CHENNAI: It’s a brand new year, which means lots of new games to look forward to. This is always an exciting time, but this year looks like it might just be phenomenal. Here’s how.
GhostWire: Tokyo
In the Tokyo of GhostWire, humans have largely vanished and the city’s overrun by otherworldly spirits who don’t appear particularly friendly. Using some sort of bonkers combination of martial arts and magic, you’re trying to stay alive while figuring out what exactly is going on in your once-fair city. Although not quite at Death Stranding-levels of weirdness, there’s enough crazy here to pique your interest.
Horizon: Forbidden West
Horizon: Zero Dawn was a game that I didn’t expect to like anywhere near as much as I did. The very definition of ‘more than the sum of its parts’, Zero Dawn was a joy to play and its protagonist Aloy remains one of the best in recent years. Little wonder then that so many people are waiting eagerly to return to Horizon, which will happen sometime in late 2021.
Back 4 Blood
The game I’m personally most excited about. In my opinion, Left 4 Dead and its sequel are two of the best multiplayer games ever made and it’s an absolute crime that we haven’t gotten more. Well, we finally are — the developers behind the original game have split from Valve to make the not-at-all-official-sequel Back 4 Blood, coming in June. If they’ve managed to improve that wonderful formula, this could be the Among Us/Fall Guys of 2021.
Diablo IV
And, we come to Diablo IV — an entry that I will fully admit is here more out of hope than expectation. Blizzard has given us no indication that 2021 will be the year that we return to Sanctuary, but they’ve been known to pull an occasional rabbit out of their hat; and, after the year we’ve had, we could certainly use some more cheer. So here’s hoping we find out more about Diablo IV sooner rather than later.
Deathloop
In Deathloop, you play as an assassin stuck in a time loop who must kill his targets before he runs out of time. Complicating matters is the fact that there’s another assassin in there with you and she’s after you. There’s also a multiplayer mode where you can actually control that second assassin and try to mess with other players, which sounds like a pretext for some god-level griefing. Outer Wilds, one of my favourite games, proved that you can do some very interesting things with a time loop and so it’ll be interesting to see Arkane Studios’ take on the subject.
God of War: Ragnarok
This is a tough one — we don’t know if the sequel to 2018’s wonderful God of War is coming this year. Heck, we don’t even know for certain if it’s called Ragnarok. Sony’s certainly playing its cards close to its chest but, given the less than ideal circumstances around the launch of the PS5, they could certainly do with a change in the narrative and so we should be hearing more about this one fairly soon.
Stalker 2
Here’s a blast from the past — Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl came out in 2007, quickly acquired a cult following and earned a couple of sequels over the next couple of years but lay dormant for most of the 2010s. Now, however, life is stirring once again amid the irradiated ruins of Chernobyl, because the original developers are taking us back there this year.
Far Cry 6
Ubisoft’s other open-world series is getting another entry this year, and you’ll be trying to overthrow the corrupt regime in charge of a Caribbean island. Fingers crossed that this will be a return to form for Far Cry; at the very least, it happens to star Giancarlo Esposito, fresh from his wonderfully villainous role in The Mandalorian, so it’ll certainly be fun to watch.
Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance
Dark Alliance is set in the fabled Dungeons & Dragons realm of Icewind Dale, but that’s not the only reason you should be paying attention to this one. It’s the latest entry in a series of hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers that came out on consoles in the early part of this century. Diablo-esque gameplay mixed with the rich lore of the Forgotten Realms? Yes, please!
Gotham Knights
Developed by the studio behind Arkham Origins, Gotham Knights is set in a Gotham without Batman; so it’s up to Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl and Red Hood to step into the void and go toe-to-toe with the city’s criminal elements. Rocksteady brought Batman to life, and so it’ll be interesting to see if these other characters will get a chance to shine now in the big B’s absence.
Arjun Sukumaran http://goo.gl/uNBWN3
(Arjun is a gamer, book lover and an all-round renaissance man)