Best Action Games 2016

The Best PC Games of 2016

TopTen Action Games 2016

1.Batman: Arkham City

"If you liked X, you'll love Y!" might be the cheapest of critical plaudits, but sometimes nothing else will do. So here goes: If you liked Batman: Arkham Asylum, you'll love Batman: Arkham City. Developer Rocksteady Studios borrows everything from Asylum that worked (thrilling fighting, excellent voice acting), though it delivers far less innovation. This makes Arkham City derivative, but the game's packed with enough goon-busting fun that it still stands as one of the PC's best action games.

2.Far Cry Primal

With Far Cry Primal, developer Ubisoft abandons all political pretenses and focuses on what made Far Cry stand out from its peers when the series debuted: the open-world sandbox. You play as a Stone Age hunter named Takkar, and your goal is to secure a safe haven for your people, the wandering Wenja tribe, in the prehistoric realm of Oros. Melee combat and beast companions set Primal apart from past Far Cry games and make exploration feel much more personal and engaging. But its story is simpler and more straightforward, so if you were hoping for eccentric villains and outlandish melodrama, Primal may leave you a tad disappointed.

3.Rise of the Tomb Raider

Fresh and wide-eyed from her exploits in Japan, the young and ambitious explorer Lara Croft is pitted against a cult of fanatical zealots in pursuit of immortality. Rise of the Tomb Raider features more of the spectacular set pieces, powerful combat, and tricky puzzles that made the 2013 Tomb Raider reboot so well received by critics and fans alike. Series fans may get a distinct feeling of déjà vu when running through the similarly styled gameplay scenarios and platforming sections, but Rise of the Tomb Raider is a solid action-adventure title.

4.Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition

Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition takes everything that made Capcom's original 2008 release an impressive action game and expands on it. The game includes the Legendary Dark Knight enemy horde mode that was added to the original PC port, as well as three new playable characters, improved visuals, and subtle gameplay tweaks. Some of the weaker aspects of the original release, such as the repetitive story campaign, remain and slightly tarnish an otherwise brilliantly polished title. Overall, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition is a rock-solid action game that is well worth picking up for fans of the series and action buffs alike.

5.Dead Rising 2: Off The Record

Frank West returns to zombie-slaying action in Dead Rising 2: Off The Record. Capcom's reimagining Dead Rising 2 sees the gruff photojournalist facing off against a wider array of monsters, building new weapons, snapping photos, and best of all, mixing it up in a new open-world sandbox mode. Stomping the undead is fun—for a while—but bugs and repetitive gameplay keep Dead Rising 2 from achieving true greatness.

6.Dead Island

When Techland's Dead Island trailer debuted, it featured one of the most moving video game sequences ever produced: a small child and her family being slaughtered by zombies against the backdrop of a soft, haunting Giles Lamb musical score. Dead Island's gameplay doesn't quite match the trailer's promise, but the open-world action-RPG offers a very solid zombie-slaying good time as you craft weapons and try to stay alive in an island paradise gone wrong.

7.Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Konami's Metal Gear Solid series is known for its stealth-based gameplay, but its spin-off, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, is a straight hack-and-slash action game starring stooge-turned-badass, Raiden. Developer Platinum Games bundles the game with numerous goodies not associated with the original console version, including graphical enhancements and three DLC packages that were separate console purchases—all at a reasonable price. In short, if you liked the console version of Revengeance, you'll dig this one, too, despite the occasional rough camera angle and frame rate drop.

8.Killer Is Dead: Nightmare Edition

Goichi Suda (aka Suda51) is the Robert Rodriguez of the video game industry. The Japanese developer crafts projects noted for their style, edginess, and violence, but once you peep beneath the cool veneer, the work is exposed as a somewhat empty, if fun, experience. Such is Suda51's Killer Is Dead: Nightmare Edition, a Steam game that stars a cybernetically enhanced assassin named Mondo Zappa who slays vampires, mystics, and other monstrosities for a government agency. Killer Is Dead is dripping with Suda51's trademark humor, character swag, and fast-paced action, but it lacks the killer level design and supporting elements that would elevate the game to the top of its genre.

9.Arslan: The Warriors of Legend

Koei Tecmo's Arslan: The Warriors of Legend takes Dynasty Warriors' absurd, large-scale action warfare, adds stylistic anime flourish, and puts it all an interesting and unexpected setting: pseudo-fantastic Persia. The game features more than a dozen characters with over-the-top attacks slapping around hundreds of similar looking, brain-dead mooks across a variety of themed maps. The Persian architecture, high level of detail, and the politically charged story that's ripped straight from the anime series give Arslan: The Warriors of Legend enough substance to be worth your consideration.

10.hadow Complex Remastered

The original Shadow Complex is a 2.5D platform-adventure game that became an Xbox 360 cult classic thanks to its fast-paced, exploration-heavy gameplay. The title has since received the remaster treatment, which gives the beloved game updated graphics, hard-hitting new contextual melee attacks, and Master Challenges. The run-and-gun game's plot and voice acting don't quite match the rest of the stellar package, but if you can overlook those ills, you'll find an excellent title that's well worth the $14.99 price.