Until Next Time: Blockbuster Titles 2016

2016 is shaping up to be a big year for video games. With a myriad of different and unique titles inbound over the next 9 months, Boar Games has picked out three blockbuster titles that you should keep your eyes on.

Homefront: The Revolution

While the original Homefront was a forgettable linear shooter which was fatally overshadowed by the then all-powerful CoD and Battlefield franchises, the premise was worthy of much more. Sometime in the not-too-distant future, North Korea has taken over most of the world, and you’re part of the mighty American resistance. Brand new open-world gameplay that allows you to cut your own path through the streets of war-ravaged Philadelphia and a competitive multiplayer mode should allow the game a bit more longevity than its predecessor, Homefront: The Revolution could be one of this years’ biggest hits.

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Uncharted 4: Overwatch A Thief’s End

The concluding chapter of Nathan Drake’s pulp adventure has not exactly had the easiest of development cycles, with lead writer Amy Hennig leaving the franchise, The Last of Us’ Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straley taking over the helm, and one of the central voice actors leaving the project, leading to his role having to be re-cast. The game has even suffered from several delays, being pushed into 2016 from an original release date slated for late last year. Despite this, everything we’ve seen so far looks fantastic, and it seems almost a given at this point that Naughty Dog will deliver an excellent title for Drake’s last exploit. Reviving Drake and his inner explorer several years after the events of Uncharted 3, the introduction of a long-lost figure from Drake’s past sends him on a final odyssey. The Uncharted franchise has, without a doubt, been one of the most influential of the last decade and has paved the way for developer Naughty Dog to go on to bigger and better projects, including 2013’s excellent The Last of Us. While it’s a shame that all good things must come to an end, Uncharted 4: A Thief ’s End is set to be a fitting end to one of the greatest sets of stories that the gaming industry has ever told.

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Overwatch

The MOBA is arguably the fastest growing video-game format out there, with old standards like League of Legends and DotA 2 maintaining huge player bases and drawing in millions for major tournaments. But as the older games start to look a bit rough around the edges, it’s about time we got a few replacements. Overwatch is one of a group of faster-paced, gunplay oriented examples to be coming out fully this year (others include Paragon and Battleborn), and even though it’s still only in beta, it’s garnered a lot of attention. It may not have quite the same level of complexity as its competitors, but it’s very much early days, and what it might lack in game detail, it more than makes up for in gameplay. Overwatch has also revived the ability to swap between playable characters between deaths, leading to a focus on teamwork and objective control rather than a scramble for kills. It’s early days, but Overwatch’s full release is easily one of this year’s most anticipated games, and could be a much-needed wake-up call for one of the biggest genres in the gaming world.

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These are only a few of the many titles being released this year. What games are you excited for? Let us know in the comments below.