Gaming
Games
The best games of 2017 so far
Never miss a great game with our list of the top titles you should be playing this year.
Looking for great new games to play? This is the place to be as we’re going to keep you up to date with the best games of 2017 as they’re released.
Discover more about each of the top games of 2017 below.
Splatoon 2 (Nintendo Switch)
Splatoon 2
© Nintendo
Just like its predecessor, Splatoon 2 sees Nintendo once again flipping the bleak and violent shooter genre on its head, turning online fragging into a refreshingly joyous and colourful experience. Boasting an all new campaign, a bucket load of additional weapons and abilities and the brilliant new Left 4 Dead-esque Salmon Run mode, Splatoon 2 takes the original’s grin-inducing splatting and improves it in almost every way. Thanks to the added graphical grunt of the Switch, the ink-fuelled mayhem looks better than it ever has before, with detailed stages and character models oozing more personality than the poor Wii U’s processor could handle.
Yet, what truly makes Splatoon 2 special is that now, you can dive into the series' magical multiplayer wherever you go. Thanks to the portability of the Switch, you can settle down for a quick bout of online splatting in your local Whetherspoons, while waiting at the airport or anywhere else you can track down a sturdy Wi-Fi connection. It may not be the most innovative sequel, but Splatoon 2 takes so much joy in subverting standard shooter conventions that it’s gleeful splatting becomes utterly infectious. If you’re looking for a game that personifies online fun, look no further than Splatoon 2 .
DiRT 4 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Then there’s the new Your Stage mode, a series of procedurally generated custom courses in Australia, USA, Wales, Sweden and Spain. You can select the length and the complexity and you’re ready to go on a thrilling, yet testing ride. Throw in rallycross and the opportunity to race classic cars, and you’ve got another Codemasters classic. One that looks and sounds great, too.
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Tekken 7 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
With Injustice 2, Marvel Vs Capcom and Tekken 7 being released this year, it’s a golden age for fighting games. Tekken – with its brand of 3D punching and kicking - helped push the beat 'em up forwards when the original PlayStation game was released in 1994, and while the seventh game in the series could never hope to do the same, it is still a fantastic fighter.
So expect a great looking Tekken game with 38 playable characters, including some excellent new fighters such as kickboxer Josie Rizal, Lucy Chloe, who has a freestyle dance fighting style, and the ninja Master Raven. There are loads of new moves to learn but, partly thanks to Rage Arts, which enables you to perform a match-saving combo when you’re on low health, it is accessible.
Injustice 2 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Wonder Woman aside, fans of DC have been poorly served on the big screen, with Batman Vs Superman: Dawn of Justice being the most headcrushingly dull. However, the sight of these superheroes beating each up needn’t be tedious – just get Injustice 2 for proof.
Batman is clashing wth Superman over their means of dealing out justice to criminals, but the pair come together to fight a greater enemy in Brainiac. Introducing niche characters alongside the superstars, DC fans will love it, even when the plot gets a bit daft.
This is all about the fighting, and not only is it accessible for newcomers, fans of the genre will enjoy taking time to master characters from Flash to Green Lantern and Cheetah. It looks great, too, with some of the super moves being worthy of that big screen. This time in a good way. Maybe Netherealm should be put in charge of the next big DC film.
Persona 5 (PS4)
Picture the worst person you know – now imagine that you had the power to truly change them. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, that’s the fantasy that Persona 5 sells. Setting you loose on the streets of Tokyo, you play as a misunderstood high school kid who accidentally discovers that they have the power to travel to the shadow world. Wielding Personas – creatures who reflect a person’s true nature – our protagonist and his lovable bunch of high schoolers set out to take down Tokyo’s biggest and baddest by defeating them in the shadow world.
Featuring a strict calendar based format, players have to choose how best to balance their real world and shadow world activities. While that may sound dull, the amount of different ways you can choose to spend your time results in a brilliantly absorbing bit of time management.
Combining a mix of brilliantly stylized menus, richly detailed character models and even fully drawn anime cutscenes, Persona 5 boasts a giddy blend of eye-catching aesthetics. With literally hundreds of hours of content, highly memorable characters and a soundtrack that will spend days rattling around in your head – Persona 5 is a wonderfully unique turn-based RPG that deserves to be played.
Horizon Zero Dawn (PS4)
Guerrilla Games' new open world adventure introduces us to Aloy, a great new hero with bow and arrow skills that Katniss Everdeen would be proud of. You have to hep her survive in a dangerous, yet beautiful pst apocalyptic world in which humans are living in tribes and huge, mechanical dinosaurs are roaming the land.
