Hitman, Stardew Valley, Overwatch, and Battlefield 1 – it’s just a few examples of successful 2016 games that you should consider playing, especially if you didn’t have the opportunity to give them a try yet. It’s been a few years already, so what are you waiting for? You’re missing out on some great video game experiences.
If you’re curious about what to play next, then take a look at some of the best video games from 2016 on the list down below and choose your favorites.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | |
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 | Dishonored 2 | 2016-11-11 | Action | Arkane Studios |
 | No Mans Sky | 2016-08-12 | Adventure | Hello Games |
 | Xcom 2 Collection | 2016-02-04 | Strategy | Firaxis Games |
 | Xcom 2 | 2016-02-04 | Action & Shooter | Firaxis Games |
 | Dishonored 2 Imperial Assassins | 2016-11-11 | Action | Arkane Studios |
 | Dark Souls III Deluxe Edition | 2016-04-11 | RPG | FromSoftware |
 | Dark Souls III | 2016-04-11 | Adventure | FromSoftware |
 | Battlefield 1 | 2016-10-21 | MMO | EA Digital Illusions CE |
 | Battlefield 1 | Revolution | 2016-10-20 | MMO | EA Digital Illusions CE |
 | Inside | 2016-07-07 | Adventure | Playdead |
 | Sherlock Holmes The Devils Daughter | 2016-06-10 | Adventure | Frogwares |
 | Sherlock Holmes The Devils Daughter | 2016-06-10 | Adventure | Frogwares |
 | Stellaris | 2016-05-09 | Strategy | Paradox Development Studio |
 | Yakuza 6 The Song Of Life | 2021-03-25 | Action | Ryu ga Gotoku Studios |
 | Tom Clancys The Division | 2016-03-07 | Action & Shooter | Massive Entertainment |
 | Far Cry Primal | 2016-02-29 | Adventure | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Quantum Break | 2016-09-29 | Adventure | Remedy Entertainment |
 | Deus Ex Mankind Divided Digital Deluxe Edition | 2016-08-23 | Action & Shooter | Eidos Montréal |
 | Hitman Game Of The Year Edition | 2016-03-11 | Stealth | IO Interactive |
 | Gears Of War 4 Xbox Live Key Global Windows 10 | 2016-10-11 | Action & Shooter | The Coalition |
 | Gears Of War 4 Ultimate Edition Xbox Live Key Global Windows 10 | 2016-10-11 | Adventure | |
 | Firewatch Gogcom Key Global | 2016-02-10 | Indie | Campo Santo |
 | Overwatch Battlenet Key Global | 2016-05-24 | Action & Shooter | Blizzard Entertainment |
 | Mirrors Edge Catalyst | 2016-06-09 | Adventure | EA Digital Illusions CE |
 | Recore Definitive Edition | Adventure | Comcept | |
 | Street Fighter V | 2016-02-15 | Fighting | CAPCOM |
 | Watch Dogs 2 | 2016-11-29 | Adventure | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Planet Coaster | 2016-11-17 | Strategy | Frontier Developments |
 | Dead By Daylight | 2016-06-14 | Adventure | Behaviour Interactive |
 | Carmageddon Max Damage | 2016-10-27 | Race | Stainless Games Ltd. |
 | Unbox Newbies Adventure | 2016-09-05 | Action | Prospect Games |
 | Punch Club | 2016-01-08 | Indie | Lazy Bear Games |
 | Eagle Flight | 2016-12-20 | Simulation | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Owlboy | 2016-11-01 | Adventure | D-Pad Studio |
 | The Witness | 2016-01-26 | Adventure | Thekla, Inc |
 | Titanfall 2 | 2016-10-28 | Action & Shooter | Respawn Entertainment |
 | Adr1ft | 2016-03-28 | Adventure | THREE ONE ZERO |
 | Unravel | 2016 | Adventure | Coldwood Interactive |
 | Robinson The Journey | 2017-02-07 | Adventure | Crytek |
DOOM
| Release: | 2016-05-12 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | id Software |
Let’s start with Doom – a first-person shooter, where players are tasked with eliminating all sorts of demons and evil beings. Grab your chainsaw, make your prayers, and send the monsters back to hell.
