It’s been a ton of Memebox posts recently, and not a whole lot of video games or survival horror or really anything else, so I thought I’d switch things up a bit and talk about things that either have or will come out soon in the video game world. (All release dates are for North America, by the way, since that’s where I am.)
Things I Want To Play (like, lots):
I am primarily a console gamer – although I dabbled in World of Warcraft for a while, I’ve been gaming on a console since the SNES and it’s the most intuitive format for me. I haven’t invested in any of the next-gen consoles yet (although I likely will at some point – and it will most likely be a PS4). Having said that, here are some games that I’m excited about, either to play for myself or to watch someone else play. For the majority of these, I haven’t watched any walkthroughs or anything spoiler, so my thoughts are just that – pure speculation as to what playability will be like. I will try to link trailers or video clips or Let’s Plays for all of these, so if you don’t mind being spoiled, or don’t want to play yourself, feel free to watch!
1. Dying Light
This game comes from a development company called Techland, and it’s published by Warner Brothers. It’s set to be released on February 28, 2015, for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Multi-platform, yo.
This game takes place during a zombie apocalypse. It’s a sandbox game that’s got a day-and-night cycle: during the day you run around and get supplies and do missions and stuff, and then at night you either hide or get screwed, because the zombies are slow(ish) during the day and go nuts at night. I imagine it to be kind of a mash-up between Dead Rising and The Last of Us, only hopefully scarier. It’s also set to have a 4-person co-op mode and a system where you can build your own weapons. I like sandbox games, although I do need at least a little story to go on, otherwise I start to wonder what the point is.
Here’s the trailer (and how hilarious is that ending?):
2. The Evil Within
This game comes from Tango Gameworks, published by Bethesda. Its original title in Japanese was Psychobreak. It’s set to be released on October 14, 2014, for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. I’m pumped that I won’t have to buy a new console for these first two games.
An actual survival horror game (one where you’re significantly underpowered and must use strategy to determine whether you can actually even fight enemies at all – ammunition will be scarce and I assume health items will be as well), this game was directed by Shinji Mikami, who did the original Resident Evil video game. You play the part of a detective who gets stuck in a house filled with horrible things and, as far as I can tell, the objective is to get out of the house alive (and hopefully at least mostly intact). I’ve watched a tiny bit of video for this game, and it looks fantastic. I’m not shy at all about gore so that doesn’t bother me, but if it’s a concern for you you should probably avoid this game. I hear it gets pretty messy.
Here’s the trailer: (it’s live-action, so don’t be surprised)
And here’s 11 minutes of gameplay (I haven’t watched all of it, so spectate at your own risk):
3. Alien: Isolation
This game is produced by Creative Assembly, published by Sega, and will be released on October 7, 2014, for the PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
I’m a huge, HUGE fan of the Alien franchise. In fact, Aliens is the go-to movie to watch on Christmas Eve with my father. (What? We’re weird. Just roll with it. We watch Scrooged with my mom later. It’s fine.) I own the DVD quadrilogy. It’s one of my staple answers when I think to myself, “What do I have around to watch that’s AWESOME?” Because Ellen Ripley, that’s why. And this game is coming out just in time for the 35th anniversary of Alien‘s theatrical release, which is pretty nifty. The game is set from the perspective of Amanda Ripley (Ellen Ripley’s daughter- if you watched the director’s cut of Aliens, you learned that she passed away of old age while Ripley was drifting through space, hoping to be back by her 11th birthday). It’s done in first person, which I’ve noted in past posts that I don’t super love, but considering that the game is thematically linked to Alien rather than Aliens (meaning it’s survival horror rather than action horror) I’m willing to risk the motion sickness and put some money towards the franchise.
Bloody-Disgusting has a great article about this game (and the possibility of another Alien movie?) that you can read here if you’re as interested as I am!
Here’s the trailer:
4. Outlast
Outlast has already been released for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. It’s produced and published by Red Barrels.
This game starts out with a tried and true horror trope: you are trapped in an asylum. Boy, that sucks for you, doesn’t it? Oh, and by the way, there are totally homicidal folks all over the place. Enjoy.
This, again, is survival horror rather than action horror: you have no weapons and there is very little opportunity for you to fight your opponents. Instead you must avoid detection or flee. Unfortunately for me, not only is this a first-person game, but it’s a next-gen console game (which means that I have to either buy it for the PC or fork over the money for a new console, which is not happening anytime soon). I’m not as devoted to this as I am to the Alien franchise, but the game has gotten enough positive reviews that I may get around to purchasing it anyway.
Here’s the trailer: (I like that spinny wheelchair wheel. Very Silent Hill)
Here’s PewDiePie’s Let’s Play playlist for Outlast, if you’re a PewDiePie sort of person. Frankly, I find that watching him freak out cuts down on the scariness of the game itself, so that could be either a plus or minus for you.
