Games Watch: the 5 best new games coming out in March 2020
Here are the console and PC games that have us talking this month
Even during the slowest months of the year, you’ll find the release list stocked with literally hundreds of games across consoles, PC, and mobile. It’s madness.
Given that, it can be easy to overlook some magnificent game releases amidst the stack, but worry not: we’re here to help. Our Games Watch column points out the five biggest and brightest games on the immediate horizon, and outlines why each seems like it’ll be well worth your time and money.
With that in mind, here’s your monthly compendium of the five most scintillating new releases coming before April rolls around. You can thank us later.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps – 11 March
Ori and the Blind Forest didn’t look or feel like most of the games we get from Microsoft’s first-party studios, but the dreamy 2D hand-drawn graphics, tight Metroidvania combat, and rich emotional hook made it one of the Xbox One’s all-time greats.
And now Ori and the Will of the Wisps looks just as amazing, with dazzling action, enormous bosses to contend with, and the same kind of heart-pummeling storytelling that made the first game so memorable. Recent hands-on impressions have been glowingly positive.
Platforms: Xbox One, PC
Price: £25
Doom Eternal – 20 March
2016’s Doom marked a striking rebirth for the iconic shooter series, rebuilding the classic run-and-gun formula for a brand new era of gaming. And now Doom Eternal looks to kick that experience up quite a few notches.
It’s all about gruesome, rapid-fire demon-slaying again, albeit this time with a Meat Hook that lets you swing around levels (adding more verticality in the process), plus an incredible-looking laser sword that you’ll use to slice through epic foes. Yeah, we’re sold.
Platforms: PS4, XB1, PC
Price: £50
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 20 March
On the other hand, if you’re less into slicing and slaying and more into relaxing and playing, Animal Crossing: New Horizons might be more your speed. This is the first entry in the long-running life simulation to reach the Switch.
New Horizons keeps the adorable look and casual tone the series is known for, but implements some new elements such as crafting and having a greater ability to customize the look and feel of the town. It still looks like a fine game to laze around with.
Platform: Switch
Price: £45
Half-Life: Alyx – 23 March
Half-Life is finally back, and while this isn’t the proper sequel that fans have been demanding for a dozen years, we can’t complain too much: this is still a full-fledged new game in the legendary first-person shooter series.
Only this time it’s exclusively for PC VR headsets—and you’ll play as heroine Alyx in a prequel, rather than Gordon Freeman himself. Even with the big shake-up, the trailer shows really tense encounters and clever use of the new perspective, and Valve hasn’t let us down yet… well, aside from never announcing Half-Life 3.
Platforms: PC VR
Price: £46.49
Bleeding Edge – 24 March
Ninja Theory is a studio known for combat-centric adventure games, including Heavenly Sword and DmC: Devil May Cry – and now the team is trying its hand at multiplayer with Bleeding Edge.
This team-based competitive brawler has a look and feel all its own as your four-player squad of diverse and over-the-top heroes enters melee battle against another. If Overwatch ditched the guns for melee weapons, it might look a little like this. The style is superb.
Platforms: XB1, PC
Price: £25
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
