High profile AAA games I might have missed?

So recently I played GTA5. I totally ignored it when it came out and when I saw it on sale I figured "why not?". I thoroughly enjoyed the characters, the superb voice acting and the overall polished experience, much more than I thought I would. Now I feel like digging back and look at other recent big budget AAA releases I've missed. I'm thinking about playing the new Tomb Raider, but can you guys think of any other games I should try? I've always been into more niche stuff so there will probably be a lot I've missed. I want popcorn action, good characters and great voice acting.

I play exclusively on PC, so no console exclusives.

Without knowing what games you have played, it's hard to really give recommendations about what games you might have missed.

The 2013 tomb raider was great, tons of fun. Can't speak to the recent one but assume it is as well

@ll_exile_ll: Your icon is ironic because Mass Effect 2 and 3 are actually pretty good answers to this question (though they are not JUST popcorn action.) Mass Effect 1 might have been my favorite in the series, but the action is pretty jankarific.

@ll_exile_ll: Yeah I know, I just had a hard time thinking about a concrete list when I was writing I was just expecting people to spitball suggestions. Here a short list of games I guess could apply:

• The Mass Effect series (kudos on your picture)
• Bioshock Infinite
• Deus Ex Human Revolution
• MGS5 (I guess? I didn't play more than a few hours)
• Far Cry 3/4 (not really fitting the description, but they're big budget games)

That's about it, at least what I can think of right not.

If you like GTA have you played Saints Row? I wouldn't necessarily go back to 1 or 2 (especially 1) but I played 3 in early 2015 and it was still plenty fun. You won't get the 'serious' story elements of GTA, but if you want popcorn action you'll get plenty of that, and the voice acting is very fun.

DOOM? Wolfenstein? AC Syndicate? It's hard to spit ball suggestions when we don't know your tastes.....

WOLFENSTEIN!

I did play Doom and Wolfie, great games, not too heavy on characters and story though. I've heard some positive buzz about AC Syndicate, I've never played any AC besides a couple of hours of AC2. That's the latest one right?

That's the kind of spitball I was looking for. Syndicate on the surface looks like nothing I'd be interested in, I don't care for history but if it has interesting characters and story, I'll probably enjoy it. The only thing that kept me going through GTA5 was the three main characters and the insane situations they found themselves in. I usually gravitate towards anything sci-fi, whether it's steampunk, Warhammer 40K and anything inbetween.

I've thought about AC Black Flag too, but is there anything good besides randomly swashbuckling with your own ship? Having my own ship would probably bore me if there wasn't an interesting story driving me.

I heartily recommend The Witcher 3, and it also has excellent DLC to play once the main game is finished

Shadow of Mordor made a pretty decent splash when that came out, because of how fun the combat was and the unique nemesis system. The Last of Us also came out the same year as GTA V, so if you have a PS3 or PS4, I highly recommend that.

Witcher 3 is the high water mark for storytelling in AAA games today. It might seem daunting at first. A big open world and a whole combat system to learn, but just use your quest log, take your time and remember to dodge and roll. I'm playing it for the second time since I finished it a year ago, and I'm enjoying the story and experience even more.

Tomb Raider is definitely a cool game for cool people.

I started playing Dying Light this weekend and I'm enjoying it quite a bit. Think GOG has a decent sale on for it right now?

It's old at this point but I noticed you liked Warhammer 40k so if you haven't played Space Marine yet you should fix that right away.

Also pick up Wolfenstein. That game is just great.

It's also great but personally I found the first one a bit better. Seemed a lot more varied compared to the mostly snow-ridden biome of the sequel. Both great games though.

I would suggest you avoid the newer Assassins Creed games, they are slow and plodding more than action packed.

Just Cause 3

Shadow of mordor

The division maybe?

Does anyone know the current state of the newest batman game? If it's not broken anymore that's a good one

All of these are necessities. Wolfenstein is incredible, so is Dying Light.

I bought this for $15 recently and if you can find it around there it's for sure worth it. The progression systems are annoying but the game itself is very fun to mess around in. Great physics. The traversal is just the best in any open world game hands down. Once you get some upgrades for your wing suit and the grapple, and figure out how to use all in tandem, you might as well be a super hero flying around. If you master the grapple and when and where to use it, you can constantly stay in flight. So satisfying. And if you're willing to do dumb stuff for fun (not just take the most efficient route gameplay wise) you can do a lot of crazy silly stuff with tethers and explosives. Like tethering a vehicle covered in C4 to your jet and releasing it as a huge missile into a base and blowing all kinds of shit up with it. You may not get extra credit but I've had a bunch of times where i just laugh hysterically playing this game at what I made happen (or often at surprising results).

Also no game has said "Fuck Helicopters" *Ryan Davis voice* more than this one. Tethering them and dragging them into the dirt or simply grappling to them and using them as a slingshot to fly past when wing suiting.

I get why people were down on it but I think it's really fun and great for a low price.

• Saints Row 3 and 4
• Witcher series
• Alan Wake
• Fallout: New Vegas
• Dead Space series

Any of the COD's or Battlefields for then last three years. Single player is all spectacle

I recommend Witcher 3, but it is certainly not popcorn, more filet mignon with caramelized confusion at first. If you know your way around an RPG though, please dont deprive yourself. As far as blam blam thank you ma'am, go for MGS5, you can sneak around with nothing but a knife, or just BLOW EVERYTHING UP. Those are two games I've surpassed the 100 hour mark on this past year.

The Uncharted games are the epitome of popcorn action games, but you need a PS4 to play them. Other than that:

1. Alpha Protocol. I mean, it's not exactly AAA, nor is it exactly a good action game, but it draws inspiration from spy action movies in a really fun way.
2. Sleeping Dogs. Easy parallel to GTA, with super fun and ridiculous Hong Kong movies' kungfu/cop action.
3. Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. Not exactly AAA either, but it's a really slick spaghetti western FPS.

(and it probably goes without saying that most COD games are popcorn military action)

Saints Row 3 and Rise of the Tomb Raider were both pretty cheap on Steam, turns out I already owned Shadow of Mordor, never played it though. I've purposefully avoided the CoD games since they seem very overpriced if I only intend to play the short campaign.

But is it though?

Or is it just competent and really bland?

@bluefish: It plays great, has a fun progression, cool set pieces, and looks nice. It's a cool fucking game.

@csl316: I prefer my fucking to be hot and steamy, I'll pass.