We spent January doing something a little different at RPS. Every year, websites do their “What’s New In The Coming Year” articles. And they’re splendid. We did it last year too. But we couldn’t help but think perhaps they were all missing something. They exist to talk about games which the vast majority of PC gamers already know and love. We thought that going the other way would be worthwhile: just concentrate on what’s exciting about the next eleven months which, in all likelihood, no-one else is going to mention. Games which the vast majority of gamers won’t even know exist yet. We ended up with eleven interviews and hands-on impressions of the Unknown Pleasures that await in 2009. And here they are…
Let’s hope they turn out as well as we hope.
Venture Dinosauria: Dinosaur Ecological Management game. We repeat: Dinosaur Ecological Management Game.
No Quarter: Gish’s Edmund McMillen and Alex Austin’s Videogame Mix-tape. We predict Wuh-huh-hah?-hahs!
Elemental: War of Magic: Galactic Civilization’s creators turn their impeccable turn-based credentials towards the glories of fantasy.
Sol Infernum: Diplomatic Strategy game from the makers of the exquisite Armageddon Empires. Set in Hell. Better to rule in hell? It better rule, more like.
Age of Decadence: The great-white-hope of traditional PC role-playing games. As pugnaciously confident as Indie RPGs have ever got.
Gridrunner+++: Llamasoft pump a previous classic full of all the experience, knowledge and visual flair of their previous Space Giraffe taught ‘em.
Blush: Flashbang Studios promise six games in 2009. This is their first. Can they really double their output of webmeme-classics ala Minotaur China Shop and Off-road Velociraptor Safari? We pray.
The Void: ala Typrop ala Tension ala the new game from the makers of Pathologic ala your new favourite game to read 47,244 word esays about.
Machinarium: Amanita Design take their tranquil, beautiful and un-nerving adventure game skills (e.g. Samorost) and expand it to a new, epic palette.
Zeno Clash: See that elephant-headed guy? He’s totally looking at your bird. Punch him. And then punch your bird, as it’s a bird-headed man. Just punch them! PUNCH THEM IN THEIR FREAKY FACES.
Majesty 2: Old-school PC classic of indirect control passed eastwards. If any half-remembered strategy game deserves to be this year’s triumphant Phoenix, it’s this one.
Perhaps obviously, this isn’t all – or even most – of what excites RPS when we look forward across the remaining nine months of 2009. Which begs the obvious question – what would you have included in your list of Unknown Pleasures?
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Cryostasis is coming out in English on the 20th. Provided they don’t butcher the localization you’re better off waiting for that than trying to buy the Russian version.
Ok, no more surliness from me.
But on the new games – The interview with the Void guys was like everything i’ve ever wanted to say about games, but then I also notice that the two games i’m interested in most (or at all) on the list (Void and Zeno Clash) look the most like mainstream games (ie sexy looking, First Person).
If I don’t like The Void, will it tell me about how the developers failed in their ambitions, or about how I, as a self-identifying game-pseud, am a big fake and that I should just come clean and play more Halo if I want to be truly happy. Do I really want newness, or do I just pretend to? I mean – gamers do bang on about innovation a lot, and then they go and buy a LOT of Call Of Duty.
I’ve been playing GTA4 again. It really is wonderful.
@ AndrewC: There’s nothng wrong with mainstream games – sometimes you just want to relax and play something fun. It’s a matter of having a choice. Currently, there are a lot of mainstream games and very little “alternative” games. We have to fix it! :-D
I’ve really enjoyed this series, thanks to RPS for going the extra mile. Without you guys, I would probably have missed out on a dinosaur sim, and that would be a crime for which the universe could not be forgiven.