Pre-release coverage

Previews

First looks at the games on our radar: what is coming, what could make or break it, and why I care. The anticipation meter is a temperature check. The score waits for the review.

17 published previews Never scored before release

On the Radar Cautiously Optimistic Hyped Must-Play

Cautiously OptimisticPreview · 1999

Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun

Tiberian Sun looks like exactly what C&C fans want. It also looks like exactly what they already played four years ago.Expected: Summer 1999 Cautiously OptimisticPreview · 2012

First Look: Bust-N-Rush

Hands-on with Techtonic's 3D arcade runner, a satisfying smash-everything rush, held back for now by murky scoring and a fuzzy health system.Expected: TBA HypedPreview · 1999

First Look: Driver

Be the 1970s wheelman: Driver swaps the racing line for Hollywood car chases across four living 3D cities, and a replay editor to film them.Expected: 1999 Cautiously OptimisticPreview · 2013

First Look: DUST 514

CCP's console FPS for the EVE universe shows a promising, EVE-flavoured beta, but the headline DUST-to-EVE integration is still unseen.Expected: 2013 HypedPreview · 2012

First Look: Guild Wars 2

ArenaNet's no-subscription MMO dazzles with hand-painted art, dodge-based combat and dynamic events, replay value is the one open question.Expected: August 28, 2012 HypedPreview · 2012

First Look: Guns of Icarus Online

Hands-on with Muse Games' team-based PvP airship combat, a crew lives or dies together, and there's never a dull moment.Expected: August 2012 Cautiously OptimisticPreview · 2012

First Look: Marvel Heroes

Diablo creator David Brevik is building a free-to-play action-RPG out of the Marvel Universe. Trailer-only so far, but the pedigree has our attention.Expected: 2013 Cautiously OptimisticPreview · 2012

First Look: The Secret World: Character Creation & Societies

Funcom's "everything is true" conspiracy-horror MMO has a fascinating world and three secret societies, but the character creator is a letdown.Expected: July 2012 Cautiously OptimisticPreview · 1999

First Look: Trans-Am Racing ’68-’72

A sim of the 1968–1972 Trans-Am seasons built on real crash-physics expertise, ambitious on paper, with a lot to prove on the road.Expected: September 1999 HypedPreview · 2012

First Look: War Thunder

Gaijin's free-to-play WWII air-combat MMO marries sim depth with MMO progression, gorgeous models, thunderous sound, and it keeps you coming back.Expected: 2012 (open beta) Must-PlayPreview · 1998

Grim Fandango

LucasArts blends Mexican folklore, film noir, and 7,000 lines of dialogue into the adventure game nobody saw coming.Expected: Fall 1998 HypedPreview · 1998

Heretic II

Heretic goes third-person with the Quake II engine. The demo is the kind that makes you annoyed when it ends.Expected: Fall 1998 HypedPreview · 1999

Oni

Bungie West blends anime, martial arts, and gunplay into a third-person action game that could be something special, if the controls hold up.Expected: 2000 HypedPreview · 1998

Populous: The Beginning

Bullfrog's real-time 3D strategy game is not just another Warcraft clone. The Volcano spell alone is worth the price of admission.Expected: Fall 1998 Must-PlayPreview · 1999

Quake III Arena

Two maps, no monsters, no campaign. Still spent hours on it. The Q3 test is id at their most confident.Expected: Late 1999 HypedPreview · 1998

SiN

SiN's demo is a must-download, even at 34 MB on a 28.8. The AI alone is worth the overnight wait.Expected: Fall 1998

HypedPreview · 2026

Untitled Jet Set Radio Game

Sega is bringing Jet Set Radio back with the original creators and an open-world Tokyo. I have wanted this for twenty years, and I am terrified of it.Expected: TBA