Dead Space

If there’s one game that hardly needs a remake today, it’s the original Dead Space. Don’t get me wrong, the remake is awesome, but the 2008 original still holds up remarkably well. The graphics were at the top of the industry and still look amazing today. But it’s the way the atmosphere was crafted that particularly leaves a lasting impression on us. The diagetic HUD is partly to thank for the top-notch immersion, but the Necromorph designs are especially timeless in their ability to send a chill down gamers’ spines. Dead Space also doesn’t have an ounce of jank in its DNA; it feels remarkably precise and intuitive to play today. We’re still seeing tons of triple-A games use that iconic over the shoulder perspective, and we have the original Dead Space to thank for convincing us that it’s awesome.

Crysis

Back in 2007, Crysis was the rosetta stone benchmark for PC performance. Today, maybe not as much, but it can still be confused as a modern game. It was one of the games boasting advanced volumetric lighting and crazy far draw distances, and the lush jungle environments made for an attractive display piece to show off that tech. Crysis was also pretty dang modern with its gameplay systems. The campaign let players freely explore the tropical sandbox with its wide-linear design. Like the studio’s Far Cry titles, a smorgasbord of vehicles were up for the taking to accomplish missions in varying ways. If the day/cycle or gunplay didn’t impress, the visuals sure did, and continue to.

Red Dead Redemption

The year was 2010, gamers were absolutely starving for an immersive wild west game, and Rockstar was the one studio poised to do it. They already released Red Dead Revolver in 2004 and had the technology to finally meet the setting’s great potential. And that they did. Red Dead Redemption’s sprawling open world is filled with fun activities and more interesting personalities than you can fit in a stage coach. It’s Rockstar’s best pre-GTA 5 game to return to have good time without much friction. And it’s highly recommended players go back to this gem to understand Red Dead Redemption 2, as it functions as a sequel to that game. It’s not hard to fall in love with it today given the tight gunplay and solid graphics.

Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 is the second pre-GTA 5 Rockstar game that’s easiest to return to today. The big selling point is the bullet-time mechanic from previous entries being turned up a couple notches. There’s not a single game that I can think of that does slow-mo shootouts as well as Max Payne 3. The modern third-person shooting feels great to control, and carefully lining up slow-mo dive shots is a joy. Being the Rockstar game that it is, cinematics are top-notch as well, with zero loading between cutscenes and player-controlled action sections. A port to today’s platforms would be appreciated, but the graphics actually hold up just fine without need for an upgrade.

Dying Light 1

Dying Light achieved something few games outside Assassin’s Creed were willing to do at the time, and that’s a realistic and smooth parkour system. What’s more, you can parkour across pretty much any building or object in the large open world. Besides the advanced parkouring, the game also boasted dynamic day/night lighting that still impresses today. Dying Light is the newest game on this list, but the dark atmosphere and gritty story have an edge over its sequel, Dying Light 2, making it well worth playing 10 years later, especially to see Kyle Crane’s earlier adventures.

Heavy Rain

David Cage games were always ahead of their time, but it wasn’t until Heavy Rain until they started being legitimately fun to play on top of that. You can probably thank Heavy Rain for PlayStation’s recent narrative emphasis. The game was largely an interactive choose your own adventure movie. But unlike TellTale’s string of narrative games, Heavy Rain had truly spectacular graphics that many felt were lifelike at the time. The game still holds up today, partly thanks to its simple gameplay mechanics (it’s hard to make quick time events janky) and high budget graphics and acting talent.

Ninja Gaiden Black

And then there’s rarities like Ninja Gaiden Black which boast deeply technical gameplay that still feels smooth today. For being a 20 year old game, it sure does feel fluid and intuitive to pull off combos, thanks in part to great optimization. It also holds up to current trends in game. Ninja Gaiden Black was notorious for being one of the most difficult games at the time, but it fits well beside contemporary titles like Elden Ring and Hollow Knight Silksong with its difficulty. With distinct art direction and stylishly detailed character models, it’s a game that’s still easy on the eyes.

Borderlands 2

Many were rubbing their eyes when Borderlands 4 was revealed. Accusations were thrown around that it looked like the previous Borderlands games, and they’re not too far off. Borderlands has maintained a bold cartoonish look since the first game, but it’s really the second entry that polished and solidified its identity. Just like the graphics, the gunplay holds up remarkably well today. And with memorable villains like Handsome Jack, the story remains the best the series has ever seen.

DriveClub

If you can get a hold of a rare copy of DriveClub, do yourself a favor and grab it. The PS4 exclusive was notable for its photo-realistic rain effects and grounded yet approachable driving mechanics. I regularly see racing fans comparing modern driving games’ weather effects to DriveClub. That’s how dang good the game looked. While the online component can’t be experienced today, the single player career has plenty of races and challenges to warrant the price of admission. And with a simcade handling model that’s not too intimidating to learn yet difficult to master, you’ll find yourself glued to the rainsoaked windshield for many hours even amid today’s racers.

Far Cry 2

I know, I know, it’s easy to overlook Far Cry 2 now that we have over six entries, but it does some pretty unique things. A number of playable and non-playable mercenaries can be rescued and hired to go on missions with you. These teammates can be permanently killed if they’re not rescued or healed in time, making it easy to feel attached to them. Other than the buddy system, the game just looks great, featuring a robust African open world environment. If you’re a fan of the Far Cry series, the second game is a must-play that holds up perfectly fine today.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Ever since Skyrim’s release in 2011, players have memed it to death. One of the most popular memes, that being its constant string of re-releases, still finds itself with legs even now. It’s the game that refuses to die, whether it be because of its wealth of quests, role-playing possibilities, or extensive mod support. Even without any mods, it still looks and plays fantastic. Sure, you’ll encounter a handful of backwards-flying dragons, but even the bugs are worth experiencing in this beloved open-world RPG.

Batman Arkham City

2011 was a good time for games in general. Arkham City also came out in that year and it represents Rocksteady’s zenith. Arkham City is their most beloved game for a reason; it’s got the tightest example of their signature freeflow combat, some of the most intricate and addictive world design, and some amazing characterization. A lot of late PS3/Xbox 360 games still manage to look good today, but Arkham City looks and plays downright flawless.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Speaking of timeless PS3 titles, Uncharted 2 just refuses to feel outdated. The rollercoaster pacing and attention to detail continues to be emulated and studied today. Even detractors of Uncharted 1’s gameplay love the way Uncharted 2 improved aiming and enemy encounter design. If you want to see what makes the Uncharted series so special, check out Uncharted 2, it sets up the rest of the games wonderfully and plays like a modern-day adventure title.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

But if there’s any PS3 game that went above and beyond its contemporaries, it’s MGS 4. In true Kojima fashion, the storytelling is outfitted with a ridiculous amount of bells and whistles, perhaps even overstaying its time in the spotlight just a bit (looking at you hour-long cutscene). Motion capture was some of the most advanced for the time, and the voice talent gave Hollywood a run for their money. Many fans even say the gameplay is the best the series has ever had. It’s also the only game in the MGS series besides Peace Walker to feature the Psyche Gauge. Stealth was emphasized because killing spiked the gauge, making Snake more prone to shake while shooting. Now if only we’d finally get a remaster or port of MGS 4 so more players could experience it.

The Last of Us

The Last of Us has seen numerous remasters, a remake, and even a show, and for good reason. It represents Naughty Dog at their absolute peak. The Last of Us shocked just about everyone with its realistic graphics and mo-cap in 2013. And the brutal melee takedowns and hard-hitting story kept us hooked ever since. It’s hard to overstate just how good the original game plays all these years later, which is why all these remasters and remakes seem somewhat redundant to many fans. The original holds up so well today, and with a story so iconic and gripping, we won’t see the last of The Last of Us anytime soon.

