These Highly-Anticipated Video Games of 2020 Are Setting New Visual Standards
If you're a gamer, you'll be happy to hear many highly-anticipated video games are slotted to release in 2020. Mainstream titles such as Marvel's Avengers, The Last of Us Part II, and Cyberpunk 2077, as well as indie games such as Nuts and 12 Minutes, are sure to take up a nice chunk of your time!
This list covers a few of the games that we'll be seeing soon on a variety of platforms. And from the way it's looking, there are going to be some interesting, beautiful, and downright stellar games coming out! Scroll through; you might find a new game to play.
12 Minutes
The indie game, 12 Minutes, is comparative to ground-hog day and butterfly-effect events. The game revolves around a man who, in 12 minutes, learns that his wife is pregnant and watches as she is killed by a cop who believes she murdered his father years prior. Then, plot twist, the game resets to the beginning, with only the man retaining the knowledge of the events.
The game is a top-down perspective and should take players around six to eight hours to complete. Remember, it's a 12-minute time-loop! So, it's up to the player to use previous cycle knowledge to stop his wife and unborns child's murder.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Animal Crossing: New Horizons is the long-awaited next installment of the Animal Crossing franchise coming out on the Nintendo Switch in March 2020. The game starts with a visit from a familiar face, Tom Nook, giving the player a ticket to a deserted island. It's then up to the player to customize their own animal and begin building a community on the island.
The game has an open-ended format and introduces new concepts, such as windy weather. The developers even went as far as to have the seasons adjust based on where the player is in the world!
Cyberpunk 2077
The next game in the Cyberpunk franchise is almost here! Cyberpunk 2077 takes place in Night City, a dystopian open world run by criminal gangs and militarized corporations. Played in the first-person perspective, players assume the role of the mercenary V, a customizable avatar that has a unique set of skills, such as machinery and hacking, and upgradeable combat abilities.
Cyberpunk 2077 released a teaser trailer in 2013, and it has since gained over 15 million views. The highly-anticipated game is set to release on April 16, 2020, for Windows PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Google Stadia.
Dying Light 2
The upcoming release of the Dying Light sequel is upon us! The highly-anticipated game Dying Light 2 is set in The City, 15 years after the original game ends and introduces a new protagonist, Aiden Caldwell. Of course, this game is also during the zombie apocalypse and will utilize a first-person open-world perspective for all of Aiden's action-packed parkour needs.
Much like the first game, players are going to have to use tools such as grappling hooks to move around the city and avoid zombies. Fans are going to be happy to hear that more than double the number of parkour moves has been added to the catalog!
Final Fantasy VII Remake
Final Fantasy VII Remake is an upcoming action role-playing game for the PlayStation 4. Players will control mercenary Cloud Strife as he tries to stop the Shinra Corporation from draining the planet's life energy, but with new features. The remake of the 1997 game will include a new real-time combat system, revamped graphics, and will release in episodes instead of all at once.
Key players from the original game's team came back to make the remake, saying that "passing the project on to a new generation did not feel right." Final Fantasy VII Remake releases on the PlayStation 4 on April 10, 2020.
Gods & Monsters
If you enjoyed Assassin's Creed Odyssey, then you're not going to want to miss out on the chance to play the team's newest game, Gods & Monsters. Written as a storybook adventure, players will journey to the Isle of the Blessed in hopes of saving the Greek gods. Populated by the monsters of Greek legends, the Isle is home to one of the deadliest myths, Typhon.
Players will be able to face-off with all of the monsters of Greek lore in February 2020. Gods & Monsters will release on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Google Stadia.
Halo Infinite
Halo Infinite is the sixth game in the Halo series. To the delight of the fanbase, this installment brings back voice actor Steve Downes to reprise his role of Spartan John-117, or, as most people know him by, Master Chief. It is going to take place after the forces have lost the war. But he's not the most important actor lending his voice to the game.
Gyoza the pug is a tiny canine who lent their snorts to 343 Industries. Fans are speculating that the pug was recording sounds for a new alien species called the Flood. Halo Infinite is set to release in 2020.
The Last Of Us Part II
Ellie returns as a 19-year-old girl ready to take on a cult in the post-apocalyptic United States. The Last of Us Part II takes place five years after the events of the original game, The Last of Us. The sequel is an action-adventure survival game played from a third-person perspective, but there are some newer aspects to the formatting.
Players will be able to reach higher vantage points and crawl in a prone position, which will be helpful due to the introduction of guard dogs who can track a character's scent. The Last of Us Part II is set to release on May 29, 2020.
Humankind
Taking a shot at outdoing Sid Meier's Civilization comes Humankind. The 4x video game has players leading their civilization across six eras of human history, starting from the nomadic age. To survive, players will govern their civilizations, making difficult choices such as expansion, trading, and military control.
One feature gamers will be excited about is that within each era, they can select one of ten civilization templates, all of which as based on real historical societies. Humankind is scheduled to be released on Microsoft sometime in 2020, so be sure to keep an eye out for a date.
Marvel's Avengers
Set in San Francisco, Marvel's Avengers is one of the most highly-anticipated video games of 2020. Players will be able to play offline as a single-player or online with up to four friends. They'll be able to take on the roles and powers of some of the most popular Avengers, including Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Captain America, as they try to save the city from falling.
