The 20 Best Video Games of 2022 So Far

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – July 7, 2022

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, 2022 and June 30, 2022 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). We have also excluded DLC.

19 of 21 photo by Crows Crows Crows

90 #2: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

It's not often that we get to include a game whose reviews are incorporated into the actual game, but that's the case with this new version of an existentialist adventure set in an office where all workers other than your character, the titular Stanley, have suddenly vanished. Over a decade ago, a mysterious indie game called The Stanley Parable —itself a stand-alone version of a Half-Life 2 mod created by a 22-year-old gamer-turned-developer in 2011—quickly became a hit with gamers and critics alike. This year brought a revised version of the game that not only updates the visuals to modern standards—and brings Stanley to consoles for the first time—but also expands the game with new content, new endings, and a bucket.

“The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe might joke about overly aggrandizing reviews, but it’s one of the few games that’s actually deserving of one. For all its smugness, I’d love to sit here and tell you that The Stanley Parable is pretentious and full of shit, but it earns every right to its pretension. And I for one and so glad I’m here to see it. There’s a reason it’s considered one of the best games of all time.” —Destructoid

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