3. Project Eternity
One of the most exciting, yet less focused on, stories of 2014 is the return of the Computer Role Playing Game (CRPG) into the public consciousness. This style of RPG, once so mighty in the 90's and early 2000's, fell by the wayside as gaming exploded into the mainstream and markets became saturated with similar, more commercially viable styles of games. Thankfully, the advent of Kickstarter has given developers around the world the chance to resuscitate genres of games that we haven't seen much of over the years, and the CRPG looks to be one of the prime beneficiaries of this renaissance. The tentatively-titled Project Eternity, a new crowd-funded project under development by Obsidian Entertainment, looks to be one of the major players in this movement, and so far, is well on track to success. Project Eternity is a return to the classic, isometric fantasy CRPG's made famous by developers such as Bioware and Black Isle Studios. In the tradition of genre greats such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Neverwinter Nights, Project Eternity was able to secure some of the fantastic talent involved with these titles to help make the game a reality. With pedigree such as Chris Avelone, Tim Cain and Josh Sawyer working on Project Eternity, gamers can rest assured that the team at Obsidian is a passionate one that has a lot of love for this style of game. Apparently, it isn't only the development team that is passionate about it: Project Obsidian quickly surpassed it's fundraising goal of 1.1 million USD to become the highest-funded video game on Kickstarter at the time its campaign ended. It currently sits at nearly 4 million USD in crowd-funded contributions. As for the game itself, it appears to be shaping up to be a worthy successor to the classics. The game will feature party-based, tactical combat set in a rich fantasy world with deep lore. The game is being made using the Unity3D engine toolset, which is quickly becoming a favorite of developers due to its flexibility and ease of use. While primarily used to make mobile and web browser games, the team at Obsidian has worked some wonders with the engine (see the video above) and the game is looking to be a visual treat despite being targeted to run on a wide range of hardware, including older computers. Project Eternity is an exciting prospect for PC gamers in 2014. Whether it will mark a dramatic comeback for the CRPG remains to be seen, but if anyone can do it, it's this team. Also worth mentioning is that hot on the heels of Project Eternity, a second project, Torment: Tides of Numenera, which is a spiritual successor to the classic CRPG Planescape: Torment and also featuring many veterans of the genre on its development team, was successfully funded by Kickstarter. Not only did it reach its funding goals, but it surpassed Project Eternity to become the highest-funded video game on Kickstarter. Originally scheduled for a 2014 release, Torment will follow Project Eternity in 2015, and is yet another indicator that this once-prevalent style of game could very well be returning for the hearts and minds of RPG lovers worldwide.