Most Anticipated Games of 2005

[SirBruce]

Note that release dates are often highly speculative (most from EBGAMES):

Gary Grisby's World at War - 02/07
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II (PC) - 02/08
Star Wars: Republic Commando - 03/01
Face of Mankind (MMOG) - 03/01
Roma Victor (MMOG) - 03/01
Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich - 03/08
The Sims 2: University - 03/15
Silent Hunter III - 03/22
Jade Empire (X-Box) - 03/29
The Matrix Online (MMOG) - 03/30
Dungeon Lords - 04/01
Guild Wars (MMOG) - 04/18
Wish (MMOG) - 05/01
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl - 05/14
Dungeon Siege II - 05/16
The Movies - 06/15
Middle Earth Online (MMOG) - 06/15
Auto Assault (MMOG) - 07/29
Dungeons & Dragons Online (MMOG) - 08/01
Madden NFL 2006 - 08/08
City of Villians (MMOG) - 08/14
Tabula Rasa (MMOG) - 09/07
Imperator (MMOG) - 11/01

Bruce

[Big Gulp]

City of Villians (MMOG) - 08/14

If this is even close to true you just broke my heart.  Springtime, bitch!

[HaemishM]

Some of those really make me laugh. The CoV one, however, makes me cry.

[sidereal]

You accidentally left off Playboy: the Mansion.

[SirBruce]

City of Villians (MMOG) - 08/14

If this is even close to true you just broke my heart.  Springtime, bitch!

It can't be before May, because they said they'd give priority in beta to those who have been subscribers "for at least 12 months".  And you figure beta is going to be at least a month or two long...

Bruce

[plangent]

March is going to be hard to beat.  Jade Empire and the xbox port of Super Monkey Ball.  God is in his heaven and all is right with the world.

[schild]

I know Sam Fisher has a license to kill furries, but you didn't have to leave off Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory just because you're afraid.

[SirBruce]

I'm actually more jazzed about Silent Hunter III and STALKER than anything else on the list right now, simply because I've been waiting for them for over a year now.  I'm skeptical that Turbine can release both MEO and D&DO this year, but it depends on what their financial situation is like -- the rapidly falling revenues of AC1 and AC2 may force them into a situation when they feel compelled to ship.

Bruce

[shiznitz]

No fucking way MEO and DDO come out in 2005. Not going to happen.  These games are still way to invisible on the hype-o-meter to be that developed.

[Ralence]

No fucking way MEO and DDO come out in 2005. Not going to happen.  These games are still way to invisible on the hype-o-meter to be that developed.

  I disagree, considering safe money says they're using the same engine as AC2, which will be new to most people since so few bothered to play that steaming pile.

  I'd wager MEO and D&DO will be a lot closer to really being just AC2 with fixes than something new and god forbid, original.

  Not to mention the fact that MEO Senior Producer Mike Wallis came from Eve, a game not known for it's fun factor to say the least, and Judith Hoffman is the Lead Producer for D&DO, the former Executive Producer for AC2.

  Even if Turbine put together a package that was AC1 + AC2 + MEO + D&DO for $1/month, I'd rather punch myself in the nuts and save the $1.

[Viin]

*I* though EVE was fun. I might even pick up my subscription again and check out the changed with the new (free) expansion once WoW starts to bore me.

[eldaec]

No way in hell CoV will launch before Q4.

And possibly not before 2006.

Comments on the forum by the designers are all of the open sky variety. Beta running from July-October, launch late October would be my most hopeful guess.

Everything else on that list with a MMOG tag (except GW) will, I suspect, also either slip or be competing with Horizons.

CoH patches get more than 2 months beta.

[Murgos]

CoH patches get more than 2 months beta.

Thats a good thing though.  No, I doubt if CoV will ship before Oct. that doesn't bother me though.  With delay, and shipping unfinished product being the norm, I'm more than willing to let the company that has out performed every expectation have a little slack.

[stray]

As much as I like Cryptic and CoH, I have absolutely no faith that they can implement good PvP. But..They've surprised me once. Maybe they can do it again.

No fucking way MEO and DDO come out in 2005. Not going to happen. These games are still way to invisible on the hype-o-meter to be that developed.

It's not "invisible". You just haven't looked for anything. It's far beyond the concept stage at this point.

I disagree, considering safe money says they're using the same engine as AC2, which will be new to most people since so few bothered to play that steaming pile.

