Half-Life 2: Episode 3:
This will be a stark raving mad adrenaline rush, perhaps even invoking those emotions that Half-Life did way back when. Expect support from more than one character throughout, huge battles with as much as 50-60 friends and enemies at once onscreen. Valve have been upping the tension levels throughout the first two episodes (allthough it doesn't take much to surpass Ep 1 in that regard...), and I think that the good Dr.Freeman might be getting a tad vile after Eli's death... Lastly, I think we'll see the more human side of the combine this time around, just to remind you whence this evil came. The ending will probably be very open, as Valve have stated in several interviews that HL3 is indeed underway.
Spore:
I have to admit that I'm very skeptical about this game yet, I see the pitfall that is micromanagement taking some of the fun out of this concoction. The RTS element is played down in favour of crazy spawning and morphing gameplay where you can actually evolve your own completely unique civilization! I fear, in the end, that this game might bask itself so much in it's own originality that you end up using and toying with the varied inputs instead of having a real goal or motive in the end. I might be wrong about this though, since some previewers thought part of it resembled a type of campaign, which is great news at any rate! Here's to hope!
Gothic 4:
Too early? No, JoWood studios from Hannover will blindside us with the announcement I think, focusing more on getting a core game out this time around rather that spend time and resources on developing add-on's that no one buys outside of Germany (Night of the Raven). Another major relief for me is that JoWood have kicked Piranha Bytes out of the project, stating among other things; "It just wasn't working as we expected, having to devote your entire staff to fixing and mending for months on end on a product that is supposedly finalized just won't do!" said a PR manager to Norwegian newspaper VG. Gothic 3 was highly flawed, that's no secret, and with no affirmative reports on who will take up the task after PB, this could be a shocker! Let's hope it's vastly improved and gives us more of that satiable gameplay and open environment we've come to love.
Age of Conan:
The masterminds of Funcom have yet to make a game or product which recieves less than brilliant reviews and critique, and it seems that Age of Conan will be no exception! I asked the Funcom art director myself in a chatroom interview whether the release of their competitors worried him, upon which he answered; "No, not really. AoC targets and entirely different audience. Warhammer, World of Warcraft and LOTR: Shadows of Angmar all have their relative core players, and so will we have, just as with Anarchy online. Conan is a character and a mythology that borders much closer to realism and leaves more room for sheer politics and subterfuge gameplay of all kinds. Also, as it turns out, the average WoW player is quite young, mostly late teens, while we're making a stab at capturing the more mature audience. The kind who finds the WoW grinding tedious, Warhammer too small and LOTR to overemphasized." Bold words, but the game is shaping up to be nothing short of brilliant, so we can cross our fingers and see for ourselves come March!
Far Cry 2:
I don't know what to make of this; Far Cry was fun and immersive, Crysis (to me) was pretentious and relied to heavily on gameplay that simply isn't there. The developers have been quite adament, though, that the two franchises will remain different despite having similar cores and environments. Some early reports suggested the tropical, scenic views might be exchanged with rugged mountains and pine trees at some point in the game. This is not confirmed as far as I know, but could be a good change in pace from two releases that are a tad too similar for my taste. Far Cry 2 will surprise us, I think. It'll be a better and more balanced game than it's prequel and Crysis, and the realism level (and according difficulty) will be far more welcome. We all know what Crytek are capable of, so they'll pull a rabbit out of the proverbial hat and get our FPS juices flowing again in no time!
Duke Nukem Forever:
Is this game ever coming out?! Catchy title though, probably an inside joke on development length. Not much is known about this title, but some would have that it'll make an entrance on all sorts of gaming conventions this year. I think this game might an underdog coming from nowhere (or 1996, same deal 
) that just blows you away, much like Deus Ex did back in 2000. I hope so at least, all those years spent programming must've yielded some result, or a very good idea in the least! Expect huge bicpes, bigger guns, cheesy comments and gritty humor to make your ribcage rattle while heaving for breath!!
Ok, that's it for today. I'll add more tomorrow, when I've decided which games I'm most excited about!
