The Top 25 Most Wanted Video Games of 2015

2014 has been a mixed bag for big games so far. As well as some truly great releases, such as the recent Middle-earth: Shadow Of Mordor, we've seen some high expectations dashed, as big name releases fail to deliver on their promises, and we've seen many anticipated titles pushed back into next year. It's been a year of PS4 dominance, with the Xbox One still playing catch up, and it's even seen the Wii U gain a better foothold with some more promising titles being released for the troubled Nintendo platform.

We've still got a couple of months to go in 2014, and at the moment the release schedule is picking up speed fast, approaching the lucrative festive period. For many, though, 2015 is when many of the biggest and potentially best titles are set to arrive, and we'd tend to agree. 2015 looks set to be one of the best years in gaming for some time, with some big names on the way, new IPs launched, and the return of some old faces in new guises. So, we picked our top 25 titles out of next year's schedule, and here they are. Of course, this is based on games we know are coming, and new announcements and reveals cannot be taken into account.

25. Obduction

The classic Mystseries has always been divisive, and despite being one of the best-selling games ever made, there's no middle ground. It's a true love or hate relationship, and the slideshow puzzler is either your perfect idea of a brain-bending challenge, or your own personal yawn-fest of boredom. Even with the series' move into 3D first, and third person exploration and puzzling, it's never really won over its critics.

Despite the contrasting opinion, Cyan's series has a huge, loyal following, and I'd certainly count myself as one of them, so the Kickstarted Obduction is a title that makes it onto this list. It's been a while since the last Myst release, and Obduction looks set to deliver the difficult puzzling and engrossing exploration the series revels in, all with a new direction and an intriguing new world.

24. Quantum Break

Quantum Break was one of the first games revealed for the Xbox One, and although the console has been out a for a year, we've still to actually get our hands on the hybrid game and TV show creation from Max Payne creator, Remedy.

2015 will finally see the arrival of the game, and Xbox One owners will decide if all the waiting was worth it, and we'll also see how Microsoft delivers on the fusion of game and TV show. How will players impact the TV show, and vice versa? More importantly, will the game be any good, or will the new direction land in gimmick territory?

23. Shadow Realms

We still don't know a great deal about the new title from BioWare (some gameplay was shown at Gamescom), but the idea of a new online action RPG set in a world crafted by BioWare is enough to get our role playing juices flowing. It'll boast 4v1 story-driven gameplay, and promises dynamic co-op missions and an evolving world. It’ll feature third-person play and combat that looks very similar to Dragon Age and Diablo.

The 4v1 approach sounds very similar to D&D, where one player takes control of the enemy legions, whilst the other four cooperate to triumph over the dungeon master, but we'll have to wait and see if that's how the game plays. One thing's for sure, a new BioWare RPG is something to get excited about.

22. Hellraid

Here's some more co-op dungeon crawling, this time randomly generated first person action from the team at Techland (Dead Island). Hellraid may be relativity low on many people's radars, but the four-player co-op, and the online Game Master mode is enough to make this a title to keep an eye on, as well as it's similarity to the Dead Island series.

It's been described as a mix of Dead Islandand The Elder Scrolls, which sounds like a great mash-up to me, and it's been called a spiritual successor to classic Raven title Hexen. We'll see much more about the game in the following months, but this should be one to watch.

21. Battleborn

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel has just landed, delivering more of the same Borderlands actions fans want, and with Battleborn, Gearbox is delivering more co-op action, but this time it'll also boast some MOBA elements.

Gearbox calls the game a 'next-gen hero shooter', and the game is coming from the same team behind Borderlands. It'll feature another selection of powerful combatants, and as well as the inclusion of proper PvP modes.

20. Mad Max

With Mad Max: Fury Roadlooking pretty damn impressive, next year should be the year of the road warrior, as we'll get the new Mad Max game from Just Cause developer, Avalanche Studios.

Mad Max will be an open world action title that'll mix vehicular and on-foot combat set within Max's post apocalyptic world. Being a Mad Max game, there'll be plenty of warped and twisted gangs to deal with, and a powerful, upgradable vehicle for Max to drive called the Magnum Opus.

As well as a focus on melee combat (ammo for ranged weapons will be scarce), the game will include stealth options, and a full crafting and advancement system will allow players to improve Max, and his vehicle and weapons. Max's goal is to find his lost Interceptor (the car that featured mainly in the second film).

With experience crafting both open world and vehicle-based action, Avalanche has a chance to deliver a great Mad Maxgame, and we hope both the movie and the game deliver when they arrive next year.

