Top 50 Single Player Games: Part One (50-41)

Despite a huge increase in multiplayer focus over the last few years I am still an absolute sucker for a top notch single player story.

For me single player is a totally different gaming experience and I enjoy both on and offline play.

It’s been almost a year since I last compiled a list of the best single player experiences (on PS3). The list came in at 30 titles strong and when I decided to update it a year later I made another list and found I had over 50 titles. I whittled it down to a top 50 and here we are

I’m posting them up in parts of 10 games at a time so as not to overload everyone. Also I had to close off the list at the end of May, otherwise I’d have been going on forever! Last year’s position is in brackets – with (NE) indicating a new entry.

Let’s kick off with a game that I overlooked last time but just about makes the Top 50:

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50. MERCENARIES 2: WORLD IN FLAMES (NE)

Mercenaries 2 takes place in Venezuela and sees you take control of Chris Jacobs, Jennifer Mui or Matthias Nilsson. It’s only a cosmetic choice as the story/dialogue all remains the same. You’re tasked with taking down Ramon Solano, the man behind the current military coup.

While this game has a few glitches (one a game breaker unfortunately) it remains a resolutely fun experience. Being a Mercenary you can call in all kinds of crazy weapons and firepower.

At times you won’t believe the destruction you can wreak on the world around you – whether it’s guns, cars or helicopters you’ll find yourself smiling insanely as you blow up as much stuff as possible. Not a great game then but certainly a fun one.

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49. ARMY OF TWO (28)

Salem and Rios are guns for hire – private contractors that go in and sort out the crap that the army or whoever can’t deal (or can’t be seen dealing) with.

There is convoluted conspiracy theory plotline but to be perfectly honest the story isn’t really the main attraction here – it’s all about the carnage.

Army of Two is like playing an ultra violent cartoon and overall I would say this game is a fun 5 or 6 hour blast. While it does become repetitive at times it makes no excuses – in fact Army Of Two is likely to hand you a  rocket launcher, spawn 20 new enemies and tell you to ‘get the f**k on with it.’

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48. THE SABOTEUR (27)

The game takes place in and around Paris in the 1940′s with the Nazis occupying the majority of the city and it’s surrounding areas. You control Sean Devlin, an Irishman, who gets involved with the French resistance following a traumatic experience at the hands of the Gestapo.

The Saboteur is a game that I feel should be played but if you are looking for a high quality experience, this isn’t it. The odd bug here and there and a general unfinished feeling hamper the gameplay but if you’re willing  to give it a shot The Saboteur is worth a playthrough.

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47. CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPS (NE)

With each iteration Call Of Duty has refined and improved upon it’s single player experience. Black Ops sees you taking on the role of Alex Mason in several covert ops set in 1960′s.

Those of you looking for a realistic interpretation of the special forces would probably be better served by Medal Of Honor (see below) or if you fancy something older Rainbow Six Vegas (keep an eye out further down the list) because this is Hollywood war plain and simple. Fun and over the top.

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46. MEDAL OF HONOR (NE)

The Medal Of Honor series has been around for decades and had usually focused on conflicts in World War II. However when EA announced it was rebooting the franchise we discovered players were heading to modern day (well, 2002) Afghanistan.

The gameplay itself is generally good and while missions were mainly brief, there were some good set ups and set pieces to get stuck into.

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45. LITTLEBIGPLANET 2 (NE)

LittleBigPlanet 2 is the sequel to the hugely successful user creation based original. There has been a fairly big improvement graphically and several new materials have been added into the mix, all of which look great.

The single player experience is decent enough and while some of the new puzzle ideas are clever there wasn’t much that really taxed me. Definitely worth checking out as this is one of the most charming games I’ve played.

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44. CRYSIS 2 (NE)

Crysis 2 takes place in New York in 2023. The city has been overrun by aliens and a military group ‘CELL’ has been drafted in to try and police the anarchy that has erupted.

You end up wearing a Nanosuit, which allows you to use abilities – such as stealth or armour for a short period of time. As the game goes on you’ll be fighting both CELL and the aliens that have landed.

You have a lot of choice with regards to how you approach the game in Crysis 2, if it had been reigned in a little bit this could have been a classic – as it is it’s an enjoyable and solid shooter campaign.

