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Video Games to Watch for in 2010: Alice's Picks
by Alice O'Connor, Dec 31, 2009 3:00pm PSTWith the New Year upon us the Shacknews editors looked at the upcoming release calendars and chose our three most anticipated games of the lot. There's nothing remotely scientific or analytical about it. These are the games, though, that as gamers we're already wishing we had in our systems. Here's what's got Alice going for 2010:
I am so very, very curious.
I realise Deus Ex 3 is developed by entirely different people. I'm fully aware that Deus Ex is one of the greatest video games ever. I know Deus Ex: Invisible War was disappointing. With that out of the way, how could you not be excited by the prospect of more Deus Ex?
Comments (albethey lacking much in the way of context) from lead designer Jean-Francois Dugas concerning the original Deus Ex have a fair number of fans riled up but there's the glimmer of a creative spark there that at least sounds somewhat encouraging.
Deus Ex's gameplay isn't copied exactly but we're told the spirit is intact. While there is a cover system--gasp!--and regenerating health--hiss!--the focus is still on non-linear play--hooray!--in open-ish cities across a dystopian world. The setting is interesting and what I've seen of the cyberpunk Renaissance aesthetic is downright gorgeous so I'm already looking forward to exploring.
Eidos Montreal has yet to be tested, faces a mammoth task, and the deck is stacked against it. Should Deus Ex 3 prove to be worthy of its name, though, what does that mean for that other classic series continuation currently in development at Eidos Montreal--Thief 4?
Brink is the latest Enemy Territory in all but name and seems it might be the finest yet.
Drawing more from the original Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory than commercial sequel Quake Wars, Brink packs class- and objective-based shooty fun with a lovely art style. See for yourself in the gameplay walkthrough trailers released recently.
The context-sensitive 'SMART' movement system embodies why I am so excited about Brink. When I first heard players could vault over, climb up, or slide under obstacles with the single 'SMART' key, I thought it all sounded a little odd and Mirror's Edge. I was imagining full-on parkour, scampering across rooftops in pursuit of foes--little like the ET I loved. In reality, SMART simply streamlines movement. It cuts out the faffing so you can focus on playing the game.
That's Brink then. It takes tried-and-tested gameplay and applies lessons video games have learnt over the past few years. Splendid.
StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
Last year, Nick was anticipating StarCraft 2's release in 2009. This year, I'm excited about its 2010 release because this is the year SC2 will arrive...no, seriously. Well, the beta, at least.
While I am excited to play StarCraft 2, most of all I'm looking forward to watching it. I have, to my great surprise, become a huge fan of professional StarCraft and eagerly await pro SC2. The original is by far the best video game spectator sport out there so I'm curious to see how much of an audience the shiny new StarCraft 2 can find outside South Korea.
I've also decided that StarCraft 2 will be my inspiration to learn how to play real-time strategies in multiplayer. I generally only play RTS campaigns--which massively encourage turtling--so my brief forays into multiplayer are crushing and humiliating. No longer. Aided by the 'Challenge' tutorials, I will develop macro skills and buff up my micro play and then, Mr. Nicholas Breckon, we shall see who has the last laugh.
Throw in a singleplayer campaign which is shaping up to be quite excellent and exciting prospects for modders and it seems StarCraft 2 is bringing a whole load of fun our way in 2010. Theoretically.
Comments
The game simply was more then the sum of its parts.Especially in the Hong Kong part everything just clicked.A large very detailed city area (made by many interconnected levels)with hundreds of things to do and people to speak not necessary about the main goal.Slowly you got to your objective but the trip was its own reward here.Great story,great voice overs and dialog trees,a huge skill set that affected the way you tackled with situations and the outcomes of those.And last but not least a memorable techno -classic music worthy of a score of Vangelis or Vasilis(if he was still alive...). Classic Looking Glass stuff here...If you have not played it go buy it immediately -BUT REMEMBER THERE IS A HD TEXTURE
MOD AND ALSO SOME ENGINE UPDATES THAT REPLACE THE RENDERER WITH A DX9/DX10 RENDER AND THERE IS ALSO A HDR ADDON !!!!!!!!!!!!! DONT FORGET THOSE !!!
Also remember to check some other games by those people(including irrational games-another ex looking glass team) like Terranova Strike Force Centauri,SYSTEM SHOCK 2,thief 1,2,3,Tribes vengeance and biochock....also remember Anachronox.
Deus ex 2 was a big dissapointment for one simple reason....They cut the levels to make the game playable on xbox.....And when i say cut.....i mean the imaging a school of 3 students with 3 rooms....coffe shops with 2 tables,bars with 3 stools,clubs with 4 people inside,and citys with 10 like people......hhehheh....
I am really puzzled about Deusx Ex 3..From the one hand it is clear to me that the team that makes the game really love the original game and constantly talk in the forums with the fans-even inviting some to their offices...Yet.....
