TA means a lot of things to a lot of different people. Some come here simply to track their stats and see how they place in the world. Others come here as achievement hunters and everything we have to offer each other in the form of guides. Regardless of how you got here, many of you have stayed for the community. That's important and it’s something we want to foster. The Community and Events Team runs tons of events yearly to bring the community together and we wanted to take those same philosophies and mix it with the Newshounds and YouTube Teams to bring a fresh perspective and a new recurring feature. The result is TA Playlist.
What Is TA Playlist?
The basics are easy. A couple weeks before the beginning of a new month, we’ll release a poll in which everyone in the community can vote. You’ll pick from a curated list of four games and choose what game everyone will play during the upcoming month. Once the new month begins, we’ll all play the games and share our experiences through the TA Playlist Hub. You’ll be able to submit comments on the game, Xbox DVR videos to show your favorite moments, and there will, of course, be forums where you can come to discuss everything about the games we play together.
At the end of the month, we’ll cap it all off with a combination of a podcast and a YouTube video hosted by Kevin, Will, and me. We’ll talk about the game, what we expected coming into it, and where we ended up. Since this is TA, we’ll also talk about achievements, stats, and we’ll dig into the community impressions and the YouTube video will be filled with our favorite clips from the community submissions.
Our goal is to cultivate a close-knit group of TA members that will join us month after month, game after game, and offer up their own thoughts and opinions on each game at hand. We'll have more opportunities for engagement when the TA Playlist Hub launches at the start of April.
Choosing the Games
Rather than offer up a Game of the Year-sized poll listing every game we're tracking, we decided it would be best to curate a quartet of titles each month. Some months may be themed, like Horror, Superheroes, Games with Gold, or Indies Only. Each month we’ll choose what we hope is an eclectic and engaging foursome from a variety of genres, each worthy of a month of discussion and an episode of the podcast.
Most months will feature games that have story content rather than solely multiplayer experiences. Our goal for virtually all months is to choose games that don't exceed roughly 20 hours per playthrough — we don't want to take over all your gaming time, we just want to supplement it with something new. We'll also usually choose older Xbox One games or backwards compatible Xbox 360 games, and if a game has a remastered version, you can choose which one you play for the month and it'll still count towards your participation. Ultimately, it will hopefully be easy and affordable to acquire a copy of the next game if you don't already own it.
What’s In It For You?
This is a community-centered event and the ultimate goal is to share our experiences together. But we know you all like stats and leaderboards so we’ve got something in store for you. There will be leaderboards tracking your progress in all games in the Playlist from total TA Score to completion percentage. Another will track your involvement in the event based on things like winning achievements in the games during the month, submitting impressions, or sharing your Xbox DVR clips.
The Poll
So let’s get started. The poll for April is now live and you can vote below. We hope any of these games will be a great experience whether you’re replaying or starting for the first time. So, without further ado, here are April’s games:
IN DARKNESS, FIGHT WITH LIGHT. From Remedy, the masters of cinematic action, comes a 3rd person action game filled with overwhelming odds and desperate near escapes. When the wife of the best-selling writer Alan Wake disappears on their vacation, his search turns up pages from a thriller he doesn’t even remember writing. A dark presence stalks the small town of Bright Falls, pushing Wake to the brink of sanity in his fight to unravel the mystery and save his love. With the body of an action game and the mind of a psychological thriller, Alan Wake is a pulse-pounding thrill ride.
Batman: Arkham Asylum exposes players to a unique, dark and atmospheric adventure that takes them to the depths of Arkham Asylum — Gotham's psychiatric hospital for the criminally insane. Gamers will move in the shadows, instigate fear amongst their enemies and confront The Joker and Gotham City's most notorious villains who have taken over the asylum. Using a wide range of Batman's gadgets and abilities, players will become the invisible predator and attempt to foil The Joker's demented scheme.
Dishonored is an immersive first-person action game that casts you as a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. With Dishonored’s flexible combat system, creatively eliminate your targets as you combine the supernatural abilities, weapons and unusual gadgets at your disposal. Pursue your enemies under the cover of darkness or ruthlessly attack them head on with weapons drawn. The outcome of each mission plays out based on the choices you make.
In Wolfenstein: The New Order, assume the role of super soldier B.J. Blazkowicz as he uses elite combat tactics and an arsenal of uber advanced weaponry to take down the most powerful empire the world has ever known. Join forces with a band of dedicated resistance fighters and launch an offensive battle that spans the globe and beyond, as you seek to uncover the truth behind how this regime conquered the world so quickly. Take on massive mechs, super soldiers, and an army of seemingly unstoppable might as you fight to free the planet from a nightmare of unimaginable tyranny.
Get your vote in this week and we'll see you at the start of April for our very first TA Playlist!
Which game should the community play for TA Playlist in April?We've had 3586 responses.