FAQ: What MMO Are You Most Anticipating in 2015? .

It’s a new year and we’re bringing back one of the fan favorite columns, FAQ! Every Friday our writers will answer the same question. It could be as simple as “What do you plan on playing this weekend” to something more complex like “Why are subscriptions becoming a thing of the past.” This week we asked our writers which MMO they’re looking forward to most this year. Is the MMO you’re looking forward to most included?

Jonathan Doyle – Warhammer 40,000 Eternal Crusade

What am I most looking forward to in 2015? Normally this would be easy. The oft delayed and much desired The Division from Ubisoft still has me waiting. Waiting and wanting. However… it’s not what I am most looking forward to this year. The Division will be fun, it will be different for me and it will be a nice team experience. However this is all assumption based on what I’ve been able to watch and read. The game I am most looking forward to is Warhammer 40,000 Eternal Crusade. Logically, it’s also a game that’s only something I’ve been able to watch and read about. I haven’t had the chance to play in any early alpha bits or anything. Instead I spent Christmas going through my steam library and turning all those games up to 11 to test on my new computer. Amongst them? Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine. The solid thump of ceramite armor as you step. The bang bang bang of a bolter. The meaty impacts. Space Marine was one of the truest 40k experiences possible. Everything I see on Eternal Crusade points to the same. The Boyz will WAAAGH, the Marines will be solid super soldier. The Eldar, ethereal. That’s what I am most looking forward to. A grim dark future where there is only war.

Daniel Chambliss – Albion Online

I’m most looking forward to Albion Online for a few reasons. First of all, it’s a cross-platform MMORPG. Now a few other games have obviously crossed into that territory, but I feel that this is going to be a bit more massive, and it’ll share content between platforms which is always a plus. What I’m really looking forward to is owning a city or even running my own town where I can be the mayor or sheriff and murder everyone that dares to walk in without contributing to my economy. Finally, it’s going to run on everything, even the lower end computers, which is what MMO’s should be shooting for in the first place.

Ryan Ocello – City of Titans

Since Square-Enix appears to have no intention to translate a certain browser game into English, my answer would have to be City of Titans. There’s risk in pinning one’s expectations on a Kickstarter game that may or may not ever come out, but there is more to look forward to in the Phoenix Project endeavor than in most other MMOs that are guaranteed. When City of Heroes shut down it left a small void in gaming. True, there are other superhero games, and it wasn’t ever the most successful or popular MMO, but there was a certain feeling and a quality to that universe that hasn’t really shown up in any other game since. City of Titans may technically be just a spiritual successor, and there is every chance it won’t be able to recapture that feeling the original game had, but a dedicated creative team has put quite a lot of effort into getting it as close as they can that it holds more promise than any other upcoming title. Editor’s note: City of Titans isn’t actually expected until 2016, but we are hoping to get access to the costume creator sometime this year.

Nick Shively – Overwatch

The game that I’m looking forward to the most in 2015 is definitely Overwatch. It has such a unique variety of characters, which promotes different styles of gameplay, and it isn’t just another cut and dry shooter. Furthermore, Blizzard isn’t one to fail at a game as they are willing to take the time and effort to make sure it’s flawless before release. It reminds me a bit of one of my favorite hybrid shooters of all time, Global Agenda, because it takes a typical game and adds in all kinda of crazy abilities or classes that generally aren’t seen together. I’m sure some people are just going to write it off as another Team Fortress 2 clone, but it looks like it’s going to be much more than that. From what I’ve seen so far it looks like most characters are going to complement each other and have a direct counter on the opposite team. This is going to add a ton of strategy and counter play depending on how many characters are released in the final version.

Shannon Doyle – The Division

For anyone who knows me Tom Clancy’s: The Division is pretty much the last game you would expect me to play. Shooters are traditionally not my thing at all. And if I can’t roleplay in it then I’m not interested. But The Division is changing all of that. It is an absolutely beautiful game, there is no denying that. But what really draws me in is the story. You’re in New York, a city that is practically abandoned and yet at the same time, full of life. It is your job to go in and keep people safe, restore order even. I’m a huge fan of stories that represent the end of the world as we know it and I don’t think I’ve ever seen it done better than in The Division. If it were based on a book as so many of the Tom Clancy video games are I would even read it, which would be another first for me. I may not be able to roleplay in it, and it may be a shooter which means I will suck at it badly, but I can’t help myself. I’ve wanted to play it since it was first announced at E3 2013 and every major convention since then I’ve eagerly watched news of a release date.