#5 – Tom Clancy’s: The Division
I can’t wait to play this game because of how social it looks. I don’t really play a ton of games with other people, but this looks like one that will be super fun. The realism looks crazy! The Ubisoft team has done a great job with the physics for in-game items like the way glass shatters and how your cover deteriorates over time. You can play with a team of friends and can customize your weapons load out which is awesome. I love how open world it is. They give you a ginormous map, and it’s totally up to you to go wherever you want to go next. You level up your gear by winning skirmishes which introduce you to stronger opponents. Release date is still TBD, but it should be coming out sometime this year.
I’m not ashamed to say that Batman is on my top three superhero list. I’ve always been a fan and the Rocksteady game studio has done a fantastic job of making players feel like the Dark Knight. I love the hand to hand combat set up in the game, and I love all the wonderful gadgets. Playing the game makes me feel like the ultimate predator. Arkham Knight seems to be following that formula, but instead of allowing the franchise to get stale, they spruced it up with an all new design for the Batman Suite as well as a mysterious new, awesome looking villain. Also, you can drive the Batmobile. The vehicle is also reimagined and it’s a fearsome looking cross between a tank and a super car. Need I say more? The release date is set to be June 2nd 2015.
#3 – Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain
The Metal Gear series has often been a love-hate relationship with many players and fans. Some people argue that the game mechanics are too formulaic and not fluid enough, while others argue that the games aren’t open world enough. One thing that people don’t argue though is that the series makes for some great story telling! It’s one of those game where you can be content watching someone else play it for hours without needing to play it yourself. You can literally get engrossed in the story line. This is why I’m actually rooting for a live action movie of the game. But I digress. The Phantom Pain looks to be the darkest installment in the series yet based on the trailers. Kojima is still a jokester and there will still be the usual “sexy lady” distractions for enemies and lots of inside jokes to lighten the mood. They’ve also added a huge free-roaming world which was a big complaint about the series earlier. I’m honestly glad to hear that and I’m looking forward to playing this new installment to this iconic espionage series.
#2 – Kingdom Come : Deliverance
If you asked me to create a game from scratch while I was in high school, I would probably have come up with a game very similar to this one. I’m not a fan of too much magic and sorcery and dragons and other mythical creatures. Just not my style, but I love medieval games. So it’s been really tough for me because most games set in medieval times are all about dragons and magic etc… FINALLY, Kingdom Come seems to be the answer to my prayers. I’ve made due with games like Total War and other Real Time Strategy games, but to play a medieval game in first person, slashing folks with a claymore or basking skulls with a mace…music to my ears. This game is the vision of Damiel Vavra who saw things the way I saw it. It’s going to be super accurate to the period of time it’s set in, and it will offer not only swordplay with baddies, but it will offer large scale combat and a free-roaming environment as well presumably for lots of side quests. What’s great about a game like this is that it was fully funded on Kickstarter which means there were enough people like me who wanted a game like this. Most major gaming studios won’t take the chance on a game that challenges norms so it’s not that often you get something this unique. It will be out on PC, but also on consoles as well which is super cool! Release date is sometime this year.
Star Citizen is my #1 choice for games I can’t wait to play in 2015 because if you asked me to create a game in middle school (not high school as in my #2 choice) I would have thought of some space game like this. Except Chris Roberts took that boy hood dream and super charged it! Honestly speaking, this looks like it could be the biggest game in history if done right. I’m not joking. It’s got everything. Most sci fi space games are either FPSs or are space racing, or dog fighting or discovery and research etc. This game will have all of those in one! The game seems to center around the user and his or her aircraft. You’ll be able to purchase more than one of course and house them in your hanger. You’re hanger will be a real place where you can park your vehicles and plan strategies with your buddies etc. Depending on your aircraft you can have space for different friends who will – get this – man their separate and unique stations! You can potential have a comm’s officer who will hail other players in the game or who can potentially hack the communications of enemies. You will have someone manning the shields and energy consumption and the like. You can also land on worlds and have firefights with enemies just like you would in any space FPS. The universe is open and persistent and will have its own unique currency. Users will be able to make money in different ways and make a name for themselves in this galaxy. This game is so big it’s hard to wrap my head around it so check out many of the cool videos people are posting about the game. Star Citizen was also crowd funded (The game has currently raised almost 70 million dollars!) and you can purchase a ship right now if you want to support the game, however, if you just want to wait until it comes out you will be able to get these ships for free. It’s your choice. No word on actual release date, but it may be sometime in 2016 unfortunately. Another sad point for me – a primarily console gamer – is that the game will most likely be a PC game. It makes sense though as the game is so huge that it will be rumored to make even the most top of the line computers squeal in pain. But the level of detail is first class based on all the images and videos I’ve seen so far. I hope they get this one right as I’ll have to upgrade my computer so I can get in on the action!
