Expectations for Batman: Arkham Knight were already high before the game was delayed to June 2, 2015. Now, expectations are even higher. With all this extra time, we’re hoping for the most polished, visceral, and grand Batman experience ever. Batman: Arkham Knight looks set to meet these expectations thanks to a large amount of secrecy surrounding the game. Despite being a high profile game, Rocksteady has been very careful about how much information we get out of each trailer and press release. The story, Gotham City, the Arkham Knight and Scarecrow’s plans remain wrapped in secrecy, and it will be unwrapping those secrets that’s going to make Batman: Arkham Knight hard to put down.
A good crop of the games on here started out as Nintendo exclusives to the 3DS, or Wii U. How Nintendo rounded up a bunch of ambitious Western themed games I’ll never know, but this one is a dud. A cowboy armadillo that rolls around fighting rock monsters while trying to protect a town is all good on paper, but the execution leaves something to be desired. I’ve never really been a fan of Tower Defense games, but I always give them a fair shake anyway. This game would be good despite that genre, but controlling Dillon with the stylist is frustrating, to say the least. Again I love the idea, and it looks and sounds good on the 3DS, but overall it’s just not fun to p
Nintendo and Bandai Namco shook the world of Pokemon in 2014 with the announcement of Pokken Tournament, a brand new fighting game. Obviously there was a lot of excitement over this cross-over, until we found out that it was going to be Japan-only. Even worse, it would only be released in arcades. We’re hoping that Nintendo and Bandai Namco announce this game for the Wii U, and that will launch in North America and Europe.
This seems nearly impossible seeing as we’re almost at the 10-year anniversary of the game’s announcement, but I feel fairly positive Final Fantasy XV might at least launch in Japan by the time 2015 ends. The fact that we’re getting a gameplay demo in 2015, the large amount of gameplay trailers released in 2014, and the fact that the English voice-overs are already done is enough evidence to suggest we’ll be playing Final Fantasy XV sooner than later.
2014 got a pass because not a lot of original content for PS4 and Xbox One was being released until the final quarter of the year. 2015 is different, because now we’re starting to see development for these new platforms ramp up. There’s no need to see teams waste their time to bring games only a few years old to these new consoles. Already we have DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, Devil Mary Cry 4: Special Edition, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, and Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster among others. Now there are some exceptions for games that were only released on one platform (Resident Evil Remake HD), or games you can’t get anymore because they’re so old (Grim Fandago: Remastered). Other than these few exceptions, enough is enough!
In the years since its release, The Searchers has long been held up as one of the greatest Westerns of all time for a variety of aspects, from its beautiful cinematography that captured the American West in all its grandeur and one of the best performances that John Wayne has ever brought to his long stable of Western films. However, what really sets The Searchers apart is the fact that the film brought a sense of maturity and darkness to Western films at the height of their popularity.
Dice is bringing their FPS expertise to Star Wars: Battlefront Holiday 2015. We can’t wait for them to use their knowledge harnessed over many Battlefield games to create the ultimate Battlefront experience. You know which Battlefield game Dice shouldn’t model Battlefront after? Battlefield 4. Undoubtedly the worst launch of 2013, Battlefield 4 was a huge mess with numerous bugs, glitches, feybreak Island skills and netcode issues. Nobody wants to open a brand new multiplayer game at launch and find out its unplayable. That’s what happened with Battlefield 4 and a whole bunch of games in 2014. In fact, let’s make 2015 the opposite of 2014 and have every game work properly at launch, please!
Before diving fully into my gripes with something that only has just shy over a minute of game footage that’s been shown, let me explain what made the other two games so special. Both, Red Dead Revolver/Redemption were games that touched on a part of American mythos in the best of ways. Even other cultural mythos play into what makes these games so great, with many different backgrounds showcased. Each game is a unique tail of one man’s quest deeply personal to them. Not only exploring the characters presented fully, but also putting forth some of the best storytelling for video games of such a genre at each respective time. Each felt like a true American western tale.
Rockstar has such a great opportunity to deliver a tale that is bathed in more of a classic period piece than a ritzy Hollywood do over. If the game looks anything like what the teaser presented, they just might deliver that game. It seemed calm yet brooding. It seemed slower, while being thoughtful. The posse of men on horseback seen in the trailer is fitting for the time. It was stupid to travel alone through the wilderness of America, and cowboys relied on each other for not only companionship, but the journey ahead. My mind keeps wandering to The Magnificent Seven though and I can’t shake that this is what might be showcased. A band of cowboy bandits causing all sorts of mayhem in a sort of Magnificent Seven bizarro world. The previous two games were great because the stories encountered seemed real; the characters seemed like real people dealing with personal qualms that had nothing to do with me. It’s the reason I loved the Witcher 3, the world didn’t care about the player, but if I could stop and help, I’d go for it. Otherwise, time to hit the dusty trail.