X360 2010 Line Up Part 1

This year will be the most significant in the history of Microsoft’s Xbox brand. The company has promised a must-have game in every single month, capping it off towards the end with a brand new Halo game. That should be enough to get anybody excited, and yet somehow videogames aren’t even what everyone is talking about. That’s because Microsoft is set to release its controller-free gaming experience called Project Natal this holiday season.

Think about that for a moment. In a year where we have games like Mass Effect 2, Final Fantasy XIII, Alan Wake, Crackdown 2, BioShock 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, and Fable III, the most talked about thing is a peripheral that doesn’t even have an official name yet. Who could have predicted that one? Right now the details for the 3D camera are fairly scarce, but you can expect all of that to change this summer at the Electronic Entertainment Expo when Microsoft puts it on center stage. New games will be announced for Natal at that time and, before you know it, we’ll be playing them just a few months later.

It’s going to be an expensive year for the hardcore gamer that owns an Xbox 360, but that’s about the only negative thing you can say about the outlook for Microsoft’s console. The games are rolling in. The hardware finally has a decent failure rate. Xbox Live just keeps getting better. And soon we’ll be able to play games and more without even holding a controller.

Now, the good stuff. The Xbox 360 games we’re most looking forward to in the months to come. From shooters to RPGs and everything in between, Microsoft’s system is looking hot in 2010.

What it Is: Imagine waking one day to find out that a book you don’t remember writing is coming to life. And no, this isn’t a happy book that involves you winning the lottery. This is a horror story and it stars you and your wife. Evil has taken over the Pacific Northwest town of Bright Falls and the only way to stay safe is to stay in the light. Unfortunately, night has a way of creeping in and that’s where things start getting dangerous. Everything from your average citizen up to giant logging machinery can at any time become an enemy in this psychological thriller.

Why It’s Hot: Remedy made a name for itself with the Max Payne franchise, but it has been hard at work on Alan Wake for over five years. We haven’t seen much of it during that prolonged development cycle, but everything we have seen looks downright stunning. Taking inspiration from The X-Files, Twin Peaks, and many other thrillers, Remedy has put together a game that oozes atmosphere and tension. The wait has been a long one, but everything we’ve seen so far makes it feel like it was worth it.
- Erik Brudvig

What it Is: B Company returns in EA’s second offering of the newly revitalized Battlefield world. Combing through dense jungles, war-torn villages and ice-capped mountaintops, players will take to the field in the industry’s biggest vehicular warfare title to date. All new multiplayer modes debut, bringing back not only the gold rush mode from the original Bad Company, but also a more traditional take on Battlefield warfare.

Why It’s Hot: As a huge fan of tactical military games, Bad Company is a highly anticipated shooter for yours truly. Mixing in deeper destruction, refined controls (that proved to be all the rage during my time with the pre-release build) and a huge scale of warfare, Bad Company is looking to be on the right track. The first game was a good starting point, EA’s revitalization of 1943 was a gigantic success on XBLA, and Bad Company 2 is setting itself up to be a must-play FPS this year. Plus, blowing crap up is fun.
- Steve Butts

What it Is: The underwater world of Rapture was the setting for one of the best modern games. Then things changed. The sequel was announced, but no longer was Irrational Games handling development. Instead, BioShock 2 was handed to newly formed 2K Marin, which included a few staff members that had traveled over from Boston, where Irrational is based. The new game takes place roughly 10 years after the original and follows along with a new story. You play as a Big Daddy this time and come across a range of new weapons, abilities, and enemies. Now you can have weapons and plasmids at the ready simultaneously, allowing you to dish out punishment more rapidly, and more effectively combat some of the deadlier foes walking around.

Why It’s Hot: There are a few specific things I think work better in the sequel, particularly the research and the way Little Sisters are dealt with. Instead of simply snapping photos, now the camera has a basic video function. Start the camera before you start attacking and it’ll record the conflict and grade you based on performance, a system that lets you research without slowing down the action. The Little Sister mechanic has also been changed. Since you’re playing as a Big Daddy, you get the option to adopt the girls and walk around with them as they harvest Adam from corpses, adding a new dimension to one of the more peculiar and twisted relationships in videogames. Even with a number of improvements, will Rapture still be as interesting a place the second time through?
- Charles Onyett

What it Is: Think God of War meets Castlevania — that’s interesting enough to pay attention to, but Lords of Shadow also happens to be headed up by none other than Hideo Kojima of Metal Gear Solid fame. The footage that we’ve seen looks pretty intense, and any classic franchise that is helmed by the director of a second major franchise is going to get second and third looks, especially when it’s this pairing.

Why It’s Hot: Hideo Kojima working on a Castlevania game? What’s likely to be a good 3D Castlevania game? That’s pretty much all I needed to hear. Of course, I don’t simply want it to be God of War with a different art direction and Dracula; I’d love to see a 3D Castlevania game that has an interesting story, great presentation and combat that involves a number of new and unique twists. For my money, Kojima is one of the few that might be able to pull this off well, so I’m pretty excited about it.
- Chris Roper

What it Is: Remember when you bought that game Crackdown because it came with the Halo 3 beta only to find out that it was great? Yeah, that game is getting a sequel. The huge Pacific City has gone into disarray in your absence and it’s now up to you and a few friends to restore order in this massive, open-world cooperative action game. Add in some adversarial multiplayer, super-hero skills, and even a helicopter or two and you’ve got all of the toys you could ever want.

Why It’s Hot: Crackdown was a bit of a sleeper hit, but there is no way this sequel can hope to fly under the radar. The most intriguing part of this sequel is that it is being made under new management. A splinter group of developers from RealTime Worlds (the makers of the original Crackdown) left to form their own group, called Ruffian Games, to continue work on the franchise. Though there are plenty of Crackdown veterans working on the next installment, it will be interesting to see how it turns out. From what we’ve seen so far, the guys at Ruffian definitely know what made Crackdown a hit in the first place: freedom, action, awesome skill orbs to collect, and plenty of big explosions.
- Erik Brudvig

What it Is: Welcome to Fortune City. A bustling metropolis not too far removed from modern day Vegas, this epicenter of activity has a new attraction standing (or shuffling) at center stage: Zombies. Taking the role of Chuck – forget Frank. Frank… isn’t here. – players run rampaging through the streets of Fortune City to rid the world of the infected in this comedic survival horror game. The franchise is seeing a new lead character, an all new dev team under Capcom’s wing, and a whole lot of over-the-top action. You’ll have to wait until later this year to get it, but Dead Rising 2 is a no-brainer for everybody’s wishlist.

Why It’s Hot: Why is it hot? Is that really a question? Uh… the game is about chopping up zombies, running through Vegas (er… “Fortune City”) with create-your-own weapons and modded motorcycles that look like they’re pulled out of some freakish Harley Davidson-sponsored Death Race 2000. Yes, I’m anticipating this game. Hell I’m anticipating a real zombie apocalypse. Plus, after three days in Vegas you’re about ready to kill everything in sight as it is, am I right? Just bring on the American Gladiators Altraspheres and let’s do the damn thing already.
- Mark Bozon

What it Is: In the latest Fable, eventually you’ll be king of the land of Albion. First, though, you’ll need to prove your worth. The game will read your save, if you’ve still got it, from Fable II, and when you begin you’ll be playing as the son or daughter of the hero from Fable II. It sounds like in the opening sections of the game you’ll need to play the role of a politician, campaigning to the population and making promises of what you’ll do when you climb up to the throne. This will still be an action game, though, so don’t worry about your character getting all lazy and obese from sitting on the throne and downing beer and oversized chicken legs.

Why It’s Hot: In a role-playing game, it’s always interesting to see how your actions can affect the world around you. After all, more so than simply manipulating statistics and picking from amongst a selection of hats to put on your head, you’re supposed to step into a role. Are you a benevolent leader? A ruthless power monger? Or are you moody and unpredictable, tossing coins to the poor on one day and tossing cats off the roof the next? It sounds like the types of decisions you make in Fable III will go a long way to affecting the overall game world since you’ll actually be ruling the population and people tend to notice when things aren’t going so well. We’re all hoping for another winner from Lionhead.
- Charles Onyett

What it Is: The next Halo game from Bungie sounds like it could actually be the most interesting. In Halo: Reach, you’re part of a squad of Spartans battling the Covenant on the planet Reach. If you’re familiar with Halo fiction at all, you’ll know this means bad things are going to happen. Events on Reach didn’t exactly go so well for the forces of humanity, which then leads into the events of the first Halo game. With an all-new single-player mode and as-of-yet unannounced multiplayer features, this could be a Halo experience with a different kind of feel and combat on a gigantic scale.

Why it’s Hot: Well, it’s a Halo game made by Bungie. That pretty much guarantees it’ll be an entertaining game experience with tight and responsive controls, an excellent soundtrack, and robust multiplayer features. Bungie says it has made a lot of tweaks to the visual presentation of the game, which should help make this the prettiest Halo yet. Co-operative play through the single-player portion could also be really cool since it looks as though each Spartan is built as a specific class (heavy weapons guy, sniper guy) instead of each being a super powered, all-purpose soldier. Best Halo yet? I certainly hope so.
– Charles Onyett