2021 is set to be an exciting year. We have some great titles to look forward to as gamers. Check some out here.
While films are postponed and new television is becoming thin on the ground, 2021 is going to be as big as ever for video games. You probably have a few on your wishlist already but in case you’ve got a dry week or two in your calendar, here’s what to watch out for:
PC (early access)
First on our list is a Kickstarter-funded space looter shooter game that gives Star Wars Squadrons a run for its money. Or credits. Or whatever. This is only the early access version but it’s still going to be a visual spectacle of dogfights, interstellar discovery and exploding asteroids.
PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, Series S, Switch, PC
Hitman is just about the only AAA franchise in the stealth genre that’s still going. And it’s likely to be your only chance to hide in a crowd this January. While Valhalla is basically a Viking game with assassinations tacked on the side, Hitman 3 is the real covert deal.
Xbox Series X and Series S, PC
In case one world wasn’t enough, you can occupy two simultaneously in the Medium. Unfortunately, one of them is occupied by a horrifying monster. But at least that monster is voiced by Troy Baker.
Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, Series S, Android, PC
If by February your bones aren’t chilled enough to your liking, Little Nightmares will be here for you. Imagine someone took EA’s cute Unravel game and traded the woollen thread for bloodied limbs, the tranquil forests for invested playhouses, and the melancholic art style for something headless.
PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, Series S, PC, Stadia
Ubisoft’s flagship game of 2021 will offer yet another vast open world to explore. The trailer promises a gritty revolution setting but if previous Far Crys are anything to go by, the grenades will still fly as readily as new year fireworks.
PS5
Towards the end of March, Returnal will celebrate the imminent arrival of Spring by sending you through bullet hell. There’s going to be lasers and lightning, tentacles and trippy-looking bats, furious-paced firefights and a sense that everything is trying to break you.
PS5, Xbox Series X, Series S, PC
So Resident Evil Village is coming this year and if the rumours are true we can expect it sometime in April, bringing infected cheer to everything in reach of its fingernails. The good news is that it’s not just zombies trying to claw your face off this time, there are werewolves too.
PS5, PC
If the past twelve months haven’t felt enough like Groundhog day for you you can relive the same day over and over again in Deathloop. Except, of course, that here the time-loop involves trying to take out an assassin before they take you.
PC
The gaming world is watching as Amazon takes their first stab at an MMORPG. And whether it sinks or swims in its own Reekwater, New World will be one to pay attention to in 2021.
PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, Series S, PC
17 years on from the last instalment, Bloodlines 2 has you enter the underground society of Seattle to survive, feed and navigate the labyrinth of vampire politics. With role-playing elements as deep as the game’s tabletop roots, Bloodlines 2 is one to sink your teeth into.
Xbox One, Series X, Series S, PC
In case Deathloop didn’t satisfy your craving for time loops, 12 minutes will give you a chance to turn the clock back all over again (and again, and again). Powered by a star-studded cast and intriguing game direction, Twelve Minutes might be the most inventive thriller of the year.
PS5
Possibly the closest you’ll get to play a game made by Pixar this year, Rift Apart is going to be a bright spectacle of wormhole jumps, impossible gadgetry and perfectly timed quips. And in case your assortment of inventive missiles isn’t enough, you’ll always be able to hit things with a wrench.
PS4, Xbox One, Series X, Series S, PC
Double Fine is finally releasing the sequel to the first game they ever developed. Once again you’re an acrobatic, psychic-powered bug thing who explores the brains of different characters, platforming across some of the most psychedelic environments in video games.
Xbox One, Series X, Series S, PC
While this game didn’t get the best showing in Xbox’s 2020 demo, after a full year’s extra polish and a huge legacy backing it, the hype for this game is still at a level that can only really be reserved for Halo. Though in this Infinite’s ever-expanding open world, we may never finish this fight.
PS5, (currently unconfirmed for PS4)
Does it need much explanation? It’s God of War. It’s the next one after the last one. Thor’s probably in it. There’s probably going to be axes thrown, Mimir jokes made and a heartbreaking story told. And of course, many gruff shouts of, “Boy!”
PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, Series S, PC
Disclaimer: This has now been pushed back to 2022! 😒
If Warner Brothers finally crack the Hogwarts RPG it will make some serious galleons for them. For those of us who get to explore the castle’s many secrets, it’ll feel like a half-giant walking through the door on our birthday and saying, “You’re a wizard.”
PS4, PS5
Like the first Horizon but with ocean exploration, a collapsing biosphere, and mechanical mammoths that look every bit as deadly as the Oliphants from the Return of the King. For All-Mother!
PS5, PC
Created by the same developers as The Evil Within, Ghostwire Tokyo might not be a pure horror game but it’s a downright creepy action/adventure. If you didn’t have paranormal abilities yourself, you might tread a little more cautiously through this spectral city.
PC, PS4, PS5
Humans seemingly no longer exist, the world is inhabited by robots, and you play as a cat. Yes, a cat. Not the cartoon kind that stands on two legs, talks and has mysterious powers. You’re just a cat. Which makes this little-hyped game utterly fascinating.
PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Series X, Series S, PC,
So it’s not quite the sequel to the Arkham trilogy but it’s still a Batman game. Even if it doesn’t have Batman in it. It’s a go-solo or co-op adventure with Batgirl, Robin, Red Hood and that other guy in blue - and it might just make the best superhero game of 2021.
PS5
Gran Turismo 7 is set to push the PS5’s throttle to the floor. DualSense technology is going to give a different feel to tarmac and gravel, and it’ll add different levels of resistance to the accelerator and brakes. With 3D audio surrounding you with the roar of the racetrack, this is going to be one to listen out for.
Nintendo Switch
It’s announced. No one knows when it’s coming. And Nintendo has made a habit of committing to radio silence until moments before a game release. So it might just happen this year. If it does, every eye will be on it.
What’s your personal lineup of games not to miss in 2021? Draft your own lineup and publish it on our site.
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