Clair Obscur: Expedition

While traditional role-playing games never disappeared, they did become quite rare for a few years. The release of Clair Obscur: Expedition has managed to remind many people why that style of combat was so beloved. Along with an excellent setting that revolves around serious themes like loss and grief, Expedition also has a solid take on turn-based combat, with every single character in your party having their own bespoke mechanics, be it Maeve’s stance system, how Lune handles elements, or even Gustave’s Overcharge mechanics. Pair this with rewarding high-level gameplay with parries and dodging, and you get one of the best RPGs out there.

Baldur’s Gate 3

Baldur’s Gate 3 finally managed to hit mainstream success, thanks in large part to its strong setting and ambitious design. Baldur’s Gate 3 adapts rules from the 5th edition of tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons, and features some of the most interesting and likeable characters that have been featured in games in quite some time. Along with this, it also has an expansive story that kicks things off with a great premise: figure out how to get rid of a parasite in your brain before you end up being turned into a mindflayer. What follows is an epic adventure that carries you through different cities and planes, where countless stories and challenges await.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition

What can we say about The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt that hasn’t been said already? An entire decade since its original release, the open-world RPG has continued to be awesome thanks to constant support from CD Projekt RED, not only through the release of excellent expansions—but also through updating the title to make use of more modern hardware with enhanced visuals. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt continues to have an excellent story, with plenty of wonderfully-written sidequests. All of this, paired with a great combat system leads to a generally fun way to spend hundreds of hours.

Elden Ring + Shadow of the Erdtree

In many ways, both Elden Ring as well as its expansion, Shadow of the Erdtree, represents the culmination of everything developer FromSoftware has learned in developing titles since 2009’s Demon’s Souls. Along with the slow-paced but heavy combat that the studio is known for, Elden Ring and its expansion also feature a great open world to explore, some of the best boss fights it has ever design, and some incredibly dense lore available for players who would care enough to pore through the dozens of item descriptions and conversations needed to uncover it all. Pair this with tools that provide plenty of options for players that might want an easier time through the game, and Elden Ring and Shadow of the Erdtree simply prove themselves to be the best that FromSoftware has to offer.

Red Dead Redemption 2

Developer Rockstar has had many great games under its belt, essentially changing the entire concept of open-world games with the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 and its host of follow-ups, but none of them have been as jaw-dropping or awe-inspiring as 2018’s Red Dead Redemption 2. Acting as a prequel to the original Red Dead Redemption, the title puts you into the shoes of Arthur Morgan as he experiences the age of the cowboy coming to an end as a member of the Van der Linde gang. Along with some excellent character-writing and fun missions, Red Dead Redemption 2 also offers dense gameplay, taking on a simulationist approach to even side activities like hunting or train robbing, giving players hundreds of hours worth of things to do in its massive and lush open world.

Days Gone Remastered

While Days Gone was originally a PS4 game that came out to a middling reception, its release on PC has been a glow-up for the open-world zombie title, with modern gaming PCs being more than capable of handling the hordes of zombies that get thrown at you. Sure, the main narrative may not be particularly noteworthy. However, the side-activities, as well as the general gameplay loop encouraged by the fact that upgrading your motorbike is important, make the overall idea of setting out to scavenge from long-abandoned medical facilities or even rival gang camps an enticing idea.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition

While its initial release may have been a bit of a mess, in the years since, Cyberpunk 2077 has proven itself to be an excellent open-world action RPG. Taking on the role of V in the year 2077, you set out to become a legend in Night City. However, one of the jobs you take alongside your best friend Jackie goes horribly wrong, and now you’re slowly dying and the ghost of Johnny Silverhand lives in your head. Cyberpunk 2077, along with its expansion Phantom Liberty, tells an excellent story that takes you across Night City’s various districts and social strata as you try and figure out the evil machinations of the megacorporation Arasaka that led to the development of the thing that has been slowly killing you. Along with an excellent main story, Cyberpunk 2077 also features several well-written and fun side-quests that can range from getting into a rivalry with a Japanese pop group to discussing the nature of sentience with an AI taxi service.

Disco Elysium – The Final Cut

Quite easily one of the most interesting takes on the RPG genre that has been attempted, Disco Elysium – The Final Cut puts you in the shoes of a detective. You explore the city of Revachol, which is seemingly in the midst of a cultural upheaval in some parts, alongside your partner Lieutenant Kim Kitsuragi. Disco Elysium focuses more on conversation than it does action, and one of its most unique aspects is the fact that each aspect of the protagonist’s mind and body has a personality of its own. Through these conversations, you learn more about yourself, about Revachol, and about the world at large.

Mass Effect Legendary Edition

Mass Effect is one of those rare video game trilogies that deserves its “legendary” moniker. The three titles tell the story of a galaxy’s fight against a cosmic, existential threat, and puts players in the shoes of human Commander Shepard who must assemble a rag-tag crew of allies from the various species from across the galaxy as they try to figure out the mysteries behind the forces known only as the Reapers. Along the way, in true RPG fashion, there are also plenty of choices that players have to make, with many of these choices having far-reaching consequences for the galaxy as a whole. While the ending of Mass Effect 3 might be regrettable, the rest of the journey still holds up even today as one worth experiencing.

Prey (2017)

While it may not have anything to do with its 2006 namesake, Prey (2017) is an immersive sim that puts players in the shoes of Morgan Yu. Working for the TranStar Corporation on ethically-dubious experiments, you eventually start serving on the Talos I space station. However, these experiments eventually start going wrong, and the space station comes under attack by an alien threat known as the Typhon. The twist is that these aliens can shapeshift, which adds an extra layer of tension to the gameplay. Even when you’re just exploring an office room, one of the mugs might end up being a Mimic-type Typhon that can attack you at any time, after all. What makes Prey especially interesting is the freedom it gives the player in how they choose to tackle any situation, be it stealth, combat, or even something more creative, like building platforms out of nearby furniture and your Goo Gun to avoid any dangers.

The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim Special Edition

Skyrim is still – at the time of publishing – the latest game in The Elder Scrolls franchise, and there’s a good reason that it has been the best-selling one so far. Taking place in the eponymous region of Skyrim, the game puts players in the shoes of whatever character they might like to be and, after a short opening quest, sets them free in the world. What makes Skyrim fun is that it has hundreds of hours worth of content, not only through its main story, but through several side quests as well. Along with this, the game also has an excellent modding community that has constantly worked on adding more content to the game, as well as improving what’s already there. Generally speaking, The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim is the closest thing we have to a game we can play forever.

Fallout 3

What Skyrim does for the fantasy genre, Fallout 3 does for players that might prefer a post-apocalyptic setting. Taking place in and around a post-nuclear fallout Washington DC – referred to in-game as the Capitol Wasteland – Fallout 3 sets you loose in an open world with a single goal: find your father. More interesting than the main story, however, is the sheer amount of side-content that is available right from the get-go. The first-person RPG will have you cover the entire length and breadth of the wasteland as you try and do as many side-quests as possible thanks to the excellent writing. While we’re at it, the gameplay isn’t bad either; it might be dated by modern standards, but the RPG systems in the game allow for plenty of player choice in terms of how you want to define your play style.

Hollow Knight: Silksong

After years of memes making the rounds on the Internet, Hollow Knight: Silksong is finally out. Putting players in the shoes of new protagonist Hornet, Hollow Knight: Silksong features an entirely new world to explore, and tons of challenging boss fights to tackle. Along the way, there are also plenty of new gameplay systems to explore, including the new healing mechanics, as well as the ability to change up Hornet’s entire moveset if you so desire. Much like the original Hollow Knight, Silksong has an easy claim to the crown at the top of the genre.

Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

While Marvel’s Spider-Man was already a fantastic return of the webslinger to the gaming medium, Insomniac Games has taken everything about the open-world action game and turned it up to eleven with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2. Not only does it feature an even more epic storyline featuring plenty of Spider-Man’s rogues gallery, it also features two whole Spider-Men taking on the threats to New York City – Peter Parker and Miles Morales. Throw on top a fun plot about both of our heroes growing together, as well as the unique personal issues affecting both of them, as well as the threat of the Symbiote over the whole plot, and you get a great time.

