A recap: of the seven hopefuls I slipped into our bulk 2025 listing of “Oh, that appears alright” video games, best 3 in reality launched in 2025, and certainly one of them wasn’t excellent. If it’s the hope that kills you, I’m due to this fact useless 4, arguably 5 occasions over. Actual Necron shit, in truth.
For 2026, then, I’m enjoying it protected, best stating for video games whose builders/publishers have outright mentioned they’re due subsequent 12 months. That implies no Resistor, no Clockwork Revolution, and most certainly no Area Marine 3 – however, palms crossed, sure to extra Regulate and extra rad educate flips. I’d have the Steam Device right here as neatly, if it had been a sport and no longer a field for taking part in them.
Regulate Resonant
Freshly Geoffed and showed for 2026, Regulate Resonant seems like giant, daring chance-taker of a sequel. It’s a melee brawler as a substitute of every other shooter, you play as former brainwashed villain Dylan Faden as a substitute of his sister and authentic Regulate lead Jesse, and the brutalist megastructure this is The Oldest Space opens up into the sunny streets of New York Town. Nonetheless, the divulge trailer is dripping within the logic-breaking weirdness that gave Regulate its distinct flavour, and it’s no longer just like the loss of weapons is a few painful loss – the most efficient portions of preventing as Jesse had been flying round and psychically punting desks at monsters, no longer plinking them with a pistol. In that regard, Dylan turns out simply as proficient.
Denshattack
I’ve performed Denshattack’s demo and it’s a pleasure: face-rearrangingly speedy, outrageously vibrant arcade educate using sport with Tony Hawk flips ‘n’ grinds, all offered with a gleeful put out of your mind for a way little sense that makes. Now and again I’m wondering how it will maintain the sense of breakneck absurdity around the period of a complete sport, however then I see large baseballs smashing into tracks, mechanical sandworms knocking over skyscrapers, and laser battles towards sizzling red robots, then recall that I actually rode a dislodged Ferris wheel into an erupting volcano. I’m certain it’ll be advantageous.
Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core
Whilst it’s not likely 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 keeping track of because it tunnels its manner into early get entry to. But even so being all roguelikey, the brand new dwarf categories glance impressively various – a contemporary beta added one that accommodates couple of minutes rewinds into her package – and there’s simply one thing eerily interesting about exploring Rogue Core’s deserted mining networks, by contrast to the purely herbal and untouched subterranean biomes of the unique sport. Glance on my works, ye fictional useful resource extraction corporate, and melancholy.
Planet of Lana II
Planet of Lana II – or Planet of Lana II: Kids of the Leaf, it’s inconsistent on which – is said to be two times the scale of the stunning puzzle-platformer that got here ahead of it. I’m no longer too that, given certainly one of Planet of Lana’s strengths was once its nimble pacing, however I’m completely up for extra tag-team puzzlesolving with alien BFF Mui and a couple of dozen extra monitors of gawp-worthy science fiction surroundings within the background. That is every other one I performed, in demo shape, previous this 12 months, and I think that the sequel’s higher breadth is the results of the puzzles themselves being embiggened: a unmarried series concerned diving all the way down to a seabed, dragging Mui around the floor the usage of 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 numerous brainpower for one woman and her catchimp.
Just right Boy
Observer Interactive name Just right Boy a “Petroidvania”, at the grounds that the sentient house rovers you meet whilst exploring its forgotten planet – as a wheely robotic your self – are all in line with the builders’ personal canine. Groan on the pun when you should however you might have a center of stone, and a intellect of plasterboard, when you don’t in finding that idea a captivating one. Rolling from area to area is a comfy, nonviolent affair: you seize alien bugs to release new areas with their powers, however can liberate them afterwards, and making everlasting chassis upgrades comes to returning to the bottom of a pleasant human spaceman who kindly means that you can use his crafting machines. You’re a just right boy, finally.
Highguard, perhaps
Good bit of umming and ahhing right here, people. Highguard may just be sensible: it’s a aggressive FPS from a studio, Wildlight Leisure, that’s in large part made from ex-senior devs for Titanfall, Titanfall 2, and Apex Legends, 3 of the most efficient aggressive FPS video games up to now decade. It’s additionally but every other hero shooter with the sort of bland aesthetic, regardless of mixing trendy weapons with ye olde myth, that you must lose monitor of it in a bowl of porridge. My present plan is to check out it out – it’ll be loose to play – and let the gunplay do the speaking. Perhaps the horseriding, as neatly.
