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.

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

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.