Game of the Year 2021
Winner: Halo Infinite
Guides Editor Chris Jecks: Few series have the same sense of grandeur and spectacle as the Halo series. Microsoft and Xbox’s flagship series has made an appearance on every iteration of the publisher’s hardware since its inception, popularising online multiplayer with Xbox Live and Halo 2 all those years ago.
Yet, recent entries had felt a little wayward — lacking ambition and struggling to keep up with the shifting landscape of games as a result.
Halo Infinite has changed that trajectory. Combining an exceptional free-to-play multiplayer experience that just screams Halo in every direction you look, with a campaign that adopts an open-world format for the first time ever in the series, Infinite has shoved two enormous rockets teeming with ambition and jettisoned itself all the way to the moon.
It’s this open-world format that really helps Infinite feel like the step forward the series needed. But 343 Industries has been clever in not being too ambitious. It reigned its ideas in, resulting in a much smaller open-world map, but one that’s packed with different activities to see and do. Combined with Master Chief’s newfound grappling hook that allows him to swing from tree to tree around the world, this definitely feels like the evolution the series needed.
Infinite’s not perfect. The co-op campaign is missing at launch, there’s room for more creative side mission content, and its multiplayer has wrestled with progression issues in its opening months (which are now, thankfully, largely resolved).
And yet, even with these setbacks, Halo Infinite blew everything else in 2021 out of the water. It has that level of polish we’ve come to expect from AAA first-party releases, writing and narrative that helped open up an exciting new future for Master Chief, gave us a glimpse of the man inside the spartan armor, and has generally fantastic FPS gameplay.
If you’ve got an Xbox or a PC capable of running it, Halo Infinite is a must-play. Whether you want to explore Zeta Halo on your own in the campaign, or group up with some friends in multiplayer, you’re sure to have an absolute blast.
Congratulations to our Game of the Year for 2021, Halo Infinite!
2021 wasn’t much easier for those in the game industry or fans at home. Many studios are still working remotely and dealing with the problems and stress that come from working through COVID-19. Likewise, many gamers are still going through many of the same challenges.
Thankfully, we still managed to get through the year, enjoyed some excellent games across a variety of genres, and exited 2021 with some hope that 2022 will be easier for those in the industry and gaming enthusiasts alike.
If you want to get in on the GOTY selection action yourself, participate in our reader’s choice vote! Agree with us, or tell us we’re dead wrong. Either way, we want to know what you think.
Last year, our editors and readers were on the same page regarding the Game of the Year. Will that happen again this year?