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43. SOCOM 4 (NE)

In SOCOM 4 you take on the role of Cullen Gray, a Spec Ops Commander and leader of a 5-man NATO special forces squad. Your team is dropped into Malaysia to help deal with the rising threat of both local rebels, the Naga, and a mercenary group called Clawhammer.

While the story is standard Spec Ops fare I found most of the characters likable and it was one of the more enjoyable stories I played through in 2011.

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42. BATTLEFIELD: BAD COMPANY (30)

Chock full of explosions and with some really impressive destruction of buildings etc, Battlefield: Bad Company is like a huge big budget Hollywood blockbuster.

It’s a great, mindless blast of a game. Add some memorable characters into the mix and you’ve got yourself a very enjoyable, and playable, package.

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41. PROTOTYPE (25)

In Prototype you take on the role of Alex Mercer as he awakens during his autopsy ,wondering what the hell is going on. He quickly escapes, realising he now has various superpowers.

Mercer needs to find out what the hell has happened to him and why New York is infected with a virus that has turned half the population into zombies.

Prototype is definitely a game worth playing despite it’s various faults – it was a blast to play through if a little frustrating at times.

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So there we have it – part one done and dusted.

Have you guys played all these games? What did you think of them? Any you were considering playing?

FURTHER LINKS

Top 50 Single Player Games: Part Two (40-31)

Top 50 Single Player Games: Part Three (30-21)

Top 50 Single Player Games: Part Four (20-11)

Top 50 Single Player Games: Part Five (The Top 10)

Medal Of Honor – Review (PS3)

The Medal Of Honor series has been around for decades and had usually focused on conflicts in World War II. However when EA announced it was rebooting the franchise we discovered players were heading to modern day (well, 2002) Afghanistan.

As often happens in these types of games you find yourself controlling multiple characters across different missions. You’ll start off as Rabbit, a member of AFO Neptune before stints as Deuce, of AFO Wolfpack, Dante Adams of the 75th Ranger Regiment and Captain Brad “Hawk” Hawkin, an Apache helicopter pilot.

It’s not as confusing as it sounds and actually I found the way Medal Of Honor weaves the characters and story together to be amongst the best in the genre. It certainly puts both Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops to shame. It was always clear which of the characters I was controlling and that is a big plus.

Graphically the game is impressive during cut scenes and in-game with regard to the levels and with things like explosions etc. However the character models are pretty poor, especially having recently played Killzone 3 and Dead Space 2.

My main problem came with enemy AI, which was awful at times. On several occasions enemies would have their backs to me firing blindly off into the distance or would be hiding behind a rock/wall facing the wrong way, waiting to be killed.

The gameplay itself is generally good and while missions were mainly brief, there were some good set ups and set pieces to get stuck into.

Speaking of length, Medal of Honor is a short game, make no mistake. I finished this in under 5 hours, which is extremely short – even for a first person shooter.

With regards to multiplayer it’s a bit of a mess. The maps are mostly tiny and the spawn points are poorly thought out. Most of the time you would spawn and just get killed straight away. Having said that the spawn point issue isn’t exclusive to Medal Of Honor, it’s something Call Of Duty also suffers from.

The shooting feels a little light, with the weapons not really having much in the way of weight or presence. The melee kill is disappointing (especially compared to the awesome Battlefield Bad Company 2 one) and most rounds descended into a mixture of spawn camping and rocket launching.

As is always the case with multiplayer I could’ve just been really unlucky in getting paired up with ‘bad’ players but judging by the amount of it going on I don’t think so.

It feels very much like EA just said to DICE “You know how Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is different to Call Of Duty and based on teamwork over large scale maps? Well scrap all that for Medal Of Honor – just copy Call Of Duty.” Which quite frankly is disappointing.

Overall then Medal Of Honor is a decent title to rent. Although enjoyable the campaign is too short and the multiplayer is just a poor man’s Call Of Duty.

Rating 6/10

Eurogamer Expo 2010

So it’s that time of year again, when the post E3 games roadshow hits London and we get to play some of the stuff that’s coming up in the remainder of the year and into 2011.

3D played a big part in Sony’s presence and I’ll discuss my thoughts on that aspect of things after we’ve been through the games.

