The Top 5 Best Video Game Vehicles of 2021

2021 has been a rather strange year. The world began to open up once again, but with many of us still working from home, there’s still been less need to travel by plane, train, and automobile than ever before. Luckily, video games have been picking up the slack this year, offering up all sorts of magnificent machines to take control of. So, if you’d be so kind, please join us for yet another one of our festive features, as we take a look back at some of the very best video game vehicles on offer in the year 2021. Oh, and as usual, be warned that there will be some spoilers in our list down below.

Shredder - Destruction AllStars

Destruction AllStars is chock full of cars that could have easily made it onto this list. There’s one with a massive knife strapped to the front of it; one shaped like an anime cat that bounces off enemies like a bumper car; and another that can go invisible like the Aston Martin from Die Another Day. But by far our favourite of the bunch is the Shredder.

This deadly vehicle is the Hero Vehicle of Blue Fang, and does exactly what it says on the tin - it shreds. The front of it is equipped with a massive industrial shredder that can absolutely tear through any opposing vehicles that come in contact with it, spitting them out like bits of paper. It’s the sheer simplicity and metal-shredding carnage that the Shredder offers that really makes it sing, and it makes you wonder why you’d even choose any other vehicle at all. In a game with a car that can shoot out spines like some sort of steel porcupine, it’s really saying something that the Shredder is still our favourite vehicle.

Chainsaw Tank - Resident Evil Village

A fantastic vehicle, armed to the teeth with a machine gun and explosive cannon, Ethan's ridiculous tank he uses to take on Heisenberg towards the latter part of Resident Evil Village, is the height of silliness. The icing on the cake is the chainsaw, perfect for getting up close and personal with Village's cocky master of magnetism, able to carve through flesh and steel alike, in a shower of white-hot sparks. Emblematic of Capcom really letting itself run wild, the chainsaw tank marks a tipping point, where Village dispenses entirely with any sort of subtlety, opting instead for a boss battle with infinite ammunition.

And yet, I can't help but have a soft spot for the chainsaw tank. The moment you find it, and face the prospect of riding it into the fray, regardless of how daft it might be, it offers a spark of excitement at the action sequence to come. The showdown that ensues doesn't disappoint, even if it feels like a bit of a low point for Resident Evil – it's not remotely scary; it's far too stupid and fun.

Mekafingro – Biomutant

Biomutant offers up a surprising amount of vehicles to pilot over the course of its adventure, from a giant mech-suit, to an underwater octopus-shaped submarine. While some of these vehicles can only be used in certain areas of the game, or in specific boss fights, the best vehicle of all can be freely used anywhere you want - the Mekafingro.

This bizarre mount is basically a mechanical hand, which scuttles across the ground like a giant clockwork version of Thing from The Addams Family. This by itself would be grounds enough to make it one of the best vehicles in video games this year, but it comes with its own unique attacks which really secure its spot on this list. Not only can it flick enemies up close to deal damage, but it can fire off an explosive shot from its index finger - it even makes the ‘finger guns’ hand gesture to do so! We give this one a big thumbs up.

Underpants Plane - It Takes Two

Like so many of the games on this list, It Takes Two’s selection of vehicles was so good, that it could have had multiple entries. Whether you were sailing on a pirate ship, or flying through the sky on a mechanical bird, It Takes Two was full of imaginative and exceptionally fun ways to travel.

We do have to pick a favourite, however, and none of the vehicles in the game stood out quite as well as the Underpants Plane. You’re given control over this slightly crude crate while on the run from a bunch of warmongering squirrels - but not complete control, that is. In one of the game’s most memorable set pieces, you and your co-op partner must split your responsibilities between, with one serving as the pilot, and the other as the gunner. Dodging and weaving throughout the inside of a giant tree, with gliding squirrels nipping at your feels, is more exhilarating than it has any right to be, and turns out to be one of the best vehicles sections in any game this year. Good thing it wasn’t a bit pants, eh?

The Mako - Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Now, here's something we thought would never happen. The Mako from the first Mass Effect, in a best vehicles list? Get the eff outta here. Nonetheless, here we are, BioWare managing to transform the slightly stubborn and unwieldy planet reconnaissance vehicle into a remarkably drivable, even enjoyable thing to rag around the place. Or to run over or blast space monkeys with.

Memories of the original Mako getting stuck in awkward places or struggling with a-bit-too-steep inclines were swept away, as a helpful turbo boost meant you could not only get around much faster, but also overcome any terrain that would have been otherwise problematic back in 2007. If you craved the controls and handling of the original, you could have them, but for our money, we'd take Mass Effect Legendary Edition's version of the Mako over the old one, any day of the week. Now, I should go.