August 1, 2008 - Earlier this year, the then-leaderless PC team offered a look at the games they were most excited about in 2008. And while it was, by any objective standards, a truly amazing list, things change. As we move into the second half of the year, our expectations for some of those titles -- not to mention their actual publishing status -- have changed. Also, we've got a brand new editor-in-chief.

It's time to reevaluate the list and offer up a new batch of titles that we're most looking forward to in the second half of 2008. We just feel that it's the responsible thing to do. Also, Jeremy told us we had to.

Like all good-hearted gamers, we're looking forward to games on all the various platforms, but we're limiting these lists to games that are specifically coming to the PC.

 

Jason's Post-E3 Most Anticipated Games of 2008

10) Space Siege
Genre: Action RPG
Developer: Gas Powered Games
Publisher: SEGA
Why?: The Dungeon Siege games disappointed me with their automated gameplay, but I'm hoping Gas Powered learned its lesson when making Space Siege. And the company did earn good will from me for the great Supreme Commander games. Finally, here's an action RPG that ditches the tired fanatasy thing and goes with sci-fi. It'll be an interesting challenge to try and win the game and also retain as much humanity as possible. Still, action RPGs are judged by mainly two things: how good is the killing and shopping?

9) Spore
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Maxis
Publisher: EA
Why?: It may be one of the most anticipated games of the year, but I'll defy convention and place Spore at the bottom of my list. Don't get me wrong: I'm really looking forward to the game, but I'm also a bit wary as to how it all really comes together in the end. Plus, even though you can destroy entire planets, Spore doesn't really offer up the levels of firepower that I prefer in my strategy games. Finally, I'm wondering if it's possible for a game to have too much stuff. We'll see!

8) Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
Genre: RPG
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Atari
Why?: I'll admit I was a bit turned off by the weird soul eating system in the first NWN2 expansion, but, with Storm of Zehir, Obsidian promises to make things right. This new expansion will introduce a new party system that lets you create each member of your crew. When you get down to it, I'm an old school, single-player RPG fan, and I pretty much can't get enough of D&D's Forgotten Realms. Obsidian did amazing things with the core game of NWN2; if it can get back to that kind of epic storytelling again, this is an easy must-have.

7) Far Cry 2
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Why?: I really loved the original Far Cry on the PC, but that was made by Crytek. This new Far Cry 2 is made by Ubisoft Montreal, arguably one of the top design houses in North America. This is a game that is just ambitious in almost every way, and while I'm impressed by its many complex systems, such as realistic fire propagation, I need to see if it the gameplay has any soul to it. Is Far Cry 2 more than the sum of its admittedly impressive parts? I want to know.

6) Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Gearbox
Publisher: Ubisoft
Why?: When I was in college I spent a spring break running around the woods of Fort Lewis with fellow Army ROTC members. Very few shooters can capture that sense of tactical coordination, but on that list are the Brothers in Arms games. Sure, Hell's Highway is massively overdue, and that irks me. I like the challenge of thinking of my feet, coordinating my squad as I'm busy dodging and returning fire. We know that Gearbox is using modern computing power to deliver better visuals, but will it also deliver better gameplay?

5) World in Conflict: Soviet Assault
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Publisher: TBA
Why?: Last year's World in Conflict was one of the most thrilling and eye-catching strategy games in years, and while the Soviet Assault campaign isn't even a full expansion, I still can't wait to play it. This is technically going to be a downloadable campaign on the PC, one that will integrate into the existing World in Conflict campaign, with the main addition being that you'll now be able to fight from the perspective of the Red Army in addition to NATO and US forces. It's time to nuke those pesky capitalists, comrade.

4) S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: GSC Game World
Publisher: Deep Silver
Why?: Sure, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl was a buggy mess, but it was a buggy mess that captivated shooter fans like few games in recent years. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. proved to be sort of a post-apocalyptic Deus Ex, with a haunting and memorable world to explore and fight in. The game got a bit linear in its last chapters, but hopefully Clear Sky learns from this and offers a more wide-open experience. It should also be much less of a buggy mess at launch. Let's see if GSC can step up and deliver.

3) Left 4 Dead
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Valve
Publisher: Valve
Why?: I've been desperately wanting to play more Left 4 Dead ever since I first saw the game a year ago at QuakeCon. And, sure, I've played it on several occasions since then at press events, but at this point Valve just needs to ship this co-op shooter and let us see the levels and secrets it has kept hidden over the past year. Plus, I'm dying to find out what it's like playing from the perspective of the zombies. Unfortunately, we still have three more months of waiting.

2) Crysis Warhead
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Crytek
Publisher: EA
Why?: Everyone agrees that the first half of Crysis was much stronger than its second half, where the gameplay transitioned from a sandbox experience to a more linear one. Still, it was an incredible, amazing game. Crysis Warhead promises a much more action-packed time, but one that learns its lessons and sticks with the sandbox battles. I've played the E3 level about six or seven times by now, and I'm still amazed at the options in the game. It's fast, fluid, wild, and stunning.

1) Fallout 3
Genre: RPG
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Why?: I like to say that I'm such an old school Fallout fan that my love for the series goes back to Wasteland, its spiritual predecessor that I played back in the day. To me, the Wasteland/Fallout games are permanently enshrined in my favorite RPGs of all time. I, too, am awfully curious to see what Bethesda has done with the intellectual property, but I've been impressed with what I've seen to date. Now my only question is whether to buy the collector's edition or the super duper collector's edition that costs twice as much.

Other Games Worth Noting: I'm not a huge MMO fan, but I'm still looking forward to the release of Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. And I'm curious to see how Space Siege from Gas Powered Games turns out. Mirror's Edge also looks very cool, and it's from DICE, one of my favorite development houses.

Turn the page for Steve Butts' picks