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.