15 reasons why 2022 is going to be epic for gaming
2022 is poised to be a fantastic year for gamers, with a host of highly-anticipated next-generation titles a long time in the making finally being launched.
The Covid-19 pandemic has delayed the development and launch of numerous games originally set to release in 2021.
Screenrant claims that should some rumoured titles yet to be confirmed for 2022 also make their appearance, the year might be one of the best for gaming since 2011.
To put that into perspective, 2011 saw the release of titles like Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3, Dark Souls, Batman: Arkham City, Portal 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and Gears of War 3.
Looking ahead at the most high-profile titles, role-playing games (RPGs) and third-person action-adventure titles with open worlds will dominate the year.
Here are 15 of the most eagerly anticipated games to look forward to in 2022.
Elden Ring
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 25 February 2022
Elden Ring is the result of a collaboration between Hidetaka Miyazaki, the main brain behind the Souls series, and George RR Martin, the creator of the hit fantasy novels and TV show Game of Thrones.
Unlike its spiritual predecessors, Elden Ring is set in an open world.
Players will have to craft their characters carefully to battle hordes of dangerous enemies and tough bosses in the vast realm of the Lands Between, which includes castles, fortresses and catacombs.
Starfield
- Platforms: PC, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 11 November 2022
Bethesda’s first space-based open-world RPG was officially announced in 2018 and has been described by Todd Howard himself as “Skyrim in space”.
The game is set in the year 2310 in an area called The Settled Systems, approximately 50 light-years away from our solar system.
Players will take on the role of a fully-customisable main character who is a member of Constellation, an organisation of space explorers.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chernobyl
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 28 April 2022 (PlayStation release delayed)
After more than a decade of delays and cancellations, the first fully-fledged sequel to GSC Game World’s post-apocalyptic cult hit S.T.A.L.K.E.R will finally see the light of day.
Set in a fictionalised version of the Exclusion Zone in and around the infamous Chernobyl nuclear power plant, players have to fight enemy factions and mutants, all the while trying to survive the plethora of deadly radioactive anomalies around them.
Horizon: Forbidden West
- Platforms: PS4, PS5
- Release date: 18 February 2022
Horizon Forbidden West continues the story of Aloy, a huntress in a post-apocalyptic world filled with dangerous machines.
The new instalment will be set in the Western United States, with a larger open-world map that includes underwater exploration.
Gotham Knights
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: Sometime in 2022
An open-world action RPG set in what its creators have labelled “the most dynamic and interactive” Gotham City yet in a video game, developed by WB Games Montréal, the same studio behind Batman: Arkham Origins.
Players will be able to play as Batman’s former partners, Batgirl, Robin, Nightwing, or Red Hood, as they fight to prevent the city from descending into chaos following the Caped Crusader’s apparent death.
God of War: Ragnarok
- Platforms: PS4, PS5
- Release date: Sometime in 2022
The ninth title in the God of War Series will see the legendary demigod warrior Kratos and his now teenage son Atreus set out to prevent Ragnarok, the series of events in Norse mythology that leads to the end of days.
The pair will seek out the Norse God of War Tyr for answers to the previous game’s revelation of Atreus’s identity.
Along the way, they will face new threats, including Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, and Freya, who are seeking vengeance for the deaths of their respective sons at the hands of Kratos.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandor
- Platforms: PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: Sometime in 2022
The first return to James Cameron’s colourful and lively planet of Pandora might arrive on your TV or monitor and not on the cinema screen with Avatar 2, coming December 2022.
In Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, players will don the role of the alien Na’vi and journey across the Western Frontier, a region of Pandora not shown in the film or previous game, as they push back the forces of the Resources Development Administration (RDA).
Hogwarts: Legacy
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: Sometime in 2022
While previous Harry Potter titles offered a slice of open-world gameplay in and around Hogwarts, Legacy is expected to kick things up a notch, with large parts of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World waiting to be explored.
The game will put players in the shoes of a student at the much-loved school of magic, where they will be able to choose their Hogwarts House, attend classes, and explore the castle and its surrounding areas.
Gameplay will include casting spells, brewing potions, and taming magical beasts.
Kerbal Space Program 2
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: Sometime in 2022
After several delays, Kerbal Space Program 2 is expected to finally release in 2022.
The space simulator will build on the sandbox features of its predecessor while adding new propulsion methods, habitation modules for surface building, orbital and planetary colonies, interstellar travel, and a multiplayer mode.
Dying Light 2: Stay Human
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S
- Release date: 4 February 2022
After two delays, Dying Light 2 Stay Human went gold at the end of November 2021, more than two months before its new release date. That means the developers can now dedicate time to polishing the game and ironing out any bugs.
The survival horror game features a zombie-filled apocalyptic open world in which you will play as main protagonist Aiden Caldwell, an adept traceur.
You will be able to perform over 3,000 parkour animations that include climbing ledges, sliding, leaping off edges, and wall running to quickly navigate through a hostile city.
Rainbow Six: Extraction
- Platforms: PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X:S
- Release date: January 2022
A radical departure from its previous focus on realism, the Rainbow Six series is going all-out sci-fi in 2022.
This time around, the tactical cooperative multiplayer shooter will see teams fight against parasite-like aliens called the Archaens.
Gran Turismo 7
- Platforms: PS4, PS5
- Release date: 4 March 2022
Gran Turismo games often tend to be a showcase for what developers can achieve in terms of graphics on PlayStation consoles.
The eighth mainline instalment in the series will bring back the GT Simulation Mode, that includes the popular single player campaign.
Forspoken
- Platforms: PC, PS5
- Release date: 24 May 2022
Square Enix’s Forspoken will have a slightly different approach to the typical action-adventure game, with a clear focus on terrain traversal speed and fluidity.
The game’s main story sees Frey Holland, a young woman from New York City, transported to the fantasy world of Athia, where she receives magical powers to help her survive and find her way home.
Ghostwire: Tokyo
- Platforms: PC, PS5
- Release date: Sometime in 2022
In this upcoming first-person action-adventure, players will take on the role of Akito, a protoganist who develops psychic and paranormal powers following the disappearance of nearly all of Tokyo’s residents in a mysterious supernatural event.
The game’s combat has been described as “karate meets magic”, with Akito using hand movements inspired by Kuji-Kiri hand gestures to cast spells.
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2
- Platforms: Nintendo Switch
- Release date: Sometime in 2022
Nintendo might not have the biggest roster of games, but when it does launch a title, it tends to strike all the right chords.
Expectations for the sequel to the original Breath of the Wild will be very high. While Nintendo is aiming to release the game in 2022, effectively nothing else is known about the title, including its official name.
Loading ...