5. Silent Hills
You’ve already seen my post on the upcoming Silent Hill game here. I don’t know that there’s a lot else I need to say about this. My roommate and I have purchased almost every Silent Hill console game that’s been produced (we skipped Book of Memories since neither of us has a PS Vita), and we always play through them together. And yes, we always have to get all the endings.
Although there’s no confirmed release date for this title, it’s definitely on my “to-buy” list – and it’s a high enough priority that when it comes out my roommate and I will purchase a PS4 if we haven’t gotten one already.
I hope at least part of this game is in third-person view, but even if it isn’t, like Alien: Isolation, I’ve committed to the movement.
Here’s the trailer that you get once you complete the playable teaser that I posed about before:
Awww yeah, that Silent Hill theme. Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro, you glorious, glorious people.
6. Assassin’s Creed: Unity
I know, right? This is totally NOT a survival horror game, or actually a horror game of any kind. Its okay though. I just had to include it because I really want to play it. You forgive me right? I know you do.
Unity will be released on October 2, 2014, for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Like the other AC games, it’s published and produced by Ubisoft. (As a nerd who took Latin in high school, I love that they named their company Ubisoft. Where-soft software? I die.)
AC: Unity, like the other AC titles, is an open world concept with a strong storyline. Unity takes place during the French Revolution.
There’s been some controversy about the lack of availability of female avatars in co-op mode. Frankly, I shouldn’t have to get into that here. Ubisoft should be ashamed enough about this that they should give us a lady assassin and just shut up about it. Lots of girls play video games and besides, Aveline was awesome in AC: Liberation.
In any case, I’ve liked all of the AC games so far, and while I may not have a PS4 right away, I’ll purchase this as soon as I get one.
Here’s the trailer.
Okay, now that I’ve watched that, I need a PS4. Why did I watch that? UGH.
The “might-plays”
Like I said, I’m a console girl at heart – but there have been enough interesting games released on PC that I’m starting to consider whether it’s worth my while to branch out Here are some games that are making me seriously consider whether I can master the PC platform:
1. Asylum
This game will be released for the PC (not just for Windows – also for Linux and OS X). Funded by a Kickstarter campaign and greenlit by Steam, it’s supposed to come out sometime this year, although a date hasn’t been set yet.
Unlike the majority of the other games on this list, Asylum is a point-and-click. Obviously, it takes place in a mental institution.
Frankly, the only reason this game makes it onto my interest list is because every time it is brought up someone mentions H.P. Lovecraft, who is super awesome. The only other game I’ve played that really links directly to him is Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube, which is a great play that I really recommend. (You can pick up a used Gamecube really cheap, but the game might cost you.) Since I don’t know when this game will be released, and I don’t know what the price will be, this sticks on the list as a firm “maybe”.
Here’s the trailer:
2. Among the Sleep
This game has already been released, and is for the PC (including OS X and Linux) and the PS4.
You play as a child, accompanied by your surprisingly alive (and vocal) teddy bear, wandering around a world that is distorted by your childish fears. That seems to be a fairly novel concept – I know that a child protagonist is not new (I watched a Let’s Play of Lucius, which was released in 2012), but he was… let’s say… different. (I won’t spoil it for people who want to play or watch it.) Unfortunately for my interest in this particular game, I’ve also heard that it’s just not that scary. I was kind of hoping for a video game equivalent to the tabletop role-playing game Little Fears (a million points to you if you know that game or have played it), but it seems like this particular game is not it.
Here’s a trailer:
And a Let’s Play, this time without commentary:
3. Daylight
Daylight has already been released for the PC and the PS4; it was developed by Zombie Studios and published on the PS4 by Atlus, who you may know because they also published Rule of Rose for the PS2 and Catherine for the PS3/Xbox 360. (By the way, Catherine? What a trippy game. Seriously weird.)
Daylight centers around a woman who wakes up in an abandoned hospital with no memory of how or why she is there. The object of the game is to retrieve enough of your memories to progress through each area of the hospital (which is basically a giant maze) and eventually gain your freedom. You have no weapons, and no source of light other than your cell phone, at least at the beginning.
So why am I less than excited to play this game? Firstly, because AGAIN (siiiiiiiigh) this is a first person game. Secondly, the game is also apparently pretty short – from what I understand, it’s randomly generated, so you may have to play through the game multiple times to get the whole story. And even when a game is randomly generated, there’s no guarantee that it’s going to be worth a replay. I mean, sure, some games totally are (I still replay Fatal Frame all the time), but some definitely aren’t. (I never actually finished Haunting Ground.) And while I’m certainly neurotic enough to want to get every one of the alternate endings for Silent Hill games, for example, a game in a format that I don’t prefer (because I’d probably buy this for the PC) may not be worth the time investment.
Here’s a trailer:
There it is. I’m excited!