Now that 2014’s all done and dusted, we can look forward with glee at what 2015’s got to offer in terms of games. While we’re sure that there will be the glut of Assassin’s Creed and Call of Duty games in the pipeline, so far the list looks refreshingly packed with variety. Let’s take a look at 31 such games destined for 2015 that show promise.
Dying Light (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Expected Date: Jan 27, 2015
Even though Zombie games seem to have reached their saturation point, we can’t help but see the promise in Dying Light. The game is open-world survival horror with parkour and crafting that features a day/night cycle that influences gameplay in a major way.
Evolve (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
Expected Date: Feb 10
Evolve has one of the most unique concepts for a multiplayer shooter that we’ve heard in a while. The game lets four players team up against an alien monster, controlled by another player, as they try to kill each other or complete certain objectives. Think Counter-Strike, only the terrorists’ team has been replaced by a single vicious, giant alien monster.
The Order 1886 (PS4)
Expected Date: Feb 20
Playstation fans have been waiting for this game for a while. The Order 1886 is a steampunk, fantasy action game set in 19th century London which is suffering from monster attacks and a class revolution. You control four members of an order that attempts to protect humanity from the monsters.
Project CARS (PC, PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, SteamOS)
Expected Date: Mar 17, 2015
A community powered game, Project CARS will be able to see the light of day because of support from gamers, who bought tool packs and perks and will receive a share of the profits made by game sales. The game will be a true racing simulator and will feature 67 cars, 52 race tracks and a dynamic physics simulation engine.
Battlefield Hardline (PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360)
Expected Date: Mar 17, 2015
The Battlefield franchise takes a breather from global warfare in Hardline and instead focuses on urban combat as witnessed by the police. Apart from the usual multiplayer focus, the game takes hold of a solid single player campaign that deals with drugs, crime and corruption.
Grand Theft Auto V (PC)
Expected Date: March 24, 2015
Constant delays have only whetted our appetite for what will surely be the definitive edition of the latest Grand Theft Auto game. The screenshots released so far show a game that looks shockingly better than its console counterparts. The PC version will also get a set of video editing tools so that you can share your exploits in the game to the entire world.
Bloodborne (PS4)
Expected Date: March 24
Bloodborne is an upcoming action RPG that shares the DNA of the Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls games. However, unlike those games, Bloodborne features guns along with melee weapons and faster paced combat.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number (Windows, OS X, Linux, PS3, PS4, PS Vita)
Expected Date: Q1 2015
Thirsting for some pixelated, top-down, neon-lit ultraviolence? Hotline Miami’s sequel, scheduled to crawl out very soon from inside its characters’ cocaine and vodka fuelled nightmares, should give you plenty of that.
Overwatch (Windows, OS X)
Expected Date: Q1 2015 (Open Beta)
Considering that Blizzard is already coming up with its answer to Valve’s Dota 2, it’s not surprising that it also has a Team Fortress 2 equivalent primed for launch. Meet Overwatch, a squad-based multiplayer shooter with cartoonish graphics and defined roles ala Team Fortress 2. Only here, there are futuristic superheroes and supervillains instead of soldiers and spies. The introductory trailer has already won us over and we can’t wait for the game.
Pillars of Eternity (Windows, OS X, Linux)
Expected Date: Q1 2015
Old-school CRPGs saw an unexpected resurgence in 2014 and that trend should continue this year with Pillars of Eternity, a game that once held the record for the highest amount of money raised through Kickstarter. Developed by names behind some of the most seminal computer RPGs, Pillars of Eternity is a tactical squad-based fantasy RPG in the vein of classics like Baldur’s Gate and Plansecape: Torment.
Mortal Kombat X (PC, Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3)
Expected Date: April 14, 2015
So much gore. If you’ve watched any of the introductory trailers for Mortal Kombat X, you know you’re in for a bloody good time punctuated by the sound of rending flesh, splintering bones and tearing sinews. Mortal Kombat X will feature interactable environments, more graphic fatalities and new moves for loved characters like Scorpion.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Expected Date: May 19, 2015
The Witcher 3 is probably this year’s most awaited game and is bound to be one of its biggest too. CD Projekt picks up from the previous game and now puts Geralt in the middle of a gorgeous open-world that is under attack from a supernatural army.
Batman: Arkham Knight (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Expected Date: June 2, 2015
We’ve been seeing videos, trailers, screenshots and news about the latest Batman game for a while now and soon, we’ll be able to play it. Arkham Knight includes the refined, and now much aped, combat and stealth system of the series while also introducing vehicular gameplay. This time around Batman must face off against Scarecrow and a mysterious villain who calls himself the Arkham Knight.
Quantum Break (Xbox One)
Expected Date: Q2 2015
Finnish developers Remedy have had an affair going on with Microsoft for a while now and that explains why their sci-fi shooter, Quantum Break, will be exclusively launched for the Xbox One in the second half of the year. Looking at the trend though, you can be assured that the game will come to the PC as well.
Dead Island 2 (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
Expected Date: Q2 2015
The second game from Deep Silver in this list is also a Zombie shooter but one with slightly different pedigree. Dead Island 2 takes place in sunny California amidst a Zombie outbreak and features crafting, melee and gun combat and an open-world.
