5 Biggest 2017 Gaming Surprises That Had us Shook

The Scalebound Cancellation

Things didn’t get off to the best start for Xbox fans in 2017. PlatinumGames’ upcoming Xbox One exclusive action title, Scalebound, got canceled less than 10 days into the year by publisher Microsoft Studios. The publisher’s statement at the time didn’t go into the reasons for the project being canceled, but according to Eurogamer, “continuing issues surrounding the game’s engine and overdue deadlines” led to its demise.

Though we hadn’t seen a whole ton of Scalebound leading up to its cancellation, many Xbox fans had been excited to finally get their hands on the title that was originally announced back in 2014. Scalebound’s cancellation also painted a pretty bleak forecast for Xbox One’s exclusive lineup for the rest of the year. Microsoft Studios’ official statement at the time even mentioned Halo Wars 2, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, and Sea of Thieves were all part of the Xbox One’s lineup for the year. Alas, only Halo Wars 2 made it out this year.

Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle Turns Out to be Great

Admit it. When you first heard the rumors that the Nintendo Switch would be getting a Mario and Rabbids crossover title, you immediately wrote it off. That’s ok, pretty much everyone else did as well. Yet, when Nintendo and Ubisoft officially revealed Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle at E3 earlier this year, and when we finally got our hands on it, it took everyone by surprise. This wasn’t some mini-game compilation. This was a seriously fun and deep take from Nintendo on the turn-based strategy genre.

We were pleasantly surprised by the form Mario + Rabbids took. After all, you couldn’t blame Nintendo for being protective of Mario and the rest of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, with Ubisoft managing to do such an excellent job with Nintendo’s iconic IP, there’s some hope that we could see more of these crossovers in the future, perhaps even with other developers.

EA Shuts Down Visceral Games

We’re in some sort of Star Wars renaissance period right now. Star Wars is everywhere. Movies every year, multiple Star Wars Battlefront games, and Visceral Games had been working on a single-player Star Wars action game, too. At least they were until EA shut down Visceral Games just last month.

The closure of Visceral was painful on a number of different levels. Not only did this mean the extraordinarily talented folks at the studio were out of jobs, including former Uncharted Creative Director and Writer, Amy Hennig, but also because there had been so much buzz around the Star Wars project the team was working on. With Battlefront 2’s underwhelming campaign, Visceral’s story-based, linear adventure could have been exactly what fans were looking for.

Instead, the project will change in design, focusing on being “a broader experience that allows for more variety and player agency” as it’s handed over to a new team from across EA Worldwide Studios.

We’ll never know how Visceral’s Star Wars experience would have turned out, but the shutting of the studio and shifting in vision was definitely one of the year’s biggest surprises.

We Actually Enjoyed Metal Gear Survive

Metal Gear Survive isn’t a true Metal Gear game, that’s fair to say. But that doesn’t mean that it can’t be a fun time all the same. Like you, we were skeptical when Metal Gear Survive was first released. It didn’t seem to have any of the DNA of the series at its core, and we even broke down a number of inconsistent lore points in the game here, too.

However, we played it at E3 this year and, y’know what, it may not be the tactical stealth espionage adventure the series is so well-known for, but it kinda works. Though this was just a short hands-on session with the game and far from our final verdict, we came away from Metal Gear Survive a little more optimistic than we had been beforehand.

The Switch’s Strong 2017

After a rather abysmal performance with the Wii U, Nintendo needed to set the record straight with the system’s successor. Late last year, we got our first glimpse of the Nintendo Switch – a hybrid system of sorts that allowed us to take AAA console titles on the go – and that was just the beginning.

The Nintendo Switch has had a formidable 2017 since it released in March. Almost every single month since has seen the release of at least one first-party exclusive, and the number of excellent indie titles now available on the eShop is certainly impressive. Plus, in the space of about eight months, players had received The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Mario Odyssey – not only two of Nintendo’s biggest franchises, but the two highest-rated titles of the year on Metacritic so far, and of all-time.

The Switch isn’t perfect, and in terms of its multimedia offerings, it still has a way to go. But, in contrast to the Wii U’s small library of software, the Switch’s first year has gone a long way in alleviating fans’ fears that we might be in for a repeat ride.