So in no particular order, here we go:

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NEED FOR SPEED: HOT PURSUIT

I’ve quite liked the look of this one for a while as it reminds me of an updated version of the old classic Chase H.Q. Multiplayer for 8 people was on display here with you taking on the role of cop or racer (I was racer) and attempting to either finish the race (racer) or take out the racers (cop). You have weapons at your disposal in the form of road spikes or road blocks, among other things, that can help slow down the opposition and this game was fun. Not sure if it’s a purchase for me but I enjoyed giving it a spin.

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KILLZONE 3 (3D)

 

Thankfully my most anticipated game of the show lived up to it’s billing as I had the chance to play through two level sections of Killzone 3. The levels, which were shown at E3 back in June, were in 3D (more on that at the end of the article) which meant I wasn’t seeing the game running at it’s best but it was a blast gameplay-wise. With a slightly quicker control scheme and improved melee combat Killzone 3 looks set to improve on the brilliant 2nd installment.

* ‘KILLZONE 3’ : GREGHORRORSHOW’S BEST IN SHOW – Eurogamer Expo 2010*

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BULLETSTORM

This is a slightly more tongue in cheek, combo based FPS. The level we played saw us taking on several different kinds of enemies and having the option to dispatch them in various ways using the tools at our disposal. As well as your general weapons you also have an electrified leash that be used to throw enemies towards you (in slow motion) and the sole of your boot. Yep that’s right a good old fashioned kick sends enemies into the air (again in slow motion) so you can finish them off however you like. This one could be an interesting prospect.

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DEAD SPACE 2

More of the same from the Visceral guys and to be honest I’m happy with that. They have tweaked a few bits here and there in terms of movement in the air but the shooting felt as tight as ever and the sense of claustrophobia was back. Obviously judging from the trailer there will be more open sections of gameplay but making my way through narrow corridors with things jumping out felt as freaky as ever and graphically Dead Space 2 looked great.

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MOTORSTORM: APOCALYPSE

 

Motorstorm is a brand that usually delivers a top notch product whether that is PS3 (Motorstorm/Motorstorm:Pacific Rift) or even PSP (Motorstorm: Arctic Edge) and Apocalypse is no different. Right from the off things are as chaotic as ever, with buildings collapsing and the public taking the streets in panic. Meanwhile you’ll be trying to boost your way to victory in what promises to be a fun ride. Multiplayer should be a blast and this is a game that has gone from being on the radar to becoming a purchase for me.

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MEDAL OF HONOR

There were a few games that going into Eurogamer had to impress me to have any chance of me picking them up. Medal Of Honor was one of them. We played the multiplayer, team deathmatch with (I think) 8 players a side. Graphics-wise this looked great, especially for multiplayer. It played well enough – essentially it’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 but with the control scheme of Modern Warfare 2. The problem was it was a small map and turned into a bit of a frag/rocket fest which isn’t something I enjoy. Better than I thought it would be but not different enough to Battlefield to prompt me to switch. Will certainly rent this at least and give the singleplayer a go though.

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SOCOM: SPECIAL FORCES

Having only played the previous SOCOM (which was online only) a handful of times I don’t have much experience with this series. However this turned out to be one of my favourite experiences at the show. Firstly let me say this demo wasn’t without its problems – crashing on the loading screen, giving the wrong button prompt and freezing up seemed to be issues but on the presumption that those types of things will be fixed by next year’s release let’s focus on the gameplay. The shooting felt a little loose but the controls in general were well executed and played to a fairly tried and tested method for the most part. With rumoured 4 player online co-op this could be a brilliant game to play through with friends. I’ll be keeping an eye on this one for sure.

* ‘SOCOM: SPECIAL FORCES’ : GREGHORRORSHOW’S MOST PLEASANT SURPRISE – Eurogamer Expo 2010 *

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CRYSIS 2

From the most pleasant surprise to the biggest disappointment on show at Eurogamer. Crysis 2 was another title I wasn’t sold on prior to the show and the demo I ‘played’ here has done nothing to change that view. The problems were insurmountable on the XBox 360 build of the game. Of the four screens where I was playing, three of them ended up dying while I was there. At least SOCOM’s problems were in the loading etc. Crysis 2 would load up and just be a black screen. You could hear your gun firing and the game would be going on but you couldn’t see anything. The guy playing in front of me had the floor disappear for a good 30 seconds or so and overall this just felt broken. Surely it would’ve been better to not show the game (or do it just for PC) than subject people to this? Everyone who played it left before the demo finished (or it died on them). Hopefully all these problems can be addressed – otherwise I won’t be picking this one up.

