Two Worlds II: 10/5/2010 (PC, PS3, 360)

Why you probably don't care: Two Worlds 1 was a mess. Terrible voice work, bad dialogue, and a frame rate that would make a captain of one of 'The Deadliest Catch's' ships nauseous with its jerky motion. Anything the game did good was over shadowed by the things it did really bad. Like eyeing the hot woman across the bar only to realize later on she has a penis it was that kind of disappointment that was in store for you. You can brag to your friends that it had it's good moments but then all they have to do is mention the bad part and your house of cards comes crashing down.

Why you should care: Well for starters the game looks pretty good with previews not mentioning anything about an unstable frame rate, unnatural combat movements and frequent loading times. The game looks very similar to Oblivion but with a much more diverse landscape as seen in the pictures below that derive some architectural design from the orient.

Something tells me we're not in Cyrodiil anymore.

Also Two Worlds II is being written by actual writers, not developers and artists which should launch the dialogue past the mix of old world English and semi modern vernacular. Mayhap you won't want to punch yourself in the ear drums after 4 or 5 conversations.

The crafting system is back and it is being enhanced so that you can dye your clothes and create spells. When thinking of all the things magic can do, did you ever think of casting a spread of fireballs that can engulf your foe in flames and then summon insects from the pits of Hell from the flames? It's like herpes and pubic lice all rolled into one.

Wussy little dragons, not just for weak end bosses anymore.

But seriously, after playing Oblivion and seeing that you were either a high level guy covered in green crystals or dark pointy armor and all your foes had the same fashion sense...That's something not to worry about in TW2 because if you like that suit of armor that you found when you were level 2, if you find crafting items to strengthen that armor then it will last you until you are level 50.

So if you want a game with competing factions to appease, more creative quests and monsters than Oblivion,character creation system where you can create a Necromantic Ranger likeI did then on October 4th there may be a game for you.

Arcania: Gothic 4 10/12/2010 (PC, 360) *PS3 version comes out March 2011

Why you probably don't care: The previous Gothic games were PC only so if you've just played console games then you have no idea what I'm talking about. If you are a PC game you understand that the Gothic series is The Elder Scrolls series' somewhat smarter but uglier and more unstable little step brother who has frequent breakdowns and craps his pants.

Why you should care (maybe): As the conductor of this hype train I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that I'm hitting every stop on this ride in order. Nope I'll probably going straight from Two Worlds 2 to New Vegas.

Looks like we're not in Cyrodiil anymore...notice no loading to go into a town?

You see this Gothic game concerns me in some ways. The first three Gothic games were developed by a German Company called Piranha Bytes and for a legal reason, they aren't allowed to work on Gothic games anymore so they ran off and did Risen. The Gothic series was then handed over to Spellbound, a developer that is world renowned for their smashing Desperado games. Actually I lied. I never heard of them or their games and when I looked up Desperados there's no Antonio Banderas on the cover so I know the games suck. (Just kidding, I would never use Antonio Banderas as a bar for quality, now his slick ebon locks fully rendered…I digress)

Anyways previews of Arcania are mentioning that the combat is actually decent now. Instead of creating a character in the previous Gothic games only to walk up to the first creature in the game, which was usually a boar, and quickly getting your ass handed to you as you stiffly poke at it with all the dueling finesse as a drunk one legged corpse itthe preview statesthe character moves around much more fluidly. This saddens me because the last three games I've run like a girl from the first few creatures in the game and now I won't be able to carry the tradition as the first creature in the game is a mole and the previewer was actually able to kill it. Maybe boar ass-kicking will follow shortly.

Did I make it seem like boars are tough? Well Goblins are like bipedal boars with pointy objects that hang out in groups.

A couple of the other positive things were that the game has very few actual load screens, the world is pretty large and encourages exploration. Other than that it's been pretty quiet on the actual role playing aspects.