Doom returned in 2016, allowing us to jump into action once more. The game received favorable reviews from both critics and players alike – they mostly praised the fact, that Doom returned to its roots, switching from survival horror approach back to what Doom originally was: a fast-paced action game focused on blasting through the endless armies of evil creatures. Giving an old game a new life is not an easy task, but id Software did their job exceptionally well and managed to capture the spirit of the original Doom. If you starve for some old-school shooter experience from the 1990s, you will fall in love with this one.
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Overwatch
| Release: | 2016-05-24 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | Blizzard Entertainment |
Overwatch offers a competitive experience for those who want to test their skills against other players online. A first-person shooter with characters that have their own special abilities? Count us in.
Overwatch is an online first-person shooter with vivid, stylized visuals, where players can choose their favorite character and match against people from all over the world. Each playable character fills a different role on the battlefield and has its own skills that can be utilized during play to gain the upper hand – in fact, it’s the most crucial element if one wishes to stay competitive. The game requires teamwork, and knowing when and how to use your special abilities to bring the most value to your team will often be the difference between winning and losing a match. The entire experience is further enhanced by impressive voice acting and stunning special effects.
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Dark Souls III
| Release: | 2016-04-11 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | FromSoftware |
Dreadful bosses, obscure world, and skill-based combat that punishes players for mindless button mashing. If you’re not afraid of dying, Dark Souls III would like to have a word with you.
Dark Souls III is an action role-playing game from the well-known Dark Souls franchise. As The Ashen One, you will have the opportunity to return to the obscure fantasy setting to learn more about the game’s history and piece the last puzzles together to get a better understanding of the world you found yourself in. The game, just like previous installments in the series, focuses on exploration and difficult boss fights. Character progression allows your character to grow stronger as he gains experience, but you can’t rely on your character’s strength alone – your own manual skills also play a crucial role in the encounters, as you have to learn the attack patterns to successfully counter your enemies. And remember – dying is just a part of the experience.
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Stardew Valley
| Release: | 2016-02-26 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | ConcernedApe |
For those who are looking for a more peaceful and casual-friendly game, the year 2016 spawned Stardew Valley, where you can become a beginner farmer with your very own plot of land.
Stardew Valley is a mix of role-playing and simulation games, where you will be tasked with taking care of a plot of land. It’s up to you to decide what to grow and harvest – depending on your current needs and the season, the optimal choices will vary. Once the crops are ready, you can sell them to a local merchant and buy more seeds for different purposes. However, Stardew Valley is more than that. It’s a game that features an open-world environment, and the entire game is made in form of a sandbox, which results in unrestricted gameplay, where you are the one who decides what to do next. Go fishing, mine ores, defeat monsters, and collect everything there is to unravel Pelican Town’s mysteries.
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XCOM 2
| Release: | 2016-02-04 |
| Genre: | Strategy |
| Developer: | Firaxis Games |
2016 was also the year when XCOM 2 was finally released. A sequel to widely acclaimed tactical RPG set in a sci-fi universe continues the story of its predecessor.
It’s not surprising that XCOM 2 appears on this list – on release it received praise for its gameplay, difficulty, and the addition of modding tools, while the elements that were considered the game’s weaknesses, such as poor performance at launch, were quickly fixed at a later date. The game lets you control a squad of XCOM soldiers, tasking you with forming a resistance force in order to fight back the alien threat that managed to dominate the Earth 20 years before. You have full control over your soldiers – you can recruit new ones and train them in battles to make them more effective, but be careful, as one mistake can cost them their lives. Death is permanent and training a new soldier takes time, so you’d rather avoid unnecessary casualties.
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Hitman
| Release: | 2016-03-11 |
| Genre: | Stealth |
| Developer: | IO Interactive |
If you’re interested in stealth PC games from 2016, Hitman is an obvious choice. Become the infamous 47 and use your cunning skills to assassinate your targets.
