STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT
RELEASE DATE: 2016
That fact that the much-loved Battlefront series will be returning in the guise of the rebooted Star Wars: Battlefront is, of course, good news for fans. What’s also worth being excited about is the that DICE now has custodianship of the series. Why? Battlefront is basically Battlefield with lasers. Just swap the jeeps out for AT-ATs and AT-STs, the jet planes out for TIE Fighters and X-Wings, make sure your classes are Star Wars themed with the appropriate blasters and such, then you’re golden. Okay, we’re exaggerating slightly, but the point is that DICE has a proven record of making excellent class-based multiplayer games.
ROUNDABOUT
RELEASE DATE: Q2 2015
This is a game with a bit of an odd setup. You control a limousine that is constantly rotating in circles like an out-of-control spinning top, and you have to guide that limo around a town without hitting obstacles and blowing up. You pick up passengers from around the town, at which point you’ll be treated to live-action Seventies B-movie-style cutscenes that push the game’s off-kilter story forward, then you must deliver said passengers to their destinations as quickly as possible. We have had a chance to play Roundabout and, while it’s a bit hard to get your head around at first, its fun arcade action ultimately won us over and has got us looking forward to the game’s release on PS4 and Vita.
BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT
RELEASE DATE: 23 JUNE 2015
The conclusion to Rocksteady’s celebrated Arkham trilogy is one of the most anticipated games of 2015 and rightly so the quality of the two Rocksteady games that preceded it means it deserves that kind of high profile. We’re pleased that Rocksteady is ending its association with Batman here it gives the talented team a chance to go out with a bang, rather than waiting for the series to go stale, and it means that we’ll get to see Rocksteady bring its skills to a new IP. In the meantime, though, we’re looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Batmobile and chasing down criminals.
NO MAN’S SKY
RELEASE DATE:Q3 2015
With all the hype surrounding No Man’s Sky, we’re tempted to be a little skeptical. After all, it’s still not 100 per cent clear exactly what you actually do in the game. Sure, we know you can collect resources, trade for better ships and engage in combat, but precisely how do those systems work and will they be enjoyable? Still, there’s something irresistible about the game’s promise to offer us an effectively infinite universe to explore in which we can go anywhere we want and see things that nobody else has ever seen before. For that reason, it’s hard not to get excited about it, despite our trepidation about whether the game will be as awesome in practice as in concept.
BASTION
RELEASE DATE: Q2 2015
No doubt any of you who are PS Plus subscribers will have taken the opportunity to play Transistor when it popped up as part of February’s line up on PS4. Well, if you enjoyed it, you’ll be pleased to hear that we are getting another title from the developer behind that game this year. Supergiant Games’s Bastion finally making its way to PlayStation consoles shares some similarities with Transistor in that it is a isometric action game with some soft RPG mechanics, and it has a story that’s told via narration (with the same voice actor as Transistor). The differences here are the setting and the fact that Bastion lacks Transistor’s turn-based mechanics, instead focusing on real-time action.
CARMAGEDDON REINCARNATION
RELEASE DATE: Q4 2015
Funded on Kickstarter all the way back in 2012, we’ve been waiting some time for the rebirth of cult racer Carmageddon to hit PS4. Development has been progressing on PC, though, and it looks like the game is getting to a point where a 2015 release is feasible. For those of you who don’t know, Carmageddon is an over-the-top racer with eccentric characters, outlandish cars and ridiculous power-ups in which you can win by conventional means, or by smashing up all your opponents,
Destruction Derby style. We loved the original game back in the day, so we just hope that this new version can live up to it.
KING’S QUEST
RELEASE DATE: Q3 2015
When the stalwart adventure game series King’s Quest, which started all the way back in 1984, petered to a halt in 1998, it seemed unlikely that it would return any time soon. Indeed, the announcement last year that we would be getting a new King’s Quest game certainly wasn’t something we expected. The new King’s Quest looks as if it will retain the puzzle solving and the story elements that made the original series famous back in the day, but the new game will also introduce platforming elements, hopefully not to the detriment of its adventure game roots. We look forward to giving the revived fantasy adventure series a go when its first episode releases in the autumn of this year.
MOON HUNTERS
RELEASE DATE: 2016
In this rather lovely looking RPG you embark on a series of quests with up to three other players, the outcome of which will shape not only your character, but also the world itself. The game is all about mythology, with worthwhile heroes being remembered as constellations in the sky. How your character is remembered is shaped by decisions that you make throughout the game that display your personality and create a reputation that defines your character’s myth. One tribe may think that you are cruel or selfless, for example, depending on the actions you take towards them. Another tribe may think you’re flirtatious as a result of you trying it on with everyone in sight. You naughty devil, you.
RELEASE DATE: 2016
That fact that the much-loved Battlefront series will be returning in the guise of the rebooted Star Wars: Battlefront is, of course, good news for fans. What’s also worth being excited about is the that DICE now has custodianship of the series. Why? Battlefront is basically Battlefield with lasers. Just swap the jeeps out for AT-ATs and AT-STs, the jet planes out for TIE Fighters and X-Wings, make sure your classes are Star Wars themed with the appropriate blasters and such, then you’re golden. Okay, we’re exaggerating slightly, but the point is that DICE has a proven record of making excellent class-based multiplayer games.
ROUNDABOUT
RELEASE DATE: Q2 2015
This is a game with a bit of an odd setup. You control a limousine that is constantly rotating in circles like an out-of-control spinning top, and you have to guide that limo around a town without hitting obstacles and blowing up. You pick up passengers from around the town, at which point you’ll be treated to live-action Seventies B-movie-style cutscenes that push the game’s off-kilter story forward, then you must deliver said passengers to their destinations as quickly as possible. We have had a chance to play Roundabout and, while it’s a bit hard to get your head around at first, its fun arcade action ultimately won us over and has got us looking forward to the game’s release on PS4 and Vita.
BATMAN ARKHAM KNIGHT
RELEASE DATE: 23 JUNE 2015
The conclusion to Rocksteady’s celebrated Arkham trilogy is one of the most anticipated games of 2015 and rightly so the quality of the two Rocksteady games that preceded it means it deserves that kind of high profile. We’re pleased that Rocksteady is ending its association with Batman here it gives the talented team a chance to go out with a bang, rather than waiting for the series to go stale, and it means that we’ll get to see Rocksteady bring its skills to a new IP. In the meantime, though, we’re looking forward to getting behind the wheel of the Batmobile and chasing down criminals.
NO MAN’S SKY
RELEASE DATE:Q3 2015
With all the hype surrounding No Man’s Sky, we’re tempted to be a little skeptical. After all, it’s still not 100 per cent clear exactly what you actually do in the game. Sure, we know you can collect resources, trade for better ships and engage in combat, but precisely how do those systems work and will they be enjoyable? Still, there’s something irresistible about the game’s promise to offer us an effectively infinite universe to explore in which we can go anywhere we want and see things that nobody else has ever seen before. For that reason, it’s hard not to get excited about it, despite our trepidation about whether the game will be as awesome in practice as in concept.
BASTION
RELEASE DATE: Q2 2015
No doubt any of you who are PS Plus subscribers will have taken the opportunity to play Transistor when it popped up as part of February’s line up on PS4. Well, if you enjoyed it, you’ll be pleased to hear that we are getting another title from the developer behind that game this year. Supergiant Games’s Bastion finally making its way to PlayStation consoles shares some similarities with Transistor in that it is a isometric action game with some soft RPG mechanics, and it has a story that’s told via narration (with the same voice actor as Transistor). The differences here are the setting and the fact that Bastion lacks Transistor’s turn-based mechanics, instead focusing on real-time action.
CARMAGEDDON REINCARNATION
RELEASE DATE: Q4 2015
Funded on Kickstarter all the way back in 2012, we’ve been waiting some time for the rebirth of cult racer Carmageddon to hit PS4. Development has been progressing on PC, though, and it looks like the game is getting to a point where a 2015 release is feasible. For those of you who don’t know, Carmageddon is an over-the-top racer with eccentric characters, outlandish cars and ridiculous power-ups in which you can win by conventional means, or by smashing up all your opponents,
Destruction Derby style. We loved the original game back in the day, so we just hope that this new version can live up to it.
KING’S QUEST
RELEASE DATE: Q3 2015
When the stalwart adventure game series King’s Quest, which started all the way back in 1984, petered to a halt in 1998, it seemed unlikely that it would return any time soon. Indeed, the announcement last year that we would be getting a new King’s Quest game certainly wasn’t something we expected. The new King’s Quest looks as if it will retain the puzzle solving and the story elements that made the original series famous back in the day, but the new game will also introduce platforming elements, hopefully not to the detriment of its adventure game roots. We look forward to giving the revived fantasy adventure series a go when its first episode releases in the autumn of this year.
MOON HUNTERS
RELEASE DATE: 2016
In this rather lovely looking RPG you embark on a series of quests with up to three other players, the outcome of which will shape not only your character, but also the world itself. The game is all about mythology, with worthwhile heroes being remembered as constellations in the sky. How your character is remembered is shaped by decisions that you make throughout the game that display your personality and create a reputation that defines your character’s myth. One tribe may think that you are cruel or selfless, for example, depending on the actions you take towards them. Another tribe may think you’re flirtatious as a result of you trying it on with everyone in sight. You naughty devil, you.