19. Let It Die

The next game from Grasshopper Manufacture is this free-to-play slasher. To be released for the PS4, along with a mobile companion app, Let It Die has been touted as an 'extreme action game', and will feature plenty of fact-paced online combat.

As it's from Suda51, we can expect a title that doesn't shy away from quirky and original concepts. In fact, Suda has already confirmed that player deaths won't be the usual gaming occurrence, and dying on one game will result in you appearing in another person's instance. There'll also be plenty of AI enemies to fight, and no doubt all manner of strange content.

18. Mortal Kombat X

Mortal Kombat's return in the ninth major game in the series was a genuine success, and is one of the best fighters released for a very long time. It also included an interesting and enjoyable story mode, something few other fighters have managed. This carried over into the equally good Injustice: Gods Among Us.

The advances made in both the return of Mortal Kombat and Injusticehave been carried over to the next installment, Mortal Kombat X, and from what we've seen so far, it could be the best in the series.

Visually brilliant, and boasting some of the most gruesome and disturbing fatalities yet, the game incorporates environmental interaction from Injustice, and mixes in a new role system that gives each combatant several different fighting styles and specials, making for the most complex MK so far.

17. Final Fantasy XV

Although opinion might be a little divided on the fifteenth Final Fantasy entry, the change in art style, and the road trip, open world setting is far more interesting in my opinion, and although not traditional Final Fantasy, its direction may be a good thing for the series in the long run.

The game will be set in the Fabula Nova Crystallis universe, which may or may not cause you to lose interest, depending on your opinion of the Final Fantasy XIII games. However, even if you didn't like those releases, don't rule XV out, as it's a totally new story, with new characters and a different world.

Using a combat system similar to Kingdom Hearts, as well as incorporating vehicles, Final Fantasy XV could be an impressive outing for the long-running series.

16. The Order: 1886

Like the Xbox One's Quantum Break, The Order: 1886 was one of the first titles announced for the PS4, and like Quantum Break, it's also not out yet. We'll finally get to see what Gears of War would look like on a Sony machine in 2015.

Okay, so there should be more to the game than a simple GoW clone, but even if it simply riffs on the Microsoft flagship title, it's no bad thing, and if The Ordermanages to capture the same silky smooth cover-based combat, PS4 owners will be in for a great, steampunk-themed outing in an alternate 1800s monster-slaying adventure.

15. Xenoblade Chronicles X

The original Xenoblade Chronicles is hailed as one of the best RPGs ever created, and its sequel is shaping up to be every bit the worthy follow up, and is exclusive to the Wii U, giving Nintendo's console a much-needed boost in terms of must-have titles.

It'll be another large, open world RPG, and allows players to travel and fight in massive robots called Dolls. These robots can fly and transform into other vehicles, which should make for some great action and boss battles. The battle system will retain the classic Xenoblade feel, and as it's exclusive to the Wii U, it'll also boast plenty of improvements and mechanics that'll make use of the Wii U's features.

14. Rainbow Six: Siege

The reveal of Rainbow Six: Siege at this year's E3 was not only a surprise, but also a highlight. Although the demonstration itself was probably scripted and not entirely accurate to gameplay (a big trend in recent times), the idea of the game is great, and is a good move for the series, which has been dormant for a while now.

Instead of the usual global fight against terrorism that the Rainbow Sixtitles usually feature, Siege will instead pit teams against each other in SWAT vs. Terrorist missions. One team will plays as the criminals, securing the location and blockading doors and areas, as well as moving hostages to defensible positions, whist the Rainbow team will have to plan their assault in order to surprise the enemy and minimize hostage casualties.

The demo we saw looked very promising, with a large focus on real teamwork and communication, on both sides, and the smaller scale, shorter matches may make this a new online favorite.

13. Star Wars: Battlefront

Being developed by DICE, the team behind the Battlefield series, the new Star Wars: Battlefront promises to be the ultimate Star Warsbattle experience, according to EA. Like its predecessors by Pandemic, it'll feature recreations of famous battles from the series history.

Although DICE has said the game will be a reboot of the license, Battlefront will stick to it's series' roots, mixing on-foot infantry combat with vehicles, including a wide selection of types, from speeder bikes to AT-STs. Locations we know will be included include the icy Hoth and the jungles of Endor. Also, given the recent disconnect and wipe of the extended Star Wars universe, we know that future Star Warsgames, including Battlefront, will all be canon, connected to the movies, which could be interesting.

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