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 GRAN TURISMO 5

Gran Turismo looks wonderful. The trailers look great and the game matches up in that respect. It was a short play – you weren’t even given a full lap (perhaps because it was in 3D?) but it was fairly difficult to control and pretty much played as expected. For me this game will live or die on how much fun it is collecting cars or playing online. The PSP version has shown it can be a nice experience without being too harsh on the driving front and I hope the PS3 version follows suit.

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BRINK

 

One of the few games I needed to be convinced on that delivered – Brink is a futuristic first person shooter that allows you multiple objectives to earn xp as opposed to just blow this up/shoot everyone etc. It took me a few minutes to adjust to the game in terms of shooting because it seemed to take an age to down an opponent (perhaps to inspire people to go after the objectives rather than the enemy directly) but on the whole this was good fun. It was nice to play something not set in the modern day and the character customisation looks deep enough to keep everyone entertained. Definitely one to watch out for.

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THE SHOOT

This was my only experience with Sony’s new Move hardware and it was the only game with that support I was interested in trying. One of the problems with doing this stuff at an expo is that you often can’t calibrate the games how you’d like. So I was stuck with a gun that aimed much higher than it should. The game itself was fine – just blast everything away and I can really see titles like Time Crisis (confirmed) and House Of The Dead (rumoured) being a huge hit with Move. If the gun controller had been set up for me I’m sure I would’ve enjoyed it more but as it was it was a fun little game.

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3D – GREGHORRORSHOW INITIAL IMPRESSIONS

I’m not a big supporter of 3D in games (see this article) just because I feel it doesn’t bring enough to the table. It was Sony that highlighted 3D at this event with the following flagship titles available to play: Killzone 3, Motorstorm Apocalypse and Gran Turismo 5.

In my opinion Motorstorm had the best use of 3D but even that had it’s problems. The gameplay itself was fine but the cut scene intros had cars that looked like they were cardboard cut outs! It may be the same in 2D but knowing the pedigree of the previous Motorstorm games I’d presume not.

Gran Turismo 5 added a bit of depth to the car but the effect wasn’t that noticable. Perhaps I picked the wrong track for it as there wasn’t much surrounding it.

Killzone 3 was a weird one, a couple of times the 3D did look really good but generally it just added a bit of depth to everything.

And that seems to be the issue – with 3D cinema things fly out of the screen at you. With these games that doesn’t happen, bullets, dirt or whatever comes at you but ends where the screen ends.

I expect in 4/5 years we’ll see some really great implentation of 3D in games but until then I’ll be steering well clear.

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Overall then a great show with a chance to play some brilliant upcoming games. I would’ve liked to have seen Infamous 2, Rage and Homefront but I think other that those titles everything else was covered. Roll on next year!

Fragged Out: Is the FPS genre reaching saturation point?

 

Having watched some of the recent trailers for upcoming first person shooters Medal Of Honor and Call Of Duty: Black Ops I was struck by the realisation that I may be suffering from some kind of FPS burnout.

Despite both titles looking decent I’m finding it hard to get excited about them.

I already have Battlefield Bad Company 2, Killzone 2 and MAG to keep me entertained and if I fancy something completely different there’s always Borderlands.

Just a brief look at upcoming first person shooters in the next 6-9 months throws up the following list:

- Medal Of Honor

- Call Of Duty: Black Ops

- Killzone 3

- Brink

- Bulletstorm

- Bodycount

- Duke Nukem Forever

- Crysis 2

- Homefront

- Rage

From that list only Killzone 3 is a given as I’ll be trading up from the second game.

                                                                   Homefront’s tale of an occupied US makes for something different.

I also think Homefront looks interesting and everyone who has seen/played Rage is tipping it for Game Of The Year so that’s one I’m keen to check out.

Apart from that the others will more than likely be titles I’ll try at some stage but I’m not greatly excited by the majority of them, especially in terms of multiplayer.

