WITH war, pestilence and a revolving door of Tory PMs, 2022 has been grim. The economy flatlined and locally we've been living in a year-long political pantomime.
Thank god, then, that we could fire up the consoles for some vital escapism. The year may have been slow out of the gaming blocks as the industry adjusted to post-pandemic life, but its boardrooms were busy, with Microsoft's purchase of Call of Duty-mongers Activision for $69 billion, Sony snapping up Halo developer Bungie for a billion and EA ending its 30-year partnership with Fifa.
Videogames also remained a tasty prospect for the film and TV crowd as both Uncharted and Sonic the Hedgehog 2 raked it in at the cinemas, faring rather better than Netflix's miserable Resident Evil series, which was rightfully canned after one season.
As 2022 draws to a close, we can look back on a stellar line-up - and in the year when we finally got a dog, its best game was all about a cat...
The Quarry (Multi)
Paying homage to '80s summer camp slashers with a cast of horror legends, a gaggle of counsellors are ripe for the axe at Hackett's Quarry in upstate New York. With a Netflix box-set vibe, The Quarry's 10-odd hours may feel overstuffed, but Supermassive finally topped 2015's Until Dawn with a slasher throwback made by a team who clearly love the classics.
Splatoon 3 (Switch)
Balancing Nintendo's family-friendly chops while punching up the skill level for series vets, Splatoon 3 is another joyous squid game stuffed to the gills with whimsy as you spray-paint your way to gloopy glory in online battles. Best of all is a full-fat single player campaign that's worth the entry price alone.
Horizon: Forbidden West (PS4/5)
Gutsy, ginger heroine Aloy goes West for another dose of mecha-beasts and tribal politics with 60-odd hours of open-world capers that leverage the PS5's power to expand upon everything that made the original so successful. From new hang-gliding and underwater sequences to crafting recipes, Forbidden West doubles down on the Zelda pilfering with a kitchen sink of combat, crafting and errands across a vast world pockmarked with challenges.
God of War: Ragnarok (PS5)
Mixing spectacle with blood, gore and abs, Kratos and his son Atreus
travel through the nine realms on a quest to stop the end of the world.
A classics course in mythical gods and monsters, Ragnarok's epic sweep and emotional heft couldn't be further from the series' cartoonish violent roots in 2022's marquee PS5 title.
A Plague Tale: Requiem (Multi)
Continuing siblings Amicia and Hugo's search for sanctuary in the midst of the Black Death, this vermin-infested sequel to 2019's grim Gallic adventure mixes up the stealth formula with new ways to kill filthy Frenchmen. An astonishing looking medieval murder-thon, Requiem improves on the original sleeper hit in every way.
Stray (PS5)
Playing not as a wise-cracking cartoon moggy but a regular old tabby, our brilliantly realised kitty roams a post-apocalyptic world, restoring freedom to a society of robots trapped in a domed city. Gentle fetch quests call on your feline acrobatics while there's enough puzzling to give paws for thought in the kind of lush single player yarn that used to dominate gaming. The year's surprise hit, Stray will have you hooked on a feline.
