What's in Store for the Rest of 2024? P.2
Welcome back! We are diving right back into highlighting exciting new games that are still due to release in 2024. In case you missed it, read the first article here!
Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions
Hogwarts Legacy brought Harry Potter fans together in 2023 with its open-world gameplay. Players reveled in the chance to explore destinations within the Wizarding World, try their hand at spells, and live out their dreams of getting sorted into each house. Despite including all these experiences, the game still needed one large component of the world: Quidditch. Just a little over a year later, fans new and old will finally be able to complete their wizard experience with Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, this time developed by Unbroken Studios. This standalone game is in fact, not a DLC for Hogwarts Legacy, as many had suspected it would be. While this may be disappointing to some, it does mean that there was a whole studio that had the full time and resources to dedicate to the Wizarding World’s favorite sport. The game itself can be played single or multi-player with different game modes that will entertain and challenge all ranges of players. If you’re looking for an immersive narrative that goes beyond the sport you might be disappointed as this is a sports game through and through. The character models aren’t groundbreaking, but the environmental weather, challenges, and tournaments are set to entertain where it matters most. There have been some notes on the quality of the UI and accuracy of the hitboxes, but there’s always a bit of room for improvement along the development journey of a game -let’s just hope these are straightened out by the game's full release on September 3rd.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Warhammer 40K has gone far and beyond its once humble beginnings as a tabletop game and has earned itself an honorable place within the video game world. Since many early-review codes have been handed out before its release date of September 9th there’s quite a range of reviews available for the game, but they all seem to agree on one thing: it’s a lot of fun. Space Marines are not small, they do not back down, and they don’t maneuver on a dime. But they do mow down anything opposing them with a terrifying and entertaining brutality. The tyranid hordes stand no chance against you, although that won't stop them from trying. What they lack in size they make up for in numbers, and it makes for great entertainment as you chainsaw through them like butter. There are breaks in the carnage for more challenging foes, each with different weapons and armor, and even when it feels like you’re backed into a corner, the only way out is through. There are 6 different kinds of marines you can play in the replayable PvE campaign, and you can play with up to two of your friends in multiplayer mode. There are some notes on the parry system needing work as it tends to take away from the action and immersion, but overall, players have had an incredible time storming through the sprawling and vast world that does a great job at reminding you that the Space Marines are still a small player amongst a sprawling landscape and gritty atmosphere.
Satisfactory
After 5 years of early access that has cemented it as one of the most notable and popular factory-building games, Satisfactory is finally ready for its 1.0 release on September 10th. Since many previous early access updates have beefed up and improved the gameplay, the 1.0 launch looks to be more of a polish than a final push. The update improves the conveyor belt capabilities with more options to “spaghetti” around themselves. This can either help you condense your factory, or aid in building an incredibly dizzying landscape. Caterium, Sulfur, and Quartz node distribution are more balanced along with an increased scarcity of Iron, Copper, Limestone, and Water Geysers. The reduced cost of recipes will help breeze players through tiers 5 and 6 without needing Heavy Modular Frames and Computers. Biomass Burners now have inputs for Conveyor Belts making it easier to decimate the landscape in the interest of power. Fuel Generators will get a buff and their power output will be significantly increased from 150MWh to 250MWh. On top of these balance changes and additions, there is an essential batch of optimization updates for Unreal Engine 5.3, removing the hitboxes from colliders on the foliage in the landscape to allow for easier maneuverability, and improved save, load, and runtimes after switching the buildables to Lightweight Actors. Overall, it’s a promising and polished 1.0 launch for a game that has already proven itself a heavyweight player in the gaming community selling over 5.5 million copies throughout its early access career.
Frostpunk 2
Following a game that has reached as much success as Frostpunk will be no easy feat for its sequel. One might even say the challenge is about as daunting as surviving in the frozen, dystopian world itself, but it looks like 11-bit Studios felt up to the challenge. The sequel takes place 30 years after the events of the first game. Oil has been introduced as the new energy source, much like our world, and the decisions following this transition affect both the political and physical well-being of the citizens. In this game, time passes much quicker, with weeks passing by instead of minutes. The scale is also much larger with whole sections of a civilization at your fingertips at once instead of single buildings. The game is set to focus more on the political and moral conundrums of the world, giving each decision a considerable amount of weight and consequences. Perhaps the most poignant of changes to the sequel, however, is the addition of The Council. The new Council system is a parliament-like body that is made up of three factions: The Stalwarts, the Frostlanders, and the New Londoners. Each has their own interests and opinions, and it won't be easy to please them all. Luckily, you only need a 51% majority vote to get laws passed, but this won't always be an easy feat. This extra buffer between executing the decisions you’d like to make forces the player to think more critically and although it lessens the chance that you could cause disaster with one choice, it also might be frustrating when people don’t see the big vision players might have for them. Gamers will be able to test their skills at controlling the fates of others for the greater good this September 20th!
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the next chapter in the fantasy RPG series. Following the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition, players will once again navigate the landscape of Thedas. Contrary to Inquisition, The Veilguard is set to be more "mission-based" to offer "the best narrative experience” after BioWare has confirmed that the game will not be open world. Gamers have voiced their concerns about this change, as some feel the Dragon Age series has not quite lived up to the incredible 2009 release of Dragon Age: Origins and yet another change to the series could be detrimental. However, the narrative in Dreadwolf promises to be rich and layered, with player choices significantly impacting the story’s outcome. Maybe this change will be just the one the series needs, players will just have to wait and see until the game is out on October 31st.
Assassin’s Creed: Shadows
This installment aims to further the Assassin's Creed resurgence in recent years and promises to immerse players in a beautifully rendered open world filled with stealth, beloved parkour elements, and intricate storytelling. No stranger to a great open-world RPG, Ubisoft set Red in feudal Japan, focusing on dual protagonists Yasuke and Naoe who are iconic real-life characters from Japanese history. Gamers have gotten quite a lot of this setting in recent years with games like Ghost of Tsushima, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and Nioh -just to name a few. While some may argue this theme is played out -if you will- the success of these games also indicates that gamers emphatically enjoy the very samurai combat, ninja stealth tactics, and traditional values of honor and duty that Assassin’s Creed: Shadows promises to deliver. Following the theme of many games in this article, the player’s choices will impact the story, with morality highly encouraged by the theme. Chatter around the game has been positive, with many anticipating Assassin’s Creed: Shadows to be the game of the season. Let’s hope it lives up to its potential on November 15th!
There’s so much to go over! Check back for the final part 3.