Star Wars: Battlefront (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Expected Date: December 2015
The original Star Wars: Battlefront was much loved for marrying Battlefield style large scale action gameplay with characters and mythology from the Star Wars universe. The 2015 reboot is being helmed by DICE and should include both an exhaustive multiplayer suite and a single player campaign.
Rise of the Tomb Raider (Xbox One, Xbox 360)
Expected Date: Dec 2015
A game that generated unnecessary controversy thanks to its developers’ stupid Xbox timed exclusivity deal, Rise of the Tomb Raider will chronicle Lara Croft’s continued maturity and evolution as the Tomb Raider. Expect this game on PC and other consoles either in December or early 2016.
Torment: Tides of Numenera (Windows, OS X, Linux)
Expected Date: Q4 2015
An isometric 2.5D RPG, Torment: Tides of Numenera is the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment, the classic RPG. The Kickstarter funded game is set in the distant future where wars have reduced Earth to a medieval state and you play a character caught in a struggle between two epic beings.
Tom Clancy’s The Division (PC, Xbox One, PS4)
Expected Date: TBA
Gameplay videos of the Division have been around for a while but we’re still not sure what kind of a game it is. All we know is that it’s hyper-ambitious and includes elements from multiplayer shooters, single player third-person action games and RPGs, and can also be played using tablets. We just hope that it’s not as disappointing as Watch Dogs or The Crew.
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (PC, PS4, PS3, Xbox One, Xbox 360)
Expected Date: TBA
PC gamers got an unexpected gift in 2014 when MGS V: Ground Zeroes became the first MGS game to come out for Windows in a long, long time. That joy will continue in 2015 when MGS V: The Phantom Pain will bring Solid Snake to the PC again as he sets off on a quest for vengeance in war torn Afghanistan in the 1980s.
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End (PS4)
Expected Date: TBA
Uncharted 4 has been claimed as Nathan Drake’s final adventure but that will only hold true until the eventual reboot in a couple of years. Like previous Uncharted games, this one is a story based action adventure game that follows Drake as he sets out to uncover an ancient treasure and conspiracy. The gameplay videos we’ve seen so far point towards a true next-gen title.
Heroes of the Storm (Windows, OS X)
Expected date: TBA (currently in Closed Beta)
It’s surprising that Blizzard took so long to get into the MOBA race, considering that the genre originated thanks to a mod of one its games. We’re, of course, talking about the Defense of the Ancients (DOTA) mod of Warcraft III. Heroes of the Storm is a 5v5 MOBA game that stars heroes and villains from Blizzard’s most popular games including Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo.
Homefront: The Revolution (Windows, OS X, Linux, PS4, Xbox One)
Expected Date: TBA
The original Homefront was a mundane, rote first person shooter that had an interesting premise: what would happen if North Korea invaded and conquered the modern United States? This sequel puts you in the shoes of a freedom fighter and is an open-world shooter with RPG elements unlike the stiflingly linear original game. While Homefront: The Revolution has shifted more studios than ideal (from Kaos to Crytek UK and now, Deep Silver), it is expected to see the light of day this year.
Soma (Windows, OS X, Linux, PS4)
Expected Date: TBA
Frictional Games, the studio behind the horror masterpiece, Amnesia: The Dark Descent, will be releasing Soma this year. In true fashion, Soma is a sci-fi survival horror game that will focus more on stealth and exploration than all-out combat.
The Legend of Zelda (Wii U)
Expected Date: TBA
Nintendo can always counted on to sway mainstream gaming away from the prevailing grimdark, serious aesthetics. That’s what the Japanese company did by revealing the new Legend of Zelda game that boasts of charming, colourful, high-fidelity graphics and an open-world structure. Expect it in 2015.
The Witness (PC, iOS, PS4)
Expected Date: TBA
Superstar indie developer Jonathan Blow (Braid) will finally release The Witness this year. The game is a first-person game similar to Myst, in which the protagonist must explore a mysterious island while solving puzzles.
Just Cause 3 (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Expected Date: TBA
2015 will see more of the mayhem, insane physics and destruction on a gorgeously rendered island thanks to Just Cause 3. Just Cause 3 will see Rico Rodriguez take on the dictator of a fictional Mediterranean island with the help of his trusty grappling hook and parachute.
Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege (PC, PS4, Xbox One)
Expected Date: TBA
After a couple of years of absence, Rainbow Six is scheduled to breach and clear 2015. Siege is a team-based tactical shooter with a heavy multiplayer focus and destructible environments.
Minecraft: Story Mode (PC & other platforms)
Expected Date: TBA
It has started to feel like Telltale has a monopoly on story driven takes on existing franchises, so it’s only fair that it culminates in Minecraft: Story Mode, a single player story driven adventure based on a game with no story to speak of.
Halo 5: Guardians (Xbox One)
Expected Date: TBA
After a gap of more than two years, we’ll finally see a new Halo game this year. Developed by Microsoft’s own 343 Industries, Halo 5 will see a new Spartan warrior investigate the disappearance of Master Chief while in the backdrop, a new alien invasion takes shape.
Street Fighter V (PC, PS4)
Expected Date: TBA
We know very little of the next installment in the long running fighting game franchise. What we do know is that it will let PC gamers duke it out against those playing on the PS4 and it will feature 3D environments just like in Street Fighter IV. Also, the game will be powered by Unreal Engine 4.