Early last year, we took a look ahead at what were then some highly anticipate game releases, in the post ‘Stunning PC Games in 2020 to Look Forward To!’ As expected, some of those releases wound up being among the best games we saw last year, and so now we want to engage in a similar preview for 2021. Given that we’re still in the early days of the year, there are quite a few exciting games we can still look forward to seeing.
Here are some of our top picks!
New World
New World has been anticipated for some time now and has faced multiple delays, to the point that The Verge recently referred to it as a “troubled” project. That label was in the context of yet another delay pushing the game’s release back to this coming August.
Nevertheless, New World is undeniably exciting. If and when it finally comes out, it will represent an unprecedented foray into MMO gaming by none other than Amazon, which is surely hoping for a hit. The game looks to be an adventurously styled and highly fictionalized take on the Age of Exploration on the Atlantic Ocean. Players will venture through a mystical island, linking up with others to form teams, advancing characters, and gaining new skills to proper off of the land. The game has — fairly — received some early criticism for how it depicts the concept of New World colonization. But if Amazon uses its delays to fine-tune the game and make it more sensitive in this respect, it could be a fascinating and entertaining ride through what basically looks to be historical fantasy.
Biomutant
Want to take on the role of a mutated animal warrior fighting to save an alien planet from both natural disaster and warring tribes? Well, by the sound of things that will basically be the experience in this exciting action RPG. Biomutant allows you to customize your own mutant warrior to take on the quest of saving the Tree of Life on a mysterious planet full of other mutant beings. Judging by trailers and early glimpses of gameplay it’s a gorgeously imagined game, and one that sounds as if it has a satisfyingly intricate RPG setup. You’ll get to tweak your character, conduct diplomacy with tribes, explore the world, and progress on your quest more or less however you see fit.
MONOPOLY Poker
It may well be the case that before too long we’ll stop seeing much effort put into PC poker games. This is because more official apps and browser games are gaining popularity and exposure. A recent article by Poker.org’s Jon Sofen explains that the sign-up process has become quite simple at these online sites. It takes just a little bit of information to create a profile and be playing within minutes. And at the same time, we’re seeing legal access to the same sites gradually expanding (particularly in the U.S.). Thus, before too long anyone who wants to play poker on a computer may simply log onto a real-money multiplayer website to do so (so long as said site still has free-play options).
In the meantime though, there are still PC poker games to enjoy, and MONOPOLY Poker — slated for release sometime quite soon — looks to be the latest gem among them. This title will essentially fuse poker with Monopoly, such that players’ actions on the table influence turns on the Monopoly board, and vice versa. The game will also employ fun graphics, live multiplayer options, and even chat between players. It’s the sort of game you just don’t see too often in the increasingly serious world of online poker, and it’s another we can’t wait to play.
Undying
Like MONOPOLY Poker, Undying is slated for a Steam release in the near future. It’s a game we’ve been hearing about since the middle of 2020, and while at a glance it looks like just another indie zombie experience, there’s just something about it that’s got us hooked. Maybe it’s the eerie trailer music, or the minimalist graphics. Maybe the slight twist that you play a zombie-bitten mother fighting for her son, as opposed to just the same old human trying to survive a zombie invasion. Whatever it is though, we’re eager to see what Undying has to offer when it’s finally made available this summer.
Humankind
We may well have saved the best for last. Humankind is fast becoming one of the most eagerly anticipated PC game releases of 2021, if not the last few years. It is a civilization-building and conquest game that’s being billed by some as an improvement on the likes of Sid Meier’s Civilization or Age Of Empires. As Vice.com’s Rob Zacny’s preview discussed however, there’s a key difference: Humankind wants to make maintaining a civilization a process rather than a race to the finish.
What all that entails, we’ll have to wait and see. But what the Vice preview goes on to explain is that in this game, players have the option of morphing their civilizations. So, rather than picking a group early on and playing with them throughout, you can start with an ancient world tribe and evolve into later civilizations (Myceneans becoming Greeks, and so on). This provides for more options, more ways to adapt mid-game, and a more natural progression through history. It sounds captivating, and it’s the number one game we can’t wait to try this year.