A recap: of the seven hopefuls I slipped into our bulk 2025 listing of “Oh, that appears alright” video games, solely three really launched in 2025, and one among them wasn’t superb. If it’s the hope that kills you, I’m subsequently lifeless 4, arguably 5 instances over. Actual Necron shit, truthfully.
For 2026, then, I’m enjoying it secure, solely declaring for video games whose builders/publishers have outright mentioned they’re due subsequent 12 months. Which means no Resistor, no Clockwork Revolution, and possibly no House Marine 3 – however, fingers crossed, sure to extra Management and extra rad prepare flips. I’d have the Steam Machine right here as properly, if it had been a recreation and never a field for enjoying them.
Management Resonant
Freshly Geoffed and confirmed for 2026, Management Resonant appears like large, daring chance-taker of a sequel. It’s a melee brawler as an alternative of one other shooter, you play as former brainwashed villain Dylan Faden as an alternative of his sister and unique Management lead Jesse, and the brutalist megastructure that’s The Oldest Home opens up into the sunny streets of New York Metropolis. Nonetheless, the reveal trailer is dripping within the logic-breaking weirdness that gave Management its distinct flavour, and it’s not like the dearth of weapons is a few painful loss – the very best elements of preventing as Jesse had been flying round and psychically punting desks at monsters, not plinking them with a pistol. In that regard, Dylan appears simply as gifted.
Denshattack
I’ve performed Denshattack’s demo and it’s a pleasure: face-rearrangingly quick, outrageously vibrant arcade prepare driving recreation with Tony Hawk flips ‘n’ grinds, all offered with a gleeful disregard for a way little sense that makes. Generally I’m wondering the way it may maintain the sense of breakneck absurdity throughout the size of a full recreation, however then I see big baseballs smashing into tracks, mechanical sandworms knocking over skyscrapers, and laser battles in opposition to scorching pink robots, then recall that I actually rode a dislodged Ferris wheel into an erupting volcano. I’m positive it’ll be wonderful.
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core
Whereas it’s unlikely to switch vanilla DRG as my dwarven co-op shooter of selection, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core is sufficient of a considerable reconfiguring that I’ll be maintaining a tally of because it tunnels its method into early entry. In addition to being all roguelikey, the brand new dwarf courses look impressively various – a latest beta added one who incorporates quick time rewinds into her package – and there’s simply one thing eerily interesting about exploring Rogue Core’s deserted mining networks, in distinction to the purely pure and untouched subterranean biomes of the unique recreation. Look on my works, ye fictional useful resource extraction firm, and despair.
Planet of Lana II
Planet of Lana II – or Planet of Lana II: Kids of the Leaf, it’s inconsistent on which – is claimed to be twice the scale of the stunning puzzle-platformer that got here earlier than it. I’m not too keen about that, given one among Planet of Lana’s strengths was its nimble pacing, however I’m completely up for extra tag-team puzzlesolving with alien BFF Mui and some dozen extra screens of gawp-worthy science fiction surroundings within the background. That is one other one I performed, in demo kind, earlier this 12 months, and I think that the sequel’s elevated breadth is the results of the puzzles themselves being embiggened: a single sequence concerned diving all the way down to a seabed, dragging Mui throughout the floor utilizing a retrieved, shapeshifting plant, anxiously swimming previous sharks, having Mui mind-control a fish, then blowing out ink clouds to help in extra anti-shark stealth. That’s a whole lot of brainpower for one woman and her catchimp.
Good Boy
Observer Interactive name Good Boy a “Petroidvania”, on the grounds that the sentient area rovers you meet whereas exploring its forgotten planet – as a wheely robotic your self – are all based mostly on the builders’ personal canine. Groan on the pun should you should however you will have a coronary heart of stone, and a thoughts of plasterboard, should you don’t discover that idea an enthralling one. Rolling from area to area is a relaxed, nonviolent affair: you seize alien bugs to unlock new areas with their powers, however can launch them afterwards, and making everlasting chassis upgrades includes returning to the bottom of a pleasant human spaceman who kindly permits you to use his crafting machines. You’re a good boy, in any case.
Highguard, perhaps
Good bit of umming and ahhing right here, of us. Highguard might be good: it’s a aggressive FPS from a studio, Wildlight Leisure, that’s largely comprised of ex-senior devs for Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Apex Legends, three of the very best aggressive FPS video games previously decade. It’s additionally yet one more hero shooter with such a bland aesthetic, regardless of mixing trendy weapons with ye olde fantasy, that you may lose monitor of it in a bowl of porridge. My present plan is to strive it out – it’ll be free to play – and let the gunplay do the speaking. Perhaps the horseriding, as properly.
