Video gaming is always a hot topic this time of year, as Fall brings pre-holiday releases of some of the biggest games. I’ve compiled a list of incredible video games to be on the lookout for throughout the rest of 2024.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Release Date: September 9, 2024
Admission time: I know absolutely nothing about the Warhammer universe. I know it produces lots of games in various genres. That’s it.
That should tell you something about revealed gameplay; it’s so good and viscerally gory that it’s drawing people who don’t even know much about Warhammer into the dark and bloody folds of the game.
Space Marine II looks like a bloody good time in the most literal way. Graphically, it looks horrifyingly beautiful. Then there’s the actual “fighting off the horde” aspect. Having hundreds of enemies on screen, mowing them down with a couple of friends in brutal ways; this sounds incredibly fun. Luckily, as of this writing, you don’t have long to wait and pick this one up!
Wild Bastards
Release Date: September 12, 2024
Wild Bastards is the spiritual sequel to the incredibly fun Void Bastards from 2019. This time? You’re a space cowboy, one of a handful to pick from. You’re no longer confined to space ships but are now traversing within one of six various open environments.
It’ll be interesting to see what new mechanics they introduce in this sequel. Aside from actual set characters and a change in gameplay environments, I’m wondering how they’ll tackle narrative; if they’ll play the roguelike story elements akin to Hades or similar to Wild Bastards’ predecessor.
As a fan of roguelikes, I welcome another one into my Steam library whenever I can, and Wild Bastards will be a must have for me.
Frostpunk 2
Release Date: September 20, 2024
If you like brutal city-survival mechanics, harsh environments and everything going against you, may I introduce you to Frostpunk 2?
This hardcore sequel looks to take the city building/planning aspect of the original to new heights. Now, instead of building a small city, you’re helping govern a city of thousands. And not only that, politics are at play from other factions in addition to the ever constant food/resource/heat shortages.
You’re gonna need to keep your cool if you plan to either ice your political rivals or stay frosty to the ever-changing needs of your winter wonderland (I’ll see myself out now).
Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero
Release Date: October 8, 2024
Budokai Tenkaichi is back, baby! Sparking! Zero is essentially the fourth entry in the BT series, and it’s been 15 long years since the last release. You can’t say Dragon Ball fans aren’t patient.
Most recently seen as one of my top games shown at Gamescom 2024, Sparking! Zero is a contender to make my future Best Games of 2024 list. With each reveal trailer and every media spot, more and more characters from the whole Dragon Ball universe continue to appear.
Personally, I’m excited to see what they have in store for alternate story battles; they’ll take a scene, for example, the Father-Son Kamehameha with Goku and Gohan, and then it make it so that its Trunks and Vegeta performing said move somehow. It’s those “what if” scenarios that we’ve been waiting for. I could keep on writing about this, but in summary:
I. CAN’T. WAIT.
Super Mario Party Jamboree
Release Date: October 17, 2024
I’ve been a huge Mario Party fan since the Nintendo 64 days, especially the second one. So when I saw they are bringing back two maps for Jamboree from Mario Party 2, I was sold.
Seven boards. 100+ mini-games. Map-specific hazards and mechanics. Sign me up to ruin any friendships I have. Super Mario Party Jamboree is shaping up to be a blast to play. Of course, it’ll depend on what mini-games there are and the specifics of each board; however, after playing through Super Mario Party, I hope Nintendo can take any positive feedback and incorporate it here.
New to the series is online play, with up to 20 other players on various mini-games. I think this addition so welcome and refreshing; just to see Nintendo embrace online features in a multiplayer game is something to behold in its own right, like a baby discovering it’s own hands and perceiving them in awe.
Hopefully, we’ll all have the same reaction when Super Mario Party Jamboree drops soon.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Release Date: October 25, 2024
like making numbers go up (Credit to Treyarch)
Another game which made our top ten games of Gamescom 2024, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 packs enough punch to make me reinterpreted in the series. I fell off of Call of Duty around Modern Warfare and Cold War.
The multiplayer reveal showed off one of the biggest changes to core movement, the omnimovment. This allowed players to sprint and dive in any direction while maintaining the gun in a locked position in front of them. Meaning, you can sprint and dive backwards onto your back while maintaining fire on an enemy in front of you. I think this is a genius way to rework a core mechanic of any FPS. Should it play out the way I think it will, we’ll start seeing other shooters start implementing this movement.
