Which game(s) are you looking forward to the most?

On the bus this morning, I figured it would be a good idea to create a poll relating to the updated list of games to be released towards the end of the year. For now the list only contains the games that I'm interested in, and the new generation console titles Assassin's Creed: Unity, and Destiny. I'll add any suggestions posted in the comments below. The poll will run up until 6 October,  the day before the earliest release date of a title on the list.

Q3-4 gaming release update. Now with pre-order details!

Since the news of the delay in release of Evolve, announcement of the development of the "old gen." exclusive, Assassin's Creed Rogue, and details emerging regarding various special editions of gaming releases I was already following, here's an updated list of gaming releases I'm looking forward to;

1. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (30 September) - pre-order exclusive: Dark Ranger skin
2. Alien: Isolation (07 October 2014) - Nostromo, and Ripley Editions
3. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (14/ 17 October 2014) - pre-order exclusive: Shock Drop Slaughter Pit challenge map
4. The Evil Within (21 October 2014) - pre-order exclusive: The Fighting Chance Pack
5. Assassin's Creed: Rogue (11 November 2014) - pre-order exclusives: The Ultimate Hunter Pack, and The Siege of Fortde Sable mission, as well as a Collector's Edition
6. Far Cry 4 (18 November 2014) - Limited, Kyrat, and Ultimate Kyrat Editions

I'm already starting to whittle down the list of titles I intend to purchase on, or near the release date. For now these are Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Far Cry 4: Kyrat Edition.* I'm still interested in the other titles, but the pre-order exclusives, or contents of the special editions, at present do not interest me. Now if either the Nostromo or Ripley Editions of Alien Isolation came with a replica Nostromo or Ripley, then I'd be interested. 

The Assassin's Creed: Rogue 'Ultimate Hunter Pack' content does look cool, but will the exclusive black Templar sails really change my gaming experience? I think not, although the additional mission may add an additional few hours of gameplay, so that could make pre-ordering Rogue at least a little more worthwhile than picking it up later. I'll continue to keep an eye on which content the various local retailers will be offering, as I have also seen a 'Commander Pack,' and 'Templar Pack' advertised locally, both of which share items with The Ultimate Hunter Pack. Sadly the Collector's Edition of Rogue does not include a figure of Shay Patrick Cormac, nor does it appear to include any of the item packs, but it does include physical copies of the official soundtrack, an art book, some lithographs, and a fancy box to keep it all in. Oh, and an additional single player mission entitled 'The Armor of Sir Gunn Quest.' I'm not sure these are enough to warrant an additional R300 for the Collector's Edition.

Guess my wallet isn't going to take quite as hard a knock, come October, as I had initially anticipated. Of the four games listed above with October release dates, I'm only actually interested in pre-ordering Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. The others can wait until they receive a price drop, or a 'Game of the Year' edition is announced. This will also mean others will have had time to review these games, allowing me to re-assess if whether I really need them in my collection. This pertains to Alien: Isolation particularly, as even though the information released looks very promising, there is still the abomination that was Aliens: Colonial Marine lurking in the back of many people's memories. 

This leaves only the Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag remake, and Far Cry 4, which I'm not even sure will offer the same experience on older consoles. Perhaps I'll wait until after I've gotten my hands on Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel to decide whether to purchase them, as by then  there should be more than enough fresh information available to help me decide the pros and cons of these releases. 

The physical content of the Kyrat Edition does look pretty sweet though,* and I did have a lot of fun playing Black Flag, so the decision between the two titles will definitely require some thought. Maybe I can use the money I save in October to buy both.

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* I'm a sucker for collector's editions that include replicas of props from within the game, hence these purchases.

Q3-4 2014 gaming releases

There are quite a few games to be released during the second half of this year, that I'm really looking forward to playing. There are so many in fact that I've forgotten which is coming out when, so I decided to put together this list of release dates for the titles I'm most interested in.

1. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition (19 August 2014)
2. Alien: Isolation (07 October 2014)
3. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (07 October 2014)
4. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel (14/ 17 October 2014)
5. Evolve (21 October 2014) (Delayed till February 2015)
6. The Evil Within (21 October 2014)
7. Far Cry 4 (18 November 2014)

My wallet is probably going to take quite a knock in October, although I may pre-order either Alien: Isolation, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, or Evolve a month or two earlier, depending on whether or not there are collector's editions announced. At present Alien: Isolation is the only one of those three titles that does not have some sort of DLC attached to pre-ordering the title.