Graphics are somewhat based on the AC2 engine. It's been tweaked though and is more advanced than that. There's dozens of new things about it (one worth noting is Havok) so it's basically a new engine. It's not HL2 or anything, but worth a look:

Screenshots

Even if Turbine put together a package that was AC1 + AC2 + MEO + D&DO for $1/month, I'd rather punch myself in the nuts and save the $1.

I'm afraid if the crowd around here is this irrational, anything I say will make me look like HRose.

[kaid]

Wow other than freedom force and the city of villians I see nothing on that list that interests me at all kinda depressing.

As for the new turbine made MMOG after AC2 I would not touch these with a 10 foot pole unless I hear amazingly good things about them for at least a month after they are released. Who knows they may surprise me but more likely they will shock and horrify me.


kaid

[Viin]

Graphics are somewhat based on the AC2 engine. It's been tweaked though and is more advanced than that. There's dozens of new things about it (one worth noting is Havok) so it's basically a new engine. It's not HL2 or anything, but worth a look:

Screenshots

The screenshots actually look pretty good. I'll have to watch it closer to launch. I also really like the Havok physics engine, so if they implemented that well it could be a pretty cool environment. But, as we all know, graphics and "interesting" environments won't float a game for very long.

[naum]

Dominions 3

[Alkiera]

Dominions 3

The idea of that game was neat, but I didn't like the fact that I had absolutely no input in battles.  Sure, I could watch, but not give orders.  I recently picked up Medieval: Total War off the bargain shelf, and it seems kinda nice... but what I really want is a modern-graphics Master of Magic.

Alkiera

[Murgos]

One of the properties Firaxis was hinted to be looking at was MoM.  Pirates! city combat is very similar (if lacking the unit diversity) to MoM's tactical combat.

[Merusk]

One of the properties Firaxis was hinted to be looking at was MoM.  Pirates! city combat is very similar (if lacking the unit diversity) to MoM's tactical combat.

I've heard too many people rumored to be "looking at" or "If this game sells well.." over the last 10 years for this to do anything other than stir the dissapointment in me.  On top of that last I heard the folks who now own the rights to the MoM name (Atari?) weren't interested in discussing letting them go or leasing them.

If I had the money, I'd have my own damn version created.

[Mi_Tes]

Vanguard's date must have gotten moved since it wasn't mentioned.

Only ones on the list that I am looking forward to playing are:
AC1 expansion,
Jade Empire,
Guild Wars, and
Tabula Rasa.

[shiznitz]

I have little excitement for Tabula Rasa and I hate anime-style art.

[naum]

Dominions 3

The idea of that game was neat, but I didn't like the fact that I had absolutely no input in battles.  Sure, I could watch, but not give orders.  I recently picked up Medieval: Total War off the bargain shelf, and it seems kinda nice... but what I really want is a modern-graphics Master of Magic.

Sure you do, you setup your formations and battle orders (i.e., attack rear, attack closest, defend, etc...) and can script your mages to cast specific spells (provided that you've given them the proper gems) -- it makes a world of difference and literally will change the battle if you don't flank your calvary, or put the trample units up front... additionally, how you handle leaders (do they hang back or do they engage in battle on the frontline...) ...it's not supposed to be an RTS clickfest, it's true TBS...

The AI in Dom2 blows away the stupidity of RTW and MoM both... ...but the real gem is multiplayer -- and it's true TBS where games take weeks to play and the strategy lines with the different races (and themes within the races) or near inifinite...

[Alkiera]

Sure you do, you setup your formations and battle orders (i.e., attack rear, attack closest, defend, etc...) and can script your mages to cast specific spells (provided that you've given them the proper gems) -- it makes a world of difference and literally will change the battle if you don't flank your calvary, or put the trample units up front... additionally, how you handle leaders (do they hang back or do they engage in battle on the frontline...) ...it's not supposed to be an RTS clickfest, it's true TBS...

This is not the same thing as the tactical combat of MoM, or even the Total War games(assuming R:TW is the same as M:TW).  In MoM, I don't always use the same tactics in every battle.  A script to cast spells X, Y, Z is not always enough, especially since the opposing wizard can cast spells, and you probably want to be able to react to that, with dispells, or a different type of damage spell, or to buff or heal my own units instead, or whatever.  And if they cast a missle protection spell, having my slingers continue to hurl stones at them is pretty useless.

