As misguided as it may be to pick up a console at launch, I am an early adopter of the PS4. I picked up my pre-order that very first night. I stood in line outside a GameStop in some random ass shopping center and drove it home that night. It was my very first launch day console and I have to admit that I was excited. Nothing could bring me down. Not even reports of faulty consoles, the blue light of death, and all the other issues that popped up. My baby was made in Hongfujin Yantai, China in August 2013 and she’s been trucking along just fine ever since.
And yet as excited as I was to get my PS4 I didn’t find myself doing too much gaming on it right away. I downloaded Resogun and Contrast and played around with them and I wound up with six launch titles simply because the ridiculous number of discounts and deals on PS4 games made it impossible not to get a ton of them. Still, I used my PS4 for Netflix more than anything else. I logged plenty of hours into Lego Marvel Heroes and Need For Speed: Rivals but I’ve been waiting for more games I’m actually excited to play to come out.
Outlast coming out for free for PS+ subscribers was a step in the right direction and 2014 only promises to get better. There are about a dozen titles that are either scheduled, confirmed, or ‘supposed’ to launch in 2014 that I am super excited about. Few of them are console exclusives, I admit. But who cares? This first full year of ‘the next gen’ promises to be pretty epic no matter what console you have. But, you know, you should have a PS4.
Just saying.
Anyway, here’s my list of games that you should check out – primarily for the PS4 – as the year progresses.
inFamous: Second Son
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlNfJvFnzc8]
One of the few actual console exclusives on this list, inFamous: Second Son is the game that if you’ve been waiting for a reason to get a PS4 totally validates your choice to get one now. I loved the original two games in the inFamous series but I’ve really been looking forward to Delsin’s story. Granted, I think Delsin is kind of a dumb name but it doesn’t distract at all from the very Dark Angel-esque Seattle setting. While the gameplay looks pretty epic, it’s kind of the story I’m most interested in right now. I’m a sucker for family dramas and I’m looking forward to the scenes exploring Delsin and his cop brother’s relationship. I’m also really looking forward to seeing how the world has changed seven years after inFamous 2. Who doesn’t love a sort of dystopian Big Brother feel in their games? It’ll tide us over until Watch Dogs anyway.
Coming March 21st, 2014.
Child of Light
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuDaxVfe12o]
Ugh, this game is going to be so damn awesome. I’m a sucker for old school side scrolling platformers and old school RPGs so having the two of them come together in one game is really exciting. Something else that’s exciting is just the absolute love with which the team over at Ubisoft has approached Child of Light. It promises to be a great game with a strong female character and so you know I’m down. Retailing for download only (unless you’re in Europe and can get your hands on their exclusive collector’s edition) at just $15 it’s pretty much one of the few must buy console games of this year that won’t break the bank.
Coming April 30, 2014.
Watch Dogs
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcdgbzZe_A]
So, Watch Dogs – which was supposed to be a launch title, c’mon guys – is finally coming out and I know Therese couldn’t be any more excited. Don’t get me wrong. I’m excited, too. When I really got my first look at the game we were tucked away inside the Watch Dogs booth in the gaming section of the SDCC 2013 exhibit hall and man. I was absolutely blown away. (I was also a little unnerved at the idea of being a terrorist just lobbing IEDs around an American city.) I was so disappointed when it was delayed but I’m glad it’s finally coming out and I can’t want to shank Therese in the middle of her game as often as humanly possible.
Coming May 27, 2014.
Murdered: Soul Suspect
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-WIUBNDsVs]
I haven’t heard a whole lot about this game and yet somehow I’m still looking forward to it. I loved Heavy Rain and I love police procedurals and for some reason that’s kind of what I think of when I think of this game. Dead cop using supernatural powers to solve his own murder while on the run from demons who want to eat his soul? (At least that’s how Wikipedia describes it.) Sign me up. It’s like Heavy Rain had a baby with Silent Hill or something. I admit that the game could be a bit cheesy and the title is kind of awful. Of all the games on this list this one probably has the most potential to disappoint but who cares? I’ll probably still love it.
Coming June 3, 2014.
The Evil Within
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMKhoHl9BnE]
Yeah, okay, I’m excited about this game but am I playing it? Hell, no. Therese and I are making it through Outlast two to three hours at a time and it takes us that long to get through sections that would take others probably half an hour to get through. That said, I really do want to watch someone play this game so I’m really looking forward to the play throughs. I’m going to be freakin’ terrified the whole time, I’m sure. Though, to be honest, at least in this game I’d have a weapon so in theory I could make it a little bit further than I do in games where my only option is to run and hide. So who knows? Maybe I will brave this game. (Spoiler: I won’t.)
Coming August 26, 2014.
Destiny
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBNdrJMwrkc]
When Destiny was first revealed I was more or less won over almost instantly. I grew up as a fan of the sort of space opera genre and the only reason I’m even a nerd today is because of Star Wars. Destiny filled me with a sort of awe and wonder that I knew I had to get it as soon as it came out. Unfortunately I still have a while before that happens. Fortunately, this game – unlike most of the others I am looking forward to in the near future – comes out AFTER I take the Texas bar exam in July. I’m not usually a fan of MMOs but with minimal number of other players that will be in your game via match making sounds a lot like how they are going to be handling the Division in a lot of ways. Just with it’s more sci-fi shooter, RPG-esque storyline. I’m so excited for this one.
