Say what you will about the gaming industry in 2009. Yeah, it was a little rough, with consumers tightening their belts and only a few megahits. However, we did see price drops for all the major consoles, a gazillion new iPhone games, and a smattering of amazing titles, some of which we're still playing.
This will be my top 10 list, the ones I believe are the best and most anticipated.
These are in no specific order.
Dead Rising 2.
Zombies continue to be popular fodder in the gaming space. “Dead Rising 2” will be a lot like the series’ first installment. Fight off wave after wave of zombies with any tools you can get your hand on. This time around, those tools will include slot machines and propane tanks, though don’t be surprised if the lawnmower (a popular zombie killing tool from the original game) reappears.
Capcom claims that you may have as many as 7,000 zombies on screen with you at one time, so there won’t be a lot of finesse involved.
Halo: Reach.
After 2.7 million people downloaded and played the Beta earlier this month, Halo: Reach has already proven itself to be one of the most, if not, THE most anticipated game of 2010.
A funny thing happened when Microsoft played the teaser trailer for “Halo: Reach” at E3 last year. There was silence instead of shouts and applause. Don’t expect that to be the same reaction from consumers, though, when the game is released this year.
We don’t know much about “Halo: Reach,” as neither Microsoft nor Bungie are talking much about it, but here’s what’s certain. The game is a prequel to the existing “Halo” titles. It will be a first-person shooter. And the Spartans (the super soldier brigade that the Master Chief belonged to) will play a significant part in the game. Will that include the Master Chief, the hero of the series? No one will say, though Microsoft corporate vice president Shane Kim did note that the character played a significant role in the novel “Halo: The Fall of Reach” which could play into game.
Split/Second.
Racing games are plentiful this year, but this action-racer from Disney seemed to gather the most interest from people. With ridiculously fast cars and cinematic explosions, the game was, quite simply, fun. Add in the ability to change the track as you blow things up along the way and it sounds like a great way to get rid of your road rage.
Alan Wake.
This long-in-development psychological action game from Microsoft hit shelves in Spring. The protagonist is an author who visits a small town with his wife to cure his writer’s block. When she’s kidnapped, he discovers a thriller which he can’t remember writing – and every word of it is coming true.
The developers behind the game are the same team that created “Max Payne,” a much-loved franchise, which has gamers particular excited about “Alan Wake”. The game’s clever use of light as a weapon also gives it a twist that differentiates it from other action titles.
Bayonetta.
Probably my most favourite game this year.
Bayonetta is an over-the-top action game that features a female heroine who awakens from a 500 year sleep, trying to remember who/what she is, she battles angels and other heavenly enemies along her way, who draws her supernatural powers from her hair. I promise you've never played anything like Bayonetta before.
BioShock 2.
Take a moment to consider how bizarre this game world really is. It's set in an underwater sprawl of surface-style skyscrapers, a city called Rapture. Filling the pressurized space is a society founded by an industrialist named Andrew Ryan with the notion that there'd be no limits on what the individual could accomplish. It was all a spectacular failure as the civilization that developed on the ocean floor turned to genetic modification. Gradually their sanity was devoured by their unrestricted experimentation as they ripped each other to shreds and withdrew into private pockets of insanity. It was a city so rotten and morally oblivious it spawned Little Sisters, girls who roamed Rapture's leaky halls performing the repulsive task of plunging needles into the dead and extracting and ingesting genetic material. Between all the twists of plot was woven an entertaining style of gameplay in the first BioShock, making for a mix of powerful play mechanics, mood, and joy of exploration rarely seen, and one that wound up resonating with the public, making this game a critical and commercial success
Dante's Inferno.
At its core, the story of Dante's Inferno is about a man's fight to save the woman he loves. Dante is a young crusader who becomes disenchanted with war and returns to his fiance Beatrice in Florence. When he arrives, he finds his house destroyed and Beatrice lying dead outside. Even worse, as he approaches, Lucifer appears and steals away her soul, dragging her screaming into the depths of Hell. Dante chases them through the circles of Hell, trying to save his love before she is lost forever. He faces his own sins and mistakes before a final showdown with the fallen angel.
Blur.
Blur. Or I as I refer it to; Call of Duty on wheels, or Call of Duty: Modern Carfare! (lame, I know :P )
The single-player Career mode in Blur features some brutal A.I. While I was desperately trying to master my skills and just maneuver the game's treacherous tracks, the A.I. was busy launching attack after attack on me at the most inopportune moments. You see, in the world of Blur, despite all its real-world trappings, cars can't just race and see who drives the fastest, they have to launch weapons at one another as well.
This isn't that big of a problem in the smaller races of up to 10 cars, but in the larger races with 20 opponents, chaos will ensue, making racing frustratingly difficult on the Normal skill level. It's one thing to be a great driver who can pull off awesome turns amidst a swarm of opponents, but it's quite another thing to do so while explosions are going off every few seconds as well. If you love a more hardcore racing experience, and the idea of truly chaotic combat sounds appealing, than Blur might be for you. If you're looking for a fun, pick-up-and-play combat racer, then I think you need to go back to Mario Kart or, better yet, pick up the excellent Split/Second.
Green Day: Rock Band.
Featuring the likenesses of Green Day members Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt and Tré Cool, Green Day: Rock Band covers everything from the band's earliest punk hits to the epic scope of their latest albums, giving players the unique chance to experience the music of this pioneering band in a whole new environment featuring select venues and art specific to the band's history. Green Day: Rock Band lets players perform vocals, guitar, bass and drums, as well as featuring the three-part vocal harmonies Harmonix first introduced with The Beatles: Rock Band, not only with the on-disc setlist but also when importing Green Day DLC tracks from the Rock Band Music Library of downloadable content. As they progress through the game, players gain access into the band's media vault, where they can unlock collectible images, and rare and unreleased video footage of the band.
Red Dead Redemption.
It's like GTA, only with horses, and westerners!
Red Dead Redemption is a Western epic, set at the turn of the 20th century when the lawless and chaotic badlands began to give way to the expanding reach of government and the spread of the Industrial Age. A follow up to the 2004 hit Red Dead Revolver, this game tells the story of former outlaw John Marston, taking players on a great adventure across the American frontier.
Red Dead Redemption features an open-world environment for players to explore, including frontier towns, rolling prairies teaming with wildlife, and perilous mountain passes - each packed with an endless flow of varied distractions. Along the way, players will experience the heat of gunfights and battles, meet a host of unique characters, struggle against the harshness of one of the world’s last remaining wildernesses, and ultimately pick their own precarious path through an epic story about the death of the Wild West and the gunslingers that inhabited it.
Honorable Mentions:
Skate 3
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Gran Turismo 5
Splinter Cell Conviction
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