Upcoming Games - Day 2

We’re getting close to E3 2016, the annual video games convention held in Los Angeles. That means we’re about to get a bunch of previews for games that will be coming out either this year or in 2017, and in that spirit I thought I’d dedicate this week to highlighting several of the games I’m personally looking forward to. Each day I’ll feature two games and a short description of what they are and why I’m interested in them.

Today’s showcase brings us a game about transhumanism and a game with robot dinosaurs.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
   

The Deus Ex games take place in a future where technology has risen to new heights and advanced cybernetics are giving humans powers and abilities once unimaginable. In the preceding game, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, you played as Adam Jensen, the security chief of one of the major corporations that was developing various human augmentations. After a mysterious group raids Adam’s company and leaves him within an inch of death, Adam himself is heavily augmented and tasked by his boss to track down the people who attacked them. Deus Ex: Mankind Divided picks up Human Revolution’s storyline, though it’s not clear which of Human Revolution’s four endings became canonical, if any. In Mankind Divided, the non-augmented human population has become paranoid about potential threats from augmented humans, and they are being rounded up and isolated from the rest of humanity. Adam Jensen returns to once again to unravel a global conspiracy, and maybe this time it won’t turn out that nearly everyone’s lying to him. One of the reasons I’m looking forward to Mankind Divided is that it looks like it will have the same tactical flexibility as Human Revolution for how you approach missions. Granted, my preferred method in Human Revolution involved a revolver with explosive ammunition, but I appreciate that I could have snuck by everyone instead.

Horizon: Zero Dawn
    

Horizon: Zero Dawn comes to us from Guerrilla Games, the studio responsible for the Killzone series. I’m glad to see Guerrilla trying something new, and Horizon: Zero Dawn looks like a fresh beginning for them. Horizon: Zero Dawn is set in a post apocalyptic future where most of humanity is gone and nature has reclaimed the world. Roaming the wilds are gigantic robot dinosaurs, which your character, Aloy, hunts for raw materials. I’m sure there’s some sort of story somewhere in this game, but for now it looks so cool that I don’t even care if there is none. The world looks vibrant, colorful, and it reminds me a lot of Enslaved: Odyssey to the west, another post apocalyptic games with robots that I enjoyed a lot. Last year we got a gameplay demo of Horizon: Zero Dawn, but there’s not been much word on the game since, so this year I’m expecting an update at E3.