Praised for its level design, locations, and high replayability value, Hitman returns in its full glory. Playing as a genetically enhanced assassin, known as Agent 47, you will have to silently eliminate chosen targets. Although engaging in open fights is entirely possible, the game clearly favors keeping a low profile. On a side note – for the ultimate Hitman experience, it’s highly recommended to turn off most of the GUI elements, including the minimap. It makes the game much more immersive and encourages thorough exploration of the areas. Beating the game this way will surely take more time and will be more challenging, but discovering all of the possible interactions and finding a solution to given tasks on your own feels extremely rewarding.
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Battlefield 1
| Release: | 2016-10-21 |
| Genre: | MMO |
| Developer: | EA Digital Illusions CE |
Speaking of the best games that were released in 2016, Battlefield 1 also comes to mind. It’s a game with beautiful visuals, but the gameplay also deserves a mention.
Let’s start by saying that Battlefield 1 looks absolutely gorgeous. It looks terrific, realistic, and it perfectly captures the true nature of war. You won’t have too much time to enjoy the views, though – it’s war, after all, so if you’re not paying attention to the battlefield, you can quickly meet your fate. In BF1 you will have the unique opportunity to take part in one of the most important conflicts in modern history – using a selection of historical weapons and vehicles, you will be tasked with completing a series of immersive single-player missions that include taking part in open war, stealth sequences, and even piloting planes. If you prefer online play, you won’t be disappointed, either – multiplayer in BF 1 is polished and enjoyable to play, although it can get competitive quite fast, so you better prepare to hone your skills if you want to stay alive.
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Rise of the Tomb Raider
| Release: | 2016-02-09 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Crystal Dynamics |
Lara Croft also had a comeback in early 2016. This is exactly when Rise of the Tomb Raider came out, at least as far as the PC version is concerned – console players were able to enjoy the title since late 2015.
Rise of the Tomb Raider follows the 2013 reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise, which gave the series a new life and showed players young Lara’s struggles when she was still naive and vulnerable. In other words, we were able to experience how Ms. Croft became a female version of Indiana Jones. Rise of the Tomb Raider continues the story where it’s ended. New adventure means new challenges to overcome, but developers made sure to give you some options to make your life a little bit easier. You can silently eliminate targets with the use of a bow, you can use the environment as your weapon, and you can even upgrade three skill trees that will enhance Lara’s abilities. Collect resources, solve physics-based puzzles, and experience a new part of Lara’s history.
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Firewatch
| Release: | 2016-02-10 |
| Genre: | Indie |
| Developer: | Campo Santo |
Firewatch is also an interesting choice from 2016. A first-person adventure video game, where a simple fire lookout job turns into something more.
In Firewatch you will be playing as Henry, a fire lookout tasked with taking care of a part of the Shoshone National Forest. On the first day, as Henry returns from patrolling the forest, he finds his belongings ransacked. Driven by his want to find the culprit, he starts an investigation. Helped by his supervisor, Delilah, who communicates with him through a pair of walkie-talkies, he tries to get to the bottom of the case, but things quickly get a little bit complicated, and that involves missing people, the government, and secret schemes.
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Titanfall 2
| Release: | 2016-10-28 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | Respawn Entertainment |
Finally, there’s something for fans of mech-oriented gameplay. Pilot powerful machines and unleash their full potential to wreak havoc.
Titanfall 2 is a popular first-person shooter set in a sci-fi universe, where mech-style exoskeletons are widely used on the battlefield to improve soldiers’ fighting capacity. Although piloting the mechs is what the game is best known for, Titanfall 2 also allows players to control human pilots. Sometimes raw power and tons of hard steel are not necessarily the most optimal solution to solve certain problems – that’s where more agile human characters, who can work in a more graceful and precise way, come into play. Unlike its predecessor, the game finally features a great single-player campaign, but the multiplayer mode is still probably the place where you’d want to spend most of your free time anyway.
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The Best Video Games from 2016
Each year brings more video games for us to try. Some of them will always turn out to be disappointments, but some will be the complete opposite and will steal all of our free time. 2016 was no different – we’ve seen some rising stars coming to life, and some complete failures that didn’t meet our expectations. Focusing on the titles, that were especially good, we made a list of some of the best video games released in 2016. Check them out and let us know if we missed something – maybe there are some hidden gems that we should be aware of?