Lock & Load: These shooters end your year with a bang

At the end of the year, gamers can traditionally always count on a new spin-off from a particular shooter giant: Call of Duty. This year, despite the pandemic, is fortunately no different. Call of Duty Vanguard (released on November 5) is already the 18th installment of the game series and delighted fans with an explosive campaign set in World War II, complemented, of course, by the legendary multiplayer part and the fun zombie mode. 

Battlefield games usually only come every other year, with the release of the last part, Battlefield V even three years ago. That’s why fans are all the more excited about the latest spin-off, which hit the market on October 22: Battlefield 2042, in contrast to the shooter competitor Call of Duty, travels back to the future and does without a single-player campaign, but offers futuristic, fast-paced battles with up to 128 participants, at least on PC.

Apart from the two obligatory shooter institutions, several other titles have been released that don’t need to hide: Deathloop by Arkane Studios, makers of the popular Dishonored games, was already released on September 14. Here we have to break out of a time loop as contract killer Colt. Trapped on an island, we have to gather information to end this miserable situation and above all: better not die. Otherwise everything starts all over again.

Two more highlights followed in October: Far Cry 6 and Back 4 Blood.  While Far Cry 6 follows the tried-and-true Ubisoft formula for open-world games, the title is still a blast to play, partly because of the setting, a fictional tropical island called Yara with a nasty dictator named “El Presidente.” Back 4 Blood, on the other hand, sees itself as a spiritual successor to Left 4 Dead and is also a team shooter, for which it’s best to invite three friends and then eliminate zombie hordes together.A real shooter gem arrived on December 9: Halo Infinite. The last installment, Halo 5: Guardians, was six years ago, so the next game was already eagerly awaited, especially after Infinite was delayed by a whole year. One of the most epic Halo campaigns in the entire Halo series and reliably great multiplayer make this release arguably the best Christmas present for shooter fans.