Dishonored 2
Back in 2012, when the flagbearers of stealth games were Thief, Hitman and Splinter Cell, Dishonored came out of the shadows in spectacular fashion.
As supernatural imperial assassin Corvo Attano, players navigated the fabulously rendered town of Dunwall, a recreation of nineteenth century London.
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In between the decay caused by a ferociously spreading plague, Corvo teleports, manipulates sentient life, lurks in the dark and occasionally steps out to battle his foes in daylight to rescue the young princess Emily Kaldwin, in what became the new standard for a stealth game.
Dishonored 2, set in the coastal town of Karnaca 15 years after the events of the original game, sees Emily, now the Empress, deposed of her throne.
The game allows players to play as either Emily, who has powers of her own which differ from Corvo's, or take another turn as Corvo, as they seek to set things right once again.
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Dishonored 2 will release worldwide on November 11.
Mass Effect Andromeda
Few franchises in recent memory have attained the kind of critical acclaim Mass Effect has. The space-faring opera, made of a trilogy of games released between 2007 and 2012, traced the adventures of a player-created character named Shepard across the galaxy, as he/she became humankind's greatest ambassador and stood up to face an otherworldly threat. The beautiful settings and cast of characters, written and voiced convincingly enough to become icons in their own right, gave Mass Effect legendary status in the world of interstellar pop culture.
Andromeda is the long-awaited fourth installment in the series, and from what we know of it, features the adventures of a brother and sister duo, with the player character being a Pathfinder, designated with the task of finding planets for humans to colonise. The game is set 600 years after the original series, with the siblings exploring the Andromeda galaxy in their ship Tempest. Since the galaxy is as unforgiving as ever, there is plenty of action to be had, as the player encounters alien species and remarks rather profoundly while being shot at, "We're the aliens."
Mass Effect Andromeda is expected to release in March 2017.
Batman: The Telltale Series
Telltale Games have developed a reputation for their story-driven episodic game releases, with popular titles like The Wolf Among Us, The Walking Dead and Game of Thrones. After proving their ability to find new perspectives to existing stories with the latter two, Telltale took fans by surprise in July when they announced that Batman would be the latest character to get an episodic narrative series of his own. Three of the five episodes in the series have since been released, with the company garnering much praise for putting players in Bruce Wayne’s shoes, as he is routinely faced with tough choices that impact his precarious double-life, something players didn’t experience with the Arkham games the caped crusader was seen in last.
Before you head out and get a season pass, there have been reports of the game facing performance issues on Windows machines, so it may be best to wait a bit while the developers iron them out.
The last two episodes of Batman are slated for release before the end of the year.
Hitman
Agent 47 is back and doing what he does best, looking good in a black suit while he eliminates the targets he is contractually obligated to take out. Developer Square Enix took a different route this time around, and released Hitman in an episodic format, offering a season pass right at the onset for fans to have faith and purchase, hoping the developer would deliver on time. They have, and seven episodes later, the game has received positive reactions for the way it has been created, story-wise and from a gameplay perspective. Now that this ‘season’ of the game is complete, a full version with all the content is available on digital distribution platforms, with a physical release in the works, so gamers can have the entire experience in one go. It was an interesting experiment with a beloved franchise, and it seems to have paid off.
Hitman: The Complete First Season is set to be available for physical release by January 31, 2017.