Gallery: The Games We Can't Wait to Play in 2014
01JAZZPUNK
Predicting the biggest games of the year is starting to seem futile. After all, at this time last year we couldn't wait to get our hands on *Beyond: Two Souls* and *SimCity*, and look how those turned out. And who could have seen *Gone Home* or *Papers, Please* coming? Indie games were some of our favorites in 2013, but with thousands and thousands of them in development at any given time, it's extremely difficult to guess which ones will hit. So it may well be that this list is completely wrong. But that's not going to stop us from charging forth anyway. For this year's installment of our most anticipated games, we've tried our best to look beyond the marketing hype for triple-A games and feature the indie projects in development. There's a whole lot to look forward to this year, but the only thing we're sure of is this: When December rolls around, our Games of the Year list will feature a lot of surprises. In the meantime, here's what's already on our radar as the games most likely to be standout experiences. Our longstanding no-wishful thinking rule applies: If a publisher hasn't explicitly said by now that a game is arriving in 2014, it didn't make the list because it probably isn't arriving in 2014. __Above:__ *Jazzpunk* (PC) --------------- PAX expos usually are a whirlwind in which I have precious little time to spend with individual games, but during last fall's show in Seattle I was utterly transfixed by [*Jazzpunk*](http://necrophonegames.com/category/jazzpunk/) for the better part of an hour. It's a first-person adventure with a striking aesthetic and an insane sense of humor. It's impossible to guess what'll happen next, but you can bet it will be funny. *Jazzpunk* should be available this month, so you can experience it for yourself. *-- Chris Kohler* *Release date: January 2014*
02BRAVELY DEFAULT
*Bravely Default* (3DS) ----------------------- The spiritual successor to the well-received *Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light*, Bravely Default looks to be one of the most exciting Japanese RPGs coming to America. Already a [bestseller in Japan](http://www.siliconera.com/2012/10/17/this-week-in-sales-bravely-default-flies-high/), where it launched more than a year ago and already has prompted the development of a sequel, the game features a class system à la *Final Fantasy V* and turn-based combat that centers around banking actions and then unleashing multiple hits at once. A surprisingly robust demo -- I put a solid five hours into it -- is available on the Nintendo eShop. *-- Bo Moore* *Release date: February 7, 2014*
03TITANFALL
*Titanfall* (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PC) ------------------------------------ First-person shooter *Titanfall* is the debut title from Respawn Entertainment, the studio founded after *Call of Duty* kings Jason West and Vince Zampella got the boot at Activision. These aren't regular soldiers: They can double-jump, wall-run and zip around with a jet pack, making for a fast-paced shooter more reminiscent of *Tribes* than *Call of Duty*. And of course, once a giant mech spawns you can jump into the cockpit and stomp around the battlefield with impunity. No, it's not exclusive to Xbox One, but the fact *Titanfall* is not on PS4 could be a huge advantage for Microsoft in the nex-gen wars -- if it's any good. *-- Ryan Rigney* *Release date: March 11, 2014*
04METAL GEAR
*Metal Gear Solid V* (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- A new *Metal Gear Solid* game is always an event. Every iteration introduces fundamentally new concepts while killing half the things you loved about the previous game. Everyone remembers the shock at spending a significant portion of *Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty* as a naked dude. *Metal Gear Solid V*'s addition to the franchise, aside from Roman numerals, will be [open world map design](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-c1a5c55-8) and a much less linear structure. Konami is splitting the release into two parts. A "prologue" called *Ground Zeroes* will be released in March. The full game, *The Phantom Pain*, will be released... at some point. *-- Ryan Rigney* *Release date: March 18, 2014 (and beyond)*
05TELLTALE
*The Walking Dead, Season 2* and *The Wolf Among Us* (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, iOS) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Telltale Games' *The Walking Dead* was [WIRED’s top game of 2012](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gamelife/2012/12/the-10-best-games-of-2012/#slideid-126591) because it wasn’t another zombie game, but a moving story that happened to include zombies. We were so eager to find out what happened to young Clementine that we put the second season on our [list of anticipated games last year](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gamelife/2013/01/most-anticipated-games-2013/?pid=3253). Telltale surprised us by releasing the first episode of its *Fables* series *The Wolf Among Us*, a neo-noir murder mystery with fairy tale characters living out of sight in New York City, just before dropping the first episode of *Walking Dead* season 2. Yes, both games kicked off in 2013, we'd be lying if we said the remaining episodes aren't among the gaming experiences we're most looking forward to this year. *-- Daniel Feit* *Release date: Scattered throughout 2014*
06WITNESS
*The Witness* (PS4, PC) ----------------------- At a glance, *The Witness* appears to be about little more than solving a series of maze-like puzzles. Creator Jonathan Blow insists it's so much more, and given his last game, the time-bending puzzler [*Braid*](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gamelife/2008/08/review-braid-in/), I'm inclined to trust him. It seems like the maze puzzles will be presented in a way that teaches you, without being too overt about it, how to solve more and more complicated ones. That's about the extent of my knowledge about the game, and I intend to keep it that way until it ships. *-- Bo Moore* *Release date: TBD*
