Uncharted 4:
2016 will bring many exciting things. For many Playstation fans, Uncharted 4 is solely at the top of that list. Uncharted is a series dear to many and the next installment in the popular franchise is anticipated to be the greatest adventure yet. Rumors abound of what the story will hold. Will this be the end of Nathan Drake? Only time will tell. But no matter what happens in the end, SG is sure it will be one hell of a ride getting there.
Quantum Break:
Remedy Entertainment, the developer responsible for Max Payne and Alan Wake, finally releases its next project in 2016. Quantum Break has seemingly been through many changes in development over the course of the past few years. Once expected to combine a full TV show as part of a new interactive experience, plans seem to have altered when Microsoft unexpectedly closed its entertainment division. As of now, we will still be receiving an interactive TV element to go with the game, but it seems to be less of a factor now than originally planned. The good news is that production values look to be extremely high and Remedy was given the time needed to work on the game as they saw fit. Let’s hope the end product was worth the wait.
No Man’s Sky:
England based developer Hello Games, responsible for the indie hit Joe Danger, is moving on to bigger and (hopefully) better things with No Man’s Sky. What makes No Man’s Sky intriguing is its concept: players will be able to freely explore a procedurally generated universe; full of planets with their own life and ecosystems. Where you go, what you find, who and what you meet, will all be a unique experience to the individual player. It’s an incredibly ambitious idea and one that we here at SG truly hope delivers as we’ve been dreaming of that type of game for decades. We wish Hello Games all the best in finishing it up for its hot anticipated June release.
Gears of War 4:
Microsoft’s “other” AAA shooter makes its return in Holiday of 2016. The newly formed Coalition Software, headed by Gears veteran Rod Ferguson, has the full funding and backing of Microsoft. Now they have to show if the series can be successfully brought into the spotlight again with a new protagonist and start of a new trilogy. We’re rather confident they will and are excited to dive back into the universe.
Crackdown 3:
Microsoft is resurrecting yet another fan favorite franchise in Crackdown 3. Crackdown holds a special place in many hearts and while Crackdown 2 wasn’t as cherished as the original to many, Crackdown 3 looks to return the series to greatness. More intriguing, this is the game that Microsoft is using to finally “show what the cloud can do” via Xbox Live. Developed by Sumo Digital and Cloudgine, the multiplayer aspect that’s been shown uses the cloud to offer larger, fully destructible cities as a multiplayer playground. In demos, it looks truly amazing. Here’s to hoping it can be delivered to the public in the same vein.
Street Fighter 5:
A title that needs no introduction. The fighting king returns in February in what looks to be beautiful form. With years to build and plan the next iteration on new hardware, we expect SF5 to be a true return to form leaning more towards the competitive aspect than the casual. No matter what, we expect it to be a fantastic fighting game.
For Honor:
Looking for something different in the online multiplayer genre beyond the traditional FPS? For Honor may be what you’re looking for. Select from Samurais, Vikings, and Knights to battle it out in a blade based, competitive multiplayer game. Developed by Ubisoft Montreal, For Honor looks to capitalize on the large scale multiplayer game market with something new and exciting. The initial presentation at E3 last year was very well received and we can’t wait to see more.
Yooka Laylee:
Banjo Kazooie and its sequel Banjo Tooie are cult classics and two of the famed “Rare Classics”. Rare followed those up with Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts which, while well received, didn’t quite scratch the BK itch. Fans have continued pleading for a true Banjo Threeie for years, but there has been no sign of it ever coming to fruition. Fortunately, ex-members of Rare took matters into their own hands and used Kickstarter to fund the spiritual successor to BK in Yooka Laylee. Finally it seems as though BK fans will have another title to appease them.
Below:
Initially shown during Microsoft’s E3 press conference in 2013, Below is an procedurally generated adventure game developed by Capybara Games. Stated to be “Dark Souls meets Zelda” the game has intrigued those who have seen it and it has been shown to have a tremendous amount of potential. The long development time has only continued to drive further interest and wonder. Hopefully we’ll get to experience the game for ourselves sooner rather than later and we certainly expect to see a near final build of the game at E3 2016.
Cuphead:
When Cuphead was initially shown at E3 in 2014, it immediately became a title that people wanted to know more about. The combination of run and gun gameplay in an environment that looked like a 1930s cartoon simply struck a chord with the crowd. Further publicized during 2015’s E3, the upcoming indie title won “Best Xbox One game” awards from many outlets. During development, Studio MDHR has taken no shortcuts with the game insisting that the animations be hand drawn and the backgrounds hand painted. It feels like we’re experiencing an indie revolution of late, and games like Cuphead could not be more welcome.
Doom:
That’s right. Doom. The game that many of us can recall first seeing as vividly as any event in our lives is being rebooted in 2016 by none other than ID themselves. It looks dark, gory, fast, and violent. So in short, it looks like Doom should look. Please ID, don’t let us down!
Halo Wars 2:
Halo Wars was released for the Xbox 360 in 2009. While RTS games have traditionally been few and far between on console, Ensemble Studios managed to create intriguing yet manageable gameplay for the controller resulting in a game that not only reviewed well, but is remembered fondly by Halo fans around the world. At Gamescom in 2015, Microsoft teased Halo Wars 2 for 2016 with the biggest news being that it would be developed by none other than Creative Assembly ; the developer for the Total War series and most recently Alien Isolation. Microsoft has invested heavily in the Halo franchise so we expect Halo Wars 2 will do justice to the RTS genre when it releases late this year.
