quite busy here n ther
but as the end of 2015 is here
heres a list of games releasing on 2016 which we can wait for eagerly
Bloodborne Watch trailer(s)
March 24 | Sony | Action-RPG
The latest from
Demon's Souls and
Dark Souls developer From Software (following last year's acclaimed release
Dark Souls II) is a PS4-exclusive action-RPG-horror title set in an ancient city where you must fight off a plague and myriad deranged beasts lurking in the dark, foggy Victorian-era setting. It's not technically part of the
Souls series, though fans will note some similarities in look and gameplay—as well as in the level of difficulty. Don't expect a previous-generation release, as
Bloodborne is designed to take advantage of the PS4's advanced capabilities.
The Division Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Ubisoft | Action-RPG
This highly-anticipated (and highly ambitious) third-person tactical shooter/MMORPG hybrid under the Tom Clancy banner is one of several repeats here from our 2014 game preview, though it should finally surface in 2015. Set in a realistic-looking, near-future New York City,The Division takes place after a disease outbreak has wiped out much of the country's population in less than a week. You are one of a group of government sleeper agents ("The Division") charged with restoring order after the surviving population turns lawless. You'll get a chance to work with and against other players, and the game is designed to encourage lengthy gameplay even after you exhaust the original story progression.
One of 2015's first major game releases is this open-world survival horror title (another holdover from 2014) from
Dead Island developer
Techland. Set during a zombie apocalypse,
Dying Light allows you to show off your running and
Mirror's Edge-style parkour skills as you attempt to evade the undead. The gimmick here (aside from slick graphics on the next-gen consoles) is the game's day-night cycle. Daytime isn't so bad, with your day spent scavenging and completing various tasks. But when the sun goes down, the zombies turn fast, athletic, and aggressive, and you'll need to utilize a combination of stealth and quick-thinking to survive. The developer has promised at least 50 hours of gameplay, not including three upcoming DLC packs.
Everybody's Gone to the Rapture Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Sony | Adventure
Yet another repeat from last year's preview, PS4-exclusive
Rapture comes from indie studio The Chinese Room, makers of
Dear Esther and
Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs. The game is set in a detailed, scenic, but mostly empty English village after an apocalypse (make that
the apocalypse), where six inhabitants remain after much of humanity has vanished. Unlike the entirely story-driven
Esther, the open-world
Rapture will have more interactivity (i.e., it'll be more of an actual game), with the ability to pick up and manipulate objects as you search for clues about what transpired.
Will
Evolve be 2015's first great game? Delayed from last October, this highly anticipated new asymmetric shooter is a years-in-the-making project from
Left 4 Dead creator Turtle Rock Studios—and the game that unseated more well-established franchises (including
Batman: Arkham Knight) to take the title of the year's best overall game at the
2014 E3 Game Critics Awards. (It then duplicated that honor at Gamescom.) Up to four players, each controlling one human character (with its own unique class and skillset), play as a team of hunters who attempt to take down a gigantic, monstrous creature controlled by a fifth player. The monster can choose between taking out the full human squad or targeting their base, and can also evolve throughout the game (hence the title) by killing other creatures and gaining new abilities. Along with four classes of human hunters, there are three choices of monster—a stompy Goliath, a stealthy Wraith, and a flying Kraken—though pre-orders come with a fourth choice: the even huger, boulder-like Behemoth.
Evolve will also include a single-player campaign for when you want to go it alone. An Xbox One open beta is expected to take place next week prior to February's official launch.
Inside Watch trailer
tbd Q1/Q2 | Playdead | Platform/Adventure
Tired of shooters?
Inside offers something very different from the norm. Most notably, it's also the first game from indie studio Playdead since its groundbreaking 2010 hit
Limbo. While
Inside looks like it will be equally bleak as that game, gameplay will be a bit more complex with the addition of stealth aspects. (And there's even a slight dash of color in the new game, though it's still mostly grayscale.) While most aspects of the game are still under wraps, you'll play as a young boy who still has control of his own mind in a desolate, totalitarian future where most citizens have been turned into automatons. The Xbox One will get the game first (likely in the first half of this year), with other platforms possibly following at a later date.
Mighty No. 9 Watch trailer(s)
tbd Q2 | Comcept | Platform
One of several notable Kickstarter-funded projects that could see release in 2015, Mighty No. 9 is the brainchild of Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune. This 2D side-scrolling platformer takes place in a world whose mechanized inhabitants have gone amok thanks to a widespread computer virus. Your character, the ninth in a line of "powerful robots," is free of the virus and serves as the world's last line of defense. Mighty No. 9 easily passed its original target and ultimately raised over $3.8 million on the crowdfunding site, which, among other things, means that the one-time PC-only game will now come out on virtually every existing platform.
