developer Housemarque (which was purchased by Sony a few weeks ago, partially due to the success of Returnal). A third-person sci-fi/horror shooter, Returnal casts you as a space pilot who finds herself stranded on a hostile alien planet and caught in a time loop. That means you will be resurrected after every death, but the procedurally generated world will offer fresh challenges each time through.
“Playing Returnal, it feels like next-gen has truly begun. The way it seamlessly moves from third-person to first-person; how you move from biome to biome without loading screens taking you out of the action; the DualSense implementation; the fluidity of the gameplay; the phenomenal visuals and audio; all of these elements, and more, come together to create an experience that is truly like no other. ... If you own a PS5 you need to play Returnal. It's as simple as that.” —GameSpew
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