In the Space Imperialist vs Alien war for your attention, Starship Troopers: Extermination brings a knife to a nuke fight. It’s a shooter you and some friends can find fun in, especially in its tough Horde mode using its simple-yet-distinct classes that help focus the overall large-scale bug-blasting vision. But you’re doing so in spite of how long it takes to unlock all the more interesting gear and abilities those classes have in store, how uncoordinated some of the multiplayer modes are, how downright bad the single-player campaign is, how barren the handful of available maps feel, and the lack of biodiversity in the bug swarm. It’s a serviceable battle that can get frantic in the thick of it, but there are far more noble causes to give your virtual lives for in 2024 than this.
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a final flash from the past, sometimes to a fault, but the feeling of traveling back to a simpler time when games didn’t have to be balanced or competitive to be fun is still a good one.
Frostpunk 2 successfully expands on everything that the original brutal city builder had, and its larger scale, great story campaign, and new faction system are as "fun" as a calamity reduction simulator can get.
Enotria: The Last Song has fun combat and its sun-drenched environments are a breath of fresh air in the genre, even when the unapproachability of its RPG systems prevent it from taking center stage.
Tactical Breach Wizards is full of magical charm, with inventive skills and characters that make it hard not to get entranced in its spell.
Tales of Kenzera: Zau's action isn't groundbreaking within the genre, but its elevated by a truly moving tale about how to go on in this world when your loved ones have passed on to the next.
More of a redo than a sequel, Dragon's Dogma 2 is a strange and wonderful action-RPG that bolsters the original’s strengths without addressing its weaknesses.
The Thaumaturge is a slow, text heavy caper that is often curious and sometimes captivating, weaving revolutionary labor politics and mysticism together to create a unique and charming piece of historical science fiction.
While not drastically different, WWE 2K24 is better in almost every way, touting small but smart additions to well-tested systems and modes as opposed to taking bigger risks.
The Last Faith is not the pinnacle of 2D metroidvanias, but its collection of weapons is genuinely cool and busting the masters of its samey levels is satisfying.
Though heavy on style and creepy vibes, the scariest things going on in Quantum Error are its tepid story and characters, numerous bugs, oppressive checkpoints, and a roster of truly dumb enemies.
Missed opportunity haunts every inch of Hellboy: Web of Wyrd. It's simple to dive into and play but all too soon you reach the bottom of its shallow gameplay. Its roguelike runs are short and sweet, but its enemies aren't a challenge worthy of Hellboy.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage's back-to-basics approach is a successful first step in returning to the stealthy style that launched this series.
WrestleQuest’s love for wrestling catapults its creative and beautiful landscapes and strong characters into the main event, but isn’t enough to elevate its bloated level design or competent-but-repetitive combat out of the mid card.
The breath of Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons burns hot thanks to clever tag combat and a big roster of diverse characters, but it doesn’t burn very long as you hit some poorly executed platforming, uninspired roguelike elements, and a shallow end game.
AEW: Fight Forever may have the audacity to challenge the current king of wrestling games, but despite its fun-loving spirit, strong sense of style, and solid fundamentals, it fails to execute on a level that comes anywhere close to its potential.
Starship Troopers: Extermination could become the premier bug-stomping romp for big teams, but in its current early state, mobile infantry can do the dying without you.
Stray Blade tries and fails to free the Soulslike from gloomy settings and opaque storytelling, falling short of both its own ambitions and the genre’s standards.
Ravenbound is a roguelike that starts out promising before being grounded by obtuse systems, frustrating loot, and lots of bugs.
Though the Showcase mode isn’t as super as its subject, John Cena, the sharp focus on refinement instead of reinvention helps keep WWE 2K23 as the gold standard of wrestling sims.