So is this feeling of disinterest a sign of a lack of innovation in the genre? I’m not sure if that’s case – Bulletstorm certainly looks like shaking things up, although at its core it’s essentially the same as any other shooter.

                                                                                   Call Of Duty: Black Ops – good enough to see a switch from the games we are playing now?

Am I the only one out there that’s feeling this? Perhaps it’s a personal preference in that I feel Battlefield Bad Company 2 has pretty much nailed multiplayer for FPS.

I’m watching footage of Medal Of Honor and Call Of Duty: Black Ops and just thinking am I actually going to play this over Battlefield or Killzone? The answer currently is ‘no’ and as time has gone on other titles like Crysis 2 and Brink have lost their appeal.

I was relatively impressed with both of them early on but the more information I’ve seen on them the more generic they seem.

                                                                            Brink brings the new S.M.A.R.T movement system but is that enough?

The main culprits though are the current period warfare titles – Medal of Honor in particular. All of these titles seem to be merging into one from a multiplayer perspective but I’m still looking forward to the single player campaigns.

We’ll see I guess. Maybe I’ll be proven wrong and the multiplayer sections of these games will be unique and different. I certainly hope so because as it stands I’ll be sticking with what I have.

E3 2010 – The GregHorrorShow Wrap Up

 

So E3 has been and gone, leaving us to pick through the huge mass of info and game news that it’s left in it’s wake.

Not all of us were lucky enough to go to the actual show but fortunately Gametrailers.com and the like have managed to bring us footage and interviews from the show.

For a more in-depth look at some of the games from someone that was at E3, check out @Zvolen’s website Beyondthedpad.com

Well there’s a hell of a lot of stuff to get through – so let’s get started!

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MEDAL OF HONOR

Looks pretty interesting, especially in single player. On the multiplayer front it seems very similar to Battlefield, which is a good thing in one way but slightly disappointing in another.

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DEAD SPACE 2

More of the same from Issac Clarke and this is one I can’t wait for. Not a fan of jumpy horror stuff but the whole Dead Space universe is so rich I’m in!

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LITTLEBIGPLANET 2

Make your own games? Sounds like a win to me. Hopefully another decent story mode to work through before downloading loads of great user generated content.

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SONIC THE HEDGEHOG 4

I’m fairly hopeful that this reboot will be decent enough – it looks great but it’s hard to tell without having actually played it. Looking forward to some sort of demo at a later date.

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INFAMOUS 2

Oh Sucker Punch. What have you done to Cole? The brooding, cool badass of the original has been replaced with a boyband reject – not a good look. Hopefully the game itself will live up to the standard of the first.

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TWISTED METAL

Really pleased about this announcement, been waiting for a new Twisted Metal for a long time and the team based mechanics look solid. Could be very cool indeed.

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KILLZONE 3

Looks like the clash between the ISA and the Helghast continues apace, which is great news for us fans of Killzone. 3D has been added as well, though that isn’t of much interest to me.

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MOTORSTORM APOCALYPSE

I was sceptical about shifting the series to a city but am glad to have been proven wrong. With the option to drive under, over and even through buildings Motorstorm Apocalypse is one to watch out for.

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SPEC OPS: THE LINE

Great trailer huh? Initially shown off back in December, Spec Ops: The Line has stepped up to the plate and looks to have some nice tricks up it’s sleeve.

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ASSASSIN’S CREED – BROTHERHOOD

Wasn’t 100% sure how multiplayer would work in Assassin’s Creed but having seen some of the footage from E3 it seems to be pretty well implemented. Story wise we play as Ezio again which is definitely ok with me.

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GRAN TURISMO 5

Gran Turismo 5 – we’ve been waiting for this for about 6 years Hyper realistic driving sim – graphics do look truly amazing.

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BULLETSTORM

Was not sold on this game at all previously but the stuff I’ve seen from E3 looks cool as a single player game. Still not interested in this as a multiplayer experience but I’ll wait and see how it develops before making a decision on whether it’s one I’ll pick up.

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HOMEFRONT

Hadn’t heard much about this but I’m a sucker for alternate timelines so this ‘US-has-been-invaded’ story sits well with me. One to watch.

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KINECT / MOVE

Motion control has obviously played a big part at E3 this year with both Microsoft (Kinect) and Sony (Move) looking to gatecrash Nintendo’s (Wii) party. In my opinion Move is already head and shoulders above Kinect, and probably Wii, with regard to proper games… Killzone 3, LittleBigPlanet 2, Heavy Rain (patch), SOCOM 4, Resi Evil 5 and Time Crisis all confirmed. Even if I don’t wanna play them with Move at least the option is there and they are REAL GAMES that don’t involve sports resorts or yoga.

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SOCOM 4

More interested in this than previous instalments, mainly because they have boosted the single player aspect (ie there is one ) and also the fact that via Battlefield: Bad Company 2‘s multiplayer I’ve learnt the value of teamwork. Could be a really good experience.

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DEAD RISING 2

Quite excited to get my hands on this one as the first game was an XBox exclusive and I’ve only heard good things about it. My only concern is will there be enough variation to keep me playing?

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FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS

I lost 25 hours of my life to Fallout 3 – I’ve already pencilled in at least another day for New Vegas

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MORTAL KOMBAT

I’m not a huge fan of fighting games but I loved the original Mortal Kombat and this new reboot is taking it back to the franchise’s darker, gory roots. Expect plenty of fatalities upon release.

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GHOST RECON: FUTURE SOLDIER

Like Bulletstorm, I pretty much had no interest in this prior to E3 but the thing that’s hooked me here is the potential for online co-op play. The gadgets look pretty cool as well.

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RAGE

Still not sure on this game – looks like Borderlands? Guess that’s not a bad thing but how many Mad Max type games can you have?

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CRYSIS 2

This looks pretty sweet as a single player experience. Liking the style and the graphics are great.

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PORTAL 2 

VALVE even being at the Sony conference was a shock, especially having Gabe himself up there after all his slagging off of PS3 in the past. But Portal is a hugely respected game so I’ll make sure I work my way through that before approaching the sequel.

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METAL GEAR: RISING

NB. This trailer features graphic sword cutting – avoid if easily offended!

Metal Gear: Rising looked brilliant. Looks like a better version of WET‘s sword mechanics. Raiden as a bad ass? Who’d have thought it back in the MGS2 days

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GOD OF WAR: GHOST OF SPARTA (PSP)

Wow. Ready At Dawn look set to continue where they left off. Ghost Of Sparta looks tasty and I suspect will be full of awesomesauce (as DK money shizzle might say )

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Disapointment-wise, I’d say CASTLEVANIA which I thought might be cool but looks like a poor man’s Bayonetta/God Of War

DRIVER, with it’s car jumping mechanic looks a bit too gimmicky.

I was very disappointed there is no sign of a new HITMAN game

Also whilst CALL OF DUTY: BLACK OPs looks good graphically I’m not sold – especially as that rappel bit from the trailer was nicked wholesale from RAINBOW SIX (now that’s a game I’d like to see announced! )

Would’ve liked to have seen new information on Last Guardian, Batman 2, Resistance 3 (an announcement that it’s actually coming) or Agent but suspect we’ll have more info on those at the Tokyo game show in August.

Also no PSP2! Though perhaps with hindsight they were wise – if they are gonna do it – not to put it up against the Nintendo 3DS (which I won’t be getting but does look like a great bit of kit).

But you can’t have everything.

So to sum up, in order, my Top 10 MOST WANTED of E3:

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1 Killzone 3

2 Dead Space 2

3 Metal Gear Rising

4 Twisted Metal

5 Crysis 2

6 God Of War: Ghost Of Sparta

7 Medal Of Honor

8 LittleBigPlanet 2

9 Infamous 2

10 Motorstorm Apocalypse

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Let me know what you guys are most looking forward to!

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MOST WANTED 2010 (PART TWO)

So here we are with the second part of what’s upcoming this year. You can find Part One HERE if you want to check it out.

As you can tell it’s a big year for gaming with plenty of great release coming. I’m sure there will be more to add as we hit the E3 expo in June as well.

AGENT

Release: Late 2010

We don’t know much about Agent, other than it’s from the makers of GTA, is a PS3 exclusive (for now) and that it is a spy thriller set during the Cold War. Sounds like a win to me and the Rockstar guys usually come up trumps.