Little Nightmares 2

Little Nightmares 2 is an interesting game since, while it might appear like a cutesy platformer from the outside, underneath its adorable exterior lies a dark game filled with a surprising amount of horror. The title revolves around a boy, Mono, who finds a girl, Six, trapped in the basement of a dark and terrible house, and the two must work together to make it out alive.Along the way, they will have to deal with many terrifying enemies and other dark secrets of the main setting of the game – the Pale City – and the title makes heavy use of some psychedelic visuals to hammer home the point that the city is not a welcoming place for wayward children.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2

While most open-world RPGs tend to make use of fantasy settings, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 instantly sets itself apart from its contemporaries by instead making use of real-world place, complete with accurate depictions of historical events. Taking place in the lands of Bohemia, protagonist Henry finds himself and his friend, Sir Hans, the victims of a bandit attack on their way to deliver a message to Trosky. What follows is Henry’s attempts to complete his mission, and along the way, grow as a person. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 takes a simulationist approach to its gameplay, with armours and weapons feeling appropriately hard to find and maintain, and crafting systems that will have you reading instructions from books before you go about mixing potions or forging a sword. The title offers hundreds of hours worth of gameplay, along with some of the best sword-fighting mechanics ever executed in a first-person game.

Alan Wake 2

Alan Wake was a masterclass in horror, but its sequel takes things a step further. In Alan Wake 2, players control multiple characters as they explore genuinely creepy locations, face terrifying creatures, and experience it all with an amazing score and exceptional gameplay. This is what horror games should strive to be, and it leaves us eager to see what Remedy has in store for the inevitable Alan Wake 3.

Death Stranding Director’s Cut

Hideo Kojima’s first major project after his departure from Konami, Death Stranding is a game that is quite difficult to explain. Essentially, you are a courier in a world where a global catastrophe has made humanity spread out far and wide, with little to keep them connected to each other. The core gameplay revolves around you taking on delivery jobs and then figuring out how to cross the terrain to get to your objective. What makes this interesting is that Death Stranding is one of those rare games where terrain is quite important, and you can’t just climb any surface you see. This means that you will have to figure out the best route to take that doesn’t risk too much damage to the cargo you’re carrying. Throw on top a bonkers plot that revolves around the concepts of death, the soul and the body, as well as the general creepiness that the ghost-like BTs exhibit, and you have a fantastic time experience, while long, is well worth it.

The Witness

From the developer behind Braid, The Witness is a strange puzzle game that takes a single mechanic – being able to draw lines – and turns it into the entire game. While most of the title will have you finding screens to then solve logical puzzles with your line drawing powers, the whole game essentially blows open at a certain point when you start to discover that the entire world around you is also a puzzle that can then be manipulated and solved in different ways. Along the way, the game also features narration that explores the nature of the island you’re exploring, and what its true purpose might be. All of this is paired with some wonderful art direction and a vibrant colour palette that makes sure that nothing in The Witness ever looks boring.

Ghost of Tsushima

Ghost of Tsushima is an open-world game where the protagonist – a samurai named Jin Kasai – survives an initial battle against an invading Mongol force, and must rally the citizens and soldiers of Tsushima island to mount a resistance against the invaders. Over the course of the fantastic open-world game, Sakai must also come to terms with meanings behind words like honour, and the caste system that Japan was living under at the time. Ghost of Tsushima features simple-but-excellent combat gameplay, as well as quite a few tools for the player should they decide to sneak around instead, as they go around Tsushima liberating settlements from the Mongols and ultimately figure out a way to get at the primary antagonist – Khotun Khan, cousin of Kubali Khan.

The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered

While the original The Last of Us was a great game with a fantastic story anchored by wonderfully-written characters, The Last of Us Part 2 goes a step further, giving us a darker tale that focuses on two distinct characters and their quest for vengeance and redemption. Along with the larger overall scale of gameplay, The Last of Us Part 2 also tells a grander story, and features some of the most fun boss fights to have been put into a title where the gameplay is otherwise quite realistic. On top of all of this, the Remastered release on PC also has a host of extra content in the form of the roguelike survival mode No Return, where you get to take on combat challenges as the character of your choice in a variety of different levels.

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice

FromSoftware might be largely known for its slow-paced action RPGs in the Souls series and Elden Ring, but with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, the studio instead decided to take on a much faster style of gameplay where being on the defensive was punished. Rather than hiding behind a shield, in Sekiro, you are instead forced to learn the timings of various enemy attacks so that you can instead parry them, eventually breaking your foes’ posture to then finish them off with a glorious killing blow. The title still maintains much of the FromSoftware DNA, however, including how death works and the emphasis on smaller-scaled levels that are more dense and intertwining, encouraging plenty of exploration. Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, despite its differences from the studio’s other games, can easily be considered one of its best outings yet.

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection

A collection featuring two games – Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: Lost Legacy – Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection tells two excellent stories. While one tries to wrap up the ongoing plot of Nathan Drake trying to forge a legacy for himself, the other instead features two supporting characters from preceding Uncharted games in the roles of dual protagonists as they set off on an adventure of their own. Where Uncharted 4 offers a polished take on everything the series has had to offer so far, Lost Legacy instead goes for more experimental game design. All in all, both titles are well worth playing, even if you haven’t been able to play the first three games in the series.

Frostpunk 2

The original Frostpunk was a fresh take on the city-builder genre with a unique setting where you have to build and manage a city around sources of heat, since the planet has essentially frozen over. Its sequel pulls the camera back a bit, and instead of having you put down individual buildings, you’re now laying out entire districts with a single click. Despite this more zoomed out take on the gameplay, however, Frostpunk 2 still makes the player choose between two horrifying choices for the survival of their city, much like its predecessor, and the general progression of the title has been taken in interesting directions, such as how trade routes are managed and how districts can boost or bring down one another, depending on proximity. All of this is paired with some wonderful visuals and excellent sound design that perfectly manage to bring your cities to life.

A Plague Tale: Requiem

A Plague Tale: Requiem is a direct sequel to A Plague Tale: Innocence, and revolves around the two siblings once more having to travel together again. This time around, Amicia and Hugo de Rune have to travel south in order to try and look for a cure for Hugo’s affliction. On the gameplay side of things, it offers more of a refinement over its predecessor rather than any radical changes. Players take on the role of Amicia while Hugo helps out from time to time. However, both characters also have plenty of new abilities to play around with in combat encounters. A Plague Tale: Requiem also acts as an absolute feast for the eyes considering its incredible level of visual fidelity and strong art direction.

The Rogue Prince of Persia

After having spent several months in Early Access, The Rogue Prince of Persia was finally out a few weeks ago, and the fact that developer Evil Empire took player feedback quite seriously is evident. The title features incredibly-polished side-scrolling and platforming with smooth animations and a great visual style that still manages to work well with the randomly-generated levels. Throw on top some fast-paced combat that rewards quick timing, as well as a large variety of weapons, and you’re going to have a great time as you figure out the time-bending story of the Prince who is trying to save his people after previously having been the unwitting instigator of this doom to begin with.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Middle-earth: Shadow of War builds on everything its predecessor did in expansive ways. It brings back the much-beloved Nemesis system, which allows protagonist Talion to face down various kinds of Orc enemies, each with their own unique personalities and fighting styles. On top of this, the Orcs winning the fight also means that they’ll get stronger, making the subsequent rematch even harder. The Nemesis system alone makes Shadow of War worth your time, but if that’s not enough, it also has a fun story exploring an alternate timeline of the Lord of the Rings books where a giant war was waged against the forces of Mordor well before the events of the books take place. The gameplay also serves as an excellent evolution of the classical style of open-world action gameplay we saw over the last couple of console generations.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

In Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Lara Croft embarks once again on a perilous hunt for a precious treasure. However, in her carelessness, Croft accidentally sets off a chain of events that threatens the world, and now she must find a way to stop the destruction. On the gameplay side of things, it offers fast and responsive gunplay as well as plenty of options for some stealth, including the ability for Croft to cover herself in mud to blend in with her surroundings better. The star of the game is undoubtedly the platforming, and with plenty of tombs for Croft to raid, Shadow of the Tomb Raider offers just about everything you could ask for.

