The honeymoon period is typically defined as a time in the beginning of a longterm relationship where everything just seems to fall into place — a time when love blossoms and hearts sing, when poems are written and happy-tears are shed. It is, in essence, a symbiotic connection between two parties, an opportune period that brings out the best in everyone.
And generally speaking, the same can be said about the innate alliance between video game developers and console hardware (it’s a shaky analogy, but stick with me). When a new system hits the market, it’s often paired with lacklustre software — Nintendo’s N64 notwithstanding. In fact, through time, it’s become a trend that the available catalogue of games at launch leaves much to be desired and realistically, it’s a necessary evil. Be they first-party or third-party, studios often don’t get their hands on early builds of new hardware until about a year from its grand debut, so it naturally takes time before developers begin to get acclimatized to all of the new bells and whistles.
But when they do, that fabled honeymoon period kicks into gear and we, the player, soon find ourselves with too many games vying for our attention. It happened shortly after the launch of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation. As a matter of fact, many still point to 2007 as one of the best years for the industry in recent memory, producing memorable, franchise-building titles as Portal, BioShock, Uncharted, Super Mario Galaxy and God of War II to name but a few.
Fast forward to 2014 and all signs are pointing to the beginning of another purple patch for video game software. Now that the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One have been on the market just over a year, all eyes in the community are trained on 2015 to deliver some truly memorable titles. But as Watch Dogs and countless other games have taught us, hype is a dangerous beast; showcase a vertical slice too early and, by the time the release date rolls around, it feels as though your time to strike has come and gone. Heck, three of the games we’re about to dissect have been faced with delays themselves, meaning this issue is more far-reaching than perhaps first thought.
But 2015 is already being billed as the year that Sony and Microsoft will hit their stride with current-gen hardware, bolstering exclusive line-ups and securing third-party exclusives as they go. And even though there are some truly promising titles due to arrive in the next twelve to thirteen months, here are five titles that we aren’t quite sold on…yet.
[Editor’s Note: It’s worth keeping in mind that some of these games are scheduled, but not confirmed, for a release in 2015. If circumstances change, we’ll update this post appropriately.]