Aloy is on her own as she was outcast from her tribe from an early age, but she has a focus accessory which enables her to spot the weaknesses of enemies. First and foremost, it's an excellent stealth adventure as Aloy hides in the grass, using her traps to take out the machines, before looting them and crafting new weapons with their resources. The world that Guerrilla have created is so stunning, you'll relish every moment.
Halo Wars 2 (Xbox One, PC)
Creative Assembly (Total War) have brought their strategy skills to consoles with Halo Wars 2, an RTS that should appeal to both Halo devotees and fans of the genre. Continuing the story 28 years after the events of Halo 5, it sees you controlling your forces against the Banished, a faction led by the powerful Atriox.
Many familiar Halo vehicles are present and it's great watching the Warthog ram enemies. Of course, with bases to protect, resources to build and rival troops to take out you'll have more to think about than simply blasting your enemy, but for newcomers to the RTS scene, there is a fun Blitz mode that has you building a deck of digital Halo cards and sending your units onto the battlefield. There's something for everyone here.
For Honor (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
For Honor
© Ubisoft
Ubisoft's For Honor has been described as a historical hack n slash game, but you can't just mindlessly mash buttons to take out the enemy. In fact, this has more in common with a fighting game as you have to watch your opponents' moves, block them and attack when you see an opening. Finishing off the enemy with a crunching blow through your enemy's armour provides a bloody thrill.
Playing as a knight, viking or samurai, you need to use both your brain and your combo skills as you battle using the fun twin analogue stick fighting system. Sure, the single-player campaign is short and throwaway – even if it does feature some exciting action set-pieces – but its at its best in multiplayer, especially if you can form a clan with your online mates, before getting stuck into the global faction war. Best learn the ways of the samurai, knight and viking in the campaign first though.
Nioh (PS4)
Nioh is inspired by Dark Souls
© Team Ninja
Nioh sees Team Ninja (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive) moving away from its hack and slash roots for a compelling action-RPG, which follows the story of English samurai William Adams. Set in the 1600s – at the end of the Japanese warring states era - William has to use his ninjutsu skills against samurais, ninjas and thieves, while also practising Onmyo Magic against ghosts, spirits and yokai, supernatural monsters from Japanese folklore.
Yakuza 0 (PS4)
Yakuza 0
© Sega
Yakuza 0 is an 1980s-set prequel to the Japanese gangster series that has been going since 2005, so even if you've never played one of Sega's open-word crime games before, you can jump right in here.
If you are a Yakuza newcomer, you may find it a little slow-moving at first as you have to listen to and read a lot of dialogue. The long cut-scenes are broken up some head-cracking action as your character beats up scores of thugs in scenes that are as brutal as anything in The Raid films. Then you can play a game of darts!
Yes, the daft side-quests and mini-games (everything from the aforementioned darts to dancing and baseball) break up the story as you roam the neon streets of Tokyo and Osaka, but as it sucks you in to the tales of Kiryu and Majima, you'll actually want to get to the next cut-scene to continue your journey. With 80+ hours of gameplay, it is an epic one.
Resident Evil 7 (PS4, Xbox One, PC)
Resident Evil 7
© Capcom
It can’t be denied that Resident Evil 4 gave Capcom’s horror series a much needed shake-up, but the increased focus on action led to mixed results in the games that followed, with Resident Evil 6, in particular, being criticised for moving too far away from its survival roots.
By returning to a mansion, it looks like Capcom is going back to basics, but Resident Evil 7 is so much more than a nostalgic reboot. If anything, with its all-new first-person viewpoint amplifying the horror, it's a dramatic reinvention.
With the story of Ethan Winter’s search for his presumed-dead wife playing out like a mix of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Evil Dead, it’s one of the most terrifying Resi games yet – not only is it packed with jump scares, but the fact that you have to look after your ammo carefully ramps up the tension. Admittedly, Ethan’s journey is fairly linear and accomplished gamers will complete Resi 7 in around 10-12 hours, but, to be honest, it would be hard to cope with 40 hours in this horrific house. Only the bravest souls will be able to handle playing in VR.
Gravity Rush 2 (PS4)
Beautiful-looking manga action starring Kat, a superhero with gravity shifting powers that enable her to travel through the air, lift up objects and smash into monsters. It’s head-spinning stuff as Kat soars through the sky, often crash-landing into the wrong side of a floating island, but you can correct yourself by playing with gravity.
With so much to take in (a lengthy tutorial makes for a slow start), Gravity Rush 2 does require a little patience, especially when Kat’s powers send her zooming off in the opposite direction of an enemy, but when it all comes together and you smackdown huge, screen-filling bosses, it’s great fun. If you want to try something different in 2017, give this a go.
