Most anticipated games of 2014

Part Two

The Crew

Ready to put your next-gen console through its paces to see what it can do? Why not takeThe Crew out for a spin. Designed from the ground up for the new hardware, this new open-world racing game is set in the United States—by that, we mean the entire country. (It'll take you 90 minutes to drive coast to coast.) A single-player campaign mode features missions that involve infiltrating criminal organizations, but The Crew also offers online multiplayer for racing against friends and strangers.

Dark Souls II

A sequel to the notoriously challenging 2011 action-RPG game Dark Souls, Dark Souls IIretains the previous game's controls and extreme difficulty level, but puts you in a world that's twice as large. (It's a completely different setting than the prior game.) Sure, the early going is reported to be "more accessible" to newcomers, but rest assured that the game was designed to be hard. Note that while the PC release has been delayed slightly, the PC version should be much stronger out of the gate than the previous game (which required modding to improve the graphics).

Halo 5

Halo 5 (if that's even you're real name) has been confirmed for a 2014 showing, but it's still unclear if the rather diminutive and humble numerical extension is the final indicator for the next installment of the series. We know next to nothing about the next game, but we do know that Master Chief was doing his best Tusken Raider during the Xbox One's reveal early last year.

Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Sweet baby Lucifer, this game is soooooo long overdue. We haven't had a decent single player Lord of the Rings (LOTR) title since the criminally underrated LOTR: Return of the KingRPG six years ago. Shadow of Mordor places you in control of a recently slain ranger that is revived and is granted wraith abilities to seek out his vengeance. Half-ranger, half-wraith all badass. The open world title takes place between The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings and looks absoloutley stunning. Here's to hoping it doesn't get delayed.

South Park:The stick of the truth

You may remember this title from our 2013 game preview, but months of repeated delays (partially due to the bankruptcy of original publisher THQ) for this spin-off from the long-running Comedy Central TV series appear to be over. While there have been previous South Park-related games, The Stick of Truth is the first major release that aims to capture the outrageous R-rated fun of the TV show. The game is an RPG developed by Obsidian Entertainment (Dungeon Siege III, Fallout: New Vegas) with heavy involvement from series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (including the script and voice acting). Players control the newest kid in South Park, who will have to befriend Butters, Cartman, and the gang and fight villains such as the school's goth kids.

Most anticipated games of 2014

Part One

Age of Wonders III

The last installment in the Age of Wonders fantasy turn-based strategy series came way back in 2002, but, after a delay from its original fall 2013 target date, the next version looks ready to reach PCs early this year, thanks to a cash infusion from Minecraft creator Markus Persson. Much of the original development team is still involved, and longtime fans will find many changes, including full 3D graphics, additional RPG-like elements, and much more in what the studio has described as "the largest game in the series."

Game of Thrones: A Telltale Series

There's nothing that's not fucking brilliant about the decision to allow Telltale Games to create an episodic Game of Thrones series. After the universal praise for The Walking Dead andFables properties, Telltale has promised to stay true to the visceral fantasy setting of Game of Thrones. They've reiterated that there will be no shortage of bloodshed and swordplay, but they'll definitely make the series a Telltale production. 

Alien: Isolation

The last time we featured a game based on the Alien film series in one of our previews, thiswas the unfortunate result. We have higher hopes for Isolation, which comes from a different developer (The Creative Assembly, best known for the Total War series), uses the original 1979 film for inspiration, and (appropriately enough) moves into the survival horror/stealth genres, rather than serving as yet another shooter. Set 15 years after the events in Alien, the single-player game focuses on the character of Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda, who is alone and trying to remain alive while hunted by a single xenomorph. Early reports suggest a tense, claustrophobic, and unnerving experience. Note that despite its presence on the other next-gen consoles, Isolation will not be released for the Wii U.

Destiny

The world will finally get a chance to see what Bungie has been working on since handing over the reins of the Halo franchise to 343 studios in 2011. Destiny has made some of the most ambitious claims about what it hopes to accomplish in 2014. Looking to marry the socially driven MMO experience with the tightly honed, shooter mechanics of games like Halo sounds like a wedding we'd like to crash. Destiny is promising a socially integrated space opera of the first order and we're hoping they succeed. 

 

Dragon Age: Inquisition

The third major release in BioWare's fantasy action-RPG series (following 2009's Dragon Age: Origins and 2011's lesser Dragon Age II), Inquisition should land on both previous- and next-generation consoles (plus PC) this fall. The developer aims to blend gameplay elements of both prior releases in a world that is much larger than either predecessor (though still not as open as competitor Skyrim). Combat and romance have been overhauled, and there will be more customization compared to DA2.

Titanfall

"Have you seen Titanfall?" is a meme that quickly began to spring up on forums everywhere for the ubiquitous and near universal praise the game has received. Respawn Entertainment's first title hopes to dethrone Activision as the FPS ruler. Made up of ex Call of Duty developers, Respawn is banking on creating a frenetic marriage of massive mech combat and jetpack enabled run and gun FPS action. This game is going to be massive and is an early contender for GOTY. Mechs, everyone loves mechs.

The Sims 4

It's time to brush up on your Simlish. EA's massively successful and surprisingly compelling furniture-buying/TV-watching/house-cleaning/sleeping simulation The Sims returns for its fourth go-around this fall, and it already seems to have learned at least one lesson from the publisher's disastrous SimCity reboot: it will be a completely offline, single-player game. (Of course, your Sims 3 saves won't carry over to the new game, but that's a different story.)Sims 4 will have a greater focus on emotions—whatever those are—and will undoubtedly be followed by a half dozen expensive expansions in the coming years.

Christmas Games

The holidays are coming and everyone begins to feel the Christmas cheer.To get even more into the spirit of the holidays,there are many video games that have a special Christmas feature like Sims,Wow,Silkroad,Animal Crossing,Chicken Invaders.


The new The Sims FreePlay update also introduces the following Christmassy items and quests:

Gifts Galore – Get your Sims ready for the silly season with four FREE Christmas presents delivered to your Sims door
12 Days to Save Christmas – Help Santa find his Elves by completing “The Missing Xmas Elves” quest by Christmas Day and unlock adorable PET REINDEERS
Deck the Halls – Add some Christmas cheer to your home with all-new Christmas décor you receive free during “The Missing Xmas Elves” quest
New Year’s Eve – Bring in the New Year with a BANG! Complete the “10… 9… 8…” quest to receive Fireworks for your Sims!
Christmas tree-You can buy one from the store.It can be used to summon Santa Claus. In order to do so, a Christmas tree needs to be placed near a fireplace and a plate of cookies. If all Sims are asleep, Santa will appear around 3 AM and leave a present for the family.(in The Sims:Livin' Large)t's one of the requirements for Santa Claus to appear. Sims can turn on the decorative lights on the Christmas tree. Players should be careful though, as leaving the tree on for too long will set itself on fire.(The Sims 2)It is only used as a floorlight with high environment score, but Sims won't do anything about it.(The Sims 3)