Recently, there have been news releases on 3 of the top 10 games I am most looking forward to this year. So I decided to group them together into 1 post. It also doesn’t help that I’ve been spending a lot of time with Neverwinter and Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (reviews will be coming.) But today I’m here to talk about 3 different games: Thief, The Order: 1886, and Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Thief
On February 4th, Square Enix released the Thief 101 trailer which goes more in depth into the storyline, the character that you play, and the open-choice decision making you have in the game. I really enjoyed the trailer, the graphics (of the gameplay) look good, the cinematics look like a next gen title should, and the information was very useful. The trailer tells us the setting of the storyline and how Garrett fits in to the world. I have a feeling that Garrett will turn into a Booker DeWitt type character who is wanted by both the “law” and the “revolution” but admired by the rebels a bit more. The gameplay looks to be first-person open world, similar to Skyrim, though probably not on nearly the same size-scale. It focuses more on tactical stealth and infiltration than exploration. However the trailer does say “nothing is out of bounds and nothing is out of reach” which is exciting to know. I love open world games like this, it causes me so much indecision that I get immersed in the world even more. It looks to be that the shadows are your concealment, which makes sense, but hopefully you aren’t able to sit right next to an enemy in the shadows when they are looking right at you, because that just isn’t realistic at all, people can still see in the dark. One of the biggest things I like about this game is the option for a completely non-lethal game. Using non-lethal equipment you can still complete the game, which I think, will add an additional challenge to the game on at least one run-through. Something that is becoming more common in these types of games in the “Eagle Vision”-like ability (Survival Instincts in Tomb Raider, Wraith Abilities in Shadows of Mordor, and now Focus Ability in Thief) which allows the character to see what normal people can’t. It’s great for playthroughs and I’m sure I’ll use it a ton, but I wonder if a game will be made where it is just a lot of trial and error. “There are always multiple ways to execute the perfect heist” this is the kind of stuff I like in video games. You choose how you want to approach, me I usually like a top-down approach. But other might want to try other routes. This is great! Different playthroughs for different players is exactly what the standard should be for the video game industry. Towards the end of the trailer, a new enemy is previewed under the city and based on what I’ve learned, my educated guess is that they are the survivors of whatever plague/disease has hit the city and their minds have been broken into violent insanity, either by the illness itself, or by experimentation to find a cure. My best guess is that this game is going to play like Tomb Raider’s open world, with set pieces, especially since Crystal Dynamics and Edios Montreal are both part of Square Enix. There is nothing wrong with this, Tomb Raider is a great game, let’s just hope that the first person aspect is functional and fun.
The Order: 1886
The Order: 1886 will be single-player only. *Queue the thunderous applause.* This is a great decision by Read At Dawn, with their first true console game and a brand new IP. Focus on the game and the experience first, if the game is a success and a multiplayer could be implemented in a later title, then so be it. But I’d much rather see the game be developed properly at a single player experience. So far, The Order looks great, and I really hope to see more of the game in the upcoming months. Here’s to hopefully spending a large amount of time in the middle of Victorian London with a nice steampunk theme (I mean really, how can you go wrong with that?)
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Bioware has put out a survey for a playtest session in the Vancouver area (source: Game Informer). Within this survey potential play testers are asked about their thoughts on a multiplayer aspect of the Dragon Age. Well here’s my opinion: No. Absolutely Not. Never. Nada. Nein. I think that’s all I know for the expression of no. Dragon Age is supposed to be this epic, choice-driven fantasy RPG with difficult, dark moments, and well developed characters. It’s designed to be a single player game. Even if the multiplayer was completely separate from the game with no interaction between the two whatsoever, I still wouldn’t want it. It takes away time and resources desperately needed to revamp this potentially great franchise. Don’t fall into EA’s multiplayer trap again Bioware! You got lucky with the Mass Effect multiplayer in that it was well done and enjoyable, but it was still frustrating because of the single player-multiplayer interaction! And it would be even less applicable in the Dragon Age universe. How would multiplayer combat work? What would the situation be? What role would players play? It just doesn’t seem like it could fit without seriously pushing the limits on the Dragon Age lore. Keep Dragon Age its brilliant single-player self and stick to what you do best Bioware, engaging and brilliantly written storylines with an awesome cast of characters.
So, what are your opinions are these upcoming games? Are you looking forward to Thief? Do you want multiplayer in The Order: 1886? (too bad if you do!) Do you think DA:I should have multiplayer? (we aren’t friends if you do) Let me know the in comments!