Dying Light 2
Dev: Techland
Release Date: 2020
In a genre that has been beaten to death, brought back to life and then beaten some more; zombie games just won’t fucking die! If I’m telling the truth I still love myself a good shuffler sim and Dying Light is, in my opinion, the cream of the crop. First-person parkour that actually worked, meaty combat and some of the most intense foot chases I’ve ever seen. It also didn't hurt that Techland has supported their community with awesome new content and some fantastic yearly events.
Dying light 2 is set fifteen years after the fall in which the first game is set. Our protagonist, Aiden Caldwell, is already infected and trying to survive in a city ravaged by gang warfare. The game looks beautiful with a bigger play area and more energetic ways to get from A to B. Not content with bigger, Techland have also gone deeper this time around with a complicated cause and effect system. As you play you will have the choice to act (or not act) and these actions can have drastic implications for that district and what resources you have available to you. With a slight delay, we should now be seeing Dying Light 2 sometime in spring and I cannot wait to dive in.
Half-Life Alyx
Dev: Valve
Release Date: March 2020
In 1998 the first person genre was changed forever with the release of Half-life. Valve released this pivotal single player game and it was an instant success. With ultra-tight gunplay, a terrifying invasion and ultimately one of the most iconic underdog stories of gaming; Half-life went on to become a legend. Gordon Freeman was just an everyday guy (with a PhD in Theoretical Physics) who was in the wrong place and the right time. Then came the sequel to end all sequels, Half-life 2 was jaw-dropping in terms of ambition, design and technology. The brand new Source Engine made physics not only breathtaking to behold but also an integral part of the gameplay loop. After two additional episodes, the game came to a cliff hanger that would never see a conclusion. Now fifteen years later we are finally seeing a new Half-Life game, but not as we know it Jim.
It was interesting to see the reaction online to this news, people both blown away by the news of a new Half-life game but also shocked it would be exclusively in Virtual Reality. I myself was taken aback but now I think about it, this move makes total sense. The Half-life games have always been about pushing new techniques and technology forward. So, if this turns out to be the game that makes VR stick, that will be something of a tradition for this series. While we are waiting for this game to arrive I would urge you to check out the awesome remake of Half-life, Black Mesa, which has just added the final chapter in Xen. I also ran through Half-life 2 over Christmas which still looks surprisingly good considering how old it is, a bit like me really.
Microsoft Flight Sim
Dev: Microsoft
Release Date: 2020
It is pretty crazy that the first Microsoft Flight Simulator came out a year after I was born in 1979. This series has seen a long history with many other offerings to keep it company. Growing up I did enjoy playing various flight sims from the revolutionary graphics in TFX to excellent helicopter sims like Apache. The fundamental goal for all the sims has been the quest for more realism. With a long hiatus, this year will see the next instalment of the Microsoft Flight Sim series and it will represent a giant leap in technology.
Essentially the team at Asobo Studios have developed an engine that builds the game world from real-world data. So for example, Bing map information is used as a foundation template and then the game builds 3D buildings, adds trees etc. There is a lot more to the process than that, but the end result is nothing short of astonishing. Weather effects and time of day all look photorealistic, the weather will even be generated based on local conditions. With this kind of technology, you can even fly over your own house and follow your route to work. This is the flight sim I have always dreamed of, the entire planet in all it’s splendour right at your fingertips. Set for release in 2020 I’ll be dusting off my old P52 Pro and heading for the horizon.
Subnautica: Below Zero
Dev: Unknown Worlds Entertainment
Release Date: 2020
One of my favourite indie games of the last few years is Subnautica. Even from an early stage, the game had me utterly captivated and not just because of the gameplay but also due to my deep fear of water (or Thalassophobia as I recently discovered). Every time I dived into the vast ocean my heart rate went up and my spine tingled at the very thought of what was circling below my flippers. As the game was brought to a state of completion the developers added a layer of storytelling that filled in the cracks and gave the entire experience context. If you have never played Subnautica, I would heartily recommend you go and do so right now.
Not long after Subnautica wrapped the team at Unknown Worlds Entertainment announced they were working on a new game set on the same planet. You are once again hurled into the depths to survive and uncover hidden alien mysteries. This time around the environment is a tad cooler and this throws up new challenges for the player: including extended play out in the very fresh air. With brand new creatures and biomes to discover, this new chapter is already shaping up to be another excellent addition to the Subnautica experience. My favourite part so far has to be the Sea Truck, a modular craft with different configurations depending on the task at hand. At the time of writing the developers are saying the game is almost feature complete but after playing through the current early access build there is still work to do. What I do know is that this is looking like another fantastic game and I cannot wait to review the final build later this year.
