Since Indiana Jones swung across a chasm with his trusty whip to retrieve an idol from a booby-trapped tomb, action adventure games have been capturing the thrill of an expedition. From classic tomb raiding to modern arcade games, there's something for everyone.
These are some of the finest PC action games ever released, whether it be action-adventure or otherwise, as well as several titles that radically altered the gaming industry. There is no Uncharted here, as emulation or PlayStation Now does not count, but wed prefer any of these games over Sonys series.
The best action-adventure games are:
- Tomb Raider
- Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
- Assassin's Creed Origins
- Resident Evil 4
- Batman: Arkham Asylum
- Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy
- Psychonauts 2
- Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
- Beyond Good & Evil
- Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
- Control
- Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
Tomb Raider
Crystal Dynamics made it work. While most of the difficulties Lara experiences should have killed her like that rusty nail through the stomach, they add emotional value to the game.
The gameplay is a wonderful marriage of combat, exploration, climbing, and puzzle solving, all of which you want to see in a game like Tomb Raider. The climbing is so enjoyable and natural, but the combat is not overwhelming the game, and really drives home the struggle Lara endures.
The original Tomb Raider from 1996 was the foundation for the genre, although some experts claim that the 2013 remake improved it. Just don't forget about the film.
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time
Prince of Persia: Sands of Time is a breakthrough in 3D gaming. It's one of the few action games that successfully transitioned from 2D to 3D. In that respect, it stands behind Mario 64 in the end.
Prince of Persia adapted to the new dimension using a sandbox strategy, instead of merely presenting upwards or forwards.
The Sands of Time mechanic makes just getting across a room so enjoyable. And that's before you add in the extremely clever Sands mechanic. If you screw up a jump, the Sands of Time allows you to rewind time and give it another try immediately and you can repeat until you've exhausted the sand. It's still a fantastic concept today, and one that more games should adopt.
Assassins Creed Origins
When Assassins Creed was first released on our screens in the 1990s, gamers were starting to get bored of the usual Assassins Creed games. Thats when Ubisoft took a break and returned with Origins, the greatest entry in the action game franchise.
Origins doesn't depart from the Assassins Creed formula much; everything is just a lot more satisfying. There's no need for more chain-kills or dodge-attacks to take you through large groups of enemies anymore.
The Ancient Egypt game is stunning and chock-full of surprises, relics, and puzzles to discover, and it isnt the usual Ubisoft open world filled with little icons to hunt down, either. There are plenty of fun places to see throughout the map, from tombs you can visit to interesting side missions. The series' main character's revenge is one of the best in the series.
Resident Evil 4
Resident Evil left its survival horror roots and went full action-adventure with Resident Evil 4. Fans couldnt be more happy with Capcom's delivery of one of the greatest games of all time. It's had a significant and long-lasting influence, too. Blame RE4 for that, since it worked so brilliantly.
Resident Evil 4 is packed with thrilling action scenes and tense puzzle solving for a whole lot of boulder-punching fun. Even single-player games, it lasts longer than most single-player games do, at least for those that aren't in a sandbox and yet, Capcom never gives up throwing exciting set-pieces at you. Massive shark in a lake! Troll monster! Huge robot version of the weird antagonist!
And everything starts with an assault on a house by weird villagers very Night of the Living Dead, followed by the horrifying sound of a chainsaw cutting through your defences. Yes, the parts that have you defend Ashley are annoying, but Resident Evil 4 remains the series' star point, and it's still as good as it was back then.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Before Batman: Arkham Asylum, licensed games were a joke, so publishers purchased IPs and crapped out a game in a bid to make a quick profit. Then Rocksteady came along and raised the bar for the rest of the game.
Batman: Arkham Asylum is, arguably, a masterpiece in game design. By limiting Batman to Gotham's most famous location, Rocksteady had full freedom to carefully design every inch of the Asylum so you can navigate its passages seamlessly, with the dark architecture being one of the game's most terrifying features.
The Metroidvania-style gameplay fits very nicely with Batman's inventory, and the setting provided the perfect backdrop to instill a variety of famous villains. The fact that Rocksteady has cast many actors from Batman: The Animated Series and hired veteran comics writer Paul Dini, is just the icing on an amazing multi-layered cake.
The beautiful rhythm of the combat, which every single third-person action-adventure game has to rip-off now, such as Marvels Spider-Man, is a major component of Arkham Asylum's superiority. Other action-adventure games may be lesser, but the first Arkham game is still outstanding.
Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy
Many action games with group casts would require you to play as each character throughout the game, but Marvels Guardians of the Galaxy maintains a narrow focus. As Star-Lord, your objective is to obey orders and lead your team as a leader rather than combat as an overpowered hero with sidekicks.
