2015 was a strong year for video games - a much-needed bounce-back after a relatively underwhelming 2014. It was the year of the open-world game permeating across all the big hitters - ranging from the post-apocalyptic RPG in Fallout 4, to the Lovecraftian nightmare of Bloodborne, from the best vision of Arkham City yet in Arkham Knight to quite possibly the greatest RPG of all time in The Witcher 3. But while we keep paying tribute to the games that shaped 2015 and will no doubt continue playing them well into 2016, it's time to start looking forward to what the new year has in store for us. One thing that's certain is that 2016 will be an ambitious year in gaming, with a whole load more new IPs lined up than in 2015, virtual reality preparing to land and possibly change gaming as we know it, as well as anticipated continuations of much-loved existing franchises. Join us in getting hyped for what the new year will have to offer.
12. Far Cry Primal (PC, PS4, XBO)
Is Far Cry's flashback to the stone age an ingenious idea, or a flawed one that's doomed to fail? Based on what we've seen so far, it really is hard to tell. On the one hand, the idea of going back to the dawn of man and trying to survive amongst the mammoths, sabre-toothed cats and rival tribes of the mesolithic era is uncharted territory in games. On the other hand, Primal looks like it could be a reskin of its predecessors, but minus the explosions, guns and para-gliders. The game 'looks' great from the footage we've seen so far, and there has clearly been a lot of attention given to making it reflect the designs, weapons and languages of the time (Ubisoft actually invented their own Eurasian language based on the scant information we have about the period). The focus of Primal seems to be more on survival rather than shooting (which seems restricted to arrows and spears), as you craft weapons and hunt for food to sustain yourself and your people. All this sounds intriguing, and yet looking at the game it looks an awful lot like the same old Far Cry, with very similar animations and outpost-capturing gameplay to previous games in the series. But the question marks are part of what make this game so intriguing, because we'll find out whether this is really a brave new frontier for the series, or a sign that it's run out of ideas...
Gamer, Researcher of strange things.
I'm a writer-editor hybrid whose writings on video games, technology and movies can be found across the internet. I've even ventured into the realm of current affairs on occasion but, unable to face reality, have retreated into expatiating on things on screens instead.
