Let’s start off with one of the most hyped up cross platform games there has been in recent years, Watch Dogs, I’m both looking forward to and wary of Ubisoft’s open world adventure set in a near future Chicago. The game puts you in control of Aiden Peirce a skilled hacker with a troubled past who is out for vengeance due to losing his family. As Aiden you’ll be able to use his hacking skills in the city to change traffic lights causing accidents, steal money from npc accounts, cause blackouts to escape a pesky police pursuit or spy on peoples social status looking if they have pissed somebody off lately and all this is possible due to the all powerful monitoring system now installed around Chicago making it the world’s first smart city.
Watch dogs looks good from what we have seen but it’s been in development for a good several years now, it wouldn’t surprise me if the next gen versions are slightly lacking next to some other titles. The tone of the world doesn’t go quite as far to say dystopian but it definitely try’s to convey a sense of a police state where your always being watched and monitored by someone and I wouldn’t be surprised to see some quiet nods towards the privacy debates always in the news these days, just remember folks what you put on the internet stays there forever(drunken pictures and posts included).
Overall I for one can’t wait to play this game from start to finish, hacking my way through Chicago as a vigilante sounds awesome to me and I can only hope and pray that the first real next gen open world game will live up to its hype.
Quantum break: Xbox One TBA 2014
Quantum Break a game from the makers of Alan Wake is an Xbox One exclusive. Time has been broken and can stutter and stand still with only a few people being able experience time normally as it passes. There’s a couple of reasons why I’m looking forward to this game first being the fact that’s its made by the people who made Alan Wake, I’m expecting a fantastic narrative and great drama woven into the gameplay. Secondly Microsoft has announced they will be producing a companion television series for Xbox video that links in with the game blurring the entertainment lines even more than they are now. We don’t know yet how the game and show will link up but it’s something that could either make the game more interesting or be the downfall of both of them if not done right, only time will tell.
The game its self is a 3rd person cover shooter that looks stunning and gives you some fantastic levels frozen in time to play in. Not only do you have your guns your also imbued with some temporal powers you can use to manipulate your environment and enemies with which haven’t been shown of yet.
Quantum Break could be a stand out game for the Xbox one but apart from a few trailers and behind the scenes stuff from Remedy we have not seen too much gameplay or details so the verdict is out on it until we know more.
Alien: isolation: Xbox One/360, PS3/4, PC October 7th 2014
This is my personel most anticipated game coming this year, due to two reasons. One Alien is one of my all time favourite films, I love the tension that Ripley gets put through and the terror that the Xenomorph could be around the corner, or in the vent above you and hearing a screech of a crew member as their killed, was what scary was to me back then. The second reason I’m looking towards it is the fact this is a survival game in the truest sense of the genre, where games like Resident evil has taken a more combat and action orientated path there are very few real scary games out there looking to have you wondering if its safe to go to bed without checking under it. Alien Isolation puts you in the shoes of Ripley’s daughter Amanda who has gone in search of her mother and finds the same deadly enemy she encountered on LV422.
Unlike the past few Alien games this one puts you up against a single Xenomorph and goes back to the Ridley Scott interpretation of the sci fi horror genre, you have no weapons just a scanner and your wits to make it out alive. The look of the games adds to the terrifying tone and the use of lighting and sound is incredible, I’ll be playing this game in the dark with my surround sound cranked right up to add to the authenticity and do the game justice.
Alien Isolation is the Alien game we deserve after the lacking Colonial marines.
Transistor: PS4, PC May 20th 2014
Indie games have risen like a phoenix the past few years and they don’t seem to be slowing down in popularity what so ever. One of the most anticipated is Transistor which is down to a few reasons no less than its fantastic predecessor Bastion. Set in Cloudbank a futuristic gorgeously envisioned artistic city you play Red, a flame haired singer who finds an impressive looking electric sword(Transistor) lying next to the lifeless body of a friend. After picking up the sword Red hears the voice of her recently deceased friend and is now being pursued by robots after the Transistor….or her.
It’s a an action rpg game with a truly stunning and visually beautiful art style. Naturally being a sword, combat is the Transistor’s primary purpose and it’s here that things get interesting. Supergiant has introduced an interesting system called Turn, which allows you to stop time as you choose what Red’s next attack or move will be. You’re given at the mercy of an energy meter that depletes with each action, whether you’re moving between cover, attacking with the Transistor or firing a laser beam so there is some strategy to it.
Then it’s a simple case of un-pausing the action to see how things play out. It kind of feels like that iconic scene from the Matrix where Trinity stops time to spin in mid-air and deliver a hefty kick to a hapless cop’s face. It’s incredibly empowering to watch Red take out several enemies before retreating to safety in one expertly choreographed manoeuvre though if you don’t watch your energy bar you’ll be vulnerable to attack for several seconds.
It’s an Indie game, it looks absolutely gorgeous and the main character is a red headed singer with a talking electric sword being chased by killer robots, what more can you ask for?
Destiny: Xbox One/360, PS3/4 September 9th 2014
Bungie, the developer that brought us the behemoth of Halo is building this massively multiplayer online role playing game first person shooter and it honestly looks too big to fail.
Destiny casts you as one of earths last cities guardians, like all mmo’s you will create your character based on one of three distinct classes which will determine the types of weapons and powers you will be able to use as well as how you look etc. Then your thrown into the world where you must battle a myriad of enemies, work up an insurmountable amount of loot and take part in random player events. Bungie have boasted that this will be a persistent world with you and your friends always being able to adventure together somewhere and always have somebody to fight, how this will work in real life at launch is yet to be explained but from demos and trailers that have been shown off it looks like Bungie may have struck gold yet again.
In one demo I watched at last year’s Eurogamer expo I seen two players work their way through a massive structure battling enemies with pistols, machine guns and powers then they both attack a boss where they are awarded with a cool new weapon. They then exit the structure meet up with a few more players who appear to be dropped in the world from there personnel space ship and a random event happens just over the hill where a couple dozen players all join in to attack a gigantic walking tank bug thing!
Even though I’ve only seen demos I’ve got to say it still feels like you watching Halo(in a good way). All the weapon models look great, the combat is fast paced and action orientated like a fps should be and the sci fi setting is unique and atmospheric.
Destiny is still months away but from what has already been shown it looks like Bungie has done it again and that there really is life after Halo for them, Destiny looks great and I’m sure it will be huge I’m just hoping that will translate into it being a great mix of fps and mmorpg in a cohesive gaming experience.
