Games

Batman: Arkham Knight

Release date: 2015

Rocksteady is taking back the helm Batman: Arkham Knight, and we couldn’t be happier. We’ve only heard a few things about the next Batman game, but already we’re hungry for more. E3 can’t come soon enough.

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First, the “Arkham Knight” in the title represents a brand new, completely original villain making his debut, which leads us to wonder just who that person may be. Second, the Batmobile makes its triumphant debut to the series, able to track Batman wherever he is and position itself so he can jump in and go. Finally, the Scarecrow gets his turn as the main villain, hopefully bringing back some of those excellent hallucination scenes from Arkham Asylum. We can’t wait for more Batman, and we hope we don’t have to wait very long.

call of duty : advanced warfare

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Release date: November 4, 2014

When Activision mentioned that they started a new three-year development cycle for its juggernaut Call of Duty franchise, we had one major thought: eventually we're going to get a Call of Duty game made by a brand new development studio, and that could be a blessing in disguise. Advanced Warfare is that game, and Sledgehammer Games is that studio, and so far we think things are coming along nicely.

We like the futuristic motif of this new Call of Duty game. We like that we'll get to see some really high-tech stuff, some of which actually exists today. Hell, we like that Kevin Spacey was tapped to be the main antagonist. Anyone whose watched House of Cards knows exactly why that was a brilliant move. We'll see more in the coming weeks, but right now Advanced Warfare could be a big step in a new direction for Call of Duty.

Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor

Release date: October 7, 2014

How many times have you gone to a family reunion or some other function, only to run into your dear Aunt Gertie who shrieks “I haven’t seen you since you were thiiiis big” as she raises a flat hand just below her knee? Imagine that scenario, but instead of “it’s been so long, you look amazing” the sentiment is “you left me for dead after our duel, and now I want revenge!” That’s the Nemesis System of Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor in a nutshell.

We’ve never traveled to Middle-Earth like we will in Shadow of Mordor. As Talion, a ranger who is imbued with Wraith-like abilities after being killed and resurrected, we will traverse the vast open world of Lord of the Rings, completing side quests and building our abilities as both a ranger and a Wraith. While it doesn’t fall into any of the LotR stories, Shadow of Mordor may be the Lord of the Rings game we’ve been waiting for.

Alien: Isolation

Release date: October 7, 2014

After the disaster that was Aliens: Colonial Marines, in the eyes of the gaming community the series needs to redeem itself in the worst way. Sega is letting The Creative Assembly take a shot with Alien: Isolation, a game that leans more on atmospheric horror than guns-blazing action. We absolutely agree with this direction, and we’re starting to get a good feeling about the franchise again.

It seems like this Alien game this will be a survival horror jaunt with a big bad Xenomorph hot on the trail. We'll be playing as Ellen Ripley's daughter Amanda, and the game is set between the original Alien movie and its successor Aliens, so we wonder if any cool reference to those two films will pop up. Maybe we'll even run into Sigourney Weaver herself; that'd be an interesting twist. At this point, any good surprise is welcome, because if Alien: Isolation can’t bring some shine back to the Alien name, we don’t know what will.

Ultra Street Fighter IV

Ultra Street Fighter IV

Release date: August 2014

Five full years after the original Street Fighter IV first launched, Ultra Street Fighter IV will bring us the definitive version of Capcom’s iconic brawler. Five new characters, including one whose identity we still don’t know, join the already immense roster, and the amount of tweaks being made to the formula are simply astounding. This is NOT the same Street Fighter we’ve been playing.

Fighting game fans are frothing at the mouth to get their hands on this new Street Fighter experience, as they’ll once again dive into every nook and cranny of the game trying to find the best strategies to overcome their opponents. We’re going to go the safe route by choosing a character and mashing on the buttons at random. We may lose the battle on-screen, but we keep our dignity off of it.