Black Myth: Wukong

Black Myth: Wukong is an interesting take on a classic setting. The game features excellent boss fights, along with some gorgeous visuals. These aspects are further bolstered by the fact that the combat system is incredible and responsive. Even the encounter design deserves some praise, since Black Myth: Wukong has been designed around the idea of making the player use just about every tool they have at their disposal. There isn’t really much else to say that hasn’t already been said plenty of times already. It did, after all, manage to hold on to its concurrent player count records at launch when compared to any game out there on PC.

Mafia: The Definitive Edition

While the Mafia series has seen a newfound level of success thanks to the recent release of Mafia: The Old Country, the original Mafia is still worth revisiting, especially in its Definitive Edition form, since it now features modernised gameplay and combat systems, as well as a massive upgrade in visual quality. The story revolves around humble taxi driver Thomas Angelo in the city of Lost Haven, who finds himself embroiled with the local mob thanks to a recent car chase against a rival mob. Things slowly escalate as Angelo climbs up the ranks of the Salieri family. Interestingly, the story is told in the form of Angelo confessing to his crimes to a detective, with liberal use of flashbacks as the main storytelling device. The title also features a fun open world to drive through, especially since few games ever use the Great Depression as their setting.

Mad Max

Having come out at a time where many players and critics alike were suffering from open-world fatigue, Mad Max was quite overlooked. However, in the decade since, the title has been vindicated thanks to its excellent open world design and strong gameplay. Mad Max is a unique open world game where the player’s vehicle, the Magnum Opus, is an important form of progression. Much of the game will be spent with you, as Max, trying to find parts and blueprints to upgrade the car. Along with this, there is also an emphasis on vehicular combat, as well as good ol’ fisticuffs and some ranged weapons thrown in for good measure.

Hogwarts Legacy

Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world game that perfectly manages to tap into the world of the Harry Potter books. The title takes place a hundred years before the events of the books, and puts players in the shoes of a budding young wizard joining the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As they live out their student life, players will also eventually discover a bubbling goblin uprising, as well as criminal wizards. Hogwarts Legacy is one of those games that any fan of the Harry Potter series owes themselves to play because of just how well it captures the magical feelings of the books.

Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon

While Skyrim might offer a fun take on a fantasy open-world RPG, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon takes a darker turn. The game takes on the classic tales of Arthurian legend, albeit with its own unique interpretations. Along with its vast open world, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon also features quite a bit of emphasis on first-person combat, be it with swords or at range with a bow and some arrows. There are also plenty of other things to do while you’re out and about, from gathering crafting materials to simply taking a break by sketching some scenery or fishing by a lake.

Star Wars Outlaws

Star Wars Outlaws stands as a redemption story of its own, overcoming early skepticism to win players over. While the game was a mess when it first came out, the developers have taken quite a bit of player feedback to then introduce a host of fixes to the game, from gameplay aspects like improving how stealth works, to the addition of plenty of story content through the release of two expansions. Star Wars Outlaws is a great way to experience the Star Wars universe without the baggage of having to play as a Jedi.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Assassin’s Creed Shadows represents something of a new leaf for the franchise. While many had found the last two releases—Valhalla and Odyssey—a bit too bloated, Shadows pulls its filler and padding back a bit, instead focusing on delivering a few core activities that are actually fun and make the world a joy to explore. It also finally takes the franchise to Japan, and introduces a pair of new protagonists: the stealthy Naoe and the fearsome Yasuke. The two have to work together to figure out the secrets behind Oda Nobunaga’s death, while also dealing with the machinations of an early form of the Templars.

The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered

While Skyrim might serve as a fantastic open-world RPG in its own right, its predecessor, Oblivion, was also a downright excellent game. And now, with the Remastered release, we can once more explore the lands of Cyrodiil as we take on the opening of the Oblivion Gates and a Daedric invasion. Along with this, there are also plenty of side-quests to take on, including a host of factions to join, from the fighter’s guild to the Dark Brotherhood. You can even simply become an arena fighter if that’s all you really want to do, it’s ultimately all up to you.

Atomfall

While Rebellion might be known for its excellent shooter series Sniper Elite, the studio decided to try something different with Atomfall. Rather than taking on Nazi soldiers on covert missions during World War 2, Atomfall instead has you scavenging for resources in a strange world where it is up to you to figure out the game’s story through your own skills of investigation and deduction. While there are plenty of fights you can still get into, you’ll want to be a lot more careful about the kinds of enemies you decide to take on, since you’re a lot more fragile and not as well-armed as you might be in a Sniper Elite game.

Sniper Elite: Resistance

While Rebellion has been experimenting with Atomfall, it still hasn’t left its Sniper Elite series behind. We also recently got the release of Sniper Elite: Resistance, where players take on the role of a brand new protagonist, SOE Agent Harry Hawker, who is taking on missions that run parallel to the events of Sniper Elite 5. Since it is ultimately a spin-off, Sniper Elite: Resistance features primarily the same gameplay as its predecessors, but with quite a bit more refinements in various things, from second-to-second gameplay all the way up to how its missions are structured.

Firewatch

Firewatch is a narrative adventure game where the goal is quite simple; on his first day at Firewatch tower Two Forks, protagonist Henry gets some interesting calls on his radio, which is otherwise only used to contact his supervisor who is based at the Thorofare tower. Things quickly start getting dark, and Henry must figure out who is calling him on the radio, and what exactly is up with his supervisor who he is yet to physically meet. Firewatch doesn’t really feature any combat. Rather, there is a focus on exploration and environmental storytelling, and it’s largely up to the player to figure out where to go and how to get there.

Dying Light

While there have been a couple of sequels out so far, the original Dying Light is still a game well worth playing thanks to its fantastic melee combat systems and parkour mechanics that make travelling through the streets and rooftops of the zombie-infected city of Haran. The story itself is also quite interesting, with protagonist Kyle Crane having been infected with the zombie virus and needing to find a way to curtail its symptoms before he ultimately turns. The title also features an interesting twist on the day-night cycle, with day time being safe for exploration but night time offering far greater rewards at the risk of the player having to deal with incredibly dangerous and more powerful zombies dubbed Volatiles. All of this combined with a fun crafting system that rewards creativity in your weapon choices make Dying Light often feel like it’s still the best game in the series so far.

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown

Until the release of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, the Ace Combat franchise felt like one of the worst-kept secrets in terms of how insane it can be both in terms of quality of gameplay and story. Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown tells a brand new story in the world of Strangereal, with the plot primarily revolving around a massive war between the Kingdom of Erusea and the Osean Foundation. The title features excellent arcade-style dogfighting combat with a host of fighter jets from the real world, as well as quite a few fictional jets for some added fun.

Half-Life 2

Quite an easy contender for one of the greatest games ever made, Half-Life 2 has a sprawling campaign that holds up even to this day thanks to the sheer amount of variety it presents to players, both in the form of different weapons and enemies, as well as the mechanics of various levels. The title was also important in introducing the physics engine that is part of Valve’s own Source engine, and the feature was on incredible display thanks to a weapon like the gravity gun. Throw on top an impressive story that is told in an incredibly minimalistic way without ever cutting to a cutscene, and it’s easy to see why Half-Life 2 is so widely regarded as being such a great game, even in 2025.

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

While PC as a platform is no stranger to first-person shooters, it is hard to argue that the Halo franchise isn’t one of the best that the genre has seen. Thankfully, thanks to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, players can experience almost the entirety of the Halo storyline, starting from the original Halo: Combat Evolved, its sequels Halo 2, Halo 3 and spin-offs ODST, Halo Reach, and even the start of 343 Industries’ (now Halo Studios) run with the franchise, Halo 4. The collection also offers a way to play all of the various games’ levels in remixed orders, following distinct themes like levels that focus on vehicles, for example, to focusing more on certain subplots. Halo: The Master Chief Collection is essentially the best way to experience a seminal shooter series, warts and all.

