Each year, as their platform technology progresses, developers dazzle gamers with new releases. Some are built upon older concepts that might perpetuate a series while others boldly blaze a new chapter in history. What separates the 2015 crop from years past is that this time around the best titles aren’t being pushed into the holiday season.
The Division (Action-RPG)
Third-person tactical shooter set in a futuristic New York City, The Division hits the ground running after the country?s population has been nearly wiped out by a disease in less than a week. The player?s role is that of a government sleeper agent charged by ?The Division? with restoring order amongst the utter chaos of the survivors.
PC-PS4-XOne
Everybody?s Gone to the Rapture (Adventure)
The apocalypse seems to be the name of the 2015 game, and this is no exception. The setting for this adventure is a ?mostly? empty English village post-apocalypse. Most of humanity has mysteriously vanished leaving only six inhabitants of the town. Rapture is an open-world experience that gives the player extensive environment interaction while they search for clues on exactly what happened to everyone.
PS4-exclusive
Quantum Break (Action)
Game style consists of a mixture of third-person-combat, mystery, and adventure. Very complex story line that unfolds within the game as well as a follow-along live-action TV series that focuses on the story?s villains and evolves based on the player?s actions within the game. The game is set shortly after a time travel experiment goes awry and is based on three protagonists? abilities to manipulate time and move through the game world while others are frozen.
XOne-exclusive
Ori and the Blind Forest (Adventure)
Exploration-driven 2D platform with breath-taking visual effects and a completely immersive gameplay experience. The player?s character is a guardian spirit named Ori who is forced into a forest alone after his mother is taken by an evil being. Character skill-tree progression offers a litany of abilities and powers for Ori as the game progresses.
PC-XOne-X360
Inside (Adventure)
Set in a totalitarian future where citizens have become mindless drones, the character players as a young boy still in possession of his own mind. From the developers of Limbo, Inside offers a welcomed departure from the shooter and adventure releases of 2015 with its notably different (and somewhat dark) style.
XOne-exclusive
No Man?s Sky (adventure)
Sci-fi exploration/first-person-shooter with an absolutely massive universe that is procedurally-generated. As the player progresses they will experience increased dangers and surprises while performing both space-based and planet-based travel.
PC-PS4
The Witness (Puzzle)
It?s taken over five years for a follow-up to 2008?s Braid, but The Witness is expected to be released this year. The game is a 3D puzzle game that features over 600 challenges spread across an uninhabited island. The player will need to explore an extensive maze of clues to figure out what happened.
PC-PS4-iOS
Splatoon
Meet Nintendo?s foray into the world of third-person shooters. Using ink as ammo, the game?s intended audience is a younger generation of players. Play as ?inklings? and transform between caricatured humans or squids. The game features team-based play that pits characters against other players or a single-player mod that pits the player?s squid versus an octopus.
Wii U-exclusive
Mighty No. 9 (Platform)
This game is a 2D side-scrolling platform that is set in a universe where mechanical sentients have gone haywire due to a computer virus. The player is the ninth model in a line of robots that is virus-free and the world?s last remaining hope.
PC-PS4-XOne-PS3-X360-3DS-Vita
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (RPG)
The Witcher 3 is set in a world of chaos where the Empire of Nilfgaard has once again invaded the Northern Kingdoms. A much deeper and darker conflict awaits the player, however, in the form of the Wild Hunt. The game is a fantasy RPG experience with an open-ended non-linear story arch.
PC-XOne-PS4
