Of Games and Expectations

It’s the new year. The time when family and friends get together and make loud noises and watch fireworks go up in the sky in colorful wonder. We usher in the new year with good fortune and lots of love. For most gamers, however, that also includes ushering the year in with expectations for great, new games.

Every year, the games and the consoles get better and better (or worse in some cases). The gaming industry continues to grow exponentially with every single release every single month (not including DLC packages).

In this case, I will try and make a list that will cover all, if not most of, the genres (as gaming cannot be limited to just one genre after all). For this list, I will not be using any sort of “heavy” criteria in judging games. It would be difficult to go through technical data or industry mumbo jumbo. Instead, I will mostly be looking at the trailers, hype and premise to see which games are to look out for.

Most of the games on the list are scheduled to be released in the first half of 2015.

1. Batman: Arkham Knight (June 2015)

   

   This game. There is just so much hype with this game (well, the franchise in general). From the original to the latest release (Batman: Arkham Origins), there is just so much to expect from this game alone in what is possibly the final chapter of the series.

   The hype is very much understood. For one, this is the first time in the series that players are allowed to use the Batmobile to patrol the streets of Gotham. Gotham is also much bigger than in previous installments as well, which gives players the chance to explore the sprawling metropolis (though probably not in the same league as Assassin’s Creed if you ask me).

   Although most gamers probably know of it by now, one can’t help but itch in excitement for this midyear release.

2. The Order: 1886 (February 2015)

   

   At first glance, even without my “criteria” this game looks interesting enough. Even though this game is definitely not as hyped up as the previous entry on the list, I can still see myself playing this game.

   The premise of this game is around a supposed war between humans and a race of half-human, half-animal hybrid creatures. Although this game pretty much looks like any other game of its genre (Action Adventure/Third-Person), what clinched me on this is its premise; apart from the centuries-long battle between humans and hybrids, the game is also set in Victorian London. This is interesting as it also presents a certain amount of world history into the game a la Assassin’s Creed.

   Although it is not as hyped up as Batman, it still looks pretty good to me.

3. Mortal Kombat X (April 2015)

   

   This is an interesting entry on this list. Although Mortal Kombat is a good series in general, I think the game in recent years hasn’t been good compared to its competitors in Tekken and Street Fighter.

   Mortal Kombat is like the proverbial grandfather to these games. It is wonderful to see that it has already reached ten main games and possibly more to come.

   I myself may not be a fan of fighting games, but after recently playing Injustice: Gods Among Us (they share the same developer, NetherRealm Studios), I feel my interest in playing this game is quite piqued, even if all I am in for is the thrill of it.

4. Resident Evil Revelations 2 (March 2015)

   

   Resident Evil is one of those games that scared the pants off of me as kid. This is honestly one of the games that I try my best to avoid playing for several reasons, most of which is to avoid being jump-scared and attacked by zombies. However, this game is good enough to spark interest in gamers, even those who are easily scared.

   However, this is not for me after all.

   If you take a look at the trailer, the beginning alone sends down a creepy vibe with all the hysteric laughter and the blood and freaky eyeball. It then cuts to scenes of a buffet interjected by that eyeball again. It’s just creepy enough that it can bring about enough hype in its fan base. It’s probably enough to get non-gamers to play as well; even I might give it a go if I muster up the courage.

5. Dying Light (January 2015)

   

   Just like Resident Evil, this game is in the same vein of zombie survival. However, this is what you get when you have The Walking Dead and Assassin’s Creed mixed together with a little bit of The Last of Us. The premise of this game is basically like any other zombie survival game: survive. The setting is in an urban environment within a quarantine zone with nothing but zombies prowling the city.

   An interesting thing about it is the gameplay. It has a unique day and night system that includes weather. This brings the survival-horror genre to a whole new level. This is pretty much what got me interested in the game. If Left 4 Dead or some other zombie game had free-running as well, it would still be pretty bland compared to having a changing “environment system” like that of Dying Light.

Honorable mentions

Call of Duty (Definitely around November 2015)

It is expected that Activision will release yet another installment in the Call of Duty franchise. What it will be exactly is not certain, but I am expecting it to be a sequel to Call of Duty: Ghosts that came out in late 2013. To me, this seems to be the most logical choice because they had done the same with both the Modern Warfare series and the Black Ops (World at War) series. Expect an announcement in May.

Battlefield: Hardline (March 2015)

The rival of Call of Duty is back and this time around, it looks really promising (something that actually sparked interest in this Call of Duty fanboy). Oh sure, you can call it another FPS just to spite Call of Duty or you can call it one of the most promising games of the year (if you’re a Battlefield fan), but either way it’s going see its release this year, but its not enough for me to actually want it.

Grand Theft Auto V (PC: January 2015)

Okay, this is an old game. It came out in 2013 and was released for the newer consoles last year before finally receiving its PC release. By now, most of you have played it, but this goes out to those who don’t own consoles and have not played it. This is just a good game.

With all these new games coming out, the gaming community has a lot to look forward to! However, all of the games mentioned on this list are only up to the mid-year releases. There are still loads of unconfirmed games to be released. Some gamers are hoping that the long awaited Final Fantasy XV (previously called Versus XIII) will be released, or even the final chapter in the Kingdom Hearts saga. Who knows what will be in store for the rest of the year? The expectations are high and as gamers, we sure do hope they will be fulfilled.

*Note: The columnist’s views do not represent eSports Inquirer’s position on the topic or issue being discussed in this article.

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