Best Action Game of 2021 - Article

by Paul Broussard , posted on 12 January 2022 / 2,548 Views

The action genre was dominated by new IPs in 2021, with only one out of the four titles on our shortlist being another installment in an ongoing series. Death's Door provided an acclaimed top-down indie take on Soulslike action, while Deathloop injected roguelite elements into Arkane's usual quality action gunplay. No More Heroes and Scarlet Nexus were perhaps the more "traditional" action games of the bunch, but each added a layer of new elements to keep things fresh and engaging, with the former's psycho-kinetic abilities and the latter's variety of new skills. Only one question remains, then: whose action generated the most action at the Game of the Year polls?

The Shortlist:

Death's Door

Deathloop

No More Heroes III

Scarlet Nexus

The Winner:

Deathloop

Runner-up: No More Heroes III

Arkane has a history of producing high quality games with interesting spins on level design and core mechanics, and Deathloop is no exception. Both VGChartz users and staff felt Deathloop delivered on much of its potential, crafting a unique experience that outshone the rest of the competition in 2021. We suspect we'll be talking about Colt and Julianna's struggles for quite a while yet.

17 Comments

Leynos (on 12 January 2022)

pfft. Scarlet Nexus robbed.

Comment was deleted...

Dulfite Leynos (on 12 January 2022)

I tried that game. Considering I enjoyed Astral Chain I had decent expectations. Instead, it felt like a poor-man's clone of Astral Chain and I grew rather bored fast.

-1

Leynos Dulfite (on 12 January 2022)

If you actually tried it then you would know it's not like Astral Chain at all except in setting is similar. SN is an ARPG where AC is just an Action game. They play completely differently. The two characters in SN have their own story and different paths.

Dulfite Leynos (on 12 January 2022)

I did "actually try it". The combat, art style, and models all felt like Astral Chain. Games that are unique are more enjoyable to me. That wasn't unique and didn't feel enjoyable.

Leynos Dulfite (on 12 January 2022)

It literally plays nothing like AC. AC doesn't have telekinesis mechanics. SN has a huge skill tree. It' an ARPG not an action game so that means you don't get most abilities or feel in a demo or first hour or even 2. When you start unlocking abilities and a few missions in. Because again it's an RPG not a linear action game. If you don't like it,fine but it's wrong to call it an AC clone or ripoff. They could not be more different in gameplay.

Vodacixi Leynos (on 13 January 2022)

I just wanted to point out that in Astral Chain you are constantly getting new abilities even near the endgame. Also, while it's not exactly an RPG, there is plenty of customization for your Legion's stats and your main character.

All in all, the way you play and the power you have at the start of the game is not even close to what you become in the end.

Comment was deleted...

Barozi Leynos (on 13 January 2022)

ugh thank god. Extremely disappointed with that game and yet I still completed it. Extremely mediocre. Terrible level and mission design, meh story, unlikable protagonist and boring side characters. Combat gameplay was the only decent thing about it but that grew old as well.