Monster Hunter Wilds

Quite possibly the most refined gameplay offered so far in the Monster Hunter franchise, Monster Hunter Wilds represents the pinnacle of the series, if not in its smaller roster of monsters when compared to its predecessors, then at least in its gameplay systems and massive, beautiful worlds. Monster Hunter Wilds features a short, fun story that takes you across the Forbidden Lands as you try to get young child Nata back to his family. Along the way you’ll get to take on several monsters, both new to the series as well as returning favourites, using the weapons of your choice out of 14 distinct options. Monster Hunter Wilds features plenty of gameplay refinements as well, including a mount system, as well as the ability to carry around two weapons that you can switch between mid-fight, which is great since each weapon feels like you’re playing a new game altogether.

Returnal

One of the rare instances of a AAA roguelite game, Returnal is an intense third-person shooter that puts players in the shoes of space pilot Selene Vassos who finds herself having crashed on an alien planet named Atropos. What follows is a psychedelic adventure as she tries to find the source of a mysterious signal called the White Shadow, but the twist is that Selene seems to be stuck in some kind of time loop where, every time she dies, she finds herself waking up at the moment of her ship’s crash. The title is filled with fast-paced and tense combat that has you dodging massive projectiles shot by strange creatures, and occasionally also getting your hands on upgrades for your weapons. The story itself is also quite interesting, pulling in plenty of allusions from myths as she tries to make it off Atropos alive.

Sleeping Dogs

Born from the ashes of the long-dead True Crime series of games, Sleeping Dogs is the closest we’ve ever gotten to having a Hong Kong action movie in video game form. The plot revolves around the adventures of undercover cop Wei Shen who must infiltrate a triad gang in order to take it down from the inside. When it comes to gameplay, Sleeping Dogs is an open-world game with several inter-mingling systems, from driving and vehicular combat, to melee combat with slick martial arts moves, and the occasional bouts of ranged combat when you can get your hands on a gun. The game wonderfully realises its setting of Hong Kong, often showing the stark contrasts between the cleaner commercial areas of the city and the but bright and colourful entertainment districts.

Metro Exodus

Whereas the first two games in the Metro series were more focused on offering linear experiences, Metro Exodus broadened its scope by a considerable amount by opting to set players free in more open environments. While far from an open-world game, Metro Exodus still provides quite a bit of freedom to players in terms of how they want to approach any situation. Along with this, the title also encourages plenty of exploration since, in keeping with series tradition, resources are scarce in Metro Exodus. Exploring is also a great way to get your hands on valuable upgrade materials to improve the arsenal of weapons you will ultimately end up using against not only human enemies, but mutated foes as well. The story is also quite interesting, since it revolves around Artyom, his wife Anna, and their friends the Rangers departing the Moscow Metro system in a train to explore the Russian wilderness.

Gears of War: Reloaded

When the original Gears of War first came out back in 2006, it was considered a mind-blowing experience for the time thanks to its visuals, as well as refinements over the turn-based shooter mechanics we had seen done much worse in plenty of other games. Gears of War: Reloaded, however, proves that the original title still holds up to this day thanks to its incredible campaign with plenty of set pieces, fun and varied weapons to play around with, and some downright fantastic visual upgrades that have been made to take better advantage of modern hardware.

Dead Cells

Dead Cells is one of those rare indie games that manages to get just about every single one of its aspects right. Even something as simple as movement and exploration feel great in the roguelite action game, and the level of variety on offer with the weapons, as well as the meta progression system that encourages not only mastery of the traversal systems, but also a willingness to explore, make just about every run of Dead Cells feel like a fun time. Throw on top some excellent pixel art that really makes its massive boss fights come to life, as well as the plethora of additional content – ends up making it very difficult to put the side-scroller down for good.

Detroit: Become Human

While games made by Quantic Dream might be quite divisive at times, Detroit: Become Human is outright the best title that the studio has put out so far. Featuring narrative-focused gameplay that largely involves having conversations and making choices at key moments, Detroit: Become Human tells three distinct stories in a world where humanity treats sentient androids that it has developed as slaves. All three stories have the player take on the role of a distinct android, where you have to figure out the complex moral quandaries that take place throughout the storylines.

Portal 2

When the first Portal came out, it was widely regarded as a radical new entry in a genre that was otherwise known to revolve around killing things. It ultimately ended up laying the foundations for what would become Portal 2 – a bigger, grander sequel in every way possible. Portal 2 takes place an unknown amount of time after the events of the first game, and has Chell once more pick up the portal gun to find her way out of the Aperture Science facility she’s trapped in. Along with GlaDOS returning once more as a major character, Portal 2 also features a new character in the form of Wheatley. We also get a lot of storytelling in the game, since quite a bit of it has you exploring ancient versions of the bathroom curtain company that would eventually become Aperture Science.

Outlast

There might be plenty of stealth-based horror games out there, but Outlast manages to be something quite special thanks to its use of some real-world history to build up its scare. Revolving primarily around the MK Ultra experiments that were conducted by the CIA, the game puts you into the shoes of independent journalist Miles Upshur who is trying to get the scoop on Mount Massive Asylum for the Criminally Insane. Unfortunately, owing to unethical experiments, most of its residents have essentially gone insane, and now Upshur must figure out how to survive and get out in one piece while also making sure he gets enough evidence along the way. Outlast also makes use of a handheld camera as its primary PoV device, since it offers a night vision mode. However, players will also have to keep a track of their battery consumption, since you don’t want to be trapped in the dark with murderous people around you.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Ostensibly the closest the Metal Gear franchise gets to having a “final” game since it takes place furthest into the future, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a major departure for the series. It trades in the tactical espionage action in favour of the more bombastic tagline of lightning bolt action, and puts you in the shoes of a fully cyborg-ised Raiden at the peak of his power. Developed by PlatinumGames, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance features a fantastic combat system that has an emphasis on not only long and vicious combos, but also parrying the enemy’s attacks to open them up for massive counter-attacks. This, along with the Zandatsu system that lets you cut just about everything, be it an enemy’s limbs or a bridge’s support, make Revengeance a treat to play. Throw on top an over-the-top but fun story about private military contractors and a cartoonishly evil US Senator and you have an explosive roller coaster.

Resident Evil

Before the remake of Resident Evil 2 back in 2019 was considered the high watermark for video game remakes, the series had already earned similar acclaim for its remake of the original Resident Evil. Originally released on the GameCube all the way back in 2002, the remake of the original Resident Evil eventually made its way to PC, complete with higher-resolution textures and all of the high-quality upgrades that it got over the original. Even after all these years, Resident Evil still manages to feel like a one-of-a-kind survival horror experience, thanks to its tight level design and generally excellent gameplay that melds environmental puzzle solving and tense action sequences, all while keeping you on the edge of your seat thanks to a constant scarcity of weapons and ammo.

Watch_Dogs 2

It’s no secret that the original Watch_Dogs was a bit of a disappointment, both in terms of its visuals, as well as its story and characters. The series’ second stab at the series in the form of Watch_Dogs 2, however, proved to be a much more interesting experience. Rather than focusing on the brooding Aiden Pearce, Watch_Dogs 2 instead stars a group of scrappy young adults as they venture into the real world to start their careers, but find themselves fighting against an authoritarian regime that is making use of high-tech surveillance technology to control the populace. Protagonist Marcus Holloway is a much more fun character than Pearce ever was, and the attempts of his rebel hacker crew, DedSec, to take down ctOS 2.0 are a wild, fun, and often emotional adventure.

Silent Hill f

After the Silent Hill franchise spent over a decade being missing from the overall gaming scene, the series made a bombastic return with last year’s remake of the seminal Silent Hill 2. A year later and now we even have a brand new entry in the stories franchise – Silent Hill f. The game takes place in the unique setting of a quaint Japanese finishing town in the 1960s, where school-going girl Hinako has a strained relationship with her parents and goes to meet her friends for some solace. However, a sinister fog starts covering the town of Ebisugaoka, and Hinako finds herself trapped and fighting for her life. While there is an emphasis on combat this time around, Silent Hill f is still able to effectively pull off the scares and tense atmosphere that the series is known for.

