5 possible sleeper hits of 2008
With 2007 almost coming to an end. I would like to look at 2008. A year which will see Bioware return to the PC platform with DragonAge, Maxis release their highly anticipated SPORE and ofcourse Blizzard's Starcraft 2. So it's easy to overlook the much smaller titles, so I've decided to make a list of 5 titles which should not be forgotten.
King Bounty's Legend
This title is personally the most exiting one. It's a Turn based Role playing game similar to that of the Heroes series and to those that still remember the original King Bounty games. It will feature slighty more advanced tactics and freeroam. The game has an amazing art and will probably run nicely on a wide range of pc's. It's currently being developed by the Russian developer 1C in a studio in Vladivostok. For people interested read the gamespot preview and keep a close eye on this title.
Gray Matter
Finally after years Jane Jensen, the creator of the Gabriel Knight Series, has returned to make another Adventure game. While Adventure games will regain their former glory it's always nice to see one of the greatest in the genre to give it another shot. The Game will let you play between 2 characthers with unique abilities which may help you solving puzzles. Sadly there isn't much to know yet, but I have faith in Jane Jensen that she will create an exiting new adventure with Gray Matter.
Society
This is a very innovating MMORTS. The game begins in a pre-medieval setting. Each world is broken up into thousands of provinces. Players start with a single province to build in and can expand into other provinces over time. They can choose to play the game as the trader/diplomat in which their society only holds a few provinces or they can attempt to conquer the provinces held by others. The complexity of it all makes this a title looking forward to, the only thing which concerns me is that it may be over ambitious and that it may slip to 2009. Let's hope it doesn't.
Natural Selection 2
Okay. Natural Selection is pretty big in the Half Life 1 community, but I don't think it's going to be up there with the big titles in terms of publicity. Seeing as this time they actually have been given a budget to work with I expect great things.For those that are not familar with the concept, natural selection is a multiplayer Strategy/FPS hybrid. You can either play as Aliens or humans and both sides are vastly different. You will require to create certain structures and do certain objectives to win the game.
A Vampyre Story
Yes, another adventure game. This time from some of the old LucasArts staff members who made The Curse of Monkey island. The story will most likely be humerous and be similar to monkey island games. A fan of adventure games and monkey island in particular should keep a close eye on this game. The art design seems to be rather similar aswell and the story definetly sounds interesting. For more information check their website
Closing Comments
These are my 5 possible sleeper hits of 2008. I hope more people will keep an eye out for these titles, even though in some cases the developers haven't released a lot of information. Some of you may have noticed that many of these titles have only been given a European release date, this means that it may only be released digitally in the US or perhaps never. I would also love to hear other people name their games. Games which not many people seem to know about, but can offer a great gaming experience none the less. I would recommend people to look at Adrianwerner's thread