Those who love linear, narrative-driven, set-piece laden videogames might wish time had paused in 2013 (and don't we all, for lots of reasons). The era dominated by the Xbox 360 was a good time for people who like to play rollercoaster videogames with frequent QTEs, barely interactive but beautiful worlds, and fat-free twelve hour runtimes. From the Tomb Raider reboot through to deep cuts like Neverdead, big publishers don't release many games in this style anymore (and when they do they tend to regret it).
But big publishers be damned, because the tradition is far from dead. Look at Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden as a recent example: that would have been a 7-out-of-10 THQ gem in 2009. Or indeed, Immortals of Aveum could probably be a "cult classic" now if Ubisoft had doled it out in 2011. In the same spirit, Unknown 9: Awakening feels like it should have been released over a decade ago, in a way that will please some and elicit glazed eyes from others.