Death Stranding
Dev: Kojima Productions
Release Date: Early Summer 2020
I did more console gaming last year than I have done for a long time with a solid month of Red Dead Redemption 2 amongst others. I watched Death Stranding capture the imagination of gamers either as a walking simulator or claiming it was the best thing since sliced bread. I very nearly caved in and picked it up on PS4 but when the PC version was confirmed, I held back and decided to wait.
Of course by the time the PC version comes out later this summer anyone who cares to know what the game is all about only needs to do a quick Google search; but I have purposefully kept away from plot spoilers. From what I have gleaned from conversations around the web, Death Stranding is just my kind of game and one which gives players an experience like no other. Love him or hate him, you have to give Kojima credit for delivering his vision, unfettered by convention and uncompromising on design. The one big advantage the PC version should have is in the visuals department and we will have our new gaming rig by then.
Atomic Heart
Dev: Mundfish
Release Date: 2020
When I watched the trailer for Atomic Heart, my immediate thought was that this game couldn’t be real. Not only were the graphics ultra-detailed but there was also a fluidity and mailable feel to everything. Tubes of water reminiscent of the scenes in The Abyss hang in mid-air and you can see fish making their way through them. Even the ground can look like it is defying physics and rippling like a giant water bed.
Set in an alternate timeline when the Soviet Union was still in its hay day, you play as a special agent sent to find out what has gone awry at this research station. The world looks like a mix of Dishonored, Bioshock with maybe a sprinkle of Wolfenstein. With a whole range of deadly technology and biological horrors to take you down it looks like combat will be a large part of the gameplay loop. The trailers so far show a mixture of open areas and hyper-detailed interiors, I just hope there is a plot to give the action some context. Mundfish are a relatively new developer and there is scant information about the team who are based in Moscow. I will want to see more concrete details before I get really excited, but this title has already got enough going for it to be one to watch.
DOOM eternal
Dev: id Software
Release Date: March 20th 2020
I remember walking into many PC showrooms in the 90s and you would invariably see each system running a copy of Doom. While not the first FPS it is probably the most iconic. With an equally successful sequel, the Doom IP seemed unstoppable. Unfortunately, the series did lose its way with some lacklustre offerings and many were justified in being sceptical of the 2016 release. It didn't help that Bethesda held back review copies from the press, which usually indicates a studio know a game is going to review badly. In actual fact, the 2016 DOOM was an absolute corker, with lighting fast combat, beautifully gory visuals and suburb level design. It was so good that on completion and jumped right back in and completed it a second time.
The sequel, which is now set to drop in March, looks like everything we were hoping for with new weapons, enemies and mechanics. I also like the idea of hell invading heaven, which is a setting that could look incredible. While at a glance this looks very similar to DOOM 2016 (which would be fine with me), the way you traverse the levels in Eternal makes for a far more agile outing. This is one of the games on my list that is guaranteed to be good, just how good we will have to see in a few months from now.
Watch Dogs Legion
Dev: Ubisoft Toronto
Release Date: 2020
Despite the series starting with the worst case of bait and switch in the history of gaming, I do really like Watch Dogs. The first game, while flawed, provided a good template with a sort of hacking-lite action courtesy of an overly automated city. The sequel was a far more accomplished game and while the cast of characters was just as thin, it was seeing all the in-game systems bounce off each other that made the game so much fun.
When rumours started to circulate about a new Watch Dogs game, the one feature that caught the headlines was that you could play as any NPC in the game. This did strike me as a pretty unique concept but one which would require a lot of clever design work to pull it off. After seeing the trailer it does look like Ubisoft have managed to get a good framework in place, where you must recruit new operatives from the population of a post-Brexit London. Being that Brexit is a very sore subject in our household right now, I’m even more interested to see how this game incorporates it into the story and gameplay. After many Ubisoft titles got delayed (thanks to a disastrous Ghost Recon Breakpoint release) it is clear the team want to spend more time getting this game right, which is always a good choice in my book. Regardless of the possible issues, I’m very interested to see how this hack-em-up shooter pans out. In the meantime Check out my Watch Dogs 2 review while we wait for a new release date in 2020.
Vampire Masquerade Bloodlines 2
Dev: Hardsuit Labs
Release Date: 2020
The original Vampire Masquerade did prove one thing about gaming, if you capture peoples imagination they will tolerate almost any broken mess. I have played Vampire Masquerade at various times in its existence and the version we have today has been worked on by an army of talented fans (who essentially finished development). With such a loyal cult following it wasn't a shock to hear that someone had decided to step up and make a sequel.
As a newly turned Vampire, you must learn on the job so to speak in the city of Seattle. Having your own apartment and phone will lend itself to living as a modern-day vampire. You can also gain buffs depending on the emotional state of your victims, something similar to the system in Vampyr. This is a true RPG which means you will be able to develop your character as you see fit and there are tonnes of options open to you. In an extended gameplay demo last year people were concerned about how floaty the combat seemed and this clearly needed some work. Thankfully Hardsuit Labs saw the writing on the wall and decided to delay the game in order to work on these shortcomings. Good vampire games have been thin on the ground in the last decade and so hopefully Bloodlines 2 will set this right.