On the other hand they are too stubborn about things that many fans cryed out loud....For example the covers system which everybody thinks its not necessary in a first person shooter...(though it could lead to some better enemy ai? who knows...) Also the auto health regeneration takes a good game mechanic away...(In the original game if you got shot in the leg with would limp or even crawl on the ground!!,loose your aim or even the ability to wield 2 hand weapons and that led to some memorable fights.....Still they have a lot of interesting ideas so i want to pass my judgent for a later time...
Also remember to check games like stalker clear sky,stalker call of prypiat,mass effect 1/2(upcomming) ,fallout 3 -game of the year,mafia and the upcoming MAFIA 2..
Other than that, I really dislike regenerative health. It makes games too easy and takes the thrill out of playing. The chance of failure is part of a games charm. Doing nothing but hiding behind a waist-high wall for 5 seconds to continue the fight like nothing happened isn't good game design and encourages people to play recklessly - a style which not all games suit.
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I agree, as well, that Brink and DX 3 have very very interesting art styles, definitely much cooler than a lot of what you see slated to come out this year.
Now about that game. When you ask DX fans "what was so cool about DX" one of the most common answers you're going to get is that Deus Ex was so REALISTIC. I don't mean that sort of ass-slapping raid a third world rubblepile urban environment and kill some mercenaries like Army of Two or Call of Duty, or Uncharted. In Deus Ex there are no silly explosions or over the top scripted sequences going off left and right, instead you're just quietly walking through some very familiar streets, like the ones you might live on, maybe you walk into a bar, chat to the locals for conversation that is optional and may or may not be related to the games immediate plot, enjoying a quietly optimistic synth soundtrack, soaking up an atmosphere that comes from the genuine sense of place the game creates, and then you leave the bar, go into another very normal every-day back alley, and jump three times a man's height so you can sneak into your brothers apartment and raid it for high tech weaponry and equipment.
That's why Deus Ex is cool. Is DX3 going to take that further? From all appearances no. It's going for a sort of almost cartoonish look, and while its all very beautiful, that sort of more fantastical sci fi cyberpunk setting with trenchcoats and kooky architecture everywhere was not what Deus Ex was about. Regenerating health, cover system, whatever, but when I see that art, and then I read that preview article in CGW where they're like "Yeah man we're going to put special emphasis on character interaction, there's going to be a minigame and everything where you can SEDUCE A HOT BABE" I can't help but roll my eyes. That shit is un-necessary.
Look, you ask Witchboy what he thinks they fucked up on Deus Ex 2, and he (a guy who likes that game and still defends it) is probably first going to tell you that they shouldn't have gone more sci fi, that the game was too far into the future, to detached from the baseline of the original, and therefore lost that atmosphere which made it so very special. When DX came out it seemed to promise a future for games in which they, I dunno, become more "literary" for back of a better word, more high minded. And now ten years later, a developer is adapting The Divide Comedy.
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I just reinstalled System Shock 2 at 4 in the morning, and after updating the graphics with mods, and using a widescreen fix, the game STILL strikes terror into my heart as I'm wandering through the Von Braun's corridors. The music, the lighting, the atmosphere, everything about it is STILL incredible, even after 10 years since release. In the first 5 minutes of gameplay, I almost shit my pants and jumped out of my seat twice. Deadspace, Bioshock, Stalker, FEAR, of any game that has put me on edge or scared me, none breed the constant terror that System Shock 2 has instilled into me. If you haven't played it before, buy it. If you can't buy it, then do what you need to, but this is a timeless classic. Just remember to install the patches and mods to bring it up to date. Also, beware the monkies...
Mods can be found here: http://www.gnomeslair.com/2007/03/system-shock-2-2k7.html
Not all links are active though. Also for widescreen compatibility, just do a search for "system shock 2 widescreen" on google.
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If they can maintain that, and get the world populated with enough objects with their own behavior, then you can say the "spirit" is maintained. So far it's not encouraging but what else can DX fans do but hope for the best?
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Why not use these articles to showcase lesser known titles that you think will be great?
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I wonder why no one put SW:TOR down here -- maybe they are skeptical about a 2010 release? I know it hasn't been announced, but I'd put my money on September of 2010.
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2010 will be an interesting year to watch.
I expect a very craftsman-like approach that tries to do a good job and misses the point of the IP entirely. I guess that's why I can't look forward to DX3 on your list. I'll look forward to a clearer combination of good studio and good project, not a cheap attempt to cash in on a license that a publisher wishes to revitalize but never cared very much about to begin with. Eidos never really cared or understood DX and dropped the ball on marketing it for years. The thought that it'll be different and better now that Eidos has full creative control and no Ionstorm involvement... good luck.
SC2 is too similar to SC, just (slightly) purtier graphics
No, 2010 is:
AVP! Game over man GAME OVER!
Mafia II the magnificent and vastly under appreciated Mafia gets a new engine, new cars, new characters..AWESOME
Supreme Commander 2 ...will lose OF COURSE in the popularity stakes to SC2, (just as Total Annihilation lost out to Starcraft, despite being the better game) but SC remains one of my most-played games ever, I musta clocked several hundred hours of gameplay.
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I will say that turn based strategies like Civ are a happy medium for me that i can seriously enjoy.
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