The Average Gamer

The year 2023 was a great year to be a gamer, and no matter what type of games you are into, there really was something for everyone. And 2024 is shaping up to be another fantastic year for gamers. Every year, we get new entries into established franchises such as Call of Duty, Madden, or the globally popular Fifa. With all of these huge titles, it can be easy to miss out on some great games, and that's why I made this list to showcase three games that I am personally looking forward to in 2024.

The first game I want to talk about is Pacific Drive. It's a survival game with a paranormal twist, unlike any other game on the market. Your goal is to explore the Olympic Exclusion Zone in the American Pacific Northwest in your trusty station wagon or by foot, collecting resources and unraveling the mystery of what happened to cause the paranormal activity in the Olympic Exclusion Zone. On your journey, you must upgrade both your vehicle and your character’s gear if you want to have any hope of survival. The world of Pacific Drive is filled with supernatural creatures that either want to eat you, your car, or both. When you aren’t out and about exploring the zone, you will be at a base where you can customize and upgrade your car and gear. Ironwood Studios, the developer behind Pacific Drive, hasn’t gone into much detail about what is really going on in the Zone, but if you are a fan of horror, thrillers, or good mysteries, this game looks like a very promising title to check out in 2024. Pacific Drive comes out on February 22nd for the PlayStation 5 and PC.

Up next is a game that I have been waiting for for what feels like forever. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl is the fourth game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. If you aren’t familiar with the series, it is set around a group of people who call themselves Stalkers, which stands for Scavengers, Trespassers, Adventurers, Loners, Killers, Explorers, and Robbers. They explore around and in the abandoned city of Pripyat and the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, where a real-life nuclear disaster happened in April of 1986. The Zone, as it is called, is overrun with monsters, various military groups, and stalkers with their own motivations for venturing into the Zone in search of valuable artifacts. The series has always been known for interesting stories and challenging gameplay as you fight to stay alive and uncover the mysteries that the Zone is hiding. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 offers a non-linear story in an open world, letting you play at your own pace. Regardless of whether you choose to play for the story or exploration, the game promises action, adventure, mysteries, and plenty of scares. The game is developed by Ukrainian game studio GSC Game World and has been delayed multiple times due to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chernobyl is set to launch on Xbox Series X/S and PC on September 5, 2024.

The last game I will talk about is Nightingale. Nightingale is an open-world survival crafting game set in a fantasy world that has a Victorian-era theme. As is the case with most survival crafting games, you will start out with nothing and have to collect resources throughout the open world to craft armor, weapons, and even quarters to store your supplies. While the video game market has become overly saturated with survival crafting games, Nightingale looks to give gamers a fresh take on the genre by offering gamers a unique world full of fantastic creatures and locations to find. Nightingale offers both solo and co-op experiences, so you can explore alone or with friends. The world you will explore has been called The Fae Realms and is procedurally generated, meaning no two players' worlds and experiences will be the same. If you are a fan of survival crafting and/or fantasy, Nightingale looks to be a promising game worth experiencing. Nightingale is a PC exclusive game that launches early access on February 20th, 2024.

These are just three games out of the hundreds releasing this year. We’re only two months into 2024, and the year is already shaping up to be one full of amazing new releases. Regardless of the type of games you enjoy, 2024 has something promising for everyone.

What game are you looking forward to in 2024? Let Marshall know by sending him an email at [email protected]. Follow The Average Gamer on Instagram at @averagergamerreview.