Unfortunately, the release for the game has been delayed because Crystal Dynamics wants to fine-tune certain elements. Even so, the delay is nothing to be sad over! Marvel's Avengers is set to be released in September of 2020.
Minecraft Dungeons
Get ready to play Minecraft as you've never played it before! Minecraft Dungeons has zero destroying of blocks, building, or crafting involved during the game. Instead, it is designed as an overhead-view dungeon crawl game where the player is set out to explore a series of monster-ridden labyrinths, solving puzzles, avoiding traps, and finding treasure along the way.
Players will explore randomly generated tunnels alone or in a team of up to four players. And there is no class system, so each character is allowed the armor and weapons of the player's choosing. Minecraft Dungeons will be released in April 2020.
SkateBIRD
Say so long to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 and say hello to SkateBIRD. The game allows players to become colorful skateboard-enthusiast birds. The mission: to grind on pens, kick-flip over tape dispensers, and speed down cardboard inclines. You guessed it, skate birds are all about skating through household items and, above all else, "trying their best," as Nintendo so aptly states.
Aside from trying your best, the mission for the little bird is to gain a following and, somehow, fix the life of their "Big Friend." This single-player game is set to release on the Nintendo Switch in 2020.
A Total War Saga: Troy
The next Total War is going further into the past with A Total War Saga: Troy. The highly-anticipated next installment in the franchise follows its predecessors with a strategy-based format that combines turn-based strategy and real-time tactical control of battles. Players will manage the economy, personnel, and expansion within one of eight factions, all while encountering monsters and devising battle plans.
In true Trojan fashion, players are going to have to seek out the favor of the gods, or else nothing is going to go as planned. Total War Saga: Troy is set to release to Windows PC via Steam sometime in 2020.
Spiritfarer
Although the graphics for Spiritfarer says "kid's game," the story is something else altogether. Play as Stella, the ferry master for the recently deceased. The game has players build a boat, travel the world, and care for spirits who need help moving on to the afterlife -- which includes giving the player a specific job, a sort of final wish.
The creative part of this game is that the souls are human, but the ferry master sees them as animals, their inner personalities. Meet all of the animals in 2020 when Spiritfarer comes to Windows PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and Xbox Game Pass.
Predator Hunting Grounds
Get ready to be dropped in remote areas and complete paramilitary operations as one of the members of an elite Fireteam who is tasked to hunt the Predator. Or, hunt the team by becoming the Predator using his alien tech. And don't forget to take trophies from each of your prey!
Predator Hunting Grounds is an immersive asymmetrical shooter game that allows players to play in multi-player mode or alone. Be warned, this game is graphic and is rated to be played by those 18 and older. Predator Hunting Grounds is set to release on PlayStation 4 in 2020. It's hunting season!
New World
The highly-anticipated online multi-player role-playing game New World is almost here! The game is set in the mid-1600s, and the goal is to colonize in the New World of Aeternum, the Eternal Isle. The only issue is there are legions of The Corrupted, and instead of a land of opportunity, it's a dangerous place with battle lines.
Players join teams to craft tools, scavenge for much need resources, and then fight other units for territory. It's time to stop evil from erasing humanity from Aeternum! There is no official release date, but Amazon Game Studios is sending a beta version in April 2020 to those who pre-ordered New World.
Ori And The Will Of The Wisps
It's time to learn Ori's true destiny in Ori And The Will of the Wisps. Players will assume control of the white guardian spirit, Ori, as they move between platforms and solve puzzles. The new adventure in the franchise is based around figuring out what lies beyond the forest of Nibel while uncovering the truth about the lost ones.
One of the lead developers on the game, Thomas Mahler, said, "Will of the Wisps should be to [the prequel] Blind Forest what Super Mario Bros. 3 was to the original Super Mario Bros." Ori's next adventure is set to release on March 11, 2020.
Nuts - The New And Improved Version Of The 2018 Demo
The year 2020 is bringing gamers Nuts, a game about surveillance cameras and a family of squirrels. Players are dropped into a world of blue, green, yellow, and orange, as they are tasked with setting up night cameras in the Melmoth Forest to track the movement of squirrels. Record the findings and figure out where the squirrel hides his nut stash!
The tricky part of the game is that you're only allowed to move the cameras during day-light hours. Once the sun sets, all you can do is sit back and watch the squirrels run about. Nuts is set to release in 2020.
Wasteland 3
Get ready to venture into the frozen tundra of post-apocalyptic Colorado in Wasteland 3. The game is considered the be the sequel to the critically acclaimed Wasteland 2 and is sure to bring all of the stops. Developers have said that the third installment will be a party-based role-playing game with an engaging story about warring factions trying to gain control of the region.
The game will have more dialogue than the first and second games, making it more engaging and story-driven. Wasteland 3 is set to release on May 19, 2020, for the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Macintosh operating systems, Linux, and Microsoft Windows.
No More Heroes III
No More Heroes III is a hack and slash action-adventure game that follows the story of Travis Touchdown as he saves the world from aliens. Fans of the franchise will play as Touchdown, coming back to Santa Destroy from a self-imposed exile to take on a powerful army led by an alien overlord prince.
Ready for release on the Nintendo Switch in 2020, the game is the fourth installment in the franchise and third mainline game in the No More Heroes series. This will be Grasshopper Manufacture's first mainline game in the series in about a decade!
