Steve's Post-E3 Most Anticipated Games of 2008

10) LEGO Batman: The Videogame
Genre: Action
Developer: Traveller's Tales
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Why?: I'm a sucker for comic book action and LEGO so I couldn't fail to put this one my list. Combining everyone's favorite caped crusader with everyone's favorite building blocks is a sure winner for me, especially after the wonderful job Traveler's Tales did with their Star Wars games. We're in for loads of great villains, great co-op action, genuine humor and basically a fantastic experience all around. It may not be Frank Miller, but it's still pretty awesome.

9) Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Gearbox
Publisher: Ubisoft
Why?: Gearbox's original Brothers in Arms combined great tactical gameplay, first rate visuals and a standard of historical accuracy rarely seen in video games. So it's no wonder that I'm excited about this sequel. The cover and suppression system makes firefights about much more than simple marksmanship, which adds a tactical element to the combat that's sorely missing in most other shooters. This time around the 101st are heading to Market-Garden and I'll be sure to reup once the game ships.

8) Crysis Warhead
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Crytek
Publisher: EA
Why?: Crysis was one of the better shooters of the last few years, even if I did totally hate the alien parts towards the end. With Warhead, the team at Crytek is returning to the jungle for even more high intensity action. Warhead promises to deliver more explosions, more firefights and basically more of everything that made the original Crysis so exciting. When Sykes showed up on the deck of the carrier with his war trophy, I definitely wanted to know more about his story and Warhead should help us explore what happened on the rest of the island during the original game.

7) World in Conflict: Soviet Assault
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Publisher: TBA
Why?: One of the more distressing casualties of the whole Vivendi-Activision deal is the World in Conflict expansion, Soviet Assault. Though it's officially been dropped by Activision, we still have hopes that some other publisher will pick this game up and bring it to retail shelves -- or at least digital download sites. The new Red Army campaign promises to deliver even more of the tactical goodness we loved in the first game and should help us get a thrill by nuking the US forces back to the Stone Age.

6) Neverwinter Nights 2: Storm of Zehir
Genre: RPG
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Atari
Why?: More Neverwinter Nights is never a bad thing, and the team at Obsidian is ideally suited to bring us the next installment. The new party system means that you can actually get some old school RPG action even in single player, and having multiple party members means that the developers can create even more opportunities for intelligent skill use. Best of all, there's a new Swashbuckler prestige class that's so close to the specs of my own NWN2 fighter than I'm considering suing the developers.

5) Far Cry 2
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Why?: Ubisoft Montreal has created a singular experience in Far Cry 2. Using an entirely new engine and an inventive story-telling system, the game promises to deliver one of the most beautiful, open-ended shooter experiences around. Better yet, it does so without forcing players to trudge through the leafy jungles or shadowy city streets that have dominated recent shooter settings. I'm particularly excited to find out more about the rival warlords you're caught between.

4) Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3
Genre: Real-time strategy
Developer: EA Los Angeles
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Why?: Parachuting Russian bears, that's why. Personally, there was always something special about the slightly kitschy, twisted world of Red Alert that was more appealing to me than the grittier Tiberium series. This time around the time-traveling Communist psychics and super-intelligent Allied dolphins are joined by an entirely new faction, the Empire of the Rising Sun. With World War III finally becoming a three-way fight, this may just be the most exciting Red Alert ever.

3) Fallout 3
Genre: RPG
Developer: Bethesda Game Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Why?: The format may have changed but the developers at Bethesda are doing it just right. They've managed to translate the wide-open appeal of the Elder Scrolls games to the post-apocalyptic wasteland of Fallout and the results already impress me. After a lengthy hands-on session, I'm even more convinced that the VATS combat system adds a much-needed tactical RPG element to the game, and I'm continually captivated by the details of the world. Now all I need to see is how the main storyline plays out.

2) Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
Genre: Persistent Online RPG
Developer: Mythic Entertainment
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Why?: You'd think that finally getting access to the beta would assuage my anticipation somewhat, but it's had exactly the opposite effect. After playing through the beta, I'm even more excited to explore the world fully populated by other players. The awesome Warhammer license is a great alternative to the usual medieval fantasy MMO, and the great realm-versus-realm gameplay nicely introduces players into the hardcore PVP action that makes the game so appealing.

1) Spore
Genre: Strategy
Developer: Maxis
Publisher: EA
Why?: Jason dropped this one down a bit on his list and I've got to agree that my expectation is, if not exactly waning, at least a little boring and predictable. Still, I'm incredibly anxious to finally get my hands on Will Wright and Co.'s ambitious evolution simulator. We've already expounded on the game's appeal in previous features so all I'll say at this point is that everything seems to be coming together in just the right ways for this one and we're just as hopeful as ever that it will live up to our high expectations.

Other Games Worth Noting: Though I don't often linger in the deep end of the pool, I'm also interested to see what the World of Warcraft expansion Wrath of the Lich King has to offer. Prince of Persia and Mirror's Edge seem poised to offer up some platform satisfaction and it'll be interesting to see how well those games do on the PC and how open-ended the pathways are in Mirror's Edge. I'm intentionally trying to remain a bit ignorant on the Left 4 Dead front, mostly because I want to be surprised by the title when I first sit down to play it. But even so, I'm definitely excited to see what it has to offer.

Turn the page for Charles Onyett's picks.