Coming September 9, 2014.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzuR1Fn_b48]
The first Dragon Age title is probably single handedly responsible for getting me back into the world of console RPGs. I spent most of high school not really enjoying video games that much because all my friends were hardcore JRPG fans who thought all games ought to be Final Fantasy clones and I felt peer pressured to believe the same. Consequently I sort of had a falling out with the genre as a whole. But then Dragon Age came around and taught me that they could be so much more. I actually liked Dragon Age II as well but Dragon Age: Inquisition looks to surpass them both. The footage we’ve seen of this project has been absolutely stunning and I can’t wait to get back into the world of Dragon Age once again.
Coming Q3 2014?
The Crew
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iuSvOYkBx24]
You know, I’ve always had a love hate relationship with racing games. I think they are ridiculously fun and one of my favorite games of all time is still Star Wars: Episode I Racer. The problem is that – with the exception of that Star Wars game on the N64 – I am terrible at them. And I mean terrible. It’s kind of sad, actually. Even the iOS versions of Need for Speed routinely kick my ass. The Crew, though, could give me options. Yeah, I’m terrible at racing games but the Crew doesn’t need me to be good at winning. It could just need me to be good at crashing into other people and things. Generally causing a distraction so the team can win. And that? That I can do. And my online buddies wouldn’t even get pissed off at me because it would be helping them for once. The Crew could be a perfect team game to play with those of us who would otherwise piss you off if you tried to get us to play some COD multiplayer or something.
Coming Q3 2014?
Hohokum
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSZ0cLRJWqk]
Casual games and music games aren’t usually my thing. So putting the two of them together probably shouldn’t be my thing either, right? Except then you show me Hohokum and I’m like, “Okay, I’m listening.” Best Buy keeps showing trailers for it at their Playstation kiosks and I guess I’m just a sucker for smart marketing and adorable games because it’s quickly becoming one of my most anticipated titles of 2014. And to think I was only just recently making fun of Therese for thinking the same.
Coming in 2014?
Dying Light
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2TSCZqcjR0]
Here’s another game I’m super excited about and yet will probably never garner the courage to actually play. Honestly, my goal right now is just to find a boyfriend whose not as much of a chicken shit as me who can play these for me. I don’t care of that perpetuates female gamer stereotypes. I’m too easily scared by these sorts of games. And yet I love watching them. And I love zombies. I could possibly make it through this game, actually, if not for the differences between night and day. The free-running aspect of this game is what really sells it for me. I love running around and making my own path through open world games. So i could probably manage to keep way from some of the scarier things in the daylight. At night, though, when the super freaky and super powerful zombie mutant things show up? Yeah. Nope. NOPE. Not happening.
Coming in 2014?
The Order: 1886
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FK8dgzW0o8]
One of the other, few PS4 exclusives coming this year (theoretically), The Order: 1886 could be the start of a fantastic new IP if it manages to take off. I have to say, this was one of those games that really caught my attention last year. Steampunk monster hunters? Obviously I’m going to play that. I mean, I never really liked the Van Helsing movie which this game reminds me of for obvious reasons but this promises to be a hundred times better. I’m a total sucker for engaging stories, too, and what little we know about the characters and plot already has me totally hooked. Alternate history and ancient orders and possible romance are really all I need to know. I doubt this is going to take off and make or break the PS4 in the way that Uncharted sort of did the PS3 but I have a lot of faith that it’s going to be a great game.
Coming in 2014?
Tom Clancy’s The Division
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njfj6KwEAfg]
Lastly, we have the Division. I linked the video above because while the story intro trailer was awesome it’s really the gameplay trailer that made me obsessed with this game. I literally started a regimen of FPS and third person shooters just so I can play this game and not suck. (Because, not to perpetuate another gamer girl stereotype but… I kind of suck at FPS.) I’ve been intrigued by second screening ever since I first sat in on a Smartglass presentation Microsoft did at Phoenix Comicon last year. The gameplay trailer for the Division, though, was the first time I really saw the potential of it. Drones controlled remotely via my iPad? Multiplayer spanning not just consoles but devices? It’s kind of incredible. Plus with that sort of functionality in the world that we’ve seen so far in the Division? This is easily my most anticipated title of the next gen. (Or current gen – however you want to think of it.) I’m probably going to suck at it but, honestly, I can’t wait.
Coming Q4 2014?
With all these games on my list obviously I’m going to need to find myself either a job or a sugar daddy after graduation. Because there is no way my post-bar exam, pre-employment broke ass self will be able to afford all of them. A girl can dream, though. And I’ll get them all in the end don’t you worry. My video game hoarding knows few parallels.
Any games on this list you’re particularly excited about? Any games you think I should be looking to get for my PS4 this year that I may not have mentioned? Let me know in the comments!
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