There’s no one game in the near future that’s a dead cert
for me to buy, but the three in the title are definitely interesting enough to
consider.
Dishonored (sadly missing a U due to pesky colonial
misspelling) is made by Bethesda, which is a good start, and is to be released
at some point this year for the PS3, Xbox360 and PC. It’s being compared to
BioShock and Deus Ex: Human Revolution and although I own neither of those
titles I have heard good things about them.
The game takes place in Dunwall: a city which sounds like a
mixture of Victorian-era London and
steampunk. The playable character is named Corvo, and has a wide range of
abilities (including some pretty cool-sounding magic moves) for killing people.
Corvo was imprisoned (falsely) for killing the Empress, whom he was sworn to
protect. Whilst in his cell a mysterious stranger gave him magical powers.
The game isn’t open world, but there is scope for exploring
it during the assassination missions. Corvo’s a flexible, versatile fellow who
can be all stealthy and subtle or just a hard as nails warrior.
The proof of the pudding will be in the eating, but I’m
liking the sound of the little touches that are being developed (things like
sound travelling differently through doors that are locked and the ability to
teleport over short distances).
Game of Thrones is a bestselling book, a bloody good TV
series and will soon be a videogame too. It comes out on 1 June, also for the
three main platforms, and has a lot to live up to. The story (which has been
officially made part of the canon by George RR Martin) follows two chaps, Mors
and Alester, each of whom takes the starring role in alternating chapters.
It’ll feature some of the vocal talents from the TV series,
which should be good. The game’s reckoned to last 30 hours or more, and as
characters gain new abilities the perks are counter-balanced by weaknesses.
There’s to be plenty of combat but also quite a lot of social interaction. I’ll
be paying attention to the first reviews of the game to see how well it’s
received.
Last but hopefully not least, the rather more distant
prospect of Dragon Age 3. Origins was very well-received, and I loved it, but
DA2, whilst having some good aspects (notably the Qunari) did suffer from being
blatantly rushed.
The game may well be set in Orlais, which is the
approximately French counterpart of the more-or-less English country of Ferelden
(where Origins occurred). The party members will have generally pre-determined
appearances but a lot more scope for customised bits and pieces (so they’re
instantly recognisable but aren’t lumbered with one or maybe two outfits, as
happened in DA2).
The general direction of the story hasn’t been explicitly
described but it’d likely follow on directly from the DA2 ending. Unfortunately
the important question of whether or not we get a lady Qunari also hasn’t been
addressed, nor has the matter of whether we’ll get a racial choice at creation.
It’ll also be interesting to see whether they opt for the nice but unoriginal
elven faces of Origins or the innovative and generally ugly faces of DA2.
Thaddeus
No comments:
Post a Comment