It’s hard to believe we are only halfway through the rough and tumble year that is 2020. With the pandemic pushing the release dates of some of the most anticipated games of 2020 back it’s been easy to lose sight of all the great titles that have already released this year. This mid-year list has everything from battle royales to VR and everything in between. There are some great games still planned for release in the second half of the year, but there’s still time to check out the 10 best games of 2020 so far.
10 – Call of Duty Warzone
- Release Date: March 10, 2020
- Developer: Infinity Ward
- Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
In the already crowded battle royale gamespace, Infinity Ward decided to throw their hat into the ever-shrinking circle with Call Of Duty Warzone. New mechanics like the second chance Gulag, along with the familiarity of the Call Of Duty maps and loadouts, mean this free to play portion of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare could be the last man standing.
9 – MotoGP 20
- Release Date: April 23, 2020
- Developer: Milestone
- Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch
24 hours. That’s how much longer MotoGP 20 has before it loses its best of 2020 spot assuming F1 2020 is as good as I expect it will be when it releases tomorrow. Even so, MotoGP 20 offers racers a totally different feel than the 4-wheeled racers out there. If you’re tired of all the usual tracks and can race a full F1 series blindfolded, MotoGP 20 is a new challenge to master.
8 – Doom Eternal
- Release Date: March 20, 2020
- Developer: id Software
- Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Stadia
Just one of the several franchise additions in 2020, Doom Eternal gives us another helping of fast-paced chaos on the highway to hell (queue up the AC/DC music here). Don’t expect any stealth mechanics in Doom Eternal. Hell, you don’t even have a chance to catch your breath as you plow through one demonic foe after another with iconic weapons like the chainsaw and the BFG.
7 – Gears Tactics
- Release Date: April 28, 2020
- Developer: The Coalition
- Platform(s): Xbox One, PC
The Gears Of War franchise has always had a slow, lumbering feel to its cover-based combat. With Gears Tactics that slow pace is converted into a turn-based fight like that found in the X-Com series. Set as a prequel to the original Gears Of War, Gears Tactics still brings all of the staples you have grown to love in a Gears fight – Locusts, grenades, and most importantly the blood, gore, and guts of enemy executions.
6 – Minecraft Dungeons
- Release Date: May 26, 2020
- Developer: Mojang Studios
- Platform(s): PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch
Truth be told I probably wouldn’t have ever played Minecraft Dungeons if it wasn’t on Xbox Game Pass. Now I can’t stop playing. Minecraft Dungeons isn’t the most complex dungeon crawler out there. Instead, the relatively simple gameplay is easy to grasp, allowing fans of the original game to jump into Minecraft Dungeons with little to no knowledge of ARPGs. Later, as you begin to sink more and more hours into the game, the complexity of combining weapons, armor, artifacts, and enchantments begins to reveal itself making the typical grind of hack and slash games worth it.
5 – Ori And The Will Of The Wisps
- Release Date: March 11, 2020
- Developer: Moon Studios
- Platform(s): Xbox One, PC
March was the big release month for the first half of the year and Ori And The Will Of The Wisps was one of the brightest stars of the group. Ori is so much more than your typical 2-D platformer. The epic story, amazing soundtrack, and beautiful backdrops allow this platformer to transcend a flat plane and deliver an emotional journey usually reserved for an open-world adventure title.
4 – Final Fantasy 7 Remake
- Release Date: April 10, 2020
- Developer: Square Enix
- Platform(s): PlayStation 4
I’m not a huge fan of the Final Fantasy franchise but even I have to admit Square Enix hit it out of the park with the Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Cloud and his oversized sword are back in action, along with teammates Tifa and Barret. You’ll swap between the trio as you fight through a slightly altered first portion of the 1997 original.
3 – The Last Of Us Part II
- Release Date: June 19, 2020
- Developer: Naughty Dog
- Platform(s): PlayStation 4
Love it or hate it, The Last Of Us 2 deserves a spot on this list. Players fell in love with Ellie and Joel in the first game and the great storytelling continues in the sequel. Be prepared for an emotional rollercoaster filled with exhilarating highs and devastating lows as you take part in a story rife with anger, violence, and revenge. Plagued with pre-release spoilers, review bombing on Metacritic, and even tasteless post-release hatred, TLOU2 still sold over 4 million copies its first weekend of release, making it the fastest selling PlayStation 4 exclusive to date.
2 – Half-Life Alyx
- Release Date: March 23, 2020
- Developer: Valve
- Platform(s): PC
Spending hundreds of dollars on a VR headset has been a luxury expense that most gamers haven’t been willing to commit to. Even as we rolled into 2020 most VR games were subpar at best, with only a few niche titles like Beat Saber or Elite Dangerous taking full advantage of what the tech has to offer. Half-Life Alyx changed that.
Several games like The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim have tacked on a VR edition but Half-Life Alyx isn’t just a VR version of one of the greatest games of all time, it’s a whole new game made exclusively for VR. By forgoing a standard version, Valve has embraced all that VR has to offer and, in doing so, has created a game that showcases just how engaging the game mechanics can be. When you pair Alyx with a top of the line headset like the Valve Index the argument of “VR is a cool idea, but the tech just isn’t there yet” is no longer valid, though the price is still a huge hurdle for most gamers.
1 – Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- Release Date: March 20, 2020
- Developer: Nintendo
- Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
One of the hardest things to do in the games industry is to take an old, long revered title and successfully revive the franchise years later. Over the years, players will recount their favorite parts of the game to anyone that will listen, while nostalgia wipes any bad bits from their memories. When a new game in the series is announced gamers automatically set their expectations high for the successor to one of their “favorite games of all time.” These expectations only grow as hype builds in the months between announcement and release, often raising the bar so high that disappointment is all but guaranteed when the new game launches.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is one of those rare games that is able to overcome this recipe for disaster. Selling almost 12 million copies in the first two weeks, it’s not hard to imagine that ACNH could one day knock Mario Kart 8 from the number 1 selling Switch title of all time. All it will take is another 13 million players to find the joy of chopping down trees, fishing, building up a 5-star island, and investing all their hard-earned bells in the Turnip futures market. Sounds like a sure bet to me.