It will also be interesting to see how the sales of Alien: Isolation/ Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Evolve/ The Evil Within will differ from one another as they are being released on the same dates. Given the number of accolades Evolve received at E3 last month, I don't think sales of The Evil Within will be particularly record breaking, despite the two being games in vastly different genres. Evolve's multiplayer aspect will probably be a much bigger draw card than any of single player campaigns of the other games on this list.

At the moment I'm leaning towards getting Alien: Isolation over Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and Evolve over The Evil Within. This could however change depending how each of these handles on 'old-gen.' consoles, with the exception of Evolve which isn't getting an 'old gen.' release. 

My prediction for how I'll spend the rest of my gaming year is thus;

Today - 19 Aug.: Deadpool, Diablo III, and Rage

20 Aug. - 07 Oct.: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls - Ultimate Evil Edition and Rage

08 Oct. - 17 Oct.: Alien: Isolation

18 Oct. - 21 Oct.: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel

22 Oct. - 18 Nov.: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and Evolve

19 Nov. - 31 Dec.: Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, Evolve, and Far Cry 4

Who am I kidding, there is no way I am going to be able to get this much gaming time before the end of the year. With the exception of Deadpool, any one of these games could keep me busy for the rest of the year after its release. At this stage I'd be content with having just enough time to finish the storyline of Diablo III, and possibly the Reaper of Souls expansion too, before the October releases start pouring in. Fitting a weekend in before the end of the month to do nothing but play Deadpool and eat chimichangas, would be nice too.

--Updated 09 August 2014--

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor - release date, video, and pre-orders

One of the games I'm looking forward to the release of later this year, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor, has been given a release date; 10.7.2104 update. I'm guessing the announced date is in the American format of month first, which means we'll be able to get our hands on the game on 7 October, and not 10 July.

Along with an official release date, pre-orders of the game have also become available, and will include the Dark Ranger character skin, and an additional challenge mode. If that's still not enough Shadow of Mordor news for you, then there is also a new story trailer video, 'Banished from death.'

The video above wasn't nearly as impressive as the gameplay video for the game. The main character's facial animations look to have the same range of expressions as Keanu Reeves on muscle relaxants. Maybe this has something to do with him being dead and all, but if he can swing a sword, I'm sure he could flex a cheek muscle to bare his teeth before swinging said sword into the minions of Mordor. 

I'll still be following the pre-release news on this title though, as it still looks like a game that I'm interested in playing.

More games I'm looking forward too

Perhaps I was too quick to jump to the conclusion that Evolve and Dying Light were the only two titles coming to next gen. consoles that I was anticipating the release of. After reading a few of those "most anticipated game releases for 2014" type articles, I've had to expand the list:

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Alien: Isolation are also quite appealing new titles. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor has an excellent gameplay video, and looks to incorporate stealth elements similar to those seen in the Assassin's Creed franchise. The Nemesis System allows for enemies to remember previous encounters with Talion, the in-game hero, which looks and sounds intriguing. The ability to use wraith-like abilities should add another interesting spin on how mission objectives are completed.

Next up, there's...

This looks like a step in the right direction for games set in Ridley Scott's Alien universe. Opposed to being a first person shooter, like the poorly received Aliens: Colonial Marines, Alien: Isolation has being called a survival horror by developers, and instead of mowing down hordes of xenomorphs with big guns, the gameplay is orientated around sneaking passed a lone invincible alien, which will be hunting the player via sight, sound, and smell. Without weapons to use against the alien antagonist, the gaming experience should be pretty tense, and filled with encounters to make you jump out of your seat.

For me, this looks like the big-budget, console equivalent to Stasis. They may be different genres, but from a visual point of view, they are setting out to recreate very similar environments, and experiences. It will be interesting to see the efforts from both sides.

To get a better idea of the game  here's the trailer. Also worth watching is the 'Origins' video that features several interviews with developers.

Lastly, from the director of Resident Evil comes...

I don't have much to say about The Evil Within except; for maximum effect, watch the trailer on your own, in the dark, with the sound turned up.

Looks pretty awesome right? I still think I'll wait to see what kind of reviews it gets, as well as wait to see how the zombie survival horror, Dying Light does, before deciding which to play first.

So at the moment my list of most anticipated next gen console games for 2014 looks something along the lines of:

5. The Evil Within

4. Dying Light

3. Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

2. Alien: Isolation

1. Evolve

But, wait! With the exception of Evolve, all these titles will be released for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC too, while Evolve will only get a PC version on top of the next gen. console versions. Again the versions of the game for the older consoles might not have the full functionality as those for next gen. consoles, but games games will be released for 'previous gen.' consoles. 

Conclusion: there still isn't a next generation exclusive title attractive enough to make me change to a new console, and upgrading the PC still looks like a much better investment at this stage.