The best video games of 2024 so far — the critic’s verdict

Crow Country

Available on: Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC via Steam

Release date: May 9

With its polygonal graphics and top-down camera perspective, Crow Country is reminiscent of survival horror games such as Resident Evil and Silent Hill. However, it is much more than a homage. It has a compelling story, , set in a run-down theme park, an eerie atmosphere, challenging puzzles and a heap of bizarre monsters.
★★★★☆

Rise of the Ronin

Available on: PS5

Release date: March 22

Rise of the Ronin is an ultra-violent adventure set in mid-19th-century Japan as British and American forces arrive looking for trade. Gameplay is focused on making your ronin a more efficient fighter through absorbing story missions and purposeful side quests. But combat is where this game excels. It’s a bloodbath as you must master the art of blocking, dodging and countering your opponent with your own wave of destruction.
★★★★☆
Read our full Rise of the Ronin review

WWE 2K24

Available on: Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, PC

Release date: March 5

The developer 2K has been making WWE games for a decade, but this latest entry is its best yet. The annual WrestleMania event is the focus of a game mode called Showcase of the Immortals, where memorable matches from across its 40-year history can be played. Every fight feels hyper-realistic, with a deep roster of game modes, match types and wrestlers to choose from, ranging from legends like Shawn Michaels to modern stars such as Cody Rhodes.
★★★★☆

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Available on: PS5

Release date: February 29

The second chapter in Square Enix’s trilogy reimagining 1997’s hugely influential Final Fantasy VII lives up to the hype as one of 2024’s most anticipated games. It’s now set in a large open world; as the spiky-haired warrior Cloud, you take on missions alongside his band of pals including Tifa and Aerith. Wacky minigames, such as an addictive new card game and sublime combat sequences, flesh out this sequel, but the beautifully written characters are its real heart. Play long enough and they become like old friends.
★★★★★
Read our full Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review

Pacific Drive

Available on: PS5, PC

Release date: February 22

Easily the year’s most unusual game so far, Pacific Drive is a first-person survival story set almost entirely behind the wheel of a battered old car. Much of the focus is on scavenging resources to upgrade and maintain your vehicle while you drive through an eerie woodland filled with otherworldly entities, investigating clues that hint at a sinister conspiracy. A deliciously spooky atmosphere mixes the cosmic horror of HP Lovecraft and The X-Files.
★★★★☆

Balatro

Available on: Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, PC

Release date: February 20

Balatro will steal your life. Made by a Canadian solo developer, it is a card game with a psychedelic art style. You play traditional poker hands — flush, straight and so on — to beat a target score that increases after each round. Along the way you can upgrade your cards with shiny new ones that give you extra points, or collect jokers and tarot cards that add game-changing effects to your hand. It encourages you to be strategic and to break the rules.
★★★★★

Helldivers 2

Available on: PS5, PC

Release date: February 8

Helldivers 2 became the publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment’s biggest launch on the PC platform Steam when it was concurrently released on PS5 in February. The hefty volume of players logging in caused huge delays on the online servers.

A sequel to the 2015 original, this third-person shooter has players teaming up in a war against giant bugs and robots on various volatile planets. It also has a hilarious satirical edge that makes it reminiscent of Paul Verhoeven’s smart 1997 film Starship Troopers.
★★★★☆

Tekken 8

Available on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Release date: January 26

Everything fans love about the Tekken franchise features in this visually exceptional eighth instalment. The one-on-one fighting is brutal and outrageous as popular characters such as Law and King return.

A wide selection of game options will appease series veterans and newcomers: story mode progresses the longest-running narrative in gaming history as Jin Kazama prepares for a showdown with his father, while online play is fiercely competitive. There’s even a mode that harks back to Tekken’sroots, set entirely in an arcade environment.
★★★★☆
Read our full Tekken 8 review

Palworld

Available on: Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One via Game Pass, PC

Release date (early access): January 19

The final version of Palworld has not been released yet but it has already become the year’s most unexpected hit. Within a month of the early access version landing on Steam and Xbox, the game garnered 25 million players worldwide. Controversy has surrounded it too, most notably for featuring characters that closely resemble those in Pokémon.

It is a cocktail of elements popularised by games such as Minecraft and Tears of the Kingdom as you capture cute creatures called Pals, build camps and fight monsters in a big open world.
★★★★☆
Read our full Palworld review

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Available on: PS4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC

Release date: January 18

Ubisoft’s latest entry in the 35-year-old Prince of Persia series is a departure from recent titles, returning to the saga’s side-scrolling roots. Set within a beautifully designed mystical Persia, you embark on an adventure to rescue a kidnapped prince as the agile warrior Sargon. The Lost Crown has an engaging plot, it’s filled with stimulating environmental puzzles and combat that is as slick as it is challenging, and it’s presented in a wonderful cartoon-art style.
★★★★☆

Summerhouse

Available on: PC

Release date: March 8

Summerhouse is a meditative 2D sandbox game that evokes the feeling of being on holiday with nothing to do but relax. Players can unleash their creative energy by choosing a location — a city, the mountains, a desert — then designing a street using a simple set of tools and blocks. You can make it as beautiful or rundown as you wish, filled with a mixture of posh townhouses, grubby pizza joints and towering apartment blocks.
★★★★☆

Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door

Available on: Nintendo Switch

Release date: May 23

A remaster of the 2004 original, the compelling tale of Mario’s quest to find the missing Princess Peach while battling a raft of dastardly villains in delightful turn-based combat is superb, but The Thousand-Year Door’s biggest appeal is its colourful and distinctive art style. Everything is made of paper and cardboard that puts a unique spin on the game’s animation. It’s easily one of the year’s most fun adventure games.
★★★★☆

Zenless Zone Zero

Available on: PS5, PC, iOS, Android

Release date: July 4

Zenless Zone Zero is a stylish free-to-play action adventure (with in-game purchases) from the makers of the immensely popular Genshin Impact. Set in the post-apocalyptic city of New Eridu, which is filled with portals to alternate dimensions, the game’s anime-inspired graphics lean into its exaggerated combat as players fight aliens, befriend local citizens and hunt for loot.
★★★★☆

What’s your favourite video game of the year so far? Let us know in the comments below