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FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS

Release: Winter 2010

Apparently it’s NOT Fallout 4 but the story continues elements from Fallout 3 and Fallout 2. Set in a desolate Vegas – not hit during the nuclear war but certainly affected by it – little is known of the story or characters at this stage. I’m still making my way through the DLC for the third game, is it too soon for a new Fallout game? Should be excellent regardless.

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DEUS EX 3

Release: TBC 2010

A prequel to the superb original title, Deus Ex 3 looks to update the control/camera system and generally tweak the game into the 21st Century. Cyborg style upgrades will be available as you RPG (RolePlayingGame rather than RocketPropelledGrenade, though the latter may be an option) your way to the truth. It’s been a while since the last game so let’s hope this one lives up to the hype.

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L.A NOIRE

Release: September 2010

Things seem to have got messy during development of this game over the last few years but it appears to be back on track now. It may not be a PS3 exclusive anymore but I still love the look of this and am excited to see which direction they take it in. I’d love to play as a gumshoe in a Philip Marlowe style story

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METAL GEAR SOLID: PEACE WALKER (PSP)

Release: May 2010

Set after Metal Gear 3 and Metal Gear Portable Ops, Peace Walker takes you on a trip to Costa Rica to fight off an unknown military force who are trying to stage a coup. Having played the demo this is up there graphically for a PSP title and I can’t wait to take Snake back into the battlefield.

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RED FACTION: GUERRILLA 2

Release: TBC 2010

I really enjoyed the complete destruction of the first Red Faction: Guerrilla game, which was a departure for the series as it moved from a FPS to a 3rd person viewpoint. The follow up was literally announced a week or two ago so not even a picture so far – but definitely one to watch out for.

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RESIDENT EVIL PORTABLE (PSP)

Release: TBC 2010

The creators say it’s a ‘different’ experience to usual Resident Evil games and we’ve seen nothing on the game so far. Portable could be a disaster but on the other hand if they find a great balance between new style and old style, it could be a fantastic game. Resi Evil 5 wasn’t amazing but was decent enough so hopefully they can pull this off.

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SPEC OPS: THE LINE

Release: Winter 2010

I was initially sceptical of the footage shown for this game as I thought maybe the use of sand was just a gimmick but a positive response from the gaming press that have actually played it have put this in the ‘keep an eye on category.’ Apparently using sand to trap your enemies has never been so much fun

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INFAMOUS 2 (Rumoured)

Release: Winter 2010 (Unconfirmed)

The story of Cole McGrath took a lot of people by surprise – especially those expecting Activision’s ‘Prototype’ to be the better game (great game but pipped by Infamous). Lots of rumours flying around that a follow up may be released this year, just 18 months after the original game. Hopefully they will continue to build on the excellent first game.

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MEDAL OF HONOR

Release: Winter 2010

Medal Of Honor used to be a standard annual entry on the games calendar but disappeared in recent years. The WW2 formula looked increasingly tired as the versions were released. Now EA are bringing their FPS back and bang up to date – set in Afganistan this could be a great title.

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BRINK

Release: Winter 2010

Another FPS but one with a difference or two. Firstly the ability to create your own avatar and secondly the ability to hold a button while moving towards an object that means the game will intuitively vault, jump or slide under whatever you’re looking at. Could be a great innovation or a hinderence, depending on how it’s implemented. Should be fun either way.

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MAFIA II

Release: Summer 2010

Hopefully this game will live it to the expectation for it – several hands on previews I’ve read have really talked the game up, in terms of gameplay and graphics. Title says it all, obviously the game is full of mob-based shenanigans.

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THE LAST GUARDIAN

Release: Winter 2010 (Unconfirmed)

One of the jewels in Sony’s crown has always been the beautiful ‘Team Ico’ games – the PS2 had Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus and now the PS3 gets The Last Guardian – a seemingly moving tale of a small boy and the mythical creature he discovers (?). Hard to tell exactly how this one will pan out but it will be stunning.

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BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM 2

Release: Autumn 2010

One of the shocks of 2009 – a hero game that was actually really good It was about time and with Rocksteady having the lunatics taking over not just the asylum but most of Gotham in the sequel, Batman is sure to have his hands full later this year.

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So there we go – I’m sure I’m missed a few as there are just so many coming up and obviously more will be announced at GDC in March and E3 in June.

Gonna be a fantastic year to be a gamer.