Continuing on from our list of the best games we have played so far this year, it’s time to look towards the remaining months of 2017 to see what’s coming up that’s whetting our appetite for a little more controller jiggling.
Like the last list, we are looking at some and not all of the games coming out in the few months between now and Christmas that we have singled out as must-plays for almost everyone.
Call of Duty: WWII
Developer: Sledgehammer Games
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: 3rd November
An obvious entry? Perhaps. A divisive one? Definitely.
Sledgehammer Games, the developer behind 2014’s Advanced Warfare, returns to the yearly franchise this November and promises to take us back to what made Call of Duty such a powerhouse back in its heyday. Any advert you see for the latest in the multi-billion dollar franchise will tell you that it’s all about “boots on the ground”.
This means dialling back the jetpacks, the lasers and the high tech perks, and going back to the days of the solidly built story campaign and world class multiplayer that anyone can get a kick out of. Something we’ll have to wait and see if it’s true; but if it is, if they draw me in with tight online battles and tense single player stories, I’m all in.
How about a little bonus for you? Something to sweeten the deal? The online co-op zombie mode that has become a staple of the franchise seems to be taking a serious horror themed left turn into completely terrifying. Perfect.
DOOM: VFR
Developer: id Software
Platform: HTC Vive, PS VR
Release Date: TBD 2017
The first virtual reality title on either list is the one that could suddenly turn that silly looking headset you’ve been trying to justify buying into an essential purchase.
Announced at publisher Betheda’s annual E3 press conference back in June (and promised a 2017 release), DOOM VFR is exactly what is says on the tin. A virtual reality, 360 degree, up close, personal and blood soaked hyper violent experience that won’t be for the faint of heart. If last year’s multi-award winning bloodbath is any indication, not only are we looking at possibly a second year in a row with a DOOM game in the charts, but we are in for an experience that will quite possibly make your head spin clean off.
Of course, a VR headset is an expensive barrier for entry if you don’t already have one, but if any game was going to make it worth spending the hard earned cash on a funny looking helmet, this modern classic is it.
South Park: The Fractured But Whole
Developer: Ubisoft San Francisco
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: 17th October
With the only news about The Fractured But Whole hitting your favourite game sites seemingly being delay after delay after delay, your average gamer would be forgiven for thinking that we may never get to play the sequel to 2014’s The Stick of Truth.
A breath of fresh air when it comes to games (or anything, really) based on something else. You didn’t need to be a fan of South Park to enjoy, or even love, the first. Those with a fondness for crude humour found themselves right at home within minutes as the town’s voiceless new kid. When I was given the opportunity to name our protagonist, I proceeded to spend a good ten minutes agonising over what to call him (before settling on something that I can’t even remember now, although I’m sure it was witty and brilliant) only then to have the game take it all away from you and decide your name would be Douchebag!
That’s the kind of humour we’re looking at here. And with a fresh new engine, a revitalised and updated battle system, and a metric ton of new insults, we will finally get our hands on this hotly anticipated sequel a little over a year after it was originally due to come out.
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus
Developer: Machine Games
Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: 27th October
With a not-so-subtle hint that the game was in development at E3 2016, the world went a little bit crazy at the thought of yet more of the recently rebooted Wolfenstein series. Fast paced and visceral action was the order of the day for the spectacularly fun The New Order and its prequel expansion The Old Blood, and we lapped it up. Like the DOOM reboot that followed it, publisher Bethesda knows how to keep their audience salivating.
Jump forward a year or two and here we are. A sequel is almost here and the trailers that landed back in June promise nothing but good things.
The escapades of B.J Blazkowicz and his merry band of rebels fighting Nazis have been keeping gamers’ bloodlust confined to computers and consoles for more than thirty years. Keeping us riveted in an alternate universe where Hitler’s Germany is the most technologically advanced country in the war, it uses that might to carve a trail of destruction across Europe which has been a pleasure and a privilege to play. We should all be thanking our lucky stars that the saga continues this year.
Assassin’s Creed: Origins
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Platform: Playstation 4, Xbox One, PC
Release Date: 27th October
Talking of sagas. Competing with Wolfenstein for shelf space on release day is the latest in the Assassin’s Creed series. Ten games in (at least on mainstream consoles), a year off from the release cycle, and using an engine that’s been in action with Ubisoft’s developers since 2014; there is a massive amount of assumed greatness for this one. Love it or hate it, AC has become as much a staple in the run up to Christmas release window as Call of Duty has; and there are almost as many people willing to buy it every year.
This time around, the director behind Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag (arguably the best of the franchise to date) has taken control of the series and moved it to Ancient Egypt. Rumours are circulating that it will mark the start of a trilogy covering the greatest of the world’s empires.
Having almost all of the juicy details leaked by over enthusiastic bloggers and people putting out t-shirts in gamester with the main character all over it, Ubisoft’s official announcement had little to offer and showed even less. Hardly a frame of gameplay was shown and people hoping for more to prove the game worth of a purchase were left wanting. But that’s hardly stopped us before, has it?
Overall, the tail end of 2017 is looking jam packed with good stuff and we are only just scratching the surface.
Have we missed your favourite? Your most anticipated? Let us know in comments or on social media!