Firewatch

An upcoming first-person adventure game, Firewatch follows the story of Henry, a volunteer fire lookout in the aftermath of the Yellowstone fires of 1988. Through exploration of the surrounding area, Henry uncovers clues about mysterious occurrences in the vicinity that are related to the ransacking of his tower while out on a routine patrol. The player’s only means of interaction is a walkie-talkie that he uses to communicate with his supervisor Delilah. Depending on the player’s choices, the dynamic of Henry’s relationship with Delilah will be affected.

Firewatch will release on February 9th for PS4, PC, Mac, and Linux.

Star Fox Zero

Yet another game that has faced the curse of the 2015 delays, Star Fox Zero was originally scheduled for release in November 2015 but was pushed back to 2016 in order to allow for more development time. This title has been stated to be neither a sequel nor a prequel to the original Star Fox game, yet it won’t be a strict remake of the game either.

Star Fox Zero largely follows the gameplay of its predecessors in which the player controls Fox McCloud as he pilots his ship through various levels. Players will use the Wii U gamepad, which shows the cockpit from Fox’s iconic Arwing, whilst making use of the gyroscopic controls to aim the ship’s weapons. As revealed in a recent Nintendo direct, some of the vehicles in the game can transform, allowing for the Arwing to transform into the land-based Walker. The Landmaster tank can also transform into the Gravmaster, which can perform extended aerial maneuvers.

Star Fox Zero will release April 22nd, exclusively for the Wii U.

Honorable Mentions:

Whilst these games didn’t make it onto our full list, we want to highlight a few 2016 releases that we are also looking forward to.

Pokémon GO is quite possibly the Pokémon game that fans have always wanted. The ability to catch your very own Pokémon on your mobile device warrants this game a place on the list, despite being a mobile game.

Dangan Ronpa 3 is the third major title in the series and features a group of High School students who are forced to work out which of their fellow students has murdered one of their own. Excitingly, this is the first Dangan Ronpa game to be coming to a major console.

XCOM 2 takes place 20 years after the events of Enemy Unknown and follows the continuity that XCOM lost the war. Players will take command of the Avenger, an alien supply barge that has been converted into XCOM’s mobile base as they begin to free humanity from alien rule.

Overwatch is the new first-person shooter from Blizzard which is currently in beta. The player takes control of one of many varied characters, each with their own special abilities.

With so many huge releases coming out in 2016, gamers are going to have to pick their battles in order to experience as much of the year as possible. It looks like next year is going to have something for everyone, assuming that there aren’t even more delays coming.

Which games are you most looking forward to playing in 2016? Let us know in the comments below.