Published , by Shack Staff
Published , by Shack Staff
2024 is coming to a close, and the Shacknews Staff has assembled an amazing list of games, people, studios, and other awesome things that shaped the year. Leading up to the Shacknews Game of the Year 2024 announcement on December 31, the staff got together to celebrate some other games worthy of praise for a number of reasons. Each award includes a deliberation video, if you want to get a look at the heated debates and intense staff votes. Games released between January 1, 2024 and December 9, 2024 are eligible for Shacknews Awards 2024 consideration, with games released after December 9, 2024 eligible for awards in 2025. Please take a look.
F-Zero 99 has given F-Zero fans a reason to remain as fervently passionate about the franchise as they have been since the last mainline entry in the series. The game has been a blessing and Nintendo has rained down more mana from the heavens in the form of tracks. When it comes to the best add-on this year, Shacknews could not look past the Ace League Satellaview Tracks that were added to F-Zero 99 in October.
The game received Mute City 4, Sand Storm 1, Sand Storm 2, Big Blue 2, and Silence 2. What’s truly incredible about these tracks is that they were originally only distributed on the Super Famicom satellite broadcast adapter, which means not very many people were able to enjoy these courses back in the day. Due to the way they were released, these tracks have been lovingly called the Ace League Satellaview Tracks and have rightfully earned the Shacknews Award for Best Add-On of 2024.
F-Zero 99 is available on Switch as part of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service.
With Metaphor: ReFantazio, ATLUS traded the funky modern beats of the Persona series for enchanting strings and harmonic ballads. The music helps tell the story, with signature songs that make each city and unique location feel unforgettable. One of the biggest standouts is the battle theme, which feels like something that'd play as you walked into a colosseum. It's a perfect rallying cry that manages to never get old in this dense RPG. While there were some amazing nominees in this category, the music of Metaphor: ReFantazio stood above the rest to win the award for Shacknews Best Music of 2024.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
Though there were many games this year that boasted incredible sound design, few managed to come close to the audio experience offered in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2. This game lives and dies by its audio, and the developers at Team Ninja have yet again delivered an audio experience unlike anything else out there in the gaming sphere.
Audio is such an integral part of the Hellblade 2 experience that even if it was slightly amiss, the understanding and importance of the narrative would be lost. Every single vocal track and audio effect is mixed together with a level of mastery that is difficult to describe, let alone achieve.
Senua is bombarded internally by voices in her head. This is delivered to the player in a fully 3D experience with each and every audio element being delicately placed at just the right spot so as to uplift the situation.
A whisper might sound a million miles away or directly up in your eardrum. A roar of anger might be coming from behind you while you face down another attacker that’s shouting directly in front. Meanwhile, the clash and shock of swords colliding weaves through the voices as the gentle patter of rain mutes the harsher edges of the world.
It’s all a beautiful tapestry of audio on which the whole experience hangs. Congratulations to Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 for winning the Shacknews Award for Best Sound Design of 2024.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 is available on Xbox and Steam platforms.
We'll admit, Another Crab's Treasure had a leg or several up on the competition because it literally takes place entirely under water. That, in of itself, informs the visuals and gameplay, but Another Crab's Treasure also does these things well. Water physics are constantly at play. Kril and the other characters sway through this world with a swishy flow that makes combat and traversal an interesting endeavor, and Another Crab's Treasure uses the setting in a lot of interesting ways mechanically. Then, there's the stark context of the water. The sea in Another Crab's Treasure is littered with trash. It's beautiful at times when the natural splendor of the ocean bed comes through and subtly (or sometimes overtly) upsetting when you see pockets of the water just buried in human litter. It's an almost constant and darkly comedic reminder of just how poorly we treat the Earth's actual water ecosystems. Another Crab's Treasure is one of the most interesting souls-likes we've seen, and water plays a naturally massive part in making great gameplay, but also conveying an important message, and that was more than enough to put it over the top for our Shacknews Award for Best Water of 2024.
Another Crab's Treasure is available on Steam, Nintendo Switch, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
One glance at Helldivers 2 and you know why it has won this award. The game shares a lot in common with Starship Troopers, from its satire to its militarized democracy, but halfway through the opening cutscene, you’ll see it also shares the gore factor.
Helldivers 2 takes the level of gore from the first game and ratchets it up tenfold. Now in third-person, blowing up a bug and seeing its blood and guts fly across the screen offers a fresh perspective on the viscera.
Bugs explode with limbs flailing and twitching. Automatons fry and twitch as bullets riddle their hulls. Even the new Illuminate slop and splatter with satisfying sound and visuals.
And when all is said and done, and you return to your flagship, your helldiver will be covered from head to toe with the bloody entrails of Super Earth’s adversaries. Well done, soldier.
Helldivers 2 is available on Steam and PlayStation platforms.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is the ultimate power fantasy. As soon as you step inside the power armor of a Space Marine, you know you’re about to obliterate some xenos scum for the glory of humanity and for the beaming smile of the Emperor of Mankind. We were already sold on the experience, but then we got to see the various headshots you could perform. Not only are you able to pop heads using all assortment of weaponry, the feedback is brutal with xenos heads exploding with chunks of meat and blood while the body spasms to the ground. Did we mention the outlandish finisher moves? No? Well, in specific situations, you can instantly kill the bugs with your Bolt Pistol, delivering a lethal blow straight to their frontal lobe. It’s hardcore, it’s bloody, and it’s the Best Headshot of 2024 award winner here at Shacknews.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
Street Fighter 6 has been kicking around for more than a year at this point, and Capcom has been adding value to the game with plenty of content and DLC characters. However, the developer shocked the heck out of everyone when they announced the Year 2 DLC characters, which include SNK's Terry Bogard and Mai Shiranui. Mai's still around the corner, but Terry came out this year, and he's ridiculously fun. Capcom and SNK went all out on this one, giving us Terry's original vest costume, his Garou bomber jacket costume, and a wide variety of mechanics that hearken back to his roots. Power Wave, Burn Knuckle, Crack Shoot, Rising Tackle, and more made it over appropriately, but words can't really describe how delightful it feels when you hit a Buster Wolf or Power Geyser combo. Of course, picking up the win gives you Terry's classic hat-throwing victory celebration as well. There's so much attention to detail in this cameo, and it continues to keep a hope burning in our hearts that someday, Capcom vs. SNK 3 just might be coming for real. "Are you okay?" Yes. Yes we are Terr- "Buster Wolf!!!"
Street Fighter 6 is available on Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox platforms.
Nintendo showing off its first ever museum facility could have been a straightforward affair. It could have simply been a Nintendo representative showing off some of its exhibits and calling it a day. Instead, Nintendo luminary Shigeru Miyamoto personally led fans through a guided tour that feels more like a theme park than a traditional museum.
The Nintendo Museum Direct not only showed off Nintendo's interactive exhibit house, but acted as a comprehensive history lesson. Fans got to learn about the company's humble beginnings as a toy and card company, see its gradual evolution into becoming one of the biggest names in video games, and even got to see some off-the-wall products that illustrated the phrase "Weird Nintendo." It was unlike any other online presentation this year and one that would lend itself to multiple rewatches.
The Nintendo Museum Direct can be viewed on Nintendo of America's YouTube channel.
Gallica is by your side from the very beginning of the journey in Metaphor: ReFantazio. She serves as a guide to the game's mechanics and systems, ensuring that you don't lose sight of active quests or upcoming deadlines. She's also a heartful companion, providing valuable insight and advice during Metaphor's quieter moments. It's impossible not to fall in love with the fairy companion by the time the credits have rolled making Gallica the Shacknews Award winner for Best NPC of 2024.
Metaphor: ReFantazio is available on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation platforms.
Prime Video's Fallout show provided the blueprint for how to adapt beloved video games for film and television: pair the people behind the source material with an expert group of writers and producers.
The team at Kilter Films used their experience in TV storytelling to provide a gripping show that brought laughs and emotion with each episode, while Bethesda's insight kept the entire project true to the nature of Fallout.
Of course, the show wouldn't have nearly as large an impact had it not been for some excellent performances in the leading roles. Both Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins elevate Fallout with multidimensional performances that lit up the screen every time they were in frame.
Did we mention that they built a life-sized Power Armor suit for this show?
Fallout is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Check out the full slate of Shacknews Awards 2024 nominees. The following awards have yet to be announced:
We will be announcing more Shacknews Awards over the next few weeks leading up to our Game of the Year 2024 announcement on December 31. This article will be updated each day with the latest winners appearing at the top. Check out our list of The Shacknews Awards 2024 nominees to get caught up.