Hellblade
When Ninja Theory first unveiled Hellblade for the PS4 back in August 2014 with an announcement trailer, fans were in awe of the stunning visuals. It didn’t give too much of the story away, either. All we know is that we’ll be taking control of a badass female warrior in a post-apocalyptic world that also seems to be driven by tribes and filled with voodoo magic and creepy creatures. As promising as this next game from the makers of Enslaved and DMC looks, we haven’t heard all that much about it since.
Yes, Ninja Theory has been posting developer diary updates over on the official site, but it’s not the gameplay or juicy details that games normally save for the likes of E3 or Gamescom. Players are still very much in the dark about things and with the last trailer having come almost a year ago, it’s unsurprising that fans may be a little concerned regarding the progress of the title. Fortunately, Hellblade did appear in Sony’s video showcasing what fans could look forward to in 2017 and beyond, so it seems likely that we’ll be at least getting some more news sometime this month.
Tacoma
Fullbright, the studio behind the smash-hit Gone Home back in 2013 is set to release Tacoma later this year on the Xbox One and the PC. In the same narrative-driven ‘walking simulator’ genre as its predecessor, Tacoma will take players to a Lunar Transfer Station 200,000 miles away from Earth that just so happens to get by the same name as the game. Unfortunately, very little else is actually known about the game. However, from the announcement trailer for the Xbox One back in 2015, it seems as though the story will focus on a male and female character, as well as an AI named Odin.
Tacoma was originally supposed to release on both PC and Xbox One last year, but Fullbright opted to delay the title’s release until Q2 this year. While the scarcity of details may seem concerning with Tacoma’s impending release, it’s likely that Fullbright will just be keeping things under wraps to ensure its story is just as hard-hitting as Gone Home. Still, it sure would be nice to see a little more of it before we finally get our hands on it, though.
EA and Visceral Games’ Star Wars
We’ve known about the Star Wars game being developed by Visceral Games for quite some time now, but the developer has stayed tight-lipped ever since. Other than a 15-second teaser, composed of early in-game footage and concept art, fans have been left in the dark about the project. At least, that was the case until former writer for the Uncharted series, Amy Hennig, who has jumped ship to Visceral Games to become the game’s creative director, let slip some details at 2016’s Star Wars Celebration.
Even with these details, we still don’t know any of the specifics. While there will be new characters, tech, planets, and creatures, that’s about it. Though the game isn’t due to release until 2018, we’re really hoping to see more of the upcoming action title in 2017. A proper trailer or a gameplay breakdown at one of the big industry events this year would be just what fans need to really start getting excited for the upcoming title. For now, though, we’ll just have to sit back and wait for the details to drop.
Dreams
Dreams feels like the next logical step for developer Media Molecule to take after its successes with the LittleBigPlanet series. Players will be thrown into a fantasy world where quite literally anything is possible. You’ll explore the Dreams (levels) created by the development team and other players, as well as create your own to share with the rest of the community. While we’ve definitely seen quite a bit to get the gist of what Dreams is, it’s been a while since we really heard anything major coming from the studio.
Back at E3 in 2015, we saw Dreams being demoed as a title for Sony’s PSVR headset. It certainly looked intriguing, with the demonstrator using the Move controllers to sculpt his own characters and artifacts for use within his world, but the news certainly slowed down in 2016. Media Molecule used its YouTube and social media accounts to give players quick glimpses of how the game worked, but no release date has been given, nor just how much content players will be getting on the disc, or how easy it will be to create things for those lacking arts and crafts skills such as myself. After it seemed to be quite a big push for Sony in 2015, the relative quietness in 2016 was a bit of a shock. Hopefully, that’ll all change in 2017 and we’ll maybe even have the game in our hands by the end of the year.
Wild
Another title in Sony’s exclusive arsenal that appears to have fallen off the radar is WiLD. Announced back in 2014 at Gamescom, before being shown a little more in 2015 at Paris Games Week, the game puts players in control of a shaman who has the ability to summon creatures and team up with the forces of nature in order to complete his objectives. That means summoning a bear to make your way across a river on, using an eagle to scout out an enemy outpost up ahead, and plenty more. Unfortunately, exactly what his overarching mission is other than merely surviving in this dangerous world remains to be seen. But the game definitely has a voodoo vibe to its mysterious proceedings.
Ever since that 2015 gameplay walkthrough at PGW, developer Wild Sheep Studio has gone quiet on Wild. It’s a shame, too, as the game looks like it’s shaping up to be a truly unique and interesting experience. Here’s hoping that we’ll get another look at it sometime in 2017.
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