Best Video Games To Have Come Out This Year

Resident Evil 2

Release Date: January 25, 2019

Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4

Developed by: Capcom R&D Division 1

Resident Evil 2 is a survival horror video game. It is a remake of the 1998 Resident Evil 2, which is the second installment of the Resident Evil Series. Resident Evil 2 takes place two months after Resident Evil. Players can choose one of two protagonists in the game. Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie cop, or Claire Redfield, a college student. In the game Leon and Kennedy plan to meet up but can’t. They each on their own must find a way to escape Raccoon City, which is infected with a zombie virus. Once the player has beaten the game with one protagonist, they can play as the other, which includes variations in subplots.

In this remake of Resident Evil 2, it is played as a third-person-shooter, unlike the first version which uses fixed camera angles and tank controls. Critics praised this remake of Resident Evil 2, saying it stayed true to the original, just in an updated modern form. The game was a commercial success as well. Two months after its release, the game sold over 4.7 million copies.

Kingdom Hearts III

Release Date: January 29, 2019

PS4, Xbox One

Developed by Square Enix

Kingdom Hearts III is the 12th installment of the action role-playing Kingdom Hearts series. It is, like its predecessors, set in a world that is a crossover of various Disney and Pixar intellectual properties set in a fictional universe. Kingdom Hearts III concludes the “Dark Seeker saga” plot arc in the series that begins in the first game in 2002. It chronicles the series’ main protagonist, Sora, who is joined by Riku, Micky mouse, Goofy and Donald Duck as they try to find the seven guardians of light to thwart Xehanort’s plan to start a second Keyblade War.

Kingdom Hearts III got rave reviews, selling over 5 million copies in its first week of release. It was the best-selling and fastest of the whole series. Kingdom Hearts III was the best selling game in North America for the first 2 months of 2019. Game Informer gave the game a 9.5/10.

Gears 5

Release date: September 6, 2019

Microsoft Windows, Xbox One

Developed by: The Coalition

Gears 5 is a third-person shooter video game. The protagonist is Kait Diaz, who is a descendent of the Locus, a race of creatures that came from the core of a fictional planet, much like Earth, called Sera. Kait’s mother was a “outsider” leader named Reyna. Throughout the game’s plot the player must uncover Kait’s past family history and the origins of the Locust, while fighting off “the swarm.” Lead characters from the past Gears games, JD Fenix, Del Walker and Marcus Fenix also return.

Gears 5 is a sequel to Gears of War 4, and the sixth installment to the Gears of War series. They developers decided to drop the “of war” part out of the name because everyone just said “Gears” anyways. The game was released in September 2019 to generally favorable reviews. The only qualms some critics had was the writing wasn’t anything special. Some said it felt like a re-hash of past Gears plots. Within its first weekend the game was played by 3 million people. It was Microsoft’s biggest launch since Halo 4 and the biggest launch for their gaming platform Xbox Game Pass.

NSFW: Swearing in video

The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (2019)

Release Date: September 20, 2019

Nintendo Switch

Developed by Grezzo

Like Resident Evil 2, The Legend Of Zelda: Link’s Awakening is a remake of an earlier game of its series. Link’s Awakening is a reboot of the classic 1993 action-adventure game for Game Boy. The 2019 remake keeps the original’s game top-down perspective and features the characters in a retro-modern ‘toy-like’ animation. The remake also keeps certain elements from the 1998 re-release, Link’s Awakening DX.

Link’s Awakening follows Link, who gets stranded on Koholint Island. It is a unique game in the series since it does not take place in the Kingdom of Hyrule and does not feature Princess Zelda or the Triforce relic. Link must collect all eight of the Siren’s instruments to awaken Koholint’s mythical Wind Fish to escape the island. Like the other Zelda games, its played in an open-world, where the player can earn rewards by doing side quests.

Link’s Awakening received good reviews, mainly because the first game was so good and they didn’t change much about it. Within 10 days after its release it sold over 3 million copies, making it one of the best selling Nintendo Switch games ever.