The AI in Dom2 blows away the stupidity of RTW and MoM both... ...but the real gem is multiplayer -- and it's true TBS where games take weeks to play and the strategy lines with the different races (and themes within the races) or near inifinite...

I thought for a long time that multiplayer MoM would be a holy grail...  But really, any multiplayer game that takes more than a couple hours is gonna lose me.  Setting up times to play over weeks is not gonna work, my friends and I tend not to have schedules that regular.

And if 'set a few options and then watch the AI fight' is 'true TBS'...  I don't want it.  Tactical combat >>> hit 'a' and pray.

Alkiera

[Lum]

One of the properties Firaxis was hinted to be looking at was MoM.  Pirates! city combat is very similar (if lacking the unit diversity) to MoM's tactical combat.

I've heard too many people rumored to be "looking at" or "If this game sells well.." over the last 10 years for this to do anything other than stir the dissapointment in me.  On top of that last I heard the folks who now own the rights to the MoM name (Atari?) weren't interested in discussing letting them go or leasing them.

If I had the money, I'd have my own damn version created.

Stardock (the people who did the excellent Galactic Civilizations http://www.galciv.com ) are working on MoM 2.0. They've said that they're trying to actually obtain the license, but will do a "fantasy strategy game with modern graphics" regardless.

http://www.quartertothree.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=301252&highlight=#301252 - discussion.

[Alkiera]

Yeah, I'd heard that too.  I played the GalCiv demo, and it did feel more like MoM than many other TBS games I've played recently.  If anyone can do a good fantasy TBS that plays like Master of Magic.

Alkiera

[Righ]

Even if Turbine put together a package that was AC1 + AC2 + MEO + D&DO for $1/month, I'd rather punch myself in the nuts and save the $1.

I'm afraid if the crowd around here is this irrational, anything I say will make me look like HRose.

Just because it is a new year, that's no reason to be nice. The correct response is "I'll give you a buck to punch you in the nuts pal."

[naum]

I thought for a long time that multiplayer MoM would be a holy grail...  But really, any multiplayer game that takes more than a couple hours is gonna lose me.  Setting up times to play over weeks is not gonna work, my friends and I tend not to have schedules that regular.

MP in Dom2 doesn't work like that... ...you have server running that does the "hosting", end of turn processing after all the players have submitted their moves. It's set on a timer, and early game moves take less time than late game where you have armies & spies (& skeptics, assassins,  etc...) all over the world... ...it may take some time to pore over the "game board" and figure out your moves for a turn, but there's no "scheduled time" to meet upon... ....literally, it blows any other TBS multiplayer (except maybe for the old Empire wargame...) away...

[Merusk]

Stardock (the people who did the excellent Galactic Civilizations http://www.galciv.com ) are working on MoM 2.0. They've said that they're trying to actually obtain the license, but will do a "fantasy strategy game with modern graphics" regardless.

http://www.quartertothree.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=301252&highlight=#301252 - discussion.

I own Galciv and really enjoyed it, and still do when I take MMO breaks. I call it the "true" Moo3, even though it's missing the customizeable ships and strategic combat.

However, in order to keep my dreams from being shattered I will remain skeptical until the box is on the shelf.

(glee)

[plummerx]

The list is as notable for what isn't there as what is.

[Signe]

It's too early for mysterious posts!  Dammit!

[Kenrick]

Age of Empires 3 - "Second half of 2005"

http://www.ensemblestudios.com

[schild]

Age of Empires 3 - "Second half of 2005"

Yes.

[Sky]

I was just reading the writeup in the latest pc gamer on AoE III, looks pretty nice, even though I don't care for rts and I'm tired of AoE/M. It's kind of too bad they pulled a lot of the early features like being able to level up units persistently (not just single player, but persistent across multiplayer games as well) and especially some of the more advanced interactions with the native tribes.

Reading the early design form makes it sound an awful lot like Colonization 2, the game I would probably make if a truckload of cash crashed into my house.

You hear that, schild? COLONIZATION 2 BRIAN!!! Sorry, couldn't help myself.

[naum]

Rise of Nations is a great RTS, but seriously, the lure and appeal of RTS gaming just doesn't pull me in anymore -- I figure AoE III will be a next generation advance but it just doesn't excite me after years of Dune, C&C, Red Alert, AoE, TA, Kohan, Warcraft III, etc....