Top 10 Action-Adventure Games You Need to Play Right Now (2026)
Action-adventure has always been the genre that brings the widest audience in enough combat to satisfy action fans, enough exploration and story to hook everyone else. 2026 has been an especially strong year for it, with new releases sitting comfortably alongside genre-defining classics. Here are the ten best action-adventure games worth your time right now.
1. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Years after launch, Breath of the Wild still holds its place as one of the best action-adventure games ever made. Link wakes a hundred years after a mysterious Calamity and sets off across a fully open Hyrule in any order the player chooses, clearing shrines and dungeons on the way to a final confrontation with Calamity Ganon. If you enjoy it, its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom, expands the same Hyrule with vastly more to explore both above and below ground.
2. Marvel’s Spider-Man 2
Insomniac somehow topped the original Spider-Man with this sequel. There’s no volcano or desert here just the streets of downtown Manhattan, and they prove perilous enough. Dynamic swinging traversal, skillful combat against familiar foes, and GTA-style character swapping between Peter and Miles make this one of the best action-adventure games on the market right now.
3. The Last of Us / The Last of Us Part II
One of the most influential action-adventure series ever made, following Joel and Ellie as they try to survive a fungal apocalypse that’s collapsed society. The original won numerous Game of the Year awards on release, and the emotional weight of both entries has since inspired an acclaimed live-action series.
4. 007 First Light
The legendary agent’s long-awaited return to gaming, and the first proper entry since 2012. IO Interactive blends its Hitman-style stealth sensibilities with more traditional action-adventure structure, following an inexperienced Bond earning his MI6 badge. It’s widely considered the best Bond game in over a decade.
5. Legacy of the Dark Knight
A must-play for any superhero fan wanting a rock-solid, open-world action-adventure oozing in charm. Rather than an overwhelming roster, it features just seven playable characters, each fully unique rather than a simple palette swap, with combat and traversal systems that echo the Arkham formula while telling a story that does justice to Batman’s history.
6. God of War Ragnarok
One of gaming’s most emotionally powerful stories, wrapped in some of the most visceral combat the genre has to offer. Kratos and Atreus’s journey through the Norse realms remains a benchmark for how action-adventure games can balance spectacle with genuine emotional weight.
7. Horizon Forbidden West
A vast world with one of gaming’s most distinctive visual identities. Aloy’s journey through a post-apocalyptic America overrun by robotic creatures combines tight combat, exploration, and one of the more striking art styles in modern gaming.
8. Red Dead Redemption
Alongside its sequel, the original Red Dead Redemption remains a landmark in the genre a sprawling western adventure blending action, exploration, and storytelling that continues to influence how open-world action-adventure games are built.
9. Hades
Proof that the genre works brilliantly at a smaller scale too. This fast, narrative-driven roguelike blends combat, story, and exploration into runs that never feel repetitive, thanks to writing that evolves every time you fail.
10. Tunic
A gorgeous, secretive action-adventure that channels classic Zelda in both look and feel, while hiding an entire in-game manual players have to piece together themselves. It’s one of the best examples of the genre rewarding curiosity as much as combat skill.
Honorable Mentions
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resynced, GTA 6, and Marvel’s Wolverine are all shaping up to be some of the biggest action-adventure releases still to come this year, while Death’s Door remains a fantastic pick for fans of Tunic’s smaller-scale approach to the genre.
Final Thoughts
Whether you want sweeping open-world exploration, tightly told emotional stories, or combat-focused roguelikes, the action-adventure genre in 2026 has no shortage of standout picks. Pick one, and get exploring.
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