No Man's Sky Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Hello Games | Adventure
Another original title that greatly impressed critics during 2014's major gaming conferences,
No Man's Sky comes from the four-person British game design shop Hello Games (previously working exclusively in the
Joe Danger series). This ambitious sci-fi exploration/FPS game features a truly massive, procedurally-generated universe (so no two planets will be alike, and you'll get to explore virgin territory each time) with stylized, colorful artwork and an original soundtrack by Sheffield's 65daysofstatic. The game will seamlessly incorporate both space-based and planet-based combat and travel, and you can expect increasing danger and surprises as you progress at your own pace toward the center of the universe. Though the PS4 will be the only platform to get the game at first, a PC version will follow, and ports for other consoles are possible in the future. Also likely in the future is a "traditional" multiplayer mode, though the game will have some minor (and optional) MMO elements at launch.
Yet another title delayed from 2014, this supernatural, steampunk-themed, third-person shooter/adventure game comes from
Ready at Dawn, a development studio that has yet to release a game scoring lower than
84. The setting is Victorian London, albeit an alternate-reality version where zeppelins, monorails, and wireless communication are commonplace. You play as one of a group of long-lived knights—descendants of King Arthur's Knights of the Round Table—who lead humanity in an ongoing war against a group of half-men, half-beasts who have been wreaking havoc for centuries. Complicating matters are growing tensions between the lower classes and the wealthy, though your job is made a bit easier by new high-tech weaponry created during the Industrial Revolution. Developers are aiming for a cinematic feel, with the single-player-only PS4 exclusive featuring a unique widescreen aspect ratio and running at a slower-than-normal (for modern games) 30fps. The resulting look is already earning raves from the gaming press.
Ori and the Blind Forest Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Microsoft | Platform/Adventure
Originally expected to arrive last fall but now set for an early (though still undated) 2015 release, Microsoft's new "Metroidvania"-style, exploration-driven 2D platformer is the first release from new-ish indie developer Moon Studios, which has been working on the game for over four years. Early demos elicited excitement (as well as numerous
Super Meat Boycomparisons), with raves about the game's gorgeous visual design, responsive controls, and deep gameplay. You play as Ori, an animal-like guardian spirit who is forced into the forest alone after his mother is taken by an evil entity, but who gains a companion/weapon in the form of Sein, a sentient energy blob. The game features a flexible, RPG-like character progression which finds Ori gaining numerous abilities as the game progresses. The Xbox One and PC versions should finally arrive early this year, while an Xbox 360 version should follow at a later date.
Quantum Break Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Microsoft | Action
Max Payne studio
Remedy Entertainment will follow its somewhat divisive (but mostly acclaimed) story-driven 2010 release
Alan Wake with yet another long-in-development project sometime this year. If anything,
Quantum Break is even more ambitious than its predecessor, with a blend of third-person-combat, adventure, and mystery gameplay and a complex story that unfolds over not just the game but also a companion live-action TV series which focuses on the story's villains and will change based on your actions in the game. (Last year's shutter of Xbox Entertainment Studios won't stop the TV show from going forward.) The game itself centers on three protagonists who gain the ability to manipulate time—specifically, the ability to keep moving while time is frozen for everyone else—after a time travel experiment goes wrong.
Splatoon Watch trailer(s)
tbd Q2 | Nintendo | Third-person shooter
A third-person shooter from Nintendo? If you are thinking that the Mario publisher is suddenly going to start churning out something akin to Gears of War or Max Payne, well, just look at the image above. Splatoon might be a shooter, but your ammo of choice is ink, not bullets, and the target audience is a bit younger than some of the other games listed here. Featuring team-based play (up to 4-on-4 in an online match, or 1-on-1 locally), the new game features characters called "inklings" who can transform between Mii-like humans and squid-like, well, squids. While human, you can use what looks like a giant Super Soaker to paint the environment in your color (with the goal being to out-paint the opposing squad); while a squid, you can swim through your own color ink to recharge and hide from the other team.Splatoon also features a single-player mode that pits your squid against its natural enemy, an octopus.
The Witness Watch trailer(s)
tbd | Thekla, Inc. | Puzzle
Iconoclast game developer Jonathan Blow has gotten plenty of ink over the past five years as he toiled away at a follow-up to 2008's widely praised
Braid. But will 2015 be the year when we finally get to see
The Witness, the result of all that work? Blow's team has been in "finish-the-game mode" since last August, though the game—obviously—isn't finished, yet. When it does arrive,
The Witness will be an ambitious, maze-oriented, 3D puzzle game (self-funded by Blow, and influenced by
Myst) that has players exploring an uninhabited, abandoned island, solving over 600 challenges along the way to unlock additional regions and uncover more information about the island's (and the game's) mysteries. Audio logs scattered across the island will provide some clues about the overarching story, but you'll need to piece everything together yourself. Note that the PC and PS4 versions may arrive before the iPad version.
XCOM 2
Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands
