LONDON: Assassin’s Creed: Victory – The last major Assassin’s Creed release was a disaster in about every way imaginable. Perhaps “Victory” should be re-titled “Redemption” for 2015, because Ubisoft needs to knock this one out of the park just to save face. Then again, the lackluster Assassin’s Creed III was followed up in 2013 by the marvelous Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, so anything’s possible. This time around, our merry band of assassin’s will haunt the streets of Victorian London.
Battlefield: Hardline – Cops and robbers replace soldier on soldier action in EA’s next big competitive shooter. From what I’ve seen of the game, the cops and robbers in question may as well be soldiers, however, replete with military-grade arsenal. Still, this might make for a nice twist on the genre. Maybe a clever developer could copy the formula a bit and come out with an Al Capone era game. Old cars and Tommy guns would be a nice change of pace.
Batman: Arkham Knight – The final game in the Arkham series, Arkham Knight is the first new-gen game in Rocksteady’s incredible foray into the Batman universe. It’s also the first time you can drive the Batmobile. It looks amazing, and makes me want to play through all the Arkham games again ahead of time.
Below – One of the most unique looking Xbox One exclusives, below is being described as a challenging game filled with exploration and brutal combat. It’s also a rogue like with permadeath steeped in atmosphere. Studio Capybara has worked on titles like Super TIME Force and worked alongside Superbrothers on the fascinating Sworcery game, which makes below even more intriguing.
Bloodborne – There aren’t many games on this list that pique my hype as much as Bloodborne, the spiritual successor to From Software’s Souls games. This time around, the game is set in a dark, Gothic world filled with shambling villagers and massive werewolves. The combat is fast and ferocious, and new gameplay elements such as randomly generated dungeons promise to greatly change up a familiar formula, while still keeping the same, distinctive sense of challenge and despair.
Dying Light – Zombie parkour could make for a nice change in the increasingly over-saturated zombie genre. Dying Light is an open-world first-person-shooter that gives players more movement options to rush about the city. The game also adds a day and night cycle, bringing out the truly dangerous undead only when the sun goes down.
Evolve – This competitive/co-op game pits a handful of human players against a player-controlled monster. This isn’t the first time this concept has been deployed in a video game, but it certainly looks like one of the best attempts at this type of asymmetric competitive play.
Game of Thrones – The remaining episodes of Telltale’s Game of Thrones story game will release throughout 2015. The first entry was quite good, very much in keeping with the brutal world created by George R.R. Martin. The art-style is great, the voice-acting solid, and members of the HBO shows cast pop up here and there tying the events in the game to the bigger picture. I’m very much looking forward to what comes next.
Halo 5: Guardians – The next big entry in the classic Halo series is 343 Industries’ second crack at a new Halo game, following Halo 4. The fifth game in the series is already inspiring some controversy for its changes to multiplayer, but I’m excited to see what the developer can come up with for a truly new-gen Halo experience.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number – The sequel to the controversial, ultra-violent, and ultra-weird Hotline Miami looks like it might be even more violent and controversial this time around. I look forward to the funky soundtrack, excellent challenge, and whatever weird twists wait.
