Games of 2024 according to the editors

The editors of five magazines Zing.cz, Hrej.cz, PCTuning.cz, Grunex.com and Spite.cz have compiled a list of the ten best games of this year:

1st place: Astro Bot

Platformers may not be your favorite genre at all, but just pick up a controller for a few minutes and this game will put a smile on your face. Game magazine editors are only human, with different tastes and favorite genres, but this game we all agreed this year was simply brilliant, from start to finish, not least because of the variety and inventiveness of its worlds and mechanics.

2nd place: Silent Hill 2

Before release, no one believed that a small Polish team with an average gaming history could bring one of the best horror games of all time to life. But miracles sometimes happen, and this is one of them. The remake of Silent Hill 2 is perfect in almost every way, it adequately revives all the aspects, unique style and overall depth of the original game, and also enriches it with new layers that fit perfectly into the original mosaic.

3rd place: Helldivers 2

Editors often and happily combine business with pleasure and hold a business meeting online while playing some new video game. So it’s no surprise that this year they were excited to play Helldivers 2, which, thanks to advanced physics and the obligatory injury of a partner, allows you to experience truly extreme wildlife, be it an attack by a herd of giant bugs or an army of killer robots. Best multiplayer game of the year.

4th place: Indiana Jones and the Big Circle

Although Indiana didn’t make it into the players’ vote this year due to the competition date, we certainly haven’t forgotten about him and he ranked very high in our rankings. Rememberers of the original film trilogy, as well as fans of MachineGames’ distinctive style, were delighted with this special tribute to the legend and offered a near-perfect replica of classic movie scenes and one of the most interesting gaming villains of the year.

5th place: STALKER 2: The Heart of Chernobyl

The long-awaited new “Stalker” greatly tormented PC players among our editors; on consoles at the time of release the situation was somewhat better. However, the patches arrive quite quickly, and most importantly, the absolutely stunning atmosphere of the Zone, as well as its vastness and diversity, offers a journey that only a handful of completely unique video games can take you on. Of course, this is helped by the great action gameplay and phenomenal graphics in many places.

6th place: Black Myth: Wukong

A true heart-to-heart game belongs to the most popular genres among game journalists, and if you combine it with a completely unique Chinese mythology and revolutionary graphics, then success is almost guaranteed. It’s no coincidence that this game has broken all sorts of records this year. In addition to beautiful locations and a well-thought-out combat system, the game also captivated us with a surprisingly exciting plot, which is a worthy continuation of the legendary “Journey to the West.”

7th place: Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

It’s great that even in 2024, a big story game can return to the roots of the action genre and offer the absolutely uncompromising, bloody and brutal “old school” game that the Gears of War series once was. The fact that this took place in the popular Warhammer 40,000 universe is of course all the more satisfying, especially when thanks to new technologies we were able to experience raids by hundreds of bloodthirsty monsters in numbers we had never before imagined.

8th place: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

There was also a heated debate in our newsrooms about whether it was appropriate to include DLC in Game of the Year voting. In the end, however, the prevailing view was that it didn’t really matter whether it was a completely new standalone game, a remake of an old game, or an expansion pack. The main thing is which of the watches recorded this year turned out to be one of the best and strongest for us. From this point of view, Shadow of the Erdtree definitely deserves a place in our ranking without controversy.

9th place: Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Games and game genres can take many forms. While skeptics have criticized the series’ relatively poor gameplay, we argue that the completely unique dive into the world and mind of the troubled warrior Senua could not work so well in any medium other than video games. Unique psychological depth, beautiful graphics and absolutely unsurpassed 3D sound (especially on headphones) make this game unforgettable for a long time.

10th place: Frostpunk 2

Strategy games tend to put off some players with their perceived difficulty or slowness, but anyone who has given this desperate struggle for survival in the inhospitable world of the New Ice Age a chance knows full well just how exciting and emotional the adventure really is. While the emphasis on politics didn’t appeal to fans of the original game, fortunately the game retains a fair amount of the original survival and exploration elements, which are further enhanced by the excellent audio-visual treatment.