07WATCH DOGS
*Watch Dogs* (PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Wii U, PC) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ah, the long-promised *Watch Dogs*. The game, originally slated as a launch title for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One but delayed to 2014, is set in an open-world, alternate reality version of Chicago where an all-seeing operating system called ctOS runs in all the electronic devices around you. But great news: You can hack ctOS too, and much of the fun of the game seems to lie in the creative ways it lets you disrupt the world around you, like changing traffic lights and messing with cellphones. Not only does it transform hacking from a throwaway minigame into a core premise, it offers a novel (but optional) multiplayer element in which you can drop into another player's single-player game, hack him, and take what you gain back to your own game. Filled with the sort of near-future paranoia that’s looking less near-future all the time, *Watch Dogs* may have made us wait, but it still looks like it’s worth it. *--Laura Hudson* *Release date: Q2 2014*
08TRANSISTOR
*Transistor* (PS4, PC) ---------------------- Supergiant Games' debut *Bastion* was one of our [favorite games of 2011](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/gamelife/2011/12/best-games-2011/?pid=2325). It broke away from the action-RPG pack thanks to creative level design and innovative storytelling. Supergiant's sophomore effort [*Transistor*](http://supergiantgames.com/index.php/2013/06/transistor-faq/) is another action-RPG, but one that will mix the traditional free-roaming hack-and-slash experience with turn-based strategy. And even if the game sucks (which it won't), we'll at least be treated to another outstanding original score from returning composer Darren Korb. *-- Bo Moore* *Release date: TBD 2014*
09OCTODAD
*Octodad: Dadliest Catch* (PC, PS4) ----------------------------------- I was of course intrigued by *Octodad* purely by the top-line concept: You are an octopus desperately trying to keep your family from discovering you are an octopus. But it wasn't until I tried a brief hands-on demo last year that I became anxious to play the whole thing. The feeling of clambering around as an uncoordinated octopus was so perfect; the reactions of the game to my input just made me start laughing uncontrollably. That's how you know you've potentially got some dynamite on your hands. *-- Chris Kohler* *Release date: TBD 2014*
10GALAK Z
Galak-Z (PlayStation 4, PC) --------------------------- Galak-Z looks like an arcade-style twin-stick shooter, but it doesn’t play like one. Most videogames of this type present space as a hazard-strewn pathway that runs in a straight line from point A to point B. *Galak-Z* treats space like a desert: dangerous, but not because there's an enemy hiding under every rock. When you encounter hostile spacecraft, they are not instantly on the offensive. They can be alerted by your presence, lured into danger, or avoided altogether. This means there are times when you shouldn’t be shooting, an uncommon experience in this genre. Developed by indie studio 17-Bit (*Skulls of the Shogun*), *Galak-Z* has an authentic '90s Japanese vibe. *-- Daniel Feit* *Release date: TBD 2014*
11HYRULE
*Hyrule Warriors* (Wii U) ------------------------- Man, what is going to happen with this unlikely mashup of *The Legend of Zelda* and *Dynasty Warriors*? Put aside the fact you and I probably could think of 100 developers we'd like to see take on *Zelda* before Tecmo Koei ever got its hands on it, because this is what we're getting. I don't know if it'll be a surprisingly interesting spin on the series that (Nintendo surely hopes) will revive *Zelda* sales in Japan, or if it'll be like watching your dog get euthanized. Either way, I'm really curious to find out. *-- Chris Kohler* *Release date: Summer 2014 in Japan, 2014 in the U.S.*
12RAPTURE
*Everybody's Gone to the Rapture* (PS4) --------------------------------------- The Chinese Room's *Dear Esther* was a unique experiment in game storytelling that had very little interactivity. Spiritual successor *Rapture* looks to be something more like *Gone Home*, in that you'll have the ability to pick things up, manipulate objects, etc. It'll follow six people left behind at the end of the world after most of humanity has disappeared. It'll probably be better than *Left Behind: The Video Game*. *-- Chris Kohler* *Release date: TBD 2014*
13DESTINY
*Destiny* (Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4) ------------------------------------------------------------ As the first non-*Halo* game created by Bungie in nearly 15 years, and the first created under the studio's publishing deal with Activision, the open-world, online shooter *Destiny* has a lot riding on it. Few studios have a better track record than Bungie when it comes to producing highly polished shooters with innovative online elements. That's pretty much the only thing this studio does, in fact, and that's the only part that is potentially worrying: Is this game going to fundamentally feel just like another *Halo*, or bring something truly new? *-- Ryan Rigney* *Release date: September 9, 2014*
14SMASH BROS
*Super Smash Bros. U* (Wii U, 3DS) ---------------------------------- Is *Smash Bros.* series director Masahiro Sakurai trying to lower expectations for his game? He got out front with most of the bad news -- a smaller roster, no cross-platform play between 3DS and Wii U, few new third-party characters -- in [a lengthy interview with Kotaku](http://kotaku.com/an-in-depth-chat-with-the-genius-behind-super-smash-bro-530744390) last June. Since then there's been a tantalizing trickle of character reveals, most of which concern characters that were already playable in older versions of this Nintendo all-star fighting game series. For fans, it's becoming a waiting game to see which characters we love won't make it in. I'm not worried, though.They definitely wouldn't cut my favorite character, Falco, right? *-- Ryan Rigney* *Release date: TBD 2014*
