The Video Games You Need to Clock in Lockdown

And no, you don’t need a PS5 to play 😅

Let’s face it: lockdown has been a struggle for many of us. Thankfully, the video game industry has been churning out plenty of Triple-A titles over the past few years to keep our fingers and thumbs busy. From Rockstar’s bloodstained masterpiece Red Dead Redemption 2 to arguably the best game of the last decade in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, there’s no doubt we’re living in another Golden Age for video games. But it’s not just big-budget successes defining the industry. Independent developers are also changing the digital landscape in 2021. Join us as we load-up the video games you need to clock while stuck in lockdown.

(And no, you don’t need a PS5 or Xbox Series X to play – not that we can find one anyway!)

Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018)
The third installment of Rockstar’s lauded Red Dead series, Red Dead Redemption 2 is the perfect antidote to your lockdown ennui. A blood-soaked sandbox, the story follows outlaw Arthur Morgan and the rollciking Van der Linde bandwaogn as the sun sets on the American Wild West in 1899. Loaded with storylines of biblical proportions, you could spend a lifetime in these sprawling plains (we certainly have), Rockstar’s Western pulling in a haul of 175 Game of the Year awards back in 2019.

In classic Rockstar fashion, there’s plenty of explosive social and political commentary lacing the gunpowder, and the online universe continues to teem with wannabe desperados.

Put simply, it’s the best Rockstar game in existence (Don’t agree? Meet us in Blackwater, partner.)

The Last of Us Part II (2020)
A terribly pertinent tale centering around a deadly pathogen, The Last of Us Part II takes place five years after the original game, with Ellie and Joel setting-up camp in Jackson, Wyoming.

Again directed by Israeli-American storytelling savant Neil Druckmann and composed by Gustavo Alfredo Santaolalla (Babel, Brokeback Mountain), The Last of Us Part II inserts the fragile human heart into a bone-cracking post-apocalypse, with intractable moral conflicts and complex relationships propelling the story forward.

Ironically delayed because of a real-life pandemic, Naughty Dog exhumed many of our literary post-apocalyptic traditions for the story, drawing on Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and John Wyndham’s The Day of the Triffids for inspiration.

Although perhaps a little sado-masochistic to play in the current world order, The Last of Us Part II is a terrifying testament to video games as an artform.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017)
Trust us, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will suck the oxygen straight from your lungs. Released in 2017, Breath of the Wild sold close to 25 million copies – making it one of the most successful video games of all time – as Eiji Aonuma bravely reinvented Zelda’s tried-and-trusted formula to startling results.

Rising from a one-hundred-year slumber, Link is tasked with defeating Calamity Ganon in order to save the kingdom of Hyrule. And while the story of Breath of the Wild follows much of Nintendo’s celebrated predecessors, the gameplay has taken a significant turn, with the nonlinear, unstructured world designed to encourage exploration – if you can see it, you can climb it!

Illuminated by whimsical, painterly cel-shading graphics, you can literally sink hundreds of hours into Breath of the Wild, and with a sequel landing on the switch in 2022, there’s no better time to ride your horse into Hyrule and take the sword to Calamity Ganon.

Ghost of Tsushima (2020)
Another open-world masterpiece, Ghost of Tsushima sliced through the competition last year, Sucker Punch Productions (Sly Cooper, Infamous) executing one of the best PlayStation-exclusives in recent years.

Set during the first Mongol invasion of Japan, you assume the role of Jin Sakai, as he attempts to protect Tsushima Island. One for all the history nerds (raises hand), Ghost of Tsushima hits all the right notes: compelling storyline, dynamic action-adventure stealth gameplay, and eye-watering aesthetic palette.

For those already versed in the code of the samurai, a special director’s cut version of Ghost of Tsushima is hitting shores in August!

Slice and dice, my fellow warriors!

The Best Indie Games of 2021
Not all video game gems are developed with blockbuster budgets. Some of the most creative expressions in the gaming industry come from independent developers looking to push the medium to its avant-garde edges. Below, we’ve listed just some of our favourite indie games from 2021 (so far!).

Game on!

Maquette: A stellar puzzle-adventure game developed by Graceful Decay.

Rain on Your Parade: Want to literally rain on someone’s parade? Here’s your chance.

Mundaun: Brace yourself. This is one of the scariest games of the year.

Lost Words: Beyond the Page: Another superlative title by writer Rhianna Pratchett (the brains behind the recent Tomb Raider reboots).