Biomutant
Dev: Experiment 101
Release Date: 2020
The developers describe Biomutant as an open world, post-apocalyptic Kung-fu fable which is quite a mouthful, but intriguing none the less. Right from the off you can see the team are going for fun details, like how key attributes will actually affect the physical appearance of your character (more intelligence will give you a larger cranium etc).
The combat looks like one of stand out features of the game, combining a mix of martial arts, ranged weapons and abilities derived from your mutant status. There seems to be a well-developed backstory to dig into with various factions to interact with as well as an overarching narrative about the world tree becoming polluted by oil. We have seen many games in the past packed full of clever features that fail to mesh into a coherent experience, so this is something to be aware of. Experiment 101 was established in 2015 from ex Avalanche developers and so these guys should know their way around an action game. The fact they have been fairly quiet in 2019 and missed its release window does give me some concerns, but hopefully, we will get some solid information at this year’s gaming events.
Cyberpunk 2077
Dev: CD Projekt Red
Release Date: April 15th 2020
Cyberpunk 2077 is probably one of the most anticipated games of all time and the hype is beyond anything I have ever seen. I would say the initial interest was largely to do with the fact that CD Projekt Red made the Witcher 3, arguably one of the best RPGs ever released. However, as each gameplay demo has been unveiled the excitement has switched to what we are actually getting in April this year.
The concept of Cyberpunk has been around since the 1960s and grew from the examination of many subcultures in our society such a Punk, advancements in technology and early hacker culture. There is a rich treasure trove of content to explore and the idea of a developer with this expertise making a Cyberpunk game is very enticing. The demos we have seen so far has shown many aspects of the game from combat, driving and how dialogue can play out differently. While many of these gameplay elements have been done in other games, the insane levels of polish evident in these demonstrations elevates this above anything we have seen before. Unfortunately, we have already seen some media sites taking issue with aspects of the Cyberpunk universe and even going as far to call the developers transphobic or racist. I fully expect that these same sites will aim to stand out from the crowd and create outrage fuelled clickbait by using the same tactics. Just be aware that these sites (like Rock Paper Shotgun) do seem to have an agenda and so be wary of any political ranting.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Dev: Mood Studios
Release Date: February 11th 2020
Like so many, I hold Ori and the Blind Forest up as one the best platforming games of all time. It has the looks as well as super tight platforming that makes you keep coming back. Visually, it is like watching a masterpiece from Pixar, except you are in the driving seat. The story of Ori is also a heartfelt yarn that really connected with me with our spry protagonist. When playing through it on the Steam link my little boy was in tears after watching the opening sequence, I was then obliged to complete the game so he could see how it all shakes out.
Ori and the Will of the Wisps is an honest to goodness sequel that takes these solid foundations and builds on them. This time around it seems we have even more skills to learn along with a new shard system, similar to the one found in Hollow Knight. The only new system that gives me concerns in that an autosave is set to replace the soul stone method. I’ve never been a fan of games auto-saving because if they go wrong you and end up losing your entire progress. Ori and the Will of the Wisps will be one of the first big reviews of the year and I cannot wait to give you my full review on Rigged for Epic.
Carrion
Dev: Phobia Game Studio
Release Date: 2020
You can have a vast open-world and the most intricate skills structure but sometimes all you need is a stick. Some of the best games in the world became so because of just one insanely good gameplay mechanic. Carrion is a side on pixel art game that puts you in the driving seat of the monster for a change. As you slither around, curtesy of you many tendrils, you must devour the very folk who sought to imprison you.
As you gain more biomass you increase in size and are able to develop new skills that allow access to previously unreachable areas. In this way, the game follows the tried and tested Metroid Vania model which is fine with me. After playing the short demo late last year, what stood out the most is just how satisfying it is to rampage your way around corridors and vents picking off victims like some kind of pissed off hairball. So if you have ever wanted to know what it’s like to gad around as John Carpenter’s ‘The Thing’ here’s your chance.
Unto the End
Dev: 2 Ton Studios
Release Date: 2020
I have played some indie games in the last few years that lack many of the things that I would normally seek in a game. Yet sometimes a game can offer a journey that is both wonderful and thought-provoking, even when traditional gameplay is limited. Far Lone Sails, Sea of Solitude or Mosaic are good examples of this whimsical and ardent storytelling. After watching the trailer for Unto the End, it looks to have these emotional notes but with some excellent action combat thrown in for good measure.
The creative director, Steven Danton, explained in an interview they had inspirations from other side on games such as Limbo, Inside and Another World. I find it really interesting that they went for a 2D perspective as it helped make the combat more engaging, especially when taking on multiple foes. I hope we get more details and a release date soon because Unto the End looks fantastic.