As we continue looking into the future of 2014, there are a pile of video games that are piquing the interest of the writers for our newest section, VideAU Games, and so we thought we’d let you in on the 10 games we can’t wait to play over the next 12 months…
10. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Publisher(s): CD Projekt / WB Games
Release Date: Q2 2014
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
The Witcher is a fascinating game series. Most people will admit to never playing the first game, and heading straight on to the second. Personally I’d feel like I were cheating if I did that, so I did actually play The Witcher 1. In fact, I really liked the original Witcher game. Even though it can be crude and unrefined at times, the story was engaging and the combat was fun enough that I actively sought battles at times. The Witcher 2 was an improvement on everything the first game was. It was beautiful to look at, it played like a dream, and the story retained continuity from the previous instalment while still being accessible to new players. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been promised to be a living open world 30 times the size of previous Witcher games, and is said to finally conclude the story of protagonist Geralt of Rivia. As one of the more unique gaming stories on the market, The Witcher 3 manages to grab a high priority spot on my “to buy” list this year.
– Billy Jones
9. Massive Chalice
Publisher(s): Double Fine Games
Release Date: September 2014
Platform(s): Linux, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows.
Another debut for Double Fine, similar to Rogue Legacy in the idea of hereditary questing, different in the effect of your family’s legacy. In short your ancestors’ actions, items and quests will have greater impact on their children’s legacy – in terms of both gameplay and character development.
An interesting feature to have in an RPG, usually reserved for grand strategy games like Crusader Kings II, it along with the emphasis on family relationships changes the focus of RPGs from hack and slash to raising a family, well a family of warriors. A quirky change from a singular hero saving the world, now struggles really do go on for generations.
– Daniel Dunne
8. Metal Gear V: Ground Zeros & Phantom Pain
Publisher(s): Konami
Release Date: TBC 2014
Platform(s): PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One.
The next two-part instalment of Kojima’s espionage opus is exciting in theory but a tentative prospect in reality. With Ground Zeros operating as an extended “tutorial” to the game proper and its mechanics, Kojima risks patronising his audience not just with his usual narrative histrionics, but in failing to deliver a product so “revolution” it requires an entirely separate game to learn how to play it. Still, for those of us eager to discover the fate of Snake (in whatever guise he takes), this is compulsory viewing.
– Jack Richardson
7. Star Citizen
Publisher(s): Cloud Imperium Games
Release Date: BETA versions launch throughout 2014.
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows
During the mid to late 90s there were space simulator games galore, Xwing Alliance, Freelancer, Wing Commander – a heap. But then for some inexplicable reason – perhaps the saturation of the market. These games died out, no more FTL engines, no more dogfights, capital ships pummeling each other with torpedoes and ion cannons – not even a lowly freighter crawl mission. It all winked out by the mid 2000s – no more ship combat, no more massive worlds.
Then Kickstarter came along, with the creator of Wing Commander Chris Roberts in late 2012, the genre was resurrected, or at least the hope of that genre. Over 2014 different betas and pre-release stages will be opened up to backers, with a final version becoming available eventually (for serious backers) in December. Already small sections, different hangers, and space ports have been released to backers, and from the looks of it the game is set to be a big one (especially with a crowd funded budget of $4.2 million).
The return of space simulators will be a welcome rebirth of a genre – hopefully non-backers will have a chance to play it before the end of 2014.
– Daniel Dunne
6. Thief
Publisher(s): Square Enix
Release Date: 27th February 2014
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One.
The first-person “sneaker” returns after sitting out the previous generation, along with a rebooted narrative for its fourth installment and a barrel-load of expectations. With the first and second games in the series still holding a nostalgic grip over player’s hearts, it’s an uphill battle for Thief to honour its prestigious lineage and deliver on the punishing, free-form sneak-a-thon so beloved by fans.
– Jack Richardson
5. The Sims 4
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
Release Date: Q3/Q4 2014
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, OS X, Playstation 4, Xbox One
The Sims games are a guilty pleasure for me and I usually grab the next installment in the series as soon as I can get my hands on it. The Sims 4 will not change that for me at all.
The create-a-sim component is more seamless than its predecessor with a few new additions to shake things up a bit. The most exciting component about The Sims 4 however is the new emotions system, allowing gameplay to not simply be propelled by your sims needs and wants but also by their feelings. Moving forward from the simple happy and not happy scale, sims can now feel a range of fifteen different emotions that will affect how they wish to act with their surroundings and don’t leave the sim as soon as a want is fulfilled. Wants are now be determined by the current mood your sim is in – depressed sims will mope around the house and not feel like doing much at all whereas an angry sim will be prone to bad tempers and relish taking out that frustation with an arduous session on the treadmill, for example.
More human sims means a more engaging experience and countless more possibilities that I cannot wait to explore – yes, that does include inflicting unnecessary amounts of emotional abuse on my unsuspecting sims. It’s not a proper Sims game without a healthy dose of sadism.
– Kathleen Urquhart
4. South Park: The Stick of Truth
Publisher(s): Ubisoft
Release Date: 6th March 2014
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
This is one of those “stuck in development hell” stories that is finally ready to see the light of day. In a recent South Park episode, which teased the game in a three part series that brilliantly combined the PS4 and XBOX ONE console wars into a Game of Thrones parody, the series creators Parker and Stone (through the character of Butters) paid tribute to this fact, acknowledging that you’re probably an idiot for believing it would ever be released at all. Yet it looks like it is definitely happening this March. Woo hoo!
