Over the next eight days, Hardcore Gamer will be revealing its Best of 2022 Awards leading up to our Game of the Year. Today we present you with the Best Expansion, Best Developer, Most Disappointing Game and Worst Game.

Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak

It’s no secret that Monster Hunter shines most brightly when it comes to its expanded versions, or most recently their massive DLC expansions. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak is no exception and offers an experience bloated with fantastic content including new monsters, one of the best stories to date in the franchise and even more content that began to follow it post-release. The series lives and dies by its combat, and Sunbreak delivered with tons of new options for weapons to make everything feel even more fantastic with flashy and thoughtful combat that keeps pulling players back for more. New mechanics like the follower quests also made playing solo feel like a more rewarding experience instead of pressuring players to get online with a way to enjoy the thrill of the hunt with others without needing to connect to anyone else. Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak was an easy expansion to sink over 100 more hours into making it no wonder that it was our favorite expansion released this year.

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Santa Monica Studio

Following up a massive hit is never an easy task, but Santa Monica Studio has been here before. The original God of War trilogy saw them subsequently work to hit new standards with each release. In 2018, they changed their entire franchise, moving Kratos to the lands of Norse mythology, aging him up and having him take on the role of parent. God of War 2018 was a brilliant reinvention of the series while still retaining engaging combat and gorgeous visuals. A sequel was inevitable, and thankfully, the developer has once again managed to outdo themselves. Building on the foundation of God of War 2018, God of War Ragnarök is an amazingly developed title with every corner of the game polished close to perfection. Combat is intense with excellent interplay between the Leviathan Axe, Blades of Chaos and a masterfully-introduced third weapon. The story is brilliantly written and delivered with each plot point building towards the impactful conclusion. Levels are more intricate with big open spaces across all nine realms to explore. Santa Monica Studio has delivered another stellar title that has, once again, managed to eclipse its predecessor in nearly every way. God of War Ragnarök is an achievement that Santa Monica Studio should be proud of and we can’t wait to see how they outdo themselves next time.

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The Callisto Protocol

Does it want to be like Dead Space or does it not want to be like Dead Space? Even after its brief, though forgettable, eight hour slog through one unremarkable set-piece after another, that question remains unanswered. Primarily because The Callisto Protocol isn’t even sure of what it wants to be. A consequence of its poorly-implemented combat, drab and rehashed plot and most of all, the indecisiveness on whether it’s relying on originality or nostalgia more so. What we were left with in The Callisto Protocol is a jumble of half-baked ideas, one-note characters and uneventful retreads that amounted to nothing. Which camp were you trying to entice and impress Striking Distance Studios? Beyond even the disastrous nature of its PC release and a genuinely-prized accomplishment in its technical feats, at its heart The Callisto Protocol was uninteresting to engage with. A disappointment on that alone, given the veteran experience behind its creation. But the greatest failings were its shocking lack of originality mixed with that conflicting and hollow suggestion of such. Fan of Dead Space or not, it’s hard to pinpoint just who this game was meant to appease. EA and Motive Studios can rest a little easier going into 2023, knowing The Callisto Protocol so shockingly underdelivered this year.

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Babylon's Fall

Welcome back Square Enix, in what is becoming a common trend for the Japanese publisher in these annual awards, albeit for the wrong reasons. But what’s not as welcoming a presence in this year’s category is none other than PlatinumGames and finding both their name and their reputation tarnished with a game like Babylon’s Fall. Where do you even start to dissect a colossal failing such as this. One that prior to release had many a fan waving red flags at its sudden shift in priorities. Marketed by the team themselves as a live service title and housing all the irksome traits said releases often utilize, Babylon’s Fall isn’t just awful to play -- with its sluggish controls, reliance on repetition and complete apathy for solo players and their respective time -- but awful to look at. A “painterly” aesthetic resembling an unoptimised, launch-day PS3 title, than a carefully-constructed visual aesthetic. A game so bad that come February (not even a year after release) its service will be pulled and its physical format little more than an expensive paper-weight. Babylon’s Fall isn’t just a textbook example of economics overruling enjoyment in the realm of live-service/GaaS games, but worst of all: a game so antithetical to the blueprint we’ve come to expect from Platinum. Boring, broken, egregiously-designed and laborious throughout, nothing this year came close to matching the universal failing that was Babylon’s Fall.

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