If you want, you can switch it entirely to a game of hockey, with a puck instead of a ball. You can team up with a squad and really dive into the tactics, rotating goalkeepers and trying to score the perfect team goal. You can gather some friends on a sofa and set up a casual 1v1 tournament, with bonus scores for the flashiest goals. The great thing about Rocket League is that it’s fun at both of these levels. But as you get to grips with the controls, it turns into an aerial acrobatic show with front flip assists, mid-air twirls and last-second winners.

Rocket League is, to the beginner, a fast arcade sport where vehicles slam into each other at 100 mph and occasionally bundle the ball into the net. It Takes Twoįootball, but with cars: it’s that simple, and that complicated.

We knew Doom Eternal would be this ballsy – but we didn’t expect it to be clever, too. It turns minions into health packs, and you’ll want to keep a few of them alive for when you really need them. Ripping an enemy in half with a chainsaw nets you armor, while lighting them on fire before sending them to an early grave gets you armor. You have to plan two steps ahead to avoid being overrun, and a new resource system makes firefights feel more strategic, less random. You’ll scramble and double jump to avoid packs of enemies, using the super shotgun’s meat hook to grapple to far-off enemies before turning them into red mist. Some enemies are even invulnerable to damage unless you perform a specific counter at a specific time, which is something you don’t expect in a Doom game.įights are still, for the most part, unbearably tense and hectic. Enemies have weak points to target and weapons that you can disable, so sometimes it’s worth finding a spare half-second in the heat of battle to pause, aim, and hit your shot, because it will save you a lot of pain later. But, at times, it’s also about restraint. It’s an over-the-top celebration of guts and gore in which you chainsaw enemies in half, rip eyeballs from sockets and stomp on demon’s faces with a giant boot.

With new weapons, a more agile Doomguy, and a fresh emphasis on resource management (yes, you read that correct), Doom Eternal (opens in new tab) somehow 1UPs Doom 2016, which was already deserving of a spot on this list. While Monster Hunter Rise doesn’t beat Monster Hunter World, it’s also a great game, made greater by the addition of the Sunbreak DLC, which adds reams of new content to the game similar to what Iceborn did to World. If you’ve already been playing Monster Hunter World for a while, chances are you’ve moved on to its sequel Monster Hunter Rise. Plus, finding clues about monsters will automatically lead you to their location, meaning you can travel between its excellent fights faster than ever. A generous loot system means that, even when you’re grinding for a particular armor set, you’re constantly picking up useful items you didn’t know you wanted. With 14 weapon types and hundreds of items to craft, climbing the gear tree can feel overwhelming, but it’s still the most accessible Monster Hunter to date. The monsters are huge yet elegant, and both learning and countering their moveset makes it feel more like a fighting game than a button-mashing hack-and-slash. Its gorgeous maps – from the bright, enchanted Coral Highlands to the toxic clouds of shrouded unbelly of the Rotted Vale – are fitting backdrops for some properly brilliant fights. Monster Hunter: World (opens in new tab) is an elaborate, extravagant game about slaying huge beasts and turning their tails into axes. Thanks to intelligent design, great animations, and a lovely chiptune soundtrack, getting lost in the “just one more round” mentality is easy with Cursed to Golf, but it also does take patience. Even then, levels change with each run so there are always different traps waiting for you. Without a good feeling for its physics system and a lucky hand with the game’s ace cards, a set of cards giving you additional skills for one hit, you will likely never make it out. Envisioned like a precision platformer, Cursed to Golf asks you to think about your strength, what club you’re using and how the ball is going to bounce. To make it out, he has to successfully clear 18 holes, a challenge that is much more difficult than it sounds. You step into the shoes of a cute little golfing champion who gets hit by lightning during a tournament and lands in hell, no doubt for all the golf-related crimes he’s committed. What happens when you mix roguelike level design with golfing? A slow, strategic golfing adventure called Cursed to Golf.

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