Since the game was announced back in 2011, the game has dealt with the shutdown of its original publisher, THQ, layoffs by its developer, Obsidian Entertainment and no doubt plenty of quality control to make sure the game – which is the first South Park game to feature hands-on involvement from Parker and Stone – lives up to expectations. And those expectations have been high since the game was revealed to be a parody of the MMORPG phenomenon, and something of a continuation of the incredible episode “The Return of the Fellowship of the Ring to the Two Towers”, with the series’ writers behind the entire thing.
Though the delays may cause concern, we have a feeling this will be one of the most entertaining games of the year. Though in spite of a R18+ classification being made available in Australia, the Australian Classification Board refused to classify the game unless three minigames were removed from the game. We’re told these games will be replaced by crying koalas. That alone will be worth the price of admission. Though uber fans may already be looking at an import… in any case, we’re salivating for this one!
– Larry Heath
3. Dark Souls II
Publisher(s): Namco Bandai Games
Release Date: 14th March 2014
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360.
Dark Souls captivated me. It was masochistic, it was unforgiving, and it was hard to master… but it was captivating. When you started the game you would never have even begun to guess how deep the lore of the game went. The game felt unfair at times, but it was a case of tough love. It forged you into a better player, and you learned to love its seemingly callous ways. The sequel to Dark Souls comes out this year, and I cannot wait for its release date.
A prominent youtuber, EpicNameBro, makes videos explaining the lore of Dark Souls. He has been enlisted to write a game guide for Dark Souls 2, and while he’s not been able to give away any opinions or details about the game, he has strongly hinted at how much he loves it. For those who aren’t familiar with EpicNameBro, he is very passionate about the original Dark Souls. He adores the gameplay and story more than anyone I’ve seen. If he prefers Dark Souls 2, that is a massive green flag for the quality of the game. Dark Souls wasn’t a game that everyone instantly adored, but those who did get into it loved it immensely. This love is why I am brimming with anticipation for Dark Souls 2.
– Billy Jones
2. The Elder Scrolls: Online
Publisher(s): Bethesda Softworks
Release Date: April 4th (Windows/OS) and June (PS4 and Xbox One)
Platform(s): Windows, OS, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
I’m still playing Skyrim and I probably will still be playing Skyrim by the time June (or May if you are a part of the PC master race) rolls around and The Elder Scrolls Online is released. That’s not going to stop me from throwing myself head first into what is surely going to be a life consuming, yet different Elder Scrolls experience.
Set 1000 years before the events of Skyrim in a period of political unrest, the Deadric Prince Molag Bal is doing what evil guys do best and trying to destroy the world as we know it. In comes your character, the Soulless One, and it is your job to choose a side as well as stop Molag Bal from merging Tamriel with Coldharbour, his realm in Oblivion. During your adventures you will have (almost) the entirety of Tamriel at your feet, what is looking like an exciting PvP component, and great incentives to hit higher levels (50+ have greater access to other factions territories as well as new content and story in caves/dungeons previously cleared).
I’m still sceptical to see how an online Elder Scrolls game will play out, especially one coming to consoles, but I cannot contain my excitement. Whilst the online component might be daunting for people unfamiliar with MMO’s, the controls have been confirmed to be very similar to previous Elder Scrolls games and the main storyline is tailored to the solo experience – if you are playing with friends their choices don’t impact your story, YOU get to choose how your story unfolds.
– Kathleen Urquhart
Like many fans, I was divided when Bethesda announced the next instalment in the brilliant RPG series would be exclusively online. While I respect the developer’s right to experiment creatively in any form, I hope it proves a miserable failure so that Bethesda can turn its attention back to perfecting the immersive single-player experience it touched upon in the flawed but engrossing Skyrim (preferably in a graphical remake of Morrowind).
– Jack Richardson
1. Watch Dogs
Publisher(s): Ubisoft
Release Date: Q2 2014
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii U, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
Hype has disappointed me time and time again. It’s very easy to buy in to hype, and in fact it can be very fun to do so. You watch all the trailers, you here the developers talk about the game… fans start to speculate about what may be involved, and suddenly the game is all you can think about. There is no game that has been hyped more in the past year than the game Watch Dogs. It has been featured at e3 two years in a row. 2014 is finally the year that Watch Dogs gets released. I still live in hope of hype proving me wrong.
Perhaps you can be as dynamic and strategic as the trailers suggest, maybe the game is as free flowing and organic as it looks… but Ubisoft has done this before. In Assassin’s Creed 2 they made a huge deal about being able to use Leonardo Da Vinci’s flying machine, but you used at most 3 times. There’s this doubt in my mind that says all the cool “controlling technology” features in the trailers will be used once or twice, and then forgotten about. I can’t wait to play Watch Dogs this year, for better or worse, because I genuinely think it looks like a fantastic idea for a game. What remains to be seen is the execution.
– Billy Jones
Originally slated to be released with the NextGen Xbox One and Playstation 4, Watch Dogs was set to be the new sandbox game, following the likes of Infamous, GTA and Assassin’s Creed in terms of open world, yet with a new angle – hacking. Rewriting the code of streetlights, mobile phones, credit cards, even ATMs and police vehicles players will have the power to use technology to their full advantage. This crossed with the usual fare of driving, flying, running across the sandbox universe free to take full advantage of all of your abilities. In short the game looks great, and the premise hasn’t been touched before – real time, 3rd person hacking, in an open world is relatively untouched as a genre.
Watch Dogs is planned for release this year, and with it comes into fruition the capabilities of the next-gen.
– Daniel Dunne
News of this ambitious open-world hacker/terrorist/not-a-modern-day-Assassins-Creed game’s delay to post-next gen launch was not entirely unexpected. Boasting complex real-time mechanics, dynamic AI and multi-device integration, Watch Dogs and the game-playing freedom it offered always seemed to good to be true. Let’s hope the extra spit and polish proves less (or at least as hilariously) buggy as AC4.
– Jack Richardson
