15 Best Video Games Of 2020 (So Far)

It goes without saying that 2020 has been a year for the history books, and as outside machinations have forced more people than ever indoors, it's only led to record numbers getting lost in video games.

Thankfully, that's a reality the industry is more than prepared for. As we're currently winding down a seven year-long generation, many companies are turning out their biggest and best titles yet.

In the case of Naughty Dog's The Last of Us Part II,. for example, it's a project that almost took the entirety of the generation to put together, but the results on a technical level are absolutely staggering.

Applying that across the board, we're talking about incredibly skilled individuals refining their craft as the years wore on. Risky one-off ventures become standard implementations. Experimental lighting or rendering techniques become second nature.

Ostensibly, the close of any generation always sees a "fireworks display" of time-tested talent, and 2020's offerings are easily some of the best games of all time.

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Honourable Mentions

Snowrunner

Death Stranding with huge trucks. What's not to love?

Snowrunner's origins predate Hideo Kojima's release, but both titles share that addictive sensibility of the environment itself being your enemy. Using winches to free yourself, playing with physics to avoid tipping over, building bridges to save time and making that delivery after half an hour of battling the elements?

Snowrunner appears niche from the outside, but its runaway popularity proves the total opposite.

John Wick Hex

Turn-based John Wick finally made it to Switch, with combat scenarios where each bullet, punch and takedown needs to be thought out. You're literally planning your path through rooms the same way Keanu Reeves' character would in the movies, and that boils down to the split-second decision of every action.

Sadly let down by incredibly basic animation, John Wick Hex sees all but Reeves reprise their roles from the movies, and is a fantastic way to tackle an action IP.

Streets Of Rage 4

Same pulse-pounding score and a new juggle system saw this legendary series return in style.

If not for overly annoying A.I. and terrible checkpointing, this would be much higher.

Golf On Mars

It might look unbelievably basic, but the sequel to 2014's critical darling, Desert Golfing, takes its procedurally generated addictive nature to space.

Spin shots, water shots and lower gravity spice things up, but the main hook is a perfected physics model that weaponises the "...just one more shot" mentality into something you'll never put down.

Resident Evil 3

Swing and miss for something that never escapes feeling like glorified DLC.

Thankfully, what RE3 lacks in content or a fleshed out Nemesis, it makes up for with chunky gunplay and a great pace. You'll be tussling with Nemesis in various forms, hunting down optional weapons and completing puzzles in a neat enough package - there just should've been so much more of it.