Choosing the Next Video Game

With Mass Effect: Andromeda completed, and probably not earning another playthrough immediately, it’s time for the happy task of choosing the next game!

After some research, I’ve got it tentatively narrowed down to three. (I say tentatively narrowed, because there’s no guarantee I won’t get two or even all three, haha!)

First one I’m considering is Steel Division: Normandy ’44. Quite a mouthful, that title, but descriptive. It centers on, unsurprisingly, the part of World War II fought mostly in France after the Allies’ Normandy Invasion. It’s a realtime strategy game firmly in the historical mode. It comes to us from the makers of Red Dragon, which I never got around to playing but always wanted to. Word is the single player is mediocre but the multiplayer is rather enjoyable and remarkably friendly to new players.

Next is Endless Space 2. It’s a 4X game (that wonderful genre that includes Civilization and Europa Universalis). I tried Endless Legend, the Earthbound entry from publisher Amplitude, a few years ago. I had a hard time cracking it. It was a lot like Civ, but different enough I had a hard time getting into it for some reason, though most people I talked to liked it better than I did. ES2 is getting a lot of good buzz for the company again, and since I do love me some 4X fun, this one is calling to me.

And then there’s Prey. I don’t exactly know what to say about it. I think it’s a first-person action game with horror flourishes. It’s less my kind of game than the others, but it’s supposed to have good graphics–which would be a motivation for me to put together my new computer from the parts sitting next to me here as I write this. And I heard a few people throw out a Bioshock comparison or two, though as the weeks go on and I’m not hearing it as much, it’s probably a safe bet Prey won’t be elbowing its way onto the all time great lists.

In the meantime, I’m playing a fresh game of Crusader Kings 2, starting as the Jarl of Sjaelling in Copenhagen. I’m currently emperor of all Scandinavia with my eye on subduing those pesky Scots. (I’m about a third into that endeavor, but damn are they firsky on the battlefield!)