Dying Light: The Beast

The newest entry in the Dying Light franchise is seen as something of a return to form for the series. While Dying Light 2 Stay Human did well for developer Techland, the studio itself acknowledged that it had lost what made the original Dying Light great, and hence we get The Beast. Once more putting us into the shoes of Kyle Crane after the events of The Following, Dying Light: The Beast features improved parkour-based traversal over its predecessor, while also bringing in improvements to both melee and ranged combat, all of which is packaged into a fantastic new open world to explore with plenty of variety, both in terms of zombie types and the scenery.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

A reimagining of an absolute classic, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is a ground-up 3D remake of a seminal 2D sprite-based RPG. As its name implies, it is the first part of the expansive Trails franchise, and puts you in the shoes of Estelle Bright and her adopted brother Joshua as they set off as members of the peacekeeping guild, starting out as bracers and slowly working their way up. The Trails series, while long, absolutely features several stories well worth experiencing, and there is currently no better way to start your journey than with Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter.

Blue Prince

Puzzle games, especially in the indie space, tend to come in all sorts of shapes and sizes. Very rarely, however, does one show up that ends up feeling like a revelation. This is precisely what developer Dogubomb achieved with Blue Prince. The premise is quite simple: you are stuck in a mysterious manor – Mt. Holly – where the rooms shift around for no apparent reason. The core of the game is exploring the mansion, but the twist is that the player decides what the next room will be every time they open a door. Blue Prince has a wide gamut of puzzles for players to figure out as they try to make their way to the rumoured Room 46. To throw another wrench in your plans, the house once again shifts its rooms around every dawn. Blue Prince is the kind of game where you can spend anywhere from between 15 minutes to several hours at a stretch as you try to comb through the mysterious rooms of Mt. Holly to find a way to their destination.

Commandos: Origins

While the real-time tactical stealth series Commandos doesn’t really need much of an introduction, the latest release, Commandos: Origins, proves that the genre and style of gameplay still has legs in the modern day. Taking us all the way back to the origin of the World War 2 crew of commandos you play in the original Commandos, Commandos: Origins offers entirely new challenges throughout its various maps, all with more modernised gameplay thanks to updated visuals, as well as a large variety of objective types that will have you make use of just about every ability you and your crew can muster.

It essentially chronicles the tale of Kyle Crane in Dying Light and The Following expansion. As a mercenary venturing into Harran for the GRE, he learns the truth about the titular virus, evading the undead and working with residents of the Tower to fulfill his mission. After losing many friends, he ventures outside of the city to investigate rumors of a cure with the cult-like Children of the Sun.

Of course, things don’t pan out as expected, and one of two endings can occur. However, the video reveals that it was the GRE who captured him, leading to his imprisonment at the hands of the Baron.

Dying Light: The Beast picks up the plot several years later, with Kyle escaping and seeking revenge. For all the latest details, check out our feature.

The major update for Dying Light 2 Stay Human, referred to by Techland as the Stamina Patch for the game, will bring with it changes to how players roam around the game’s city of Villedor. With the update, core parkour moves will no longer have stamina costs associated with them. This will allow players to parkour around Villedor in a much more fluid manner.

The effects of the update will only apply before the Pilgrim’s Path quest and after the end of the Markers of Plague quest, which involve the player getting bit by a Volatile, and ending with an inhibitor being used at the end of the quest chain. Even after this, stamina will continue to be a crucial resource for things like combat, underwater swimming, and using the paraglider.

The update will also bring with it a host of bug fixes, including unclear messages that showed up on the screen for players in co-op that were kicked out of the game session by the host. Some of the technical issues fixed by the update also include bugs that could make players fall under the map, as well as various crashes. Check out the full list of changes below.

Along with this, Dying Light 2 Stay Human is also getting the G.R.E. Mascot Bundle, which allows players to don an outfit that makes them look like former G.R.E. mascot Globby the Elephant. The bundle also includes new equipment blueprints for a weapon as well as a plush grenade.

Dying Light 2 Stay Human Version 1.24 patch notes:

Game Updates

Co-Op

• Fixed an unclear message that appeared on screen after being kicked by the host

Tower Raid

• Fixed the issue where the “Lower Body Workout” bounty would count kicks on dead enemies
• Fixed the issue with the DIY Grenade displaying the wrong item name
• Fixed Sola’s 25th reward that showed the wrong item name
• Fixed an issue where Breach’s starting weapon used a tip mod of a different rarity than shown on the blueprint
• Fixed the issue with the Craft Parts Bundle item using the chest icon
• Fixed the issues with skin clipping through the Bad Office Day Outfit

Gameplay

• Flashlight rework during the main quest cutscenes and dialogues
• Revised select dialogues and scenes for a more streamlined story
• Fixed an issue where the co-op menu displayed the incorrect online status for friends
• Fixed the inconsistency with stamina regeneration when set to Tactical mode
• Fixed the issue with polearm animation in the menu
• Updated the “Immunity drain” text to read, “Immunity drain when being hit by an enemy”
• Fixed the issue where the hatch in “The Only Way Out” quest sometimes wouldn’t open

Technical

• Fixed the issue causing the player to fall under the map upon arriving at the Carnage Hall
• Fixed the issue with the Fire Brigade Cap Charm not being visible after attaching it to weapons
• Fixed the issue with charms changing size
• Fixed the issue with player’s inventory slots being blocked by certain non-droppable items of unique rarity
• Fixed various crashes
• Fixed visible clipping on the paraglider backpack from the Friend of Aiden Bundle
• Fixed the Terminal Headache trophy not registering when using firearms

“We wanted this to be a canon entry into the series,” said Smektala. “We’re looking back at what happened to Kyle Crane in the first game, and we want to tell the next chapter of the story.” He went on to say that Dying Light: The Beast is an attempt by the studio to “get back to what we know from Dying Light 1”.

A big part of this decision comes down to the ambiguity surrounding Dying Light protagonist Kyle Crane. Dying Light 2 Stay Human, for context, featured a completely new protagonist in a new setting. Crane’s fate, on the other hand, was left open to interpretation owing to choices in the final missions of the original game’s expansion, The Following.

Smektala revealed that the next game will give us a clearer idea of where the series goes next. A big part of this revolves around exploring the ultimate fate of Kyle Crane.

“One thing that Dying Light: The Beast does is hint at the future of the series,” he explained. “We really wanted to make sure that at the end of the game, Kyle Crane is where we want him to be, so that’s why we decided to back down from the narrative choices of Dying Light 2.”

Dying Light: The Beast seems like it’s shaping up to be an earnest attempt by Techland to undo some of the mistakes it believes to have made with Dying Light 2 Stay Human. In an earlier interview, Smektala spoke about how the title “sacrificed some of the Dying Light DNA” to appeal to a wider audience.

“Our fans were telling us ‘That’s not it, that’s not what made you so special,’” he said, referring to the studio wanting to provide a more polished AAA experience with Dying Light 2 Stay Human.

“We want to deliver both,” he said. “We want to deliver the AAA quality, but at the same time, we want to deliver proof that our mojo is not gone, that our mojo is not there, and we know what makes Dying Light, Dying Light. And if players say, ‘Wow, this feels like Dying Light 1, and it looks so amazing, it’s such a polished game’, then I think we’ll be very, very happy.”

Dying Light: The Beast is coming to PC, PS5 and Xbox Series X/S on August 22 and later this year for Xbox One and PS4.

Smektala said that “when we were releasing Dying Light 1, we were this underdog studio that no one expected to do such a kickass game as Dying Light was.” Further in the interview, he also acknowledged once again that the studio had left behind some of the aspects that made Dying Light so beloved when it came to working on Dying Light 2 Stay Human.

While Dying Light 2 Stay Human “was a commercial success,” Smektala went on to talk about how “maybe we made some missteps.” One of these missteps, he noted, was trying to get a wider audience for the sequel by making the game more accessible, but he also admits that the studio “sacrificed some of the Dying Light DNA.”

