36 | New Scientist | 5 February 2022
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The games column
THE early weeks of the year are
traditionally a slow time for
video game releases, so I thought
I would use this month’s column
as a chance to look ahead to some
of the titles I am looking forward
to playing in 2022.
First up is Horizon Forbidden
West, out this month. It is the
sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn,
set in a post-apocalyptic future
dominated by robot creatures
that mimic everything from deer
to Tyrannosaurus rex. The first
game was all about uncovering
the origin of the apocalypse while
hunting down machines for parts,
and I am intrigued to see where
the story goes next.
For a lighter and perhaps more
hopeful future, I have my eye on
Star Trek: Resurgence, due in the
first half of the year. It has been
decades since we had a decent
Star Trek video game, and with
the franchise seeing a resurgence
on TV, I am hoping this new game
will finally deliver the goods.
You will play as two Starfleet
officers aboard a Star Trek: The
Next Generation-era ship and it
looks to be a good mix of actionand diplomacy, just as you would
expect from Star Trek.
One of the biggest releases
expected in November is Starfield,
a new role-playing game from
Bethesda, the developers of the
Fallout and The Elder Scrolls series.
These are immersive games
with huge worlds to explore ina post-apocalyptic and fantasy
setting respectively, and are some
of the most popular titles around.
In Starfield, Bethesda has
applied the same formula to
a space exploration story set in
the 24th century. It has described
the game as both a “Han Solo
simulator” and “NASA-punk”,
meaning that the spacecraft and
other technologies depicted in
Starfield can trace their roots
to those in use today. I can see
myself spending dozens of hours
exploring the solar system. TheWhat’s new for 2022 This year sees a good haul of new games, with
post-apocalyptic adventures, zombies, aliens and a little light relief
thanks to a puzzle-solving cat, says Jacob Aron“ It has been decades
since we had a decent
Star Trek video game.
I’m hoping Star Trek:
Resurgence delivers”only potential fly in the
ointment is that Bethesda
games are notoriously buggy
at launch due to their sprawling
complexity. Time will tell.
Another upcoming game,
The Callisto Protocol, is also
set in the 24th century, in a
prison colony on Jupiter’s
moon Callisto. An alien-like
creature is stalking the facility and
you have to escape. Development
is being led by Glen Schofield,
co-creator of sci-fi horror series
Dead Space, and this new title
seems like a nice evolution of
those previous games.
In December comes STALKER 2:
Heart of Chernobyl, yet another
post-apocalyptic sequel – but let’s
be honest, video game developers
are very keen on apocalypses. This
one is set around the Chernobyl
exclusion zone in Ukraine, in a
world where a second explosion
at the doomed nuclear power
plant created strange and valuable
artefacts, along with a bunch of
zombies and other monsters.
You play as a stalker, part of a
group of people who are hunting
down these artefacts while also
trying to make it out alive.
Finally, on a totally different
tack, I am really looking forward
to seeing more of Stray, due out
in October. You play as a cat that
befriends a flying drone while
exploring a cyberpunk city
populated by robots. Developer
BlueTwelve Studio has revealed
few details beyond that, but
trailers released so far suggest that
the game will present a cat’s-eye
view of the world as the feline
trots around among droids, using
cat skills to solve puzzles, while
looking endearingly nonchalant
about the whole thing. ❚GUER
RILLA
GAMESIn Horizon Forbidden
West, animalistic robots
are both friend and foeGames
Horizon Forbidden
West
Guerrilla Games
PlayStation 4 and 5Star Trek: Resurgence
Dramatic Labs
PC, PlayStation 4 and 5,
Xbox Series X/SStarfield
Bethesda Game Studios
PC, Xbox Series X/SThe Callisto Protocol
Striking Distance Studios
PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox
Series X/SSTALKER 2: Heart
of Chernobyl
GSC Game World
PC, Xbox Series X/SStray
BlueTwelve Studio
PC, PlayStation 4 and 5Jacob Aron is New Scientist’s
deputy news editor. Follow
him on Twitter @jjaron