The best new PC games 2021
It is all well and good starting another daring round of PUBG, taking on a new 100-hour Football Manager save, or yet another The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim adventure but, as much as we love setting mammoths ablaze, there are plenty of the latest PC games that will more than supply your gaming fix. You don’t want to be the person who isn’t In The Know now, do you?
These days, new PC games pour onto Steam at a frankly dizzying rate, making it impossible to keep up with them all. Thankfully, us kind folk at PCGamesN have separated the wheat from the chaff when it comes to recent PC releases. So, below you will find every new PC games for which you should be saving up your pennies. This list is updated regularly to include the latest releases.
The best new PC games of 2021 are:
DEATHLOOP
Deathloop, Arkane Studios’ new stealth action game, is set on the fictional island of Blackreef, which is caught in an eternal time loop, each day repeating over and over. You play as Colt Vahn, a man who awakens on a beach with no memory of who he is – only the recollection of a woman named Julianna murdering him. The two legendary assassins lock horns day after day as Colt tries to figure out how to escape the loop.
Deathloop has earned glowing praise across the board, including a ten-out-of-ten from PCGamesN’s Ian Boudreau. His Deathloop review describes it as “a true tour de force from Arkane that is bound to be one of the year’s best and most important games.”
LIFE IS STRANGE: TRUE COLORS
Life is Strange: True Colors tells the story of Alex Chen, who has the power to read the emotions of those around her. Following the death of her brother, Alex returns to her hometown of Haven Springs, up in the mountains of Colorado, and must use her psychic abilities to uncover the truth about his demise.
As Alex connects with the denizens of Haven Springs, she explores her own emotional journey in a town that truly feels alive, full of community and hope. In Dave’s Life is Strange: True Colors review, he describes it as “a beautiful game in many ways, but never more so than in the moments when it delivers its underlying message: the importance of kindness, and of rallying around people in need.”
PSYCHONAUTS 2
A decade after Psychonauts released, Psychonauts 2 has arrived, and it’s a massive hit. Dustin says in his review that Psychonauts 2 is “a rare sequel that improves on the original in every meaningful way. It’s packed to the brim with beautiful worlds and surprising interactions, and its colourful cast is equal parts funny, believable, and sympathetic.” High praise indeed!
Psychonauts 2 is a quirky platformer with an array of wonderful characters – you play as Raz, a trained acrobat and psychic who has joined the elite group of psychic spies – the Psychonauts. Leap, explore, and complete missions on a quest to defeat a murderous psychic villain in an imaginative and memorable story, as Dustin says, “this is Double Fine’s best game.”
HUMANKIND
From the studio behind Endless Legend comes a new historical, turn-based strategy game, Humankind. Instead of picking one historical empire and controlling their journey from stone tools to supercomputers, the game is split into seven eras, and each Humankind leader selects a different culture to embody for that era. The story of your people might involve ruling the seas as the Norsemen in the Medieval era, and then building magnificent cities as the Mughals in the Early Modern era.
Whatever path you choose to take, the aim of the game is to accrue the most Humankind fame by the end of the game, which can be earned in a myriad of ways. When you inevitably clash with your rival nations, Humankind wars are particularly deep – as Rich explains in his Humankind review, “You can prevail against two-to-one odds through clever use of terrain and reinforcements, and it feels both brilliant and historically accurate to pull off.”
THE ASCENT
In the slick, hyper-urban world of The Ascent, you play as a worker in a futuristic cyberpunk metropolis, where everything is owned by the Ascent Group – until one day, when it collapses, and you must figure out how to survive. It’s an isometric action-RPG with plenty of enemies to mow down and rip through using meaty guns, deployable robots, and hacking augmentations.
In his The Ascent review, Jordan describes how, “as a twin-stick shooter with light RPG mechanics, The Ascent is a magnificent example of how far set dressing and punchy shooting can take you.”
