1) Star Wars Battlefront II
We’ve arrived, at last, to the final destination of this particular countdown of 2017’s biggest, boldest and potentially award-winning titles, but sadly, there’s no surprise sitting at pole position this time around. Star Wars Battlefront II, from all of the gameplay we’ve seen so far, depicting city-spanning wars of attrition, vehicular destruction and, of course, neon-lit Lightsaber duels, is looking likely to be the no-holds-barred tribute to George Lucas’ famed universe that fans had envisioned the first game to be.
Gone are the questionable design choices (pickups be damned), replaced instead with a much more fluid, if slightly derivative scorestreak system that not only rewards skilled play but prompts a sense of individual progression, rather than internal team fighting to see who can reach the floating AT-AT token first. Likewise, the quantity of content, both at and post-launch, has been given a major rethink, the latter of which will be available for free, rather than locked behind a questionably-priced season pass. Chuck a fully fledged single-player campaign into the mix and you’re looking at quite possibly the most complete interactive Star Wars experience to date.
Just exactly how far away Star Wars’ galaxy is, I’m not sure, but Battlefront II‘s arrival in November is likely the closest I’m ever going to get to experience it first-hand, and I can’t wait.