Top 10 Most Anticipated Video Games
With E3 right around the corner and likely to blow fanboys away with showings of Bioshock 2, Halo Wars, Dangerous Creatures, Silent Hill V, Bionic Commando, Pikmin 3, Mass Effect 2, and some games we don't even know about, I feel it necessary to document the games I am currently anticipating. Granted, this list will probably be obsolete in a few weeks, but I'm sure a few titles (such as the number one spot) will be unchanged after E3. This list is, naturally, a subjective one, indicative of my own personal tastes. Therefore, if you disagree with my choices, as you probably will, feel free to tell me how wrong I am in the comments.
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
I've always liked Real-Time Strategy games, replete with the resource management, border skirmishes, building manufacturing, selective diplomacy, research and development, and all-out warfare. Unfortunately, PC gaming passed me by a decade ago, as I am inept when it comes to keeping my computer running smoothly or affording the best gaming machine on the market. Therefore, when I saw that there are several RTS games coming to consoles this year, including the likes of Command & Conquer, I was a little excited. When I saw that the demo for Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution was available for download on XBox Live, I downloaded it immediately.
Sure, the game is a bit more streamlined and stylized than its PC counterparts, and sure, it's a huge time-waster. Still, the demo has me hooked, and I'm excited that the game will release in only a few weeks. The game is simplified without being dumbed-down, is built to be played more quickly than a PC game, and certainly has a high focus on multiplayer (something that doesn't particularly interest me). You can't, however, say that a game with Sid Meier's name attached to it is a bad game, and I for one can't wait to play it.
Prince of Persia
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is one of the most revolutionary games in existence. The amount of what it does for the genre of action games and platformers is incalculably immense. It is also really friggin fun. Its two immediate follow-ups are good in their own ways, but neither really holds a candle to the original. Therefore, when Ubisoft announced that it is going to reboot the franchise once again with a next-generation Prince of Persia, expectations are pretty damn high, especially after Ubisoft's last next-gen effort, Assassin's Creed.
Still, while I am definitely excited for this new title, I am a bit wary. The previews make the game look a bit cartoony, and the change in the overall appearance and attitude of the prince makes him seem more generic and uninteresting. Additionally, the fact that he seems to spend the entire game fighting alongside a female sidekick really makes me worry. However, despite these very real concerns, I do have a lot of faith in Ubisoft and how they treat their star franchise, so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt so far. The least I can say is that I'm looking forward to it a whole lot more than I am the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced movie being made with Jake Gyllenhaal as the Prince (I desperately wish I were joking about that).
Fable 2
While the original Fable failed to live up to the hype and promise, it is still a really fun game. And while I don't expect the sequel to be as good as, say, Oblivion, I do expect it to improve upon the dynamics that made Fable unique. Granted, I haven't been keeping up with news, trailers, or the developer's diary, but I am still psyched about the game's release this October. I like the idea of an open-ended RPG where your actions influence events both large and small throughout the game world, and I like games where you can choose how evil or good your character will become. I like the idea that your character will get fat if you feed him too much, will get old if you play too long, and will get strong if you use heavy weapons, and I hope that dynamics such as these play out better than they did in the original.
Still, even if Lionhead Studios puts out a game that is essentially the same as Fable, only with updated graphics and a slightly different story, I'd gladly put down my hard-earned money to play it.
Dead Space
Survival horror is a genre getting a lot of love these days, and one that will probably show up on this list again. I'm also likely to buy the new Alone in the Dark soon if the reviews turn out positive, but it didn't make this list, probably because a release date of tomorrow doesn't seem far enough away to justify it. Still, survival horror has clearly been in a slump since it started back with the likes of Sweet Home. There's a mansion or a town--be it haunted by ghosts or zombies or whatever--and there's a deep dark underground secret with more horrors to uncover.
While I wouldn't call what we know of Dead Space original, it does seem to take survival horror to a new logical setting: outer space. (For the record, there have been a few FPS games that might also fall into the survival horror genre and take place in space, such as the awesome System Shock 2.) And if that weren't enough, it creates these frighteningly grotesque necromorphs that can only be killed by hacking them limb from limb (headshots are wholly ineffective!). Previews show an interestingly mysterious story, a sufficiently dark and cold atmosphere, and a whole mess of blood and guts. I'm completely ready to play the game alone in the dead of night with a warm blanket and several spare pairs of shorts.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Star Wars games are usually pretty damn cool, LucasArts is one of the best developers out there, and anybody who's played one of the dark-side-vs-light-side types of games knows that it's always more fun to be evil. That's why Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is going to kick some serious ass.
The idea is that you play as Darth Vader's super secret apprentice, and you get to play out events that connect Episode III to Episode IV. If that weren't cool enough, you get tons of force powers and some awesome lightsaber skills, all of which reportedly put the incredible Jedi Knight series to shame. The only problem I have is deciding which system to get the game on. The XBox 360 version will have better graphics, but the Wii version has you using the Wii remote to swing a lightsaber... Decisions, decisions...
Kid Icarus
Release Date: unknown
Platform: Nintendo Wii
Developer: unknown
Publisher: unknown
Sites: N/A
|  |
For the most part, I agreed not to put any unconfirmed titles on this list, which is why there is no entry for the next Zelda or Eternal Darkness, even though I know they are probably being worked on. However, I'm so excited about the mere possibility of a Kid Icarus revival that I absolutely must put it here. Rumors have been circulating for a long time about a new Kid Icarus for the Wii, who is actually developing it, what the gameplay and design will be like, and whether or not Nintendo will reveal it at E3 next month. My sources, as limited as they are, confirm that there is some truth to these rumors, but that's all I really know.
Still, I could probably devote a full blog entry to what the game could be like (similar to my The Future of Zelda entry). Sufficed to say, as long as the game includes the core ideas of the original and integrates the requisite RPG, action, and adventure elements, I'm willing to buy it, play it, and love it. Pit pwns Kratos every time.
Fallout 3
Fallout and Fallout 2 were interesting games from an older generation of gaming. The storylines were darker and more complex than most, the post-apocalyptic setting was unique, and the gameplay was distinct. Storyline choices were important, which was a seemingly new concept to gaming at the time, and the world was vast and open-ended long before the likes of Grand Theft Auto and the sandbox. The games were acclaimed and beloved, to be sure, but weren't huge blockbusters. Therefore, when word trickled down the pipe that a new Fallout was being made, it sure seemed unusual. Then, when it was reported that the people behind Oblivion were making it, the mind-blowing potential was made apparent.
The only way to adequately explain why Fallout 3 could be a contender for best video game of all time, even before the game has been released, would be to force you to play the first two games and then play Oblivion. Combining the two is like combining chocolate and peanut butter, socks and shoes, spaghetti and tomato sauce, or matter and anti-matter. The guys at Bethesda are hard workers with a deep love of their craft, and the attention they pay to detail, minutia, and experience are unparalleled in the modern market, and when you look back at what they've accomplished already, they've made the most immersive single-player RPG experience in history. Fallout is one of the best video game stories ever told, poignant in a way that singles out the interactive arts, and exploding with modern-day potential. Putting the two together is potentially as important as Prometheus giving fire to the masses; it could spark the dawning of a new era.
Amazingly enough, though, there are three upcoming video games that I'm waiting for even more anxiously...
Resident Evil 5
I've discussed in a previous blog the important history of the Resident Evil franchise. Like the antagonists of the mythology, the franchise has survived multiple deaths and come back better and stronger than ever before. Resident Evil 4, for example, is hailed as one of the best games of all time, even surpassing the original Resident Evil on several best-of lists. And while The Umbrella Chronicles was an especially awesome distraction, it wasn't what fans have been waiting for. That, of course, is Resident Evil 5.
We've been teased multiple times with this game, which takes place in a bright African city (the things they're doing with light and shadow in this game look amazing) and involves the dreaded running and intelligent zombies. We know that the protagonist is the MIA Chris Redfield and that an as-yet-unnamed important female character from previous games has a critical role in the game's story. We don't really know the nature of the zombie menace this time around, but have been given clues that this is the place where the Progenitor virus originated, and could possibly be where Billy Coen took part in a wartime atrocity. It's a Resident Evil fanboy's wet nightmare, and I can't wait.
Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
...but you can play too! I mean, come on, fhqwgadshg, how can you put anything but the most awesomist game of all time at the top of this list, burninating the competition? Oh wait, what do you mean it's number two?! A one that is two is hardly a one at all!
If you don't know who Strong Bad is, don't even bother trying to decipher this, as you are not a Delete-head. The point is, Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People will be off all of the following: the hook, the chain, the charts, and the map. You will not be Arrowed!
In all fairness, this game is actually six different monthly episodes, and will keep you going long into the winter months. You will laugh, you will cry, you will say holy crap. Get ready for it, because Strong Bad is totally awesome. To fully prepare for the awesomeness, I recommend spending a few weeks over at homestarrunner.com; it's a website!
Too Human
I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I have been following the development of Too Human for over a decade. It's easy to pigeon-hole it into a known genre and compare it to the likes of God of War, Diablo, Halo, or Mass Effect, but the bottom line is that this game does not lend itself to such definitions. Too Human is different, and anyone familiar with Silicon Knights' previous games (Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem and Blood Omen: The Legacy of Kain, for example) knows that the guys over there do not churn out clones of other games; they chart new interactive waters.
Now that Too Human is only two months away (finally!), everybody needs to know about it. It's going to be an immense and immersive experience the likes of which you have never seen or even conceived before. I know some of the showings at past E3's have seemed less than stellar, but don't let that distract you; Too Human has the potential to blow everything else, even Fallout 3, out of the water.
The simplest description is that it's an action/RPG set in a cybernetic past that deals with Norse mythology, robotic apocalypse, and the rise of the undead, but even that loose definition doesn't do justice to what we already know about it. Trust me when I tell you to look into this game. If you're not excited about it, you either don't know enough about it or you simply don't like video games.
-e. magill, 06/23/2008
|
|
