Action games you must play this year

As technology races forward so does the way we play games. The best way to experience these increasingly breathtaking sights and sounds is to jump right in with some fast paced, pedal to the metal, action video games! This year has already brought us some games that certainly made a bang,looking at you Battlefield Hardline, but what’s coming up promises to be just as fast and fun!

Action games have been around since the birth of video games. Games like Space Invaders, Bezerk and Pac-Man, left lasting impact and made everyone take note of the fast paced, quick reflexes and and skill needed to play this style of game. Nintendo even labeled the original Super Mario Bros. as “Action Series” back in the day. Today Action games take on many more forms and especially how it now permeates many genres in some way or another. Subgenres or cross genres, like beat em ups, fightings games, shooters, action-rpgs, platformers and more have all come into being from the humble beginnings of the arcade games we used to play.

Here are 3 action games to take note of in 2015.

Battlefield Hardline (check out the overview here)

Battlefield Hardline is developed by Visceral Games in conjunction with DICE, and published by EA

Release Date: March 17, 2015
Consoles: PC, Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, PS4
Genre: First-person Shooter, Multiplayer
Rating: M for Mature

The Battlefield series has always offered an amazing action experience. The games always have a vast array of weapons, vehicles, equipment and more, to engage in battle with. Giant maps and increasingly larger set pieces have all become staples to the series. If you can fly a helicopter in these games its no joke of a feat, trophies and gamerscore, aside in my opinion.

With the latest installment in the series, you could say that DICE and Visceral Games have taken a much more action oriented approach with this latest version of the Battlefield series. Battlefield Hardline is the epic struggle of high stakes Hollywood style cops and robbers, done in only the way Battlefield could do it. Heist and Hot Wire game types highlight the bank robbery and car chase aspects of action movies, just to highlight a few of the things you will be doing in this game.

Batman Arkham Knight (check out the limited edition PS4 consoles here)

Batman: Arkham Knight is Developed by Rocksteady Studios and Published Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

Release Date: June 23rd, 2015
Consoles: PC Xbox One and PS4
Genre: Action-Adventure
Rating: M for Mature

Superheros are no strangers to video games, with some of the most loved and hated action games made to date. Luckily this caped crusader has been the subject of one of the action game series that has been blowing everyone away for years now. Rocksteady blew us all away with the original Batman: Arkham Asylum and its follow up Batman: Arkham City and later Batman: Arkham Origins carried on the story and the kept the action going. Now in June of 2015 we are going to be back in the Arkham series for its final chapter, Batman: Arkham Night.

This instalment takes place only a year after the previous events in the last game and promises to be the biggest game in the series yet. It boast a free roaming map 5 times the size of the map previously seen in the city prison of Arkham City. They even teamed up with DC to create and all new character for this game, Arkham Night. This game certainly looks great and I’m very excited to see it this summer, plus I might have to snag one of those awesome PS4 bundles.

Splatoon (check out the preview here)

Splatoon Is developed by Nintendo Entertainment Analysis & Development and Published by Nintendo.

Release Date: May 29, 2015

Consoles: Nintendo WiiU

Genre: Third Person Shooter, Platformer

Rating: E10+

Splatoon is a third person team shooter which, is based on shooting colours for the Nintendo WiiU.  In the game you play as a squid-person called an Inkling, part squid part person, which gives you some interesting powers and with your trusty ink gun, you will be sloshing ink like nobody’s business.

The game will feature multiple game modes, including an online 4 vs 4 multiplayer and even a single player campaign that will feature many single player only weapons and items. Along with its online support the game will also have a special release of a 3 Amiibo set featuring an Inkling boy and girl plus a bonus squid. Splatoon is set to release on May 29th and promises to make quite the splash.

My favourite action game of all time!

As far back as my memories go I can always remember video games in some form. Many of my earliest memories revolve around games like Space Invaders on the Commodore Vic-20 or Super Mario Bros on the Nintendo Entertainment System. As I got older I got my hands on more and more games, one of these games that I will always remember and always enjoy playing is Double Dragon for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Barely no story and no cutscenes make this game a pure actionfest to the max! Along with games like Target Renegade and Rivercity Ransom, Double Dragon helped pave the way for the beat’em up and fighter genres. Its simple to learn yet difficult to master controls, quick and unforgiving gameplay, along with some of the most memorable characters in video games, Double Dragon left a lasting impression on the video game industry and will always be one of my favourite action games.

Which action games are you looking forward to this year? Is there a favourite that certainly needs mentioning? Feel free to let me know in the comments below!