Zombies returns to round based games, the campaign looks interesting, and the beta will slow us to experience some of the gameplay very soon via a beta. All this being said, I’m really interested to see the reception to omnimovement and to try it out myself. It sounds silly but because of this core change, I’m kinda…excited(?) to get back to some Call of Duty.
Dragon Age: Veilguard
Release Date: October 31, 2024
Let’s talk about Dragon Age next, because I’m stoked to get my hands on it. Taking place ten years after the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition (people who live in Thedas need to find a new place to live with all these world-ending events…) Veilguard seeks to put players in charge of a new rag-tag group of heroes. Some are familiar faces such as Varric, Harding and a couple others, and some are brand new.
Gameplay recently showed off a slew of fun builds based off the different main classes. The usual mage, rogue and warrior classes reappear with three specializations each. While Blood Magic doesn’t return (bummer), mages have access to things such as necromancy, becoming an elemental-focused mage, or becoming essentially a spell knight. Rogues can focus on traps on the battlefield, getting up close with blades or sniping from a distance. Warriors have the ability to hone Grey Warden skills, utilize two handed weapons or drain health from their enemy with every attack.
I’m hoping for a bit more of a return to original form or strategic gameplay, but everything so far seems to lean towards Inquisition’s more action-oriented style. I don’t mind it, and it does look engaging, but time will tell. As long as the story is compelling and the game mechanics are tight, Dragon Age: Veilguard could herald BioWare’s return.
Mario and Luigi: Brothership
Release Date: November 7, 2024
I have a particular fondness for the Mario and Luigi games. Superstar Saga was one of the first Game Boy Advance games I bought with my own money as a kid. Seeing the series get the axe after the port of Bowser’s Inside Story was crushing.
And now they’re back, baby!
This turn-based RPG series arrives on the Switch soon with a whole new story to tell, placing Mario and Luigi on the high seas. Seeing new Bros. moves from the trailer makes me feel confident that platforming and special moves are back as well. Having the upgrade from handheld to console-level power will hopefully mean larger, more lively levels and hubs; the art style already looks incredibly vibrant and colorful
We don’t know too much about the “Brothership” (meaning the boat, not the brother’s relationship), so hopefully another trailer will be on the way soon. Even without this info, I’m thinking this is one of the very few day-one purchases for me.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
Release Date: November 15, 2024
Assassin’s Creed is another series I dropped off of; I think the last one I played through fully was Black Flag, and then dabbled in Origins , Odyssey and Valhalla each. Assassin’s Creed Shadows seems akin to the more open world style gameplay we’ve seen from the most recent entries. However, it sounds like they’ve scaled back the open world a bit, so I hope they chose to fill it with life and non-fetch quests.
Having two very different characters and playstyles sounds like a good way to vary combat and prevent it from getting stale. Considering that one is a samurai and the other is a ninja; there’s no reason it shouldn’t be incredibly fun to play!
The revamped stealth system that really plays with the visibility system sounds like a great return to stealth. Additionally, there’s no eagle to utilize and mark enemies on the map; there’s more reliance on to player to be cognizant of their surroundings without assistance.
All-in-all, I really hope this is the game that pulls me back into Assassin’s Creed. It’s has all the makings to be a really fun game, so now we wait and see.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
Release Date: November 19, 2024
There’s something surreal about taking off in a jet, with realistic graphics and physics, and flying over and around your hometown. That’s exactly what I did with the original Flight Sinulator when it came to xCloud; I’ll probably do it again with this one too. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 looks to take this up a notch with a variety of new features.
The ability to walk around the world after landing to explore is such a cool addition and adds to the overall immersion. Actual aircraft-based careers and objectives give more meaning to play the game than to simulate a flight. This ranges from air rescues in helicopters to cargo deliveries. This is an incredible addition to the game and promotes a continual stream of fresh content in the future.
The original Flight Simulator was such a great feat in map technology, and 2024 will be using cloud based tech to lower the overall file size. If this is true, and could be applied to other games somehow, that’s a huge game changer. But it’ll depend on how the cloud tech used in-game as well. But if you’re an aircraft aficionado or a sim-junkie, keep an eye on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Here’s the issue with writing this up – there’s so many more fantastic games coming in the next few months not on this list. It’s nearly overwhelming but there’s absolutely something for everyone, and it’s so cool to see.
What are some of your favorite games coming this year? Any on my list or missing from it? Hit us up either on here or on X! Happy Gaming!
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