IGN PC Team's Most Anticipated Games of 2008 Revisited

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Charles' Post-E3 Most Anticipated Games of 2008

10) Quake Live Genre: First-Person Shooter Developer: id Software Publisher: id Software Why?: So yeah, it's not a new game. In fact, it's almost 10 years old at this point. Quake Live is, though touched up in spots, basically Quake III Arena. The thing is, I loved Quake III Arena, and getting a chance to dive into an updated version of the game with a whole new player base, which hopefully includes more people less skilled at railgunning me in the eye from all the way across a map, is definitely something I'm looking forward to. Hopefully id Software can make its free-to-play model work.

9) Dead Space Genre: Third-Person Action Developer: EA Redwood Shores Publisher: Electronic Arts Why?: In this game you're running around by yourself on a star ship inhabited with all sorts of hostile nasties, most of which seem to have tentacles of some kind. Sounds pretty solid. I haven't gotten to play it yet, but from what I've seen at events it seems it could be good for a scare and maybe provide some decent gameplay. I'd also like to point out I'm a sucker for anything that combines horror, gore, and sci-fi elements in any way. I've seen Event Horizon over 10 times, and each viewing was voluntary. If you watch it as a comedy, it's not that bad!

8) Mirror's Edge Genre: First-Person Action-Adventure Developer: DICE Sweden Publisher: Electronic Arts Why?: After I first saw this game, I thought about what I liked so much about it, and realized I was just so dazzled by the visuals that I didn't actually remember what the gameplay was supposed to be like. So, going back and seeing the game again at E3, I still think it's going to be a good one, but I'm curious about how open-ended the game will be. Sure the free-running action elements look slick and the Bourne Identity-like first-person shaky cam seems to work to the game's advantage, but am I really going to have fun with it if I'm just running in a straight line the whole way through? We'll see.

7) Penumbra: Requiem Genre: First-Person Adventure Developer: Frictional Games Publisher: Paradox Interactive Why?: Requiem is the third game in the Penumbra series that's supposed to pick up after the events of Black Plague, and the latter was the most unsettling game I'd played since Monolith's Condemned: Criminal Origins. The setting's great, the scares genuine, the atmosphere powerful even with the rough graphical edges, and the puzzles generally make sense because a lot of them are based on physics. It's a series that provides for a truly affecting experience, outclassing a large number of games out there with significantly larger budgets.

6) Left 4 Dead Genre: First-Person Shooter Developer: Valve Publisher: Valve Why?: It's not just round-based mayhem with one team trying to score more points than another. It's a squad of four human survivors picking up weapons and battling across maps with a start and end point against hordes of fast-moving zombies (or infected, as they're called). Instead of emphasizing the one-man army approach, each teammate needs to rely on others for healing, revives, and added firepower. Then, if you get sick of playing with guns, you can swap over to the infected side and actually control the boss zombies. It's an online shooter that may actually be able to make you think and feel instead of just shoot and yell.

5) Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning Genre: Persistent Online RPG Developer: Mythic Entertainment Publisher: Electronic Arts Why?: It seems like it'll be user-friendly, as all sorts of your characters' actions are recorded in a Tome of Knowledge, and there'll hopefully be some thrilling large scale PvP battles with Mythic's realm versus realm combat setup. Here's hoping the grind's not too bad. I'm also really looking forward to see how the launch period goes, as it's always a good time comparing big MMO releases against each other. Like, will Warhammer be smooth like LotRO? Rough like Age of Conan? Rough like Vanguard? I'll be there on day one to find out.

4) S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky Genre: First-Person Shooter Developer: GSC Game World Publisher: Deep Silver Why?: I was one of those people who loved GSC's Shadow of Chernobyl, glaring flaws and all. It just had such a powerful atmosphere that I felt I had to explore, had to find out what was happening in the Zone, even if many of the game's systems didn't really work as well as they should have. With Clear Sky, a prequel that hooks directly into the start of things in Shadow of Chernobyl, GSC says they're addressing many of the complaints about the first game. I hope that's true!

3) Far Cry 2 Genre: First-Person Shooter Developer: Ubisoft Montreal Publisher: Ubisoft Why?: Ubisoft Montreal is trying a different setting with this, the plains of Africa, which moves it away from the look of Crytek's original. But what's got me most intrigued is how the narrative and "buddy" systems will work. From what Ubisoft's said, they'll all dynamically interact with each other, condensing a wide range of narrative possibilities into what appears to be a pre-set experience, and that experience is always changing depending on whatever actions you take. And then, of course, there's the fact that you can ignite virtual brush fires to distract or scare off enemies.

2) Fallout 3 Genre: RPG Developer: Bethesda Game Studios Publisher: Bethesda Softworks Why?: It's about time this franchise got a reboot. The original Fallout is still among one of my faviorite RPGs. Hell, I even started playing again recently and have been having a great time. Bethesda's changing a whole lot about the game with the franchise's third entry. No more isometric perspective. No more charmingly animated dialogue sequences with important NPCs. Though I've played the game for a bit, I'm still anxious to see if it can maintain the sardonically optimistic tone of the original, and deliver the same kind of emotional impact through strong writing and presentation.

1) Spore Genre: Strategy Developer: Maxis Publisher: Electronic Arts Why?: Yeah... Spore's been in development for a while and I keep putting it on lists like this at the number one or close to number one spot for a reason: it's by far the most intriguing game on the release calendar for the rest of the year. There's so much in terms of genres, gameplay styles, and creative possibilities the game incorporates, it's still difficult to really wrap your head around all that can be done with it. And now that its early September release is only about a month away, we'll all soon get to see what Will Wright and Maxis have been able to do.

 

Other Games Worth Noting: The release dates of my other anticipated games are still floundering out somewhere in 2009. Creative Assembly's Empire: Total War and Relic's Dawn of War II would definitely be near the top of this list if it didn't cut off at 2008, as would Blizzard's StarCraft II, which we still don't really have a release date for. As for what's left this year, I'll definitely be checking out Project Origin, Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, Crysis Warhead, and BattleForge looks like it could be interesting. Red Alert 3 is also on the list, and Battlefield Heroes could be interesting -- or not. Hopefully I'll have time to play all these. Between my assigned reviews, events like Games Convention and Tokyo Game Show, and life in general, there's not going to be a lot of free time.