“Our fans were telling us ‘that’s not it, that’s not what made you so special,'” Smektala said, referring to the studio wanting to provide a more polished AAA experience with Dying Light 2 Stay Human. Ultimately, however, he notes that the studio is now aiming to provide players with both aspects – polish as well as the core Dying Light DNA.

“We want to deliver both,” he said. “We want to deliver the AAA quality, but at the same time, we want to deliver proof that our mojo is not gone, that our mojo is not there, and we know what makes Dying Light, Dying Light. And if players say ‘wow, this feels like Dying Light 1, and it looks so amazing, it’s such a polished game’, then I think we’ll be very, very happy.”

These recent comments echo what Smektala had said earlier this month about some of the decisions the studio made when it came to making Dying Light 2 Stay Human. “With [Dying Light 1], we really managed to create a game where every piece fit together, and maybe we didn’t appreciate it enough,” Smektała said.

“Dying Light 1 was a game for our core community. It was a hardcore survival horror, open world, action adventure with very strong survival aspects. For Dying Light 2, we forgot about it. The game was a commercial success, but the players who should be closest to our hearts said we kind of lost the edge, we lost the threat, we lost the horror, we lost the tension.”

He also spoke about how the studio sees Dying Light: The Beast as more of a proper sequel rather than a spin-off, despite the title’s origins as an expansion for Dying Light 2 Stay Human.

“Maybe the project started with a slightly smaller ambition, but we got so excited about Kyle Crane returning,” he said. “We got so excited about, actually, what we can do with this new iteration of the engine, how confident we feel about the gameplay mechanics.”

Dying Light: The Beast is coming to PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S on August 22.

Dying Light

Dying Light taps into what makes horror games so irresistible. It’s got a scarcity of resources, infected humans transforming into zombies, and the fear of nighttime adding anxiety on top of it all. And while most gamers would argue the best horror games are linear curated experiences in nature, Dying Light uses its open-world to ramp up the horror in ways only it could. Threats aren’t fully scripted and can come from pretty much any direction in the map. Similarly, scrounging for resources takes on a new life given the large dynamic environments. Dying Light 2 would take the parkour of the first one and really polish it up while adding a paraglider for faster traversal. Though fans still largely prefer the darker tone of the first game over the more colorful style of the sequel.

Days Gone

Want to simulate what it would be like to outrun and outgun an ocean of zombies out in an open field? Well, Days Gone is the closest thing to that experience on the gaming market – yet nothing could prepare us for the sheer size of hordes that the game would bless us with. While it would have been amazing to mow down zombie hordes using pick-up trucks or even a combine harvester, Days Gone limits its vehicles to primarily bikes. Still, the bike controls are quite smooth and ramming into zombies is a fun, though less ideal, way to squash their huge numbers. The icing on the horror cake are the stealth sequences, which make for some terrifying moments when swarms get alerted. Now if only we could finally get a sequel that gives us more vehicles to mow zombies down with.

The Evil Within 2

The world design of The Evil Within 2 may not be as open-ended as the previous games on this list, but it makes up for it in its tightly crafted narrative. Sebastian Castellanos’ mind is still reeling from the events of the first game, but he still has to rescue his daughter, Lily within the surreal Union labyrinth. The stakes are more personal here than in the first game, amplifying the psychological aspect tenfold. The semi-open world design adds some interesting side stories and secrets to discover, nicely contrasting the more claustrophobic sequences. Oh, and the bizarre, surreal world can even be experienced in first-person thanks to a 2018 update to the game.

Sons of the Forest

Being stranded on an island full of cannibals has to be one of the more harrowing concepts in horror, and Sons of the Forest executes it frighteningly well. The size of the island and its predominant forest biome is four times larger than the first game. The larger layout both helps the player and hinders them with helpful NPCs and a host of new terrors lurking in hidden corners of the map.

Ghostwire: Tokyo

After developing The Evil Within, Tango opted to go fully first-person with Ghostwire: Tokyo. The more intimate perspective combined with a supernaturally shifting environment enveloped in fog gave it a unique brand of horror. The game’s developer describes battles with the phrase ‘karate meets magic’. You’d think being adorned with such supernatural abilities neuters the sensation of helplessness a bit, but no, the many occultic monstrosities populating the possessed Tokyo are enhanced with even more terrifying abilities than the player character, making for an unpredictable and haunting journey.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Stalker 2, actually the fourth game in the series, was first announced way back in 2010. Typically, games with development hell history turn out poorly, but Stalker 2 nailed the post-apocalyptic premise and gameplay the series had been celebrated for prior. The limited inventory space and sparse resources within the Exclusion Zone make for a true survival experience. Add on a hunger and sleep meter and some reality-altering anomalies within the open-world and you’ve got a game sure to raise players’ blood pressure.

Dead Rising

This 2006 game may be the oldest on this list, but it’s also one of the most iconic in terms of open-world horror. Willamette Parkview Mall makes for a fantastic locale to combat hordes of flesh-hungry zombies. Part of the endless charm of the series is the sheer variety of weapons available to smash zombie brains with. The first Dead Rising hosts 250 weapons ranging from useful shotguns to fun props such as Mega Man’s Megabuster. The horror aspect, while less severe than others on this list, still comes into play when dozens of zombies close in on a defenseless and unaware Frank.

State of Decay 2

The State of Decay series has quickly become one of gaming’s most immersive zombie survival experiences. There’s few games that can match the feeling of building outposts and combating zombies together with other co-op partners quite like State of Decay 2. The series has always been primed for co-op, yet the first game lacked any multiplayer, being a purely solo affair. Besides the four-player co-op, the additional facilities and utilities, as well as a far more diverse map made for an improved gameplay loop. The improved open-world may have sacrificed some of the memorable story moments the first had, but the series is certainly headed in the right direction, giving us optimism for State of Decay 3.

Metro Exodus

Metro Exodus is another game that uses its semi-open world structure well. The Volga, Caspian Desert, and Taiga regions feel so distinct from each other, as opposed to the largely monotonous regions of previous games. But the game still hones in on those narrow tunnel corridors that the original did so well. The Metro series also evokes a peculiar sensation of dread with the semi-frequent hallucinations and horrific mutant creatures aptly named The Dark Ones.

Dead Island 2

Dead Island takes a more arcady and fun approach to its horror, though getting overwhelmed by zombies still provides some tense jump scare moments. The sequel partitions up its open world into regions, helping to make each area distinct. What really makes Dead Island 2 stand out from the rest is the environmental interactions. Most objects lying around can be used as weapons, and a number of hazards such as electric and fire can be used against zombie hordes.

Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare

Combining a spaghetti western wild west setting with a zombie apocalypse probably hasn’t been done in games before Red Dead did it with Undead Nightmare. It’s such a unique fusion of disparate elements, yet feels so satisfying and fun to experience. The addition of classic folklore monsters, from Chupacabras to Sasquatches, is just the cherry on top of a well blended horror-tinged desert of the Red Dead franchise.

Project Zomboid

Project Zomboid takes a unique twist on survival horror. It’s not about how you survive, but how you die in this game. Players are fated to get eliminated by a single slow zombie bite, yet the game manages to make this process rewarding and, above all, fun. The unlimited nature of sandbox mode puts all the tools in the player’s hands, giving control of the zombie population, weather patterns, and loot. It’s a top-down 2D game though, so if you’re just in the mood for a cinematic and graphically intensive horror experience, others on this list will have to substitute.

Once Human

One of the most recent entries on the list, Once Human prides itself on its community-focused gameplay. Players can craft and build base camps meant to serve as a home base within the game world. Hunger and sanity needs to be kept in check lest players lose their loot with a respawn. What helps separate Once Human from other multiplayer survival games is the wild creature design. I mean, there’s a walking bus monster that players can use for transportation for crying out loud. Once Human isn’t lacking in creative  charm.

