Two can make things work

It Takes Two is the game of the year, a title it won at the coveted The Game Awards. And it proves that a plot with a heart can win the day. The puzzle-platformer revolves around a married couple on the brink of divorce who must work together to navigate a fantastical world after they’re trapped inside their daughter’s dolls. Besides the big title of the year, it has also won Best Family Game and Best Multiplayer Game.

The game leans into its co-op nature better than many other games have done, always forcing players to work together with contrasting but complementary abilities. Not meant to offer a realistic look at divorce or relationship problems, it’s the thought that matters as a couple gets shrunk down to a miniature size and needs to work on their differences to return to their normal bodies and be with their daughter again.

You can play the game locally or go online, taking on the role of the mother or the father, taking on different tasks, like fighting off giant wasps using different guns, or two players combining their wits to solve puzzles and move objects. Taking around 12-15 hours to complete, you will find it difficult to put down the controller.

The game is from Hazelight Studios, which has been founded by Josef Fares. The studio is also known for the game A Way Out, a cooperative multiplayer in which players control Leo and Vincent, two convicted prisoners who must break out of prison and stay on the run from authorities.

And Fares had a memorable message to offer while receiving the award: “It’s so unreal this thing. I was up on that stage in 2017 saying ‘f**k the Oscar’ and now actually in a way the Oscars got f**ked because The Game Awards is getting way better.”

Vroom away

Forza Horizon 5

Winning three awards at The Game Awards — Best Audio Design, Innovation in Accessibility and Best Sports/Racing — Forza Horizon 5 is the ode to road-tripping that we had long awaited, especially during the pandemic. The escapist fantasy celebrates the freedom of driving, allowing you to rev up more than 500 cars that respond to the slightest of touches on the controller, complete with a soundtrack that can only be described as stunning. Every vroom, every screech, every brush against trees is felt through a booming soundtrack.

In the game you drop in on a “festival” that spans a vast recreated real-world setting and makes one interested in Mexico. After playing this game, one can well imagine what it feels like travelling in Mexico with someone like Dua Lipa blaring from the speakers. Who knows, the game may even generate travel-related interest in the country. Being the best in its category by miles, the developers had enough scope to put forward improved tools, better handling of cars and granular-level improvements when it comes to performance. There is a significant amount of multiplayer gaming involved. And there are plenty of challenges and seasonal races that will keep beckoning you.

Matrix, enhanced

Matrix movie veterans help bring Neo to virtual life for Epic Games

Epic Games has showcased a demo for its upcoming game development software, Unreal Engine 5 and it shows characters and settings from the Matrix enhanced by modern technology. And it looks stunning, with a completely CG actress Carrie-Anne Moss and a version of actor Keanu Reeves that’s indistinguishable from the real actors. “It’s a sign of coming full circle. We began working on this trilogy of stories 20 years ago. Some of the concepts, it’s a cautionary tale,” said John Gaeta, who worked on visual effects for the Matrix films and collaborated with Epic Games on the Unreal demo. The game engine is expected to debut next year. The demo was also a sign that Epic Games is serious about the metaverse, enabling customers of its game engine to build their version of the metaverse, the universe of virtual worlds that are all interconnected.

Looking forward

Elden Ring

The fantasy game Elden Ring is one of next year’s most hotly-anticipated titles and we now have a new trailer to latch on to. Co-created by Dark Souls studio From Software and George R.R. Martin, the trailer offered some lore, likely written by Martin, the author and creator of A Game of Thrones. A character known as the Storyteller offers a brief history lesson about the Elden Ring, the Lands Between, and the forthcoming conflict that players will experience next year.

Raw strength

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League

Developed by Rocksteady Games, Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League was earlier revealed with a pre-rendered trailer. Now we have a first look at the gameplay. It will combine Captain Boomerang’s speed and gadgets, Harley Quinn’s agility and hand-to-hand combat skills, King Shark’s raw strength, and Deadshot’s jetpack-fueled mobility.

Gold whip

Wonder Woman

A new Wonder Woman game is coming (from Monolith Productions, DC, and Warner Bros. Games). It is a new single-player, third-person, open-world action adventure featuring an original story set in the DC Universe and the story follows Diana of Themyscira as she seeks to “unite her Amazon family and the humans from the modern world”. And she has her glowing gold whip.