Jae and Starks 2010 Anticipations

Feature from Jae - Friday, 05 February 2010 @ 1:28am

My Chinese Zodiac (Pig) for the new year of the Tiger tells me I’m going to have a pretty cruisy year. So I take this to mean that the games this year won’t disappoint. I also have to be cautious of envy if I want to avoid lawsuits, whatever that means. The list of games I’m anticipating for this year are all sequels. It’s hard to be excited over a brand new IP especially if you haven’t been able to play it yet, having said that I do think we’ll see some surprises this year similar to the surprises from last year (Batman Arkum Asylum and Uncharted 2). In the mean time here’s what I’m looking forward to in the year of the Tiger.

God of War III – PS3
After getting a small taste of God of War III in Tokyo I really wanted more. Come this March we’ll get more. Slaying disproportionate gods of mythology and gruesomely decapitating all heavenly life forms will be so satisfying in HD. I can’t wait to see (or not see) what seedy sex game you’ll play to gain health in this sequel. SCE have made top tier God of War titles so the expectancy here is for another quality game.

Super Street Fighter IV – PS3/Xbox 360/PC
An eventual sequel Super Street Fighter IV was something I’ve been anticipating since I finished SFIV with every character. I’m not too keen on the new characters, although Juri may be interesting to use. I’m more so interested to what they’ve done to improve the fighting mechanic and online community. The new alternative ultras will add some strategy to tournaments and I’ll also be tempted to pick up Mad Catz’s second Pro Stick and break into the tournament scene here in NSW.

Final Fantasy XIII - PS3/Xbox 360
If you’re not anticipating Final Fantasy XIII then you’re not going to be invited to my awesome Final Fantasy dress up parties. Those things go off like a rickety light switch. The main FF games of late have been far inferior to that of the classics like FFVI, VII and VIII (yes I loved VIII whatchya gonna do about it?). As much as it has been criticised for it’s linearity I have high hopes for XIII. I prefer settings that are futuristic over medieval times and a game that has heavy reliance on summons/aeons/guardian forces is alright in my books. We’ve been spoilt with high quality Western RPGs of late so it would be nice to get back to the roots of JPRGs where turn based battles and spell casting run amuck. I really hope they do the voice acting well in the local release or that the Japanese voices become selectable. I’m also keen to see if there are any differences between the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of XIII as I’m sitting on the fence as to which one to get. Also they better release that sexy White PS3 or an equivalent SKU that will make me spend stupid amounts of money.
Edit: Turns out we just get a Limited Edition of the game (link). Crap.

Click here to read preview

Metroid other M - Wii
A surprise announcement at E3 last year was the collaboration between Team Ninja and Nintendo to create the new Metroid game. A surprise move as I thought Retro Studios was doing a great job with the Prime series, though sales of MP3(link to review) may beg to differ. Either way this title is said to blend adventure platforming with a bit of FPS. I do remain reserved as this is a new angle which no other game has really gotten right in the past. Knowing Nintendo’s quality assurance of its top IPs I’m confident this game won’t disappoint. However I do wish that they’d keep this one in the oven until Nintendo announces a new HD console and make it catered for that for launch. Mario and Zelda have had their fair share of launch title limelight so it’s time for Samus to become the star.

Starcraft II - PC
How can anyone forget Blizzard’s biggest RTS franchise. Korea’s biggest obsession since the invention of kim-chi, Starcraft was the epitome of RTS gaming. The follow up sequel is planning to give us more of a very good thing and there are no complaints coming from this corner of the room. I’m bound to be immersed in this game for a few months, if not years. I actually welcome the split of the game into three parts as long as multiplayer skirmish is ready from the first game. I just hope that the balance works well so that less than 50% of the players out there play as the Zerg.

Click here to read preview

2010 is going to be an interesting year for me. One of change, one of diversity. With my impending marriage on the horizon, I must admit that I'm looking forward to a less hectic schedule so I can plant my butt firmly on the lounge for a few hours a week and get some quality gaming done. And what a year of releases to do so!! Quite literally, there are some outstanding titles that excite me to the very core!

Dante's Inferno - Xbox 360

I love his Scyth!

Dante Alighieri's epic poem, The Divine Comedy, is one of the worlds greatest literary pieces; A stunning exhibit of allegory and the culmination of the Middle-Ages view on the afterlife. The game itself, developed by Visceral Games, holds for me a lot of expectation. Following a God of War style of gameplay, I'm really hoping that they can properly represent the 9 Circle's of Hell accurately and not mess this up. I also see this as an opportunity for Visceral to turn a video game into a more artistic medium; Taking what Dante did in written word and the title into a blockbuster title.

Napoleon: Total War - PC

"It's chow-daaar! Say it, Frenchy!"

Oh how I loved Empire: Total War. My pick for 2009's Game of the Year, I am salivating at the opportunity to play Creative Assembly's follow up title. This game oozes RTS pedigree and my preview of the title simply made me want it even more. I love that they're trying to make the game more realistic, I love that they're willing to try new things by following the story of France's greatest general and I love that they have tweaked the engine to make the game seem so realistic in battle. This is a must have for 2010 and I cannot wait for its release!

Halo: Reach - Xbox 360

This is the end, my only friends, the end...

The story of Reach is one that the player, if you've read the books and know the canon, will know the ending of. For Bungie, this is it - The swan song to game that made FPS on Xbox what it is. Reach will signal the end of Bungie's developmentof Halo games, as 343 Industries will take over control of the franchise after this title. For this reason alone, I look forward to the game. Combined with the epic story of Noble Team in the fall of Reach, I can imagine that Bungie will throw the kitchen sink, the bathroom sink and anything else they can find to make their last Halo title the best of the lot. It is for this reason that I think Halo: Reach will be the best of the Halo titles to date and one I look forward to in 2010 with great expectation.

Stargate Resistance - PC

I really want one of those staff weapons...

"Chevron 7 - Locked..." I admit it - I love Stargate. And to finally play a game based in the Stargate world makes me a happy panda. A 3rd person shooter, the game follows the fairly predictable story line of 'SGC trying to stop the expansion of the System Lords' off word, but frankly that's Stargate to a tee. Firesky and Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, the latter of which are producing the MMO Stargaet Worlds, are responsible for the title that will no doubt make a lot of fans extremely happy.

Just Cause 2 - Xbox 360

Bruce Willis - Eat your heart out!

This was one of my most enjoyed games when I first got the Xbox 360. I will admit that it wasn't faultless, and there were some problems, but as a game and as an experience, I really loved being Rico Rodriguez and trying to overthrow Salvador Mendoza. The fact they're trying to fix the problems the original had and improve on the things people liked gives me great hope that this will not only be one of the rare few games that is significantly better than the original, but also give me hours of enjoyment as I explore Panau in the Southeast Asia.