Beyond Hanwell

Surprisingly overlooked despite its quality, Beyond Hanwell lets players loose in the rainy streets of Westminster London amid an outbreak of mutant anomalies. The sound and music in particular really create an unsettling atmosphere, which is further aided by the environmental details of within the first-person perspective. Your primary source of self-defense is a pistol and some other light weapons, but a bigger aspect of the game is simply exploring the old buildings for notes and objects that help uncover the mystery.

The Sinking City Remastered

Fans of Lovecraftian horror should check out The Sinking City if they haven’t already. It’s filled with a variety of weird monsters beyond the familiar mortal coil, and even features a mental stability meter that diminishes as you learn new truths. The semi-open environments help fill out the background lore of Oakmont well, and the motorboat is just plain fun to traverse the waters with.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl

Developer GSC Game World brought the S.T.A.L.K.E.R series back into the limelight with the recently released Heart of Chornobyl, which undoubtedly represents the peak of the series. It takes what worked in prior entries, and creates something that’s bigger and better in almost every way. It blends a modern gameplay framework with the brutal survival mechanics of past entries, and that culminates in an experience that’s sure to stay with you long after the credits roll.

Dying Light was released back in January 2015 to some great reviews, but it was not just a great zombie game that was just about slashing through hordes of zombies – it was a greater experience that encompassed elements of traversal, exploration, and character progression in a way that wasn’t really done before. 

Creating something that’s just as fun to interact with on a granular level, and binding those mechanics with other mechanics that are about working towards a larger goal can be a daunting task for most developers – and Techland’s graceful execution of these elements is what makes it stand out from contemporaries. Dying Light is an open-world game first and foremost, and it’s tapestry of many mechanics excellently balance player engagement on both on a moment-to-moment basis and at a macro scale. But how does it achieve that exactly? 

Of course, the biggest part of crafting that moment-to-moment fun has to be the parkour system. Open-world games usually struggle to answer the question of how to make the simple act of traversing from point A to point B innately fun, but Dying Light’s parkour system is a shining example of how to do just that. Techland takes cues from the right places like Mirror’s Edge, and crafts a parkour system that’s just as much an engaging way of traversal as it is a way of expressing yourself through the movements. 

Just getting from point A to point B is equivalent to solving a puzzle as you carefully chart your way across ledges and rooftops. Unlike Mirror’s Edge or Uncharted, parkour isn’t just about holding a set of buttons and watching the protagonist gracefully scale up large buildings, Dying Light makes parkour intentional and prone to errors – so you gradually get better at getting across these spaces through the practice of these mechanics. Furthermore, using your tools and gaining knowledge about the layout of the world also helps in uncovering quicker routes – which yields a tangible improvement in the moment-to-moment gameplay.

Techland had prior experience working on the original Dead Island, a game that can be considered as a base of what makes Dying Light so special. Dead Island’s melee-based combat system was fun, functional, and fluid and those mechanics would neatly translate over to the developer’s bigger project. It’s not without its fair share of rough edges, but in broad strokes – Dying Light does create a convincing system that’s really fun to engage with. 

On the surface level, it’s a rather simple act where you just get a couple of attack types and you have to mix and match to string together attacks and bring down zombies one after another. But what adds depth to this system are the elements that surround it, starting with the weapons. You can find different kinds of weapons, ranging from blunt baseball bats to sharp knives, and more. Each of these weapons has different animations that add more variety. There’s also weapon durability which depletes with each hit you land, so that adds a layer of survival strategy to your acts of offense. 

Crafting weapons is also a standout feature that helps even the odds against the frustrations that might stem from a durability system. You can find resources that are found scattered throughout the world and use them to create different sorts of weapons, and you can also use additional elements to enchant these weapons like electricity which in turn help in dealing more damage to your enemies. It’s an important element of the combat system, and ensuring appropriate resources will help increase your survival chances in long encounters. 

While melee weapons are the primary focus in Dying Light, you also get access to ranged weaponry late in the game. Pistols and assault rifles can be used to pop heads from afar, but the noise generated from firing these weapons will attract more zombies to your area which prevents it from becoming a cheap crutch to mow down hordes of enemies with relative ease. It’s a thoughtful design decision that adds a new option for offense but keeps the focus on the melee combat which encourages you to interact with the game in a rather specific way.

These elements come together to create something that just works beautifully. You might find yourself landing amidst a bunch of zombies while traversing from point A to point B, and you would start fighting a few of them to create an opening to escape because engaging in pointless combat would just deplete your resources which might be better utilized somewhere else. 

Then there’s the open world, which is absolutely the beating heart of any game of this ilk. Techland has done a great job of creating a virtual world that’s as functional as it is beautiful to look at. The city has its own beauty, the glimpses of which can be seen amidst the horrors of the apocalypse. It’s a densely packed map with plenty of buildings and routes, and the geometric complexity on offer is stunning and on par with something like Dishonored. 

And it’s not just for show, either. It’s packed with several side quests, which aren’t just cookie-cutter activities that many had come to expect from such games. Dying Light’s side quests introduce new characters and take you through mini vignettes, immersing you further in the experience. Engaging with such side quests remains a fun affair, and the rewards that you earn from completing such content can prove to be pretty meaningful in the long run.

That neatly brings us over to the player progression, which is an important part of any large open-world game such as Dying Light, and players need to have some sort of overarching motivation to really sink their teeth into the game and explore these optional aspects to gain more experience. Instead of just settling for an RPG-esque skill tree where arbitrary numbers just keep going up with each earned level, Dying Light has separate skill trees depending on the kind of playstyle that you wish to buy into. These skills unlock new passive and active abilities and tricks that are actual additions to your toolkit, and not just better variants of previous moves.

And the sense of progression is pretty real too. During the initial hours, handling even a few zombies can seem like a daunting task as weapons can break easily and each enemy can take quite a number of hits before actually going down. However, as you get to really understand the mechanics and get a few skills and tactics under your belt – you will be swapping weapons and juggling large groups of zombies without breaking a sweat. Dying Light transforms you from a petty prey to a fierce predator, and the journey of earning that power fantasy is something that will keep you hooked for hours upon hours. 

The story might not be something to write home about, but Dying Light’s story does create a convincing narrative that not only serves the purpose of getting you through what it has to offer but also provides a few memorable moments along the way. The writing and characters here are mostly passable, and the overarching plot is simple enough which makes it easy to follow. Rais is a great villain who commands a lot of attention in any scene, and having such characters in the cast helps in creating a largely convincing story.

Another aspect of what makes Dying Light is the extent of post-launch support that Techland has given to this game. In addition to a great post-launch expansion pack in the form of The Following which added entirely new mechanics like buggy riding, Techland also released plenty of free content updates that added a lot of new substantial stuff – in turn adding longevity to a traditionally single-player game in a way that we did not come to expect in an era where developers charged extraneous amounts for new maps or cosmetic skins. 

Again, Dying Light was not a game without a few flaws. The narrative can have inconsistent writing and relies on tried and tested survival horror tropes too much, the first-person parkour can take some time to get used to, and similar petty issues do exist in the combat side of things. However, the way these mechanics come together to create a living, breathing world and how each mechanic is built with strong intent helps it stand out from the crowd. It was a lighting-in-the-bottle kind of moment for developer Techland, and while Dying Light 2 would go on to expand some of these mechanics – it never earned similar levels of praise from the critics or players. 

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

Techland is celebrating the franchise’s 10th anniversary this year and, to mark the occasion, the developer has several Dying Light projects planned. In a press release, it stated that it intends to “continue the series with multiple unannounced projects”.

What those unannounced projects will look like is anyone’s guess. One would imagine that Techland will want to release a Dying Light 3 sooner rather than later. However, continued post-launch support for Dying Light 2 Stay Human isn’t out of the question either (especially considering how long Dying Light 1 was supported).

Beyond additional upcoming titles, Techland says it is also looking to expand the Dying Light IP with “new board games, exclusive merchandise, original webcomic series, and more.”

Meanwhile, Summer 2025 will see the launch of standalone spinoff Dying Light: The Beast for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC.