The end of the year is always a little bit funny in the world of video games. We come to the end of the mad rush of game releases before Christmas, cross our fingers to receive something to play as a gift, and charge up controllers and headphones to prep for some big gaming sessions (hopefully). For the games press, we’re also caught in a strange limbo, looking back on the year that was with everyone handing out Game of the Year awards, but also looking ahead to the big exciting things coming out in the future.
As always, we’ve compiled a list of our most anticipated games of the coming year. Featuring a wide range of genres, themes, and styles, there’s a bit of everything here as we run through 50 titles slated for release next year.
With such a diverse span of personal tastes among the team, expect there to be plenty of different genres and styles of game, and we’re sure that some more unusual games have managed to sneak into the top 50 ahead of more mainstream options. So, let’s kick off our most wanted games of 2024!
50 – Visions of Mana
PS5, XSX|S, PS4, PC – 2024
Considering how enduring and popular Secret of Mana has remained since its SNES release thirty years ago, it’s surprising that Square Enix hasn’t made more of the action RPG series. Sure, there was Dawn of Mana on PS2, and a good few spin-offs, but aside from the Secret of Mana and Trials of Mana remakes in 2018 and 2020, fans have been underserved.
Visions of Mana will hopefully set that right. Able to embrace full 3D graphics and gaming (and looking rather pretty as it does so), you’ll be heading on a new adventure as Val, the soul guard assigned to protect his childhood friend, who’s been chosen to head to the Tree of Mana to restore the mana flow. I’m sure it won’t be quite as easy as that sounds.
49 – Still Wakes the Deep
PS5, XSX|S, PC – First half 2024
The Chinese Room has got a big year ahead of it with not one, but two ambitious games set to be released. Still Wakes the Deep leans into the studio’s narrative and horror roots, taking place on the Beira D oil rig as it’s being torn apart by an otherworldly horror that has been unwittingly released in the unending quest for oil.
Set in 1975 and off the coast of Scotland, one of the things I absolutely love is how thick and coarse the regional accents are and all of the smaller touches that help really place you in the time period.
48 – Star Wars: Dark Forces Remaster
PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, NSW, PC – 28th February 2024
Star Wars: Dark Forces is one of the highlights of Star Wars’ proud tradition of video games. Following in the footsteps of Doom and Marathon, it was a first person shooter that put a blaster in your hands and sent you off on missions to foil the Empire’s latest dastardly plots – namely the rising threat of Dark Troopers.
Playing it on Mac back in the day, I don’t think I ever got past the second mission, but now I’ll get another chance thanks to a remaster by Nightdive Studios, who’ve made a habit out of reviving 90s FPS classics. It will keep a hold of the original art style and graphics, but update it with support for 4K resolutions, widescreens and 60fps.
47 – Homeworld 3
PC – 8th March 2024
The original Homeworld games were cool as heck. The RTS through the 90s was dominated by the likes of WarCraft, Command & Conquer and Age of Empires, but few were taking full advantage of what early 3D graphics could really offer to the genre. That was until Homeworld blasted us off into outer space and a desperate journey to find the Hiigaran home planet against great adversity.
As the franchise passed into the hands of Gearbox, Blackbird Interactive (founded by former Relic members) lobbied to get to make new games in the series. Homeworld 3 is the result of this, and while they might not be pioneering 3D graphics and combat in the full freedom of space anymore, there’s an exciting expansion of ideas to include megastructures to add a kind of terrain and more strategic options to battles. Add a replayable co-op mode, and this is one for RTS fans to watch out for.
See our hands on preview of Homeworld 3 for more.
46 – The Outlast Trials
PS5, XSX|S, PS4, XBO, PC – 5th March 2024
Where the first Outlast game was at the forefront of the mid-2010s horror game revival, giving you little more than a camcorder as you explore seriously creepy insane asylum, The Outlast Trials takes a very different tack. Sure, it’s still a first person survival horror, but there’s now a real emphasis on four-player co-op multiplayer and completing tasks in a strange set of Cold War experiments.
The game is already a big hit with on PC, with the early access release and co-op shenanigans playing well for groups of online streamers. With the full release in March, Red Barrels will be filling out the game with more content, and inviting console players into the mix with full cross-play.
That’s all for this set of five games coming in 2024, but there’s another fresh batch coming out the oven tomorrow. We’ll see you then!
