With the current generation of consoles coming to a close and the next one just around the corner, the year ahead is shaping up to be one of the most exciting the gaming industry's ever seen – and the quality of the new releases just over the horizon looks better than ever, too.
All this week we're highlighting some of our favorite upcoming titles scheduled to release before the end of 2012, breaking them down by genre to help you get up to speed on what you'll be playing between today and New Year's Eve.
Yesterday we kicked things off with the Racing genre. Today, Strategy games.
Almost every video game's development cycle is plagued with problems and pressure, but Dota 2's had to struggle through legal troubles on top of any other headaches. This game serves as the sequel to the popular Warcraft III mod "Defense of the Ancients," and its transition from being known by the acronym D.O.T.A. to becoming a separate, lowercase standalone brand has been a rocky one.
Things seem to be all smooth out now, though, which means fans can breathe a sigh of relief and finally look forward to the game itself without worry. The game looks to be shaping up into something truly special, too, as you'll take command of a hero who levels up over the course of real-time battles, hacking and slashing through hordes of foes to protect your towers and take down your enemies' fortresses. Expect refinements across the board from what you first enjoyed back in the Warcraft III era – and, if you're a mod creator, take encouragement here. If you make something truly excellent, you might just have your own series someday. (After jumping through the legal hoops.)
Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm
It's been almost two years now since Starcraft II first went on sale as "Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty," which focused its single-player campaign on the series' Terran race. Blizzard promised that Zerg and Protoss campaigns would follow later on, and while we still don't have a firm release date set in stone, we're confident that Heart of the Swarm will see release soon. (And certainly before the end of 2012.)
This second piece of the planned Starcraft II trilogy will bring back Zerg queen Kerrigan and focus on telling her part of the on-going interstellar war story – while myriad tweaks and new units roll out to officially become part of the game's massive multiplayer community. We can't wait to start spawning Zerglings once more – but after we get our fill here, the wait will begin again for the release of the Protoss-focused Legacy of the Void sometime in the more distant future.
The gaming industry is crazy for crossovers between franchises now, but none of them can match the wild pairing of a kid-focused, mass market RPG series full of cartoon monsters with a hardcore, incredibly niche, wholly insular strategy franchise only ever truly enjoyed by the smallest fraction of gamers around the world. Such is the strange reality of Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition, though, which will ship to North America in June renamed as "Pokemon Conquest."
Pokemon Conquest casts you in the role of a combination Pokemon Trainer and feudal era warlord, using your monsters as soldiers in turn-based combat on a grid and working your way toward an ultimate confrontation with Nintendo's version of historical Japanese icon, Oda Nobunaga. The Pokemon series has experimented with nearly every other genre that gaming has to offer, and it's exciting to finally have Pikachu and his crew stepping into Strategy. (The outlandishness of the scenario is just bonus.)
XCOM: Enemy Unknown
The original XCOM is the reason many gamers of the early '90s were turned on to the appeal of tactics titles in the first place, and so this upcoming revival of the franchise is being tearfully awaited by nostalgic fans. The game will once again pit humans against invading aliens in turn-based, tough-as-nails combat, but the advancements in design and visuals across the industry through the past two decades promise to make the action look more stunning than anything your rose-tinted memories may recall from years ago.
Of particular interest is XCOM's on-the-fly cinematic generator. You'll observe the playing field from above as normal, issues your commands to soldiers, pick movements and attack targets and all that standard strategy stuff. But after you've confirmed your moves, the game's camera will take on a life of its own, dipping down into the action to find the best, most cinematic angles from which to view the results of your orders. No more wide-angle shots of alien targets getting shot in the distance. Now you'll see those little green men go down right up close.
Want to read a bit more about XCOM? It just so happens that we learned of its release date today, and we've also got fresh hands-on impressions from our own Greg Miller for you too. Click away to keep the alien invasion going.
Last on our list today is Rainbow Moon, a PlayStation Network exclusive that should be hitting Sony's digital storefront any day now. Rainbow Moon comes to PSN courtesy of SideQuest Studios, previously known for the Soldner-X series.
This one looks like classic SRPG goodness wrapped in a colorful, cartoony presentation – but more exciting than the prospect of getting to explore its vibrant worlds is the fact that the design seems to be taking a unique spin on battles. Both story-advancing encounters and roaming random fights are included to suit both tastes (while the random battles can be skipped if they annoy you). The download will also be packed with tons of enemy types, hero skills and PlayStation trophies. Strategy gaming across the board looks great for the rest of 2012, but PlayStation players will get to have Rainbow Moon all to themselves.
There you have them, our picks for the top Strategy genre games planned for release before 2013 rolls around. Have any favorites on this list? Did we miss mentioning something? Share your thoughts through the comments box below, then come back for our next installment tomorrow – Wednesday will be Action and Adventure games.
Source : http://www.ign.com
No comments:
Post a Comment