We’re halfway through January already (when did that
happen?!) and along with slowly chewing my way through a mountain of Christmas
chocolate, I’ve been busy availing myself of the January sales on PlayStation,
Xbox, and Steam – as well as picking up recommendations for what’s being
released in 2018. In addition to recent or upcoming series titles in the LEGO Marvel, The Walking Dead, The Wolf
Among Us, and Red Dead (of
course) franchises, it looks like this will be an
excellent year for original and stand-alone games. Here are five I’m
particularly excited for.
Kingdom Come:
Deliverance
As a literally certified Middle Ages Nerd (that’s exactly
what it says on my diploma) I was very excited
when I heard about this one. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good medieval fantasy
as much as the next geek, but as fun as it is slaying a dragon with the aid of
your elf companion, the genuinely cool historical facts often get unfairly overlooked in favour of the dominating influence of mythology. So a realistic medieval RPG
with phrases like “historically accurate clothing and weaponry” in the description
was bound to get my attention. That being said, combat-heavy games aren’t
really my thing, so I was pleased to see that you won’t be just fighting your
way from battle to battle between cut-scenes: while there will be time aplenty
to cathartically hack your way through an opposing army, the game also presents
opportunities for social stealth, such as the mission involving going
undercover in a monastery and performing what can only be described as
“rhythmic monk action” (QTEs to observe mass, say prayers, etc.) in order to
stay close to your target without blowing your cover. Am I the sole target
audience or what? Release date: February 13th.
A Way Out
Last summer a friend and I were lamenting the lack of co-op
in Telltale’s The Walking Dead. As if
someone was listening in on our conversation, A Way Out was announced a month later. This is a co-op game that
can be played online but is best shared in person, as you’ll need to be with
the same partner throughout. Visually there’s a lot in common with The Walking Dead – scorched and
sun-drenched Americana that feels slightly worn out (this time it’s not the
apocalypse though, just the 1970s) – and while you won’t be running in to any
zombies, this looks like it’s going to have a similarly powerful story. You
and your co-op partner take on the role of two criminals planning a prison
break – and from the trailers it seems at least one of them is motivated by the
noble(ish) purpose of being reunited with his family. I’m looking forward to the
opportunity to co-op with my significant other on something other than a puzzle
platformer – though with high-stakes decision making a major part of the game
play, hopefully we don’t role play too hard and end up trying to kill each
other. Release date: March 23rd.
We Happy Few
I’ve been at just about max hype for this game ever since I
saw the E3 coverage in summer 2016. We
Happy Few is one of the most amazingly realised dystopias I’ve ever seen in
video games – taking its aesthetics and atmosphere from British classics including
The Prisoner and A Clockwork Orange; its tone and structure straight from Nineteen Eighty-Four and Brave New World; and its brilliant
musical score from that part of your brain that tells you something’s very, very wrong in this situation. Comparisons to Bioshock captured my interest initially,
but it looks like We Happy Few will
be far less linear, though no less menacing. The scenario is a pure mash-up of
Orwell and Huxley: having lost a nuclear
skirmish, the citizens of a bombed-out Britain are all addicted to the
mood-enhancing drug “Joy”, and watched over by the omnipresent smiling face of “Uncle
Jack” reminding them to be happy (or else). The three campaigns each see a
different character trying to escape a seemingly idyllic English village
through a combination of social and physical stealth, problem solving, and pure
survival skills. Looks vaguely stressful, but so beautifully creepy it’ll be worth
it. Release date: April 13th.
Vampyr
If we’ve talked about video games for more than five minutes
I’ve probably mentioned that Vampire: the
Masquerade – Bloodlines is my all-time favourite. Released in 2004 and a
cult classic despite its obviously unfinished state upon release, rumours of a shiny
remake have been batted around for years but without any real evidence to back
them up. Vampyr is not that remake,
but it’s the closest we’ve come to a new V:tM
game in fourteen years (and probably the closest we will come for a good while
longer), and it looks set to scratch a lot of those long-neglected itches. This
is no modern-day vampire RPG set in glamorous Downtown LA, but with an unusual
historical setting rarely explored in fiction (1918 London in the grips of the
Spanish flu), and with your morally conflicted protagonist (a
physician-turned-vampire caught between his urges to kill and to cure), there’s
a lot of story to sink your teeth into (not sorry). With its morality systems,
combination of social stealth and hunting/combat, and branching story, this
does seem like the vampire RPG 2018 deserves. Release date: Sometime in the
first half of the year, apparently, though it’s already been delayed from 2017.
Call of Cthulhu: The
Official Video Game
To be honest I’m someone who sits up and takes notice the
minute the word “Cthulhu” gets dropped into conversation, so my excitement for
this one should come as no surprise. Initially in development by Frogwares, the
studio behind one of my favourite video game series, the brilliantly cheesy Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (and the
lesser-known but almost as charming Dracula:
Origin), this production surely has its pedigree when it comes to creating
an adventure puzzle game around a classic Victorian work of horror and mystery.
Plot details are fuzzy right now but it looks set to have all the essential hallmarks of Lovecraft: an improbably named New England settlement; a lone private investigator; a family fallen foul of sinister forces. Even though development has
now been transferred from Frogwares to the less encouraging studio Cyanide
(speciality to date: cycling simulators), the guiding hand of publisher Focus
(who represent a number of studios I love, including Frogwares, Telltale, and
the makers of the aforementioned Vampyr)
will hopefully ensure that this game lives up to at least most of its
significant promise. Release date: Unknown, but apparently in 2018.
