BENGALURU: It would be remiss to not say — two of the above four awaited games have playable female leads! Finally!
In my most preferred apocalypse genre, it is hard to choose from Days Gone and Resident Evil 7. Days Gone gives attention to story over combat — nice warm-up to Last of Us 2 (2018).
And lastly as an honourable mention, it’s incumbent on me to add FIFA 18 to this list by virtue of its number of active fans (“This time it has a career-mode! It’s going to be awesome” — persuades one ardent fan), and since a regular annual update is already much too discussed, I shall say no more.
With all these exciting upcoming games, wish you all a happy ‘Newb’ year!
Mass Effect
Andromeda is a sci-fi adventure in an explorable galaxy. The goal is to find a new home for humanity, with the impediments of scarce resources and warring factions. The gameplay is fluid, and you have access to futuristic weapons and gear which create nice flashy lights and sounds, making the combat almost as interesting as sword fights.
Red Dead Redemption 2
From the makers of the GTA series, comes the second installation of a game so badass, that even though the teaser just shows clippings of totally empty Wild West scenery for 30 seconds and drops one vague unrelated sentence; major gaming sites and vlogs have already gone all out in their detailed fan theories.
Choose from the Samurai, Knights or the Vikings, each with their distinct fighting style and weapons, in a millennium of conflict. This is an online (hopefully also with a single-player campaign) melee-action game, which plays exactly as it is wadvertised. It promises pure combat in an extremely detailed environment (on horseback, in burning buildings etc)
Horizon Zero Dawn
is an RPG, whose gameplay indicates an intriguing mix of the early-human weaponry (like Far Cry) with futuristic monsters and scanners (like in space exploration), all in an Amazon-esque planet.
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak
Take one of the most beloved space strategy games of all time, and announce that you’re doing a prequel to it that isn’t in space but instead is set on the surface of a planet. You could hear the howls of dismay from continents away, but lay your fears to rest - Deserts of Kharak is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Dishonored 2
Dishonored was an excellent stealth/action-adventure game that didn’t receive the acclaim that it really should’ve, and its sequel appears to be sticking to that trend. In the latter’s case, it’s even more criminal because it had some of the best level design I’ve seen. Luckily however, the plaudits have started to come its way and it might yet get the recognition it deserves.
Firewatch
Firewatch is an incredible feat of...something, but I’m not sure what that is! It’s got great writing, a wonderful sense of immersion, simple & graphics and it deserves a place on this list...even if I can’t really do it justice.
No Man’s Sky
Hype for the game was built to such an extent that almost nothing could have actually satisfied the colossal expectations that were waiting for it (see also Half Life 3). I think it’s a good game, but it wasn’t even close to what people were hoping for.
SinkStardew Valley
Another one that really had no business being so addictive! Based on simple mechanics and a system of constant rewards, it sucked players into its charming world like no other game has since Harvest Moon.
Shadow Tactics
A game that seemingly sprang up out of nowhere, Shadow Tactics is a homage to the wonderful stealth-focused strategy games of ages past. Take a Commandos game from the series, for instance. It’s set it in feudal Japan, and with a heap of gameplay polish and UI improvements, you’ve got one of the sleeper hits of the year.
DOOM
Playing DOOM (and yeah, this one needs the all-caps) is like playing through a massive love letter to the birth of first-person shooters and gaming in the 90s. It’s unashamedly nostalgic about where it came from, and it wears its gore-splattered heart on its sleeve.
Anusha Ganapathi
@quaffle_waffle