THE GREAT ACE ATTORNEY CHRONICLES
These two long-lost Ace Attorney games were only released in Japan on the Nintendo 3DS. Many have speculated the reasons behind the lack of a localisation, copyright laws surrounding the Conan Doyle Estate in the US are chief among them, but the games have finally arrived the west. Players take on the role of Phoenix Wright’s ancestor as he practices as a defence lawyer in Britain during the turn of the century.
Read more: our The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles preview
It introduces new mechanics, such as debunking the theories of Herlock Sholmes and convincing jurors to change their verdict by pointing out contradictions in their view of the case. However, fans of the Phoenix Wright games will feel right at home solving these grisly murder cases, all while waggling their fingers and yelling ‘objection’ at the top of their lungs.
Buy The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles at Fanatical
HELL LET LOOSE
Set on the battlefields of WWII, Hell Let Loose is a tactical multiplayer FPS game in which two commanders each take charge of a team of 50 players, and decide where squads move to and where supplies are allocated. As part of a squad, soldiers must communicate and coordinate their movements, setting up garrisons and gaining footholds in enemy territory.
In his Hell Let Loose review, Ian concludes that the game’s “complex interplay of FPS action and real-time tactical planning rewards communication, coordination, and genuine leadership in a way few other games even attempt.”
MONSTER HUNTER STORIES 2
In the world of Monster Hunter, it’s not all slaying and flaying – alongside the titular hunters, there are also monster riders, who are able to forge bonds with a party of friendly ‘monsties’. And then you go around slaying and flaying, of course. There’s no gore, but you do harvest your own monsters in order to create a more powerful team, but – as Jordan explains in his Monster Hunter Stories 2 review – the story is charming, “brimming with warmth and do-gooders”. His overall verdict is that “while the repetitiveness of its turn-based battle system can become frustrating, Monster Hunter Stories 2 is more than a novel twist on the main series’ core components”.
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-
Guilty Gear Strive is currently leading the pack as the best fighting game of 2021. Developed by Arc System Works, Guilty Gear Strive has been designed to be accessible to newcomers while retaining the depth the series is known for. Featuring 15 new and returning characters, a heavy soundtrack by Daisuke Ishiwatari, and the all-important rollback netcode, Guilty Gear Strive has established itself as the go-to fighting game for fans and new players alike.
CHIVALRY 2
Torn Banner Studios’ follow up to their 2012 smash hit, Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is here, and it is brutal. The gameplay has been sped up to make battles even more intense and chaotic than ever before. Take part in first person medieval fights as you clash swords with up to 63 people on the battlefield. There are only a handful of games like Chivalry 2, so you’ll want to read our Chivalry 2 beginner’s guide before venturing into battle. We’ve also broken down what the best classes are, giving you an edge over the competition.
Buy Chivalry 2 at the Humble Store
MASS EFFECT LEGENDARY EDITION
Mass Effect Legendary Edition packs all three games into one bundle, including most of the DLC to create the ultimate package for RPG fans. All of the games have been remastered for 4K, with major upgrades to the games’ performance and visuals across the whole trilogy. “This is the same Mass Effect we fell in love with all those years ago, painstakingly polished and wrapped up in a neat ribbon,” says Jen in her impressions piece.
Check out our Mass Effect Legendary Edition face codes guide to pick out the best looking Shepard in the galaxy. We also have a romance options guide for anyone who wants to know what relationships are available across the trilogy.
DAYS GONE
A plague of zombies has devastated the Pacific Northwest, and protagonist Deacon St. John must survive in the apocalyptic wasteland, working as a mercenary and drifting from camp to camp on his motorcycle. As Ian explains in our Days Gone review, it’s a “workmanlike open-world adventure, but it’s elevated into something special by its spectacular horde fights, ambitious scope, and warmly written characters.”
RESIDENT EVIL VILLAGE
Being chased by extremely tall ladies, dodging feral lycans, and battering down shambling Moroaica is, as it turns out, an absolutely wonderful time. Resident Evil Village is already one of the biggest releases on Steam this year, and as Dustin explains in his Resident Evil Village review, it’s “a blend of horror, action, exploration, and puzzle-solving that pays tribute to – and frequently surpasses – its predecessors”. If you’re planning on venturing into the Village yourself, make use of our bosses guide, weapon upgrades guide, and recipes guide.
