Game of the Year: Aaron's Top 5 PS5 Games of 2024

Our individual Game of the Year articles allow our lovely team of writers and editors to share their own personal PS5 picks for 2024. Today, it's the turn of video producer Aaron Bayne.

5: Metro Awakening

After forging some colourful zombie mayhem, VR developer Vertigo Games upped the ante with Metro Awakening, a tense and immersive PSVR2 experience, and a great addition to the cult series. The gameplay isn’t the deepest out there, but Vertigo has nailed the aesthetic of the series and brought it to life with seamless controls and pin-point tracking. From wiping at your visor to pulling back the gun to check if there's a bullet in the chamber, this is a must-play for PSVR2 owners, and a game I'm already keen to revisit.

4: Still Wakes the Deep

With a “The Thing on an oil rig” premise, Still Wakes the Deep would have already been an entertaining experience for me. But with its Scottish setting and genuinely authentic accents and voice acting, the whole thing was elevated all the more for this particular Scotsman. It may be a bit linear for some and could have spent a little longer with its set up, but I appreciated the finely focused and hand-crafted horror experience, and the sprinkling of Scottish familiarity made it a special experience for me this year.

3: Astro Bot

I honestly wasn’t expecting much from Astro Bot, but to say I was enamoured with Team Asobi’s latest is selling it short. There really isn’t much I can fault about this game, if anything at all. The whole experience felt like a fresh burst of energy and creativity, and to sprinkle the obvious love that the team has for PlayStation throughout it all, conjured up something magical. There were moments during Astro Bot where I was genuinely close to tears, just from how much of a joyous celebration it is of this platform we all love so much.

2: Silent Hill 2

Undoubtedly the biggest surprise of 2024 for me, Silent Hill 2 proved the naysayers (read: me) wrong with one of the most immersive horrors on PS5. I’m a sucker for a game with plenty of bells and whistles, but Bloober Team manages to utilise the tech of PS5, without being as big and flashy as some other blockbuster titles. Take away the content and narrative of the game, the audio and haptic experience of Silent Hill 2 is enough to warrant a place on this list alone for me.

1: Helldivers 2

I will seek out any excuse to play games with my friends. Whether it is a competitive shooter, a battle royale, a daft brawler, or whatever. These games are my bread and butter, so when I tell you that Helldivers 2 is one of the best co-op experiences I’ve ever had, I really do mean it. Arrowhead Studios cooked up something really special with Helldivers 2 by creating an experience that was awesome and hilarious — a hard balancing act to pull off. It might not have had the post-launch support to keep me playing until the recent Omens of Tyranny drop, but the fun I had over 50 hours across its first month was truly unforgettable. For me, experiences like Helldivers 2 are what gaming is all about.

What do you think of Aaron's personal Game of the Year picks? Feel free to agree wholeheartedly, or disagree politely, in the comments section below.