Well the previous games were played because of the amount of freedom in the game. There were a bunch of competing factions in the game so most quests had numerous ways to solve them, from slashing everything that gets in your way, to dialogue and sometimes good old fashioned cat burglary. Once you got the item you wanted in a quest you can usually go back to the quest giver and say "Here's your plate you wanted sire, now can I go outside and wash your carriage and maybe warm your slippers for you?" or "15 gold? Pshhh. How about I go outside and aggravate a boar which is known to have this game's poor AI and let it follow me in this room where I will jump on a table, laughing while I watch it raise piggish hell as it kills everyone in this room."

Oh God! There are these things too. Flying boars with tails that are sharp

Like I mentioned before. Two Worlds 2 and New Vegas have a lot more info out about them so I'm not sure if Gothic 4 is ready to make its stop on this hype train or if it's not turning out the way the game was supposed to but I'll be keeping my eyes on this one.

Fallout: New Vegas 10/19/2010 (PC, PS3, 360)

Why you probably don't care: Either you believe that Fallout 3 was Oblivion with guns, you think Fallout 3 should have been a 2d isometric game developed by a groupof people that don't exist anymore or you bought Alpha Protocol and Knights of the Old Republic 2.

Why you should care: Well if it can't be 2d isometric game made by the team that doesn't exist anymore it should be at least made by a team that has a bunch of the more widely known members of the team that doesn't exist. Also if you've only played Kotor 2 and Alpha Protocol then get a gaming PC and pick up Neverwinter Nights 2 and the Mask of the Betrayer expansion.

Looks like we're not in Cyrodiil...with guns anymore...Okay that was the last one.

If those reasons aren't that good then how about the tweaks they've made to the game?

Iron Sights, Improved camera angle on V.A.T.S., Melee weapons have special attacks in V.A.T.S., Hardcore mode that takes into account dehydration, ammo weight and injuries, A new command wheel for giving companions commands, traits are back which give characters bonuses at the cost of a weakness, more use of random items found throughout the wastes that can improve weapons/armor, an improved faction system and even though this isn't confirmed it I believe it will have a better story, characters and dialogue.

Cowboy, gangster and a golf club sporting hero on a onesy? How bad ass can you get?

This is the game I'm looking forward to most this year and since I don't need to spoil the game on my own hype train I'm keeping this blurb pretty short. Support Obisidian, Buy New Vegas and Dungeon Siege III when it comes out!

Fable 3 10/26/2010 (360) *PC version TBD

Why you probably don't care: Peter Molyneux

Why you should care: Now I could have fun with this one. Peter M. has been known to run his mouth off so if I were to say the game sports 256 player multiplayer, A touch system of interaction in which you physically interact with characters, a create a game feature, a system where your weapons level up as much as you use them and you can sell them online, the ability to link the game's bank account to your real life bank account which translates Fable 3's in game money to a real world $1 for every 49,999 gold and a system that your character gets more powerful with the amount of followers and not exp...some of you might believe it.

Looks like we're not in Cyrodiil anymore. Yes I just Molyneux'd all of you!

Rightly so because some of those things are actually in the game. Namely the weapon thing, the touch system and the things about the followers. Also the co-op portion is supposed to be the actual characters not some generic henchmen when a friend or you join someone else's game and the game promises more tough morality choices not only during yourrise to king but also once you get the power of being on the throne.

Now Lionhead is saying that this game isn't an RPG and a lot or previewers are saying that the RPG aspects found in the previous games are even more streamlined and it has even stated that this is an RPG for people that don't like a challenges of today's RPG's. RPG or not, I enjoy the world of Albion for its quirkiness and the ability to fart in people's faces while my dog urinates on their sister's corpse.

Female Avatars, now with 400% less testicles.

So the game is broken up into The Road To Rule and then there's the game that takes place after you ascend the throne. I've never been able to translate the way Lionhead games actually work outand keep me entertained in words so I'll just say that I'm interested in this game.

Disclaimer: as these are WRPG's I am not responsible for any graphical pop in, quest ending bugs, random crashes/freezing, horrible voice acting, lack of options to make your characer a male but look like a girl, so much freedom that you don't know where to go next so the game bores you, main characters with no personality because you don't know how to actually role play in a role playing game, the onslaught of DLC where by the end of it all you'll have paid $148 for a single game or loss of free time.