Like many other millions of gaming fans around the world, my kids and I all tuned into The Game Awards 2018 (we watched it streaming live on YouTube) and were marveled by everything we saw on the show. Well, maybe except for Pepe the Prawn and Geoff Keighley fanboying out every other segment. But seeing as how recently I came out as preferring to be a fan rather than a professional, I can accept that in hindsight. Still, I wasn’t watching The Game Awards for the host or the guests on stage (though I do respect Geoff Keighley immensely and do still consider him a professional acquaintance), I was watching the show for the games being honored as well as for the games that would be announced via debut trailers. And the 2018 show didn’t disappoint in this regard. Sixteen new games were announced and debuted trailers at the show and each of these trailers immediately sparked my interest. But there were five trailers in particular that really piqued my interest, and these are the games that I will definitely be following as their release date approaches.
5. Dragon Age: The Dread Wolf Rises
Developed by: BioWare
Published by: Electronic Arts
Platform(s): TBD
Genre(s): Action, Role-Playing
Release date: TBD
Even though I am not the most devout Dragon Age fan, I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t excited when I saw this trailer during the show. Though I now have more questions since seeing the trailer, it doesn’t quash just how much I am looking forward to this game. Hopefully we’ll learn more about this game soon, but given that this trailer was very vague, there are no platforms announced for the game (as of this writing), and there is no announced release date (again, as of this writing), I have a feeling that this game is at least a year or two off.
4. Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 3: The Black Order
Developed by: Team Ninja
Published by: Nintendo
Platform(s): Nintendo Switch
Genre(s): Action, Role-Playing
Release date: 2019
When this game releases next year, it will come a full decade since the last game in the series was released. And as a fan of the series, that has been a long time coming. And the kicker being that the game is being a Nintendo Switch exclusive is pretty huge. Luckily, I have a Switch, so I’ll get to play this game and show my kids why I used to love this series. But being a fan aside, the game is taking advantage that The Avengers film series is on such a high right now with the general populace and will continue the story of Thanos and his devout followers – The Black Order.
3. The Outer Worlds
Developed by: Obsidian Entertainment
Published by: Private Division
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Genre(s): Action, Role-Playing
Release date: 2019
Oh man, after the tragedy that has befallen the Fallout series with Fallout 76, I am certainly looking forward to this new game – especially since it is being directed by Fallout creators Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky. I know a lot of people are already hyping this game up as a Fallout killer, but I am just looking forward to an action role-playing game that can actually deliver on the goods. 76 certainly did not, and Mass Effect: Andromeda dropped the ball previously; so yeah, a good action RPG would be a good change right about now.
2. Far Cry New Dawn
Developed by: Ubisoft Montreal
Published by: Ubisoft
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Genre(s): First Person Shooter
Release date: February 15, 2019
If you read my post yesterday, you would know that I consider Far Cry 5 to be one of my favorite games of 2018. There was something about the game and the world that it presented that really drew me into it. I was fascinated by the entire experience of the game and it was one of the most entertaining games I had played in a long while. Now, with this new game arriving in February, we are going back to Hope County seventeen years after the end of that game to explore how the survivors of that world are dealing with life after the nuclear apocalypse. And the fact that we were teased with the return of Joseph Seed… oh yeah, I am definitely hyped for this game.
And my favorite reveal trailer from The Game Awards 2018 is…
1. Mortal Kombat 11
Developed by: NetherRealm Studios
Published by: Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment
Platform(s): Microsoft Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
Genre(s): Fighting
Release date: April 23, 2019
I’m not going to lie here, I had some expectations that we would hear something about a new Mortal Kombat game at The Game Awards; but even with that knowledge in hand, I was blown away by the trailer we were presented at the show. When I saw Ed Boon walk out on stage, I knew we were in for a treat – but man, that was freaking awesome. To see Raiden and Scorpion go at it as viscerally and as violently as they did in the trailer and I knew this would be a game that I would have to have when it is released in April of next year.