Apex Legends

Release Date: February 4, 2019

Microsoft Windows, PS4, Xbox One

Developed by: Respawn Entertainment

Apex Legends is a free-to-play, first-person shooter battle royale game. It combines characteristics a few different types of video games. One part being Respawn’s own TitanFall. The game also includes elements of class-based shooters, evolving narratives and battle royale. Apex Legends has 60 players to a game, on teams of three. Everyone lands on the same island then works with their team members to scavenge for equipment and weapons. The playing area restricts in size as the game goes on. Last team standing wins.

Right up until its release, Apex Legends was a secret.Everyone thought Respawn Entertainment was working on TitanFall 2 so there was absolutely no marketing for Apex. It got strong reviews from critics for its fusion of different genres and being a refreshing addition to battle royale games. By the end of its first week, Apex Legends had 25 million people playing world wide. By the end of its first month it had 50 million. Now, around 8-10 million people play online a week.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

Release Date: March 22, 2019

Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4

Developed by FromSoftware

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is an action-adventure video game about a Ninja named Wolf who takes revenge on a clan of Samurai for kidnapping his lord. The game takes place in Japan’s Sengoku period (1467-1600) which was a time of great war among the nation states of Japan. Except in the game there is magic and the region is full of fictional places, though many are based off real places and monuments in Japan. The game also takes influence from Buddhist mythology and philosophy. The player controls Wolf and the gameplay is heavily focused on exploration, stealth and combat. There are many boss battles.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice got very good reviews for its gameplay, story and writing. The only complaints some critics had that it is very difficult to play, meaning only very advanced gamers can beat it. In its first 10 days it sold 2 million copies. 5 months after its initial release in March it shipped 3.8 million copies world wide.

Mortal Kombat 11

Release Date: April 23, 2019

Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch

Developed by NetherRealm Studios

Mortal Kombat 11 is a fighting game developed by NetherRealm Studios and is the 11th installment of the Mortal Kombat series, first released in 1992. It is a sequel to Mortal Kombat X and like the series’ previous two games it is a 2.5D fighting game. All the characters are the same but in this game they are more customizable (their outfits, moves and weapons). New gameplay features include “Fatal Blows” and “Krushing blows.” Fatal Blows are moves that deal a lot of damage, but they can only be done once per match and the players health must be below 30%. Krushing Blows are special cinematic variations of a character’s special move, allowed only when certain requirements have been met. The game consists of 25 playable characters, 2 of which must be unlocked.

Mortal Kombat 11 got generally favorable reviews from critics. It received a 9/10 from GameSpot and IGN, and a 8/10 from Metro. It was the best selling video game in April and May. By June it surpassed Kingdom Hearts III, which was the best selling game of 2019 so far.

NSFW: Swearing in video

Observation

Release Date: May 21, 2019

Microsoft Windows, PS4

Developed by: No Code

Observation is a puzzle-adventure game where the player controls a space station’s A.I. system to solve a mystery. It is a sci-fi thriller about an international space station called Observation, that, after a mysterious event, is left spinning in space without power. When one of its surviving crew members boots up the computer system call SAM (system administration maintenance), it the player’s job to control SAM to solve puzzles to open hatches and perform other tasks to find out what happened. The game takes a lot of influence from lost in space thrillers like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Interstellar and Gravity.

Observation got generally favorable reviews from critics, praising its gameplay, pacing, plot and visuals. GameSpot said the game “is a wonderful example of how to do focused, self contained science fiction story-telling in a game.” It was nominated for several awards and won the Creativity Award by the Independent Game Developers’ Association.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)

Release Date: October 25, 2019

Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PS4

Developed by Infinity Ward

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a first-person shooter game that is the 16th installment of the Call of Duty series and a reboot of their Modern Warfare subplot. It’s about British SAS forces and a CIA officer who team up with rebels of a fictional country to fight off Russian soldiers who have invaded their lands. The game takes influence from real events, like the Syrian Civil War and certain terrorist attacks that happened in London. Modern Warfare received generally positive reviews though it came under some controversy for some of its subject matter and the way it portrayed the Russian military. For the first time in the series its multiplayer mode supports cross-platform multiplayer. It also has some new features like “realism mode,” that takes away the players HUD and it has a feature called “Ground War” that consists of 64 player to a game.