The Best PC Games of 2021

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – January 3, 2022

Which PC games impressed professional reviewers the most during the past year? We rank the best-reviewed titles released between January 1, 2021 and December 31, 2021 by Metascore. Games must have at least 7 reviews from professional critics to be eligible for inclusion. (All scores listed here are from January 2, 2022.)

12 of 14 photo by Xbox Game Studios

91 Forza Horizon 5

(#2) The latest installment in Microsoft's open-world racing franchise (released this fall for Xbox consoles and PC) features a 50% bigger environment than 2018's Forza Horizon 4—an expansion allowed by Microsoft (and its Playground Games studio) taking an extra full year to work on the newest installment. This time, the setting is Mexico, where you'll be able to drive through a diverse group of settings including jungles, cities, beaches, deserts, and even a snow-capped volcano, spanning 11 distinct biomes (and nearly 600 roads) in all. Other additions include a new single-player exploration mode called "Expeditions" and a new arcade mode that scatters multiplayer minigames across the vast map.

“Forza Horizon 5 is the racing game for everyone, which takes outsiders from the racing genre and turns them into followers of the speed, and for those who are already fans, it offers an almost endless variety of activities and challenges. Also very remarkable is the representation of Mexico, which offers vibrant landscapes full of incredible details that only those who live in Mexico will recognize. It is an indispensable game and highly recommended.” —LevelUp

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