So after a rather rapid succession over the last five days we’ve broken into the top fifty of our list. Things are going to slow down a bit now, switching to a single article a day covering five games until we reach the top ten next week and move onto one article per game.
However, for today we’ve got five more upcoming games to get excited about. RTS StarCraft makes an appearence, as does Epic’s Fortnite and Media Molecule’s next game. So, lets get to it.
50. Tearaway
Fans of LittleBigPlanet are likely waiting eagerly for Tearaway, the next game from Guildford based Media Molecule. There’ll be no Sackboy here though, with the game instead focusing on a messenger called Iota.
The game looks pretty unique, which is at least partly due to the fact that its graphical styling is based on papercraft. If you’re not familiar with papercraft, it’s a hobby that involves creating models from folded paper and card. There are some fun models out there to make, although I advise against trying to construct them whilst drunk – something I learned from personal experience.
The world of Tearaway is populated by a wide variety of papercraft models, with the world itself also seemingly made from paper. However, paper’s a fragile thing and that’s where the player comes in.
The game’s a Vita exclusive, and Media Molecule have really gone all out on including the device’s various inputs. You can help Iota by poking through the world with the back touchpad, terrifying enemies and making Iota’s job a bit easier. The announcement video also showed blowing into the microphone to generate wind or using the Vita’s camera to create a new skin for an Elk. I know that sounds weird, but it’s really in the video.
If you’re a Vita owner and simply must have Media Molecule’s latest creation you’ll have to be observant, as the only release date we have for the game right now is sometime in 2013.
49. StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm
Heart of the Swarm is part two of the StarCraft II trilogy, this time focussing on the Zerg. The first part, Wings of Liberty, arrived in 2010, and was particularly well received, sitting at 93 on Metacrticic. As for the final part of the tri-race trilogy, Legacy of the Void which will be focussed on the Protoss, we have no idea when that will arrive, although with a little under three years between Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm, fans may well be waiting a while.
Not only will the game continue the story of Wings of Liberty, it will add new units to the game’s multiplayer. However, to balance things out Blizzard will be removing three units and also tweak general units and buildings.
It should be made clear that the game is an extension that will require you to own Wings of Liberty, rather than a stand alone game. Blizzard have indicated that you may be able to get both games at a discount if you missed out on the first though, but they haven’t made any specific offers clear yet.
If you can’t wait to sink your teeth into some fresh RTS action then you’ll need to wait until March 12th.
48. Fortnite
Since Fortnite’s announcement at last year’s VGAs it hasn’t been making a lot of noise, although they did drop a good amount of knowledge at this year’s PAX Prime. If you’ve missed out on the game entirely, it’s a co-op survival game with sandbox elements. It’s often described as a cross between Minecraft and DayZ, although the game’s cartoon aesthetics wouldn’t lead you to believe that initially.
Interestingly the game’s art style hides a mildly surprising secret, it’s going to be the first game to be based on Unreal Engine 4. It may not be the best game to show off graphical improvements to the engine, although its building and crafting elements should provide a platform to show off the physics.
Shifting back from the engine to the game, the focus is on building a shelter to survive a monster led apocalypse. It doesn’t seem to be focussing specifically on your traditional zombie, although they will make an appearance, with a wider range of enemies cropping up.
As for the building elements, whilst your buildings will likely start out small, as you progress you can start building larger and more ridiculous structures. You also have the ability to improve your arsenal via crafting, something that does seem particularly reminiscent of games like Minecraft. The crafting systems in Fortnite don’t look like they’ll be quite as deep, but there still should be enough to keep you occupied.
If you want to get your hands on the game, it’ll be launching as PC beta sometime in the new year.
47. Dragon Age III: Inquisition
BioWare really seem to be putting out Dragon Age titles at an impressive rate, with this being the third game since the series launched in 2009 (fourth if you count 2010’s Awakening expansion to Origins). As you’d expect Inquisition will stick to Thedas, the same world as the first two Dragon Age games. However, BioWare certainly aren’t simply recycling old content, with the game looking like it will feature significantly larger maps.
Coming off the back of the Dragon Age novel Asunder, it looks like the game could be set in a fairly turbulent time. Rumours suggest the game may well take place in the Orlesian Empire, where civil war was breaking out at the end of Asunder. Several nobles have taken up arms against the Empress, whilst at the same time the Order of Magi look to have broken away and become embroiled in their own conflict. If all of this plays out it sounds like there could be a lot to contend with in Inquisition.
Gameplay wise the most interesting points are the fact that the game may be incorporating certain open world elements from games like Skyrim, as well as creating more significant effects for those who import their save files from the first two games in the series. Both of these sound like they could really help to flesh Inquisition out, and push the Dragon Age series as a whole forwards.
If you simply need to return to Thedas, then keep an eye out in Fall 2013.
46. Bayonetta 2
PS3 owners may remember the first Bayonetta ruefully, with the wide variety of problems it featured on the platform. Perhaps it’s fortunate then that the follow up, Bayonetta 2, won’t be coming to PS3 at all, instead being a Wii U exclusive set to launch sometime in 2013. Platinum Games will stay on development, although in a move that would likely shock anyone who remembers the early 90s, it’ll be Nintendo publishing it rather than Sega.
Beyond that we don’t really know all that much yet. We gave the original Bayonetta a 7/10 in our review, feeling like we’d seen a lot of what it had to offer in earlier games, although it scored higher at other outlets. If Platinum can make the sequel feel a bit more distinctive they might be able to pull off a hit.
That’s it for the first five games in our top fifty. We’ll be back tomorrow with games 45 to 41.
Kennykazey
Tearaway is looking oh so good.
KeRaSh
After I heard that Starcraft 2 would be split up in three games, I decided not to buy it until they release a collection with all three games. I still haven’t bought it and will hold off buying HotS until they release LotV.