Games I’m Looking Forward To

Most people do these lists at the beginning of the year. I’m doing mine before the fall rush. Of course, I’m not limiting myself to games that are releasing this fall. In fact, I’m not really limiting myself at all. Heck, I might even throw in a game or two that been released, but I haven’t played yet.

So in no particular order:

1. Dishonored — I haven’t been a huge Arkane fan, but this one looks to have some of the old Thief magic to it. That plus the amazing art has me intrigued.

2. Bioshock Infinite — On the other hand, I have been an Irrational fan. They combine story and gameplay that make your agency seem important. I’m excited.

3. Borderlands 2 — More guns than you can shake a stick at, solid gunplay in a colorful coop shooter just about define my idea of tactical fun. When you add in the RPG lite levels and ability trees, I’m in heaven.

4. Torchlight 2 — I enjoyed Diablo III a lot, but Torchlight is moving in a different direction in the same space. That’s exactly the kind of competition I like. And I enjoyed the first one.

5. Company of Heroes 2 — I own and enjoy all the CoH games. I still don’t think I’ve given them nearly a fraction of the time they deserve. The next generation looks like more and better. Thank you Relic.

6. Simcity V — I think they’re just calling it SimCity, like a reboot. I think I first played SimCity in 1990 on a friend’s Mac. Now they’re finally taken the step I’ve been waiting for with individual Sims going about their virtual lives in the city I build.

7. Elemental: Fallen Enchantress — I liked the thought behind (though not the execution of) Elemental. Mostly I’m excited because the mind behind the excellent Fall From Heaven mod series is working on fixing the kinks and creating something even better with Fallen Enchantress. Hey Kael.

8. The Witness — Yes, Jonathan Blow will probably bring us something different and challenging. Will it be fun though?

9. The Last of Us — Yes, it’s another zombie apocalypse. But Naughty Dog looks to bring some real storytelling and a human element to this adventure. Plus they’ve earned my respect over the years.

10. Assassin’s Creed III — I enjoy the series. I’m a bit of a history nut for the American Revolution. So this is looking good. I just hope they don’t get too wacky with American heroes.

11. XCOM: Enemy Unknown — I’ve only been waiting for good follow up to the original games since the mid 90’s. I even played the space shooter one. Please let this one be good.

12. LittleBigPlanet Karting — This is mostly about playing time with my son. He loves ModNation Racers and LittleBigPlanet. So we’re both looking forward to this one.

13. Carrier Command: Gaia Mission — This one is all about nostalgia for the original Carrier Command. The only thing close to it since is Hostile Waters: Antaeus Rising (with excellent Tom Baker narration).

14. Starvoid — I admit I don’t know much about this one, but it sounds like a cross between Starcraft and World in Conflict, both games I love.

15. Ascend: New Gods — The team behind Toy Soldiers is trying to create something new by stealing bits from games I enjoy.

16. Kingdom Under Fire II — We’re approaching release for, what, the fifth time? I really enjoyed the Hack and Slash meets Strategy mash up when it was on the old Xbox.

17. Sins of a Dark Age — Sins of a Solar Empire was good enough to make me pay attention to anything Ironclad does next. Fantasy Strategy? Good enough.

18. Defenders of Ardania — Warlock surprised me by being better than expected. Perhaps the next game in the Majesty universe will as well. Just don’t give me a by the numbers tower defense.

19. Hand of Odd — I don’t know if this will be made this time around, but I’m intrigued by a strategy game in the Oddworld universe.

20. Mechwarrior: Tactical Command — I loved Mechcommander back in the day. I’ll gladly take a new version on the ipad.

21. FTL: Faster Than Light — A roguelike on a spaceship in a hostile universe? I just know that I was sorely disappointed when release got pushed from August to September.

22. Total War: Rome 2 — I probably spent more time with Rome than any of the other Total War games. It just seems to fit the model so well. So yeah, give me some more.

23. Prison Architect — I really like the Introversion team. This may not be Subversion, but it does look interesting. I don’t know if it will be more fun to build the perfect prison or see things spiral out of control.

24. Scrolls — Minecraft isn’t really my cup of tea. I respect everything Mojang has done, and I love some of the creations users have built. I just enjoy other types of games. On the other hand, Scrolls is a strategy/board/card game. Right up my alley.

25. Monaco: What’s Yours is Mine — Who knows if this will work out? But a coop grand heist game that sounds like more of what I expected when I first heard of Payday: The Heist.