Buy Resident Evil Village at Fanatical
OUTRIDERS
In People Can Fly’s looter shooter, you play as the Outrider, a soldier tasked with attempting to establish a new home for humanity after Earth’s destruction. Alone, or with up to two allies online, the Outrider blasts their way across the planet Enoch with all kinds of fantastical dystopian future weapons and skills. The combat is thoroughly enjoyable, with “superpowers that put the recent Marvel’s Avengers to shame”, alongside a “blockbuster narrative”, as Jordan explains in his Outriders review. For the collectors, we’ve got Outriders legendary weapons and Outriders legendary armour guides.
Buy Outriders at the Humble Store
IT TAKES TWO
As the name suggests, you’ll need to recruit a friend to play It Takes Two – like Hazelight’s previous game A Way Out, it’s a multiplayer only endeavour. The rom-com-esque story involves a feuding couple who must learn to work together, and the platforming gameplay ingeniously demands the same of you and your player two.
New mechanics and challenges keep the game fresh and fun throughout, the characters are charming, and while the trials you both face are quirky and amusing, there are some more meaningful, mature themes that emerge as you play.
LOOP HERO
Retro-style roguelike Loop Hero is one of the most addictive indies we’ve played in a while. The Loop Hero is on a mission to rebuild reality, setting out on adventures day after day in order to gather resources and knowledge. As the hero makes their way around the ‘loop’, automatically battling the monsters in their path, the player is in charge of placing down cards which change the surrounding terrain, and the foes that spawn there.
Planning the route is crucial; certain tile combinations unlock new variations and various buffs – but if you misjudge and overface your hero, they will die and be sent back without many of the precious resources they gathered on their trip. As Ian puts it in his Loop Hero review, ‘the closer you come to failure, the better the rewards’.
VALHEIM
A Viking warrior slain in battle, you arrive in Valheim, a procedurally-generated Norse wilderness that you must survive and explore – alone, or with up to nine other Viking pals online. Valheim itself is a pleasure to explore; teeming with life and full of dungeons to discover, all rendered with charming old-school textures, paired with picturesque modern lighting effects. Whether you dream of raising the grandest meadhall in the land, sailing to distant horizons across dangerous seas, or bopping the heck out of trolls and dwarfs, you’re bound to make Odin proud.
THE MEDIUM
With the makers of Layers of Fear, Observer, and Blair Witch Project behind it as well as an abandoned hotel resort as its setting, The Medium has psychological horror written all over it. You play as a mortician haunted by a child’s murder, and as you investigate, you enter a surreal spirit world where your real life actions are reproduced simultaneously. Navigating these two planes of existence is key to discovering the fate of the Niwa hotel.
HITMAN 3
Agent 47 returns to cap off the World of Assassination trilogy in Hitman 3, and this time his itinerary includes a cloud-piercing skyscraper in Dubai, a grand English manor house, and the neon lights of Chongqing in China. In our Hitman 3 review, Jordan praises Hitman 3’s storytelling, explaining that “rather than stitching each sandbox together with some cutscenes, IO is starting to tinker with the sandboxes themselves. The Berlin mission is the perfect example: the entire level is characterised by the absence of a handler, both narratively and in its impact on the now-familiar rhythms of the new series.”
If you’re aiming to complete the Silent Assassin, Suit Only challenge for every level, we’ve got your back – starting with the Hitman 3 Dubai Silent Assassin, Suit Only walkthrough.
Buy Hitman 3 at the Humble store
There you have it, the new PC games you should be playing right now. Now, we’ll admit, we were being a little facetious earlier: new PC games aren’t necessarily the cream of the personal computer crop. For that, you should swing by our list of the best old games for the classics and the best PC games of all time, or even check out or collection of free online games, no download required. While it’s important that you keep up with the new PC games we have listed, you are missing out on some of the most memorable gaming experiences around from previous years – and they’ll likely be a lot cheaper by now, too. We feel for your growing pile of shame.
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