I'm playing:
Star Citizen: Arena Commander
Played it for a couple of hours now.
Absolutely beautiful. Sure, it's only got a few ships and two maps at this point, but it's most definitely the prettiest space game of all time already. The amount of detail that went into making this thing is obscene, really. I'm having a great time just looking at things, which I can't remember having had for years. The damage modeling, the flight model (once you understand how it works), and the amount of detail on the ships are ALL true next gen. Just like they promised, actually. This is a pre-alpha that only represents a tiny portion of the game - and I'm already sold.
The Witcher
Just started.
This will be my ~6th time or so trying to get through it. I could never get past chapter two, but this time I'm going to give it extra effort. I want my decisions to carry over - and after the recent W3 trailer, I just can't deal with not having played it all before starting it up. I wanted to play W2 first and got to Flotsam, and I still love that game, so it was a tough call to stop and go W1 first.
Xenonauts
Just started.
Excellent X-Com game, if a bit dry and sterile. I don't know how much I'll be playing this one. I think the new X-Com (Enemy Within) is great - but it's too short and sort of gimmicky, almost like a board game.
Elite Dangerous
Played for a few hours.
It's pretty nice, slick and polished - but it's also pretty dull. Sure, it's still a ways off - but you can do a lot more stuff than you can in Star Citizen at this point. But none of it is really that much fun. I have a feeling I'll get tired of it relatively fast, unless they implement some interesting gameplay, beyond barebones trading and fighting. That said, the sound design is AMAZING.
Wildstar
Played it for ~10 hours (not including my time with beta).
Had written this off completely, but decided to give it one more shot, and it's actually pretty fun and the post-beta optimization made a big difference. I could have sworn I wouldn't touch it, and it was only after reading one positive impression piece after the other that I thought "what the hell". I think the key to my enjoyment was accepting that it's NOT the kind of MMO I really want to play, but a very good MMO in its own right. It's very, very WoW-ish, but the combat system feels fantastic - and the visuals are already growing on me, which I'd never thought. Also, I've tried three classes so far - Stalker, Engineer and Spellslinger - and they've all felt and played great. That's very rare for me, as I'm usually the kind of guy who knows exactly what to play, and it's rarely a hard choice. I'll probably go Stalker, because I'm a stealth fanatic - but the two others are great fun. Class system is also very flexible and interesting - with lots of neat toys. Essentially, everything but the style and core design is great - which is obviously a subjective call.
Watch Dogs
Played for ~10 hours.
I never expected much from this game, which is a very good thing - because I'd probably have disliked it if I did. Once you accept it's just another GTA clone, you can start to appreciate the good things about it. I think the stealth gameplay is very well done for an open world type of game, and it sometimes reminds me of a simpler Deus Ex - which can never be a bad thing. The visuals are very strong - especially at night, and I think the textures are some of the most detailed I've ever seen. The story is utterly standard stuff, but there's a LOT of sidestuff to do. One of the better aspects of the game is the amount of upgrades you get, though many of them are not that significant. But the sheer amount of ways to progress sort of makes the game work in the end.
Wolfenstein
Played it ~10 hours.
Best pure shooter in a looong time. I'm NOT a pure shooter fan, and I've sadly been distracted by other games, but I was really into it. It has a surprisingly engaging storyline - that's a very strange mixture of over-the-top and serious drama, with a decent amount of humor. But it just works - and the gunplay is fantastic and precise. The engine is a strange beast, though, and I'd say this latest id Tech is a wasted opportunity. Obviously, the megatextures didn't pay off at all - and the install footprint is ridiculous for a game that looks only OK - and nothing more. We're talking 40 GB for a game that looks like it should take up 10 GB at the most. But if you're looking for a highly entertaining but brainless shooter, this is definitely the one to try. It also has a LOT of stuff you can find and read, and a decent amount of upgrades which makes it a tiny bit RPGish. But the characters and the level design is the high point. When I first saw the trailer for the game, I expected a typical suit-designed shooter with a bad 60s setting. I was wrong, the game doesn't feel at ALL like a 60s setting, it feels like WW2 gone extra bad, which is the point.
Hehe, that's four games starting with "W"
