11 Best Action Games to Play in 2016 (PC)

Updated:

22 Aug 2024

Here's a list of 11 awesome action games to play in 2016

Action games are one of the most popular genres in gaming and for a good reason -every game needs dramatic action to excite gamers and allow them to experience the things that they'll probably never get to experience in real life.

So let's get to it. Here's our list of 11 action games that will bring you into dangerous combat-filled worlds that would probably require you to kill bad guys using epic weapons.

11. Mass Effect Andromeda

The Reapers have been defeated, but in the process, humanity lost its home. Mass Effect Andromeda's story revolves around finding humanity a new home. I do have to say a lot of what I’m basing my opinion on is the Reddit leak that occurred a few months ago.

The leak didn’t give much information about any one topic, but the big changes as of now are facial detail and destroyable cover. I’m not that surprised at the facial detail since that should be improved game to game, but the destroyable cover is a nice add.

The main character is referred to as Pathfinder. As in all Mass Effects, you still have two squad mates, but you do get jetpacks. The only real important thing that the leak revealed was that the omnitool would be able to play a functioning role in combat situations.

Since we have not had a lot of confirmation about the game I do not want to speculate further, but Mass Effect Andromeda is set to release at the end of 2016.

10. Overwatch

In a futuristic Earth where the world is in chaos, players must take on the role of heroes from an old military unit known as Overwatch to restore order.

The game features 21 different heroes, each with their own unique combat abilities and we can expect new heroes as Blizzard develops the game.

The gameplay concept is a mixture of moba and fps, and will put players in 6vs6 team battles, with the roles of Offense, Defense, Tank or Support.

Overwatch is Blizzard's first venture into the fps genre. The company has enjoyed great success in its World of Warcraft, Diablo and Starcraft titles and we hope its the same for Overwatch.

9. Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3

To prevent another Cold War from happening, players will take control of Johnathan North, a retired U.S. marine. The player will be thrown into a new and dangerous battlefield, where they must take out the key targets who threaten world peace.

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 3 is a tactical shooter that will require stealth, smarts and accuracy to outbest your enemies.

The game has within it a three-factor war between Russia and a two-sided civil war in Georgia. The player must enter this country and infiltrate the enemy intruder with whom he shares a dark past.

The game also focuses on realism; as a result, the open-world features a dynamic weather system and day-night cycle. Players can make use of these situations to create tactical advantages.

In addition, players can travel to a "safe house" where they can collect supplies and resources like first-aid kits and ammunition for weapons. These safe houses also act as fast travel points for players for easy navigation of the world. In addition, players can craft and modify their weapons and bullets. These upgrades can improve the weapons' efficiency and accuracy. When not playing missions, players can interact with a neutral faction, which may or may not help players in completing missions.

8. Rise of the Tomb Raider

Rise of the Tomb Raider is the sequel to Tomb Raider. The game will see Lara travelling all over the world as she tries to find answers to what happened in the last game. The journey will pit Lara against an organization called Trinity as they look for an artifact that grants immortality called the Divine Source.

The main story for the game is around twelve to fourteen hours, but with side missions and relic finding the game can be pushed to around thirty hours. The game also has some replay value as it comes with features like Chapter Replay, Score Attack and community created missions. Each replay can be unique by using expedition cards, which alter the gameplay add new challenges, advantages or make cosmetic, but funny changes. So I'd say it's pretty good in that regard.

The world in this game is a semi-open world game with beautifully crafted levels. Surrounded by the lush beautiful environment, Lara must use her wits and survival skills, form new alliances, and ultimately embrace her destiny as the Tomb Raider. Experience dangerous risk-filled moments, overcome beautiful hostile environments, engage in brutal guerilla combat, and explore awe-inspiring deadly tombs in the evolution of survival action.

In “Rise of the Tomb Raider,” Lara becomes more than a survivor as she embarks on her first Tomb Raiding expedition.

7. Shadow Warrior 2

Are you looking for a wisecracking main character that hunts demons, shoots them in the face and stabs them with a blade?

Lo Wang, a modern ninja warrior, must battle an army of demons that have invaded the world. With procedurally generated level designs, randomized enemy positions, and 70 different weapons, players will enjoy a good amount of depth and replayability.

We have seen some gameplay and it looks excellent. The swordplay is nice, guns and blades mix well, and the free running they have makes a great addition.

The enemies in the levels are spawned randomly when the level is built. While that won’t mean much for Lo Wang himself, when adding in the procedurally generated levels it means players will enjoy new combat scenarios endlessly.

The storyline is cool as players control Lo Wang, a badass ninja who ain't afraid of no demons, and the combat will feature visceral details including cutting off demon limbs and body parts.

6. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

Two years after Human Revolution, Adam Jenson must deal with a terrorist group fighting for augmented individual rights, and a shadowy interest group who control his own organization. Deus Ex is action RPG with a heavy narrative. Adam is older, more experienced and has several new abilities.

The game allows players more freedom on how they take down enemies. You can fight your way through everything or you can avoid bloodshed should you deem it necessary. The developers showed an alpha demo a few months ago and every looks very polished, and several ways improved from the last game.

The game comes out August 23 of 2016 and I would expect it to be a must have for gamers who love espionage, stealth and action.

5. Dishonored 2

15 years after The Dunwall Plague, Dunwall has fallen into chaos. Empress Emily Kaldwin has been removed from the throne by an otherworldly force and is framed as an outlaw. She now follows in the footsteps of her loyal bodyguard, assassin Corvo Attano and attempts to retake the throne and get back what she has lost.

Dishonored 2 features a fast paced action-packed campaign that allows you to play as either Emily or Corvo.

Attano will have his supernatural powers from the last game while Emily Kaldwin will have her own unique set of powers including "Far Reach" which allows the player to travel without physical movement, similar to Attano's 'Blink' power from the original game, and "Shadow Walk" which turns her into a shadowy cloud that can move swiftly and change tangibility at will.

Dishonored 2 may be released as soon as spring; however, the lack of content tells me it may not be ready until later this year. The trailer shows some impressive stuff, and the developers say you can do everything that is in the trailer. There wasn’t anything too extreme in the trailer so I would probably take him at his word, but I would like to see a gameplay trailer.

4. Tom Clancy’s the Division

It is Black Friday. A viral disease sweeps through major cities, causing the US government to collapse and the country to fall into chaos. Players are part a special ops group, caught in the middle of the chaos and the threat of the virus.

The game is a third person shooter MMOrpg where players will traverse a chaotic New York city filled with destruction, bandits, and no rule of law.

As players make progress throughout the game, they gain experience and currency, which can be used to upgrade their weapons and gear, change their character's appearance, and learn new skills to deal deadlier blows in combat.

The game features a "Dark Zone" which is a deadly PvP zone where players can enter to find the most powerful weapons and gear and also combat other humans.

3. Mafia 3

The year is 1968; Lincoln Clay has just returned from Vietnam to his home in New Orleans. After joining “The Black Mob,” Lincoln is betrayed by the Italian mob. Lincoln survives and starts his own crime family and goes after the Italians that betrayed him.

The developers wanted to make the game feel authentic so they didn’t shy away from the "mob" culture of the era. Depending on which territory you are in, you will be treated differently by the people there. This will surely add to the game's "Mafia" experience and give players a sense of realism.

The game is completely open world and has several side quests like taking over Italian mob locations. The combat focuses on guns, execution moves, melee combat and a cover system which players can use to avoid getting shot.

Players can attack and take over locations owned by the Italian mob, and assign one of their lieutenants to operate the location. The available lieutenants are Cassandra, Burke, and Vito Scaletta; Vito was previously featured as the protagonist of Mafia II.

2. DOOM 4

DOOM is the reboot of one of the most treasured games in FPS. Most gamers know the base story, the soldier from Earth takes on the armies of hell. The game has taken a few different forms over the years, but this game is taking it back to the roots of Doom 1 and 2.

They are going back to basics with this one. That means big guns, fast paced action and yes, a health bar is back. You gain health and ammo, by shooting enemies and ripping them apart.

Custom maps are back. DOOM has a large fan base and is adding back into it the ability to add custom maps. This is big news because long time ID fans could probably go up against any fan base in map creation.

Players will enjoy pushing back a demon invasion using 15 different weapons like the Vortex Rifle, BFG 9000, Heavy Assault Rifle, and Chainsaw.

1. Far Cry: Primal

After your tribe suffers a vicious attack, you awake to find yourself as the sole survivor of the Wenja tribe. It is the Stone Age, and you will play as Takkar, a hunter and the last remaining survivor of your group.

In a land where primal beasts rule the land and man is at the bottom of the food chain, you must learn to survive, build up your tribe and rise to become the Apex predator.

To survive, you must brave the Oros valley in Central Europe, an open world filled with wild beasts such as mammoths and saber-toothed cats.

The world is massive with an open world concept that allows you to freely explore, hunt, craft weapons and fight. To help navigate Oros they did include the ability to ride some of the larger beasts.

Far Cry games are always massive, the Stone Age theme is a nice change. The weapons are mostly archaic melee weapons like axes along with short range weapons like a throwing spear and bows and arrows.