We also applaud the narrative as it mostly embodies the quirky tone and characters that Marvel fans will be looking for. The superhero game also has a wonderful soundtrack filled with licensed music, even if the most dramatic fights sometimes turn into odd off-beat moments.
Psychonauts 2
Psychonauts 2 is, according to our review, better than the first. With its memorable characters and compelling narrative, it skirts the line between action-platformer and platformer. Although we do not see many of the campers at Whispering Rock, we do see Dogens grandfather, who we should say has a lot of unusual personality traits.
The real joy is discovering the strange and wonderful levels in Psychonauts 2, from a TV game show where you must impress goats with your culinary creations to a library filled with sentient photographs from books. By far the best level is the PSI Kings Sensorium, set in a music festival with more colours and trippy visions than The Beatles Yellow Submarine.
Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Monolith used to be well-known for first-person games such as F.E.A.R. and Condemned, but the studio really took it up a notch when it came to the action-adventure game genre, much like a Ranger stabs an orc through the head, and this is due to one word: Nemesis.
Monolith's Nemesis system enabled orcs to hold grudges and even become mortal enemies. If one of them kills you (even a random grunt) they'll make a name for themselves and be a much tougher threat the second time around.
Shadow of Mordor is a game that combines Assassins Creeds exploration and climbing with Batmans stealth and combat, and it works well. Then, halfway through, the game suddenly allows you to recruit orcs, making it seem like a totally different, fantastic, game.
Beyond Good & Evil
Beyond Good & Evil leans heavily on its Legend of Zelda influence and comes close to defeating Nintendo in its own game. Its the story of photographer Jade and her adoptive pig uncle Peyj, and their fight against the alien DomZ. The opening sucks you in with its strange sci-fi world, but its the plot that keeps you engaged as you go deeper into the plot.
Beyond Good & Evil will have you falling in love with mysteries, twists, and heartfelt characters. Jades hovercraft is a fun way to get around it especially when you start racing.
The stealth sections may be a bit weak, but the fighting is simple and enjoyable, but everything else about Beyond Good & Evil is so good you can understand why the entire internet is still clamoring for a sequel to one of the finest action-adventure games of all time.
Indiana Jones and the Emperors Tomb
We must include one Indiana Jones game on this list since Indys' cinematic adventures influenced the whole genre. And as Fate of Atlantis is a point-and-click adventure, the player will happily settle with his action-packed quest to discover the Heart of the Dragon, hidden in the tomb of China's first Emperor.
The Emperors Tomb is a world-trotting adventure, including Sri Lanka, New York, Prague, Hong Kong, and Xian. Everything has heft and weight, so if you smash a chair into a Nazi, it appears to be hurting.
The levels are fun, with plenty of secrets to discover, and the story serves as a decent prequel to Temple of Doom. To top it off, Clint Bajakian's orchestrated music is so good that more than one reviewer at the time mistook it for John Williams' score from the film.
Emperors Tomb deserves its place on this list for making you feel like Indiana Jones. You can whip a pistol out of an enemy's hands, pick it up, and use it against him, or just throw a beer bottle at him, and punch him into a crocodile hole. Classic Indy.
Control
Remedy's supernatural action-adventure game combines their trademark free flowing third-person combat with their finest storytelling yet. You travel through a secretive agency headquarters and investigate an unknown threat known as the Hiss. Described in our Control review as a gripping descent into something between alternate history and fever dream, realised beautifully in audiovisual flair.
Control is designed to be more adventurous than action, with combat primarily used to break up exploration and narrative. There is a slew of puzzles to unlock new areas, as well as a challenging checkpoint system that requires you to know what happened in the Hiss invasion. Your arsenal expands as you progress through the game, and youll acquire supernatural items such as a revolver with infinite ammunition that can transform into a pistol or rifle in an instant.
Control's strength is a solid sense of place, as is the Bureaus headquarters, which is a morphing labyrinth of eerie corridors and stunning board rooms that seem totally convincing despite the fantastical paranormal activity it exposes you to there. Each one is so rich with intrigue that reading through them never becomes a chore.
Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order
With the action-adventure game genre, Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order does nothing particularly new or fresh, but it does it with a Star Wars touch, which is a worthy achievement in itself.
This is a Star Wars game that is both adventurous and fun in every Jedi flip and lightsaber battle, with heavy Dark Souls influences in its combat and level design. And, more importantly, Respawn Entertainment may have created the prettiest droid in the Star Wars universe.
We hope you didn't destroy too many valuable historical items on the way here. However, if you prefer your adventures with a little less action, check out the best idle and clicker games on PC instead. Theyre a lot less hazardous.
Jordan Forward has made other entries.