My 3 Most Anticipated Games of 2015, by Sven Boonen.
We’re about halfway through the first month of 2015, and to be completely honest, I’m quite glad 2014 is behind us. While we certainly had a few great games (like Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor and Far Cry 4 just to name a couple), I found 2014 to be one of the weaker years for gaming in recent memory.
Sure, we now have next-gen consoles that allow for gorgeous visuals and truly immense virtual worlds, but most of the games that were released in the past year merely aimed to visually impress and thus failed to deliver in terms of gameplay and story. How can I explain this feeling?
Well, imagine getting a gift. It comes in a large box that is wrapped up nicely with ribbons and all those other nice little ornaments. You unpack it carefully and slowly, trying not to damage the wrapping paper even though you want to dig in like a mad child lurking at his presents on Christmas Eve when that white stuff starts accumulating in the corners of his mouth, ready to burst out into an unpacking frenzy. But no, you want to savor the moment of surprise. When the wrapping paper comes loose and you take it off, a simple cardboard box is revealed. Okay, the box might not have ‘beauty’ written all over it, but it’s the inside of the box that counts! So you open up the box, and you see your present… an ugly vase covered in an illegal amount of bubble wrap. Popping the bubbles might be fun, but what are you supposed to do with that damn vase? Most games were exactly like this: we got to see promising concepts at first, but as we went deeper into the game, we realized we had already seen the best of it in gameplay videos or trailers or what have you as the credits started rolling, making you wonder what exactly the developers did with their time, money and knowledge.
An unfortunately high amount of games released in 2014 were like this. Over-promoted, over-hyped, and ultimately they under-delivered. 2015 has arrived though, and it looks to be a lot more promising than 2014. Developers had a chance to experiment with what works and what doesn’t work and hopefully they managed to find their way in the next generation of gaming. A handful of titles in particular stood out in the crowd for me and managed to grab my attention just a bit more than most games. Today, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to share with you my three most anticipated games of 2015.
Please take note that I decided to exclude console-exclusives like Halo 5 and Uncharted 4, as those will be for another list. Also, this list is very personal and might not match with your most anticipated games of 2015. I would like to know what games you look forward to the most, so make sure to leave your very own list of your personal most anticipated games of the coming year in the comment section below!
3. HOMEFRONT: THE REVOLUTION (PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC)
Kicking off the list at number five is Homefront: the Revolution.
When I first played the original Homefront back in 2011 (back when THQ was still a thing), I felt like the game just didn’t reach its full potential, and there was no real reason to return to it after a ridiculously short single player.
However, I enjoyed Homefront just enough to look forward to the sequel, especially since this promising IP fell into the hands of the praised Crytek.
Stunning visuals, a promising story with a fitting war-entrapped story of revolution, co-op gameplay in an open world with smooth gunplay. Homefront: the Revolution has huge potential and the stakes are rather high, but Crytek will undoubtedly manage to deliver on those, and then some.
2. STAR WARS BATTLEFRONT (PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC)
We’ve seen quite a few Star Wars games up until this day. Some were really good, others were rather bad, but of the most beloved Star Wars games out there that is widely praised for its authenticity and very solid shooter gameplay is Star Wars: Battlefront 2.
With LucasArts gone and DICE (the guys behind the Battlefield series) developing it, this Star Wars Battlefront reboot just can’t be bad. Little is known about the game thus far, but we can expect DICE’s trademark open maps with multiple planets in a single game, meaning you can fly from the freezing surface of one planet to the dense jungles of another one with epic large-scaled spaceship battles in between.
With a 2015 release date, Star Wars Battlefront might increase in popularity even further since Star Wars: the Force Awakened hits theaters somewhere in 2016. This promising title has a lot to live up to, so it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.
1. BATMAN: ARKHAM KNIGHT (PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC)
Rocksteady surprised thousands of Batman-fans with the release of the fantastic Batman: Arkham Asylum back in 2009, and they managed to improve upon their success even further with 2011’s Batman: Arkham City.
To say that the expectations for Batman: Arkham Knight are high would be a serious understatement, as fans of Gotham’s Caped Crusader get everything they could ever want to see in a Batman-game: a large open-world Gotham with destructible environments and incredibly detailed environments, iconic villains, a fully functional Batmobile with a Pursuit and a Battle Mode, a thrilling conclusion to the Arkham-storyline, an enhanced and improved Free Flow Combat system, jaw-dropping visuals and a brand new unique villain designed by Rockstready in collaboration with DC Comics – the titular Arkham Knight.
Batman: Arkham Knight is not just a wet dream for Batman-fans alone, but a must-have for action/adventure lovers in general. Batman: Arkham Knight, without any question, takes the number one spot for my most anticipated game of 2015.
Hot. Damn. I don’t know about you, but I for one am incredibly excited to see what more 2015 will bring to the table! What are your most anticipated games for 2015? Let us know in the comment section below and stay tuned to Gamer Headlines for the latest on 2015’s best games.