It’s a new year, and that means new games. But which games? These games. Also, the other games that didn’t make NAG’s list, but you can totally get hyped about anyway if that’s your thing.
CYBERPUNK 2077
PLATFORMS: PC/Xbox One/PS4
LAUNCH DATE: 16 April
Probably one of the most hyped games of the entire millennium, CD Projekt Red’s hack-’em-up RPG based on Mike Pondsmith’s original paperware game is now expected to launch in 2020 – assuming it isn’t delayed (again). The game has been in development since forever now, and promises a “mature experience intended for mature audiences“, including ultra-violence, sex, and drugs. And maybe Lady Gaga.
As protagonist V, you’ll be dropped into the sleazy, corporate-controlled neon metropolis of Night City to accomplish your dreams of political subversion, murdering or not murdering citizens, and banging robots. Or don’t accomplish them, because ambition is a delusion of the capitalist apparatus and the system can suck it.
HALO INFINITE
PLATFORMS: PC/Xbox One/Xbox One Series X
LAUNCH DATE: TBC
Master Chief is baaaaack. Promising “new and unexpected directions“, Halo Infinite debuts new and unexpected directions for the franchise.
…
We don’t know much else about it. Besides the new and unexpected directions, obviously, which are new and unexpected.
THE LAST OF US: PART II
PLATFORM: PS4
LAUNCH DATE: 29 May
The sequel to Naughty Dog’s 2013 megahit post-apocalyptic fungal drama promises love, hate, and vengeance, and a timely reminder that antivaxxers are the worst.
It’s been about five years since the events of the first game, and having, uh, politely declined the Fireflies’ surgical intervention in Salt Lake City, Ellie has now in Jackson County, Wyoming. But things go wrong. Because if things didn’t go wrong, we wouldn’t even have a sequel. That’s, like, Narrative Design 101.
Plot info is a secret for the moment, but we do know that the game features a creepy cult. A new creepy cult, I mean. What is it about the post-apocalypse and creepy cults?
GHOST OF TSUSHIMA
PLATFORM: PS4
LAUNCH DATE: TBC
Sucker Punch Production’s PS4-exclusive introduces protagonist Jin Sakai, Last Samurai and Katana Kouture Expo ’74 contender, who must protect his sacred rice balls from the Mongol gaijin using smoke bombs, a grappling hook, and his studies of traditional anime techniques.
ORI AND THE WILL OF THE WISPS
PLATFORMS: PC/Xbox One
LAUNCH DATE: 11 February
Moon Studios’ sequel to the 2015 dreamy-hard metroidvania Ori and the Blind Forest is one for masochists who also love adorable rabbit things and hate owls. It’s a niche market.
HALF-LIFE: ALYX
PLATFORM: PC
LAUNCH DATE: TBC (March)
It’s not Half-Life 3, perhaps, but it’s Half-Life with VR and that counts. A prequel set in City 17 between the events of the first two games, Half-Life: Alyx examines our protagonist and her dad Eli’s opposition to the Combine occupation of Earth, and includes franchise principles like physics-based puzzle solving and gravity manipulation.
Valve has no plans to launch a non-VR version of the game, however, so most of us miss out.
WASTELAND 3
PLATFORMS: PC/Xbox One/PS4
LAUNCH DATE: 19 May
Jumping out of the frying pan and into the fridge, inXile’s sequel relocates its post-apocalyptic RPG series from Arizona and Texas to the frozen… wasteland of Colorado. Which, unlike the desert, has vehicles and co-op. Must be a geographic thing.
You’re a only surviving member of Ranger squad Team November, and your mission, I guess, is to keep surviving. Conveniently enough in Wasteland 3, however, you can use saves to help you with that. Didn’t survive? Reload a save! Tune in next time for more post-apocalyptic RPG pro-tips.
WATCH DOGS LEGION
PLATFORMS: PC/Xbox One/PS4/Stadia
LAUNCH DATE: TBC
Much like Wasteland 3, Ubisoft Toronto’s next Watch Dogs game makes a transition from Chicago and San Francisco to a dystopian London, now controlled by an authoritarian government via its ctOS surveillance system. As the admin AI of anarcho-hacker org DedSec, players can employ multiple recruited characters to complete missions, liberate the city, and customise their fashionable ensembles. Mostly customise those fashionable ensembles, though.
BEYOND A STEEL SKY
PLATFORMS: PC/iOS/TBC
LAUNCH DATE: TBC
Revolution’s unexpected sequel to its cyberpunk cult-classic 1994 Beneath a Steel Sky introduces new, super futuristic 3D visuals and a cel-shaded, comic book aesthetic designed by Watchmen artist Dave Gibbons, and re-introduces original protagonist Robert Foster.
DOOM ETERNAL
PLATFORMS: PC/Xbox One/PS4
LAUNCH DATE: 20 March
The 2016 Doom reboot introduced a new generation of gamers to the very real logistical problems of establishing a viable colony on Mars, a prospect that previous generations of gamers would immediately recognise as a bad investment. It’s the rules.
With the Union Aerospace Corporation’s facility closed for business and future opportunities for the demonic forces of Hell now necessarily limited on the Red Planet, Earth becomes the next big thing for pandemonium’s expansion plans – and it’s up to you, Doom Slayer, to save the world. What? If you didn’t want the job, you shouldn’t have applied for that “Doom Slayer” position. It’s not exactly ambiguous. Maybe go with “Doom Admin Assistant” or “Doom Data Analyst” or “Doom Social Media Strategist” next time instead.
SENUA’S SAGA: HELLBLADE II
PLATFORMS: PC/Xbox One/Xbox One Series X
LAUNCH DATE: TBC
Although it’s not actually confirmed for launch in 2020, I’m including Ninja Theory’s sequel in this list because I’m super-mega-ultra hyped about it anyway. The first game was one of the most unconventional, compelling, and innovative games of this gen, featuring some extraordinary visuals and audio design, and a bleak exposition of mental illness that subverts the “power fantasy” tropes of its genre.
BONUS: DEATH TRASH
PLATFORM: PC/TBC
LAUNCH DATE: TBC
This indie post-apocalyptic RPG mixes cyberpunk, cosmic horror, and puke with a retro-pixel aesthetic for maximum nostalgia. I dunno about you guys, but this is my kind of content. It’s launching in Steam Early Access “soon”, and subsequently on Xbox One, PS4, and Switch.