12 Upcoming Video Games That Might Be Surprisingly Awesome

5. Starlink: Battle For Atlas

Release Date: October 16

It's easy to look down your nose at toys-to-life games, and often that's with good reason, because they require players to purchase a bunch of plastic clutter and often adopt a gameplay model that's dangerously close to pay-to-win.

Barely anyone paid much attention to Starlink when it was first revealed at last year's E3, but the press buzz for the game was decidedly more effusive at this year's show.

For starters, Ubisoft confirmed that the Nintendo Switch version of the game will feature Star Fox's Fox McCloud, and hands-on press impressions have also been surprisingly positive.

Gamespot called it "a kid-friendly version of No Man's Sky", while commending Ubisoft for offering players the ability to purchase ships digitally if they don't want to fill their house up with more junk.

Commercial prospects are a little tougher to call as the toys-to-life trend seems to be on the downslide these days, but the chances of Starlink being a quality title are actually surprisingly solid.