10. Batman Arkham Asylum - PC/PS3/360
I don't think I've ever played a proper Batman game in my whole life but after playing the demo around twenty times I am convinced that the true Batman game is just around the corner. I love the mixture of stealth and action that this game presents, as well as how dark and brutal they have made it. Don't be deceived by the comic look of the game, this game has more in common with Alan Moore's and Frank Miller's Batman, rather than the Batman you've seen on Cartoon Network. The only gripe I had with the demo is that it felt a little too simple but I hope it's due to it being the first level and that the challenge will increase in the full game.
9. Bioshock 2 - PC/PS3/360
It's not often that you get to see an intelligent shooter and it is even rarer to see one become successful and have a sequel. Bioshock came out of nowhere and charmed a whole game scene with it's mad dystopian underwater world of Rapture that was based on Ayn Rand's philosophies gone wrong. It was at the time of it's release a breath of fresh air in a first-person shooter genre that was going stale but to be fair one should class Bioshock as an Action-RPG due to the different skills that your character could develop depending on your choices. Bioshock 2 is already looking like it will be a worthy sequel but my only concern is that the "newness" of the first game will be lost in a sequel.
8. Alan Wake - 360
Alan Wake has been in development for so long that I feel I was still a teenager back when it was first announced. Still it's Remedy that's making it, the people behind the Max Payne games and I'm expecting high production values and quality from them. The story is an intriguing thriller about a best-selling horror author who retreats to a small town, loses his wife and the nightmares he writes about start coming to life. This E3 we finally got to see it running on 360 and it looked quite stunning visually. My one concern was that I felt it was too much action in the showing, I would much rather they had focused on the moody thriller aspects of the game since that is the reason why I'm interested in the game at all.
7. Heavy Rain - PS3
It often saddens me to see how classic puzzle-solving adventure games which were so prominent during the 90's have gone out of style. This is also the reason why I'm so excited about Heavy Rain, because it not only is a classic adventure game but it also does something new with the adventure formula. Imagine if you were playing a movie but instead of being inactive all the decisions you make during the real-time of the movie had an affect on how the story unfolds; add to that multiple main characters that you get to play and you have something really unique in development. Quantic Dream tried to make this game previous gen with Fahrenheit but came short but now with the full backing of Sony I believe they might actually succeed in making something really great. On the flip side this project might go to hell and turn into total shite. Time will tell.
6. Assassin's Creed II - PC/PS3/360
I'll start this off by saying that Assassin's Creed was letdown for me personally, don't get me wrong it was a good game and looked absolutely stunning, but there were some major errors made with the most important thing; gameplay. It can be summed into one major error and that is that it was repetitive as hell. Now with Assassin's Creed 2 it seems like Ubisoft is about to redeem themselves by having more missions, choosing your equipment, new toys and finally the new adventure set in the Italian Renaissance and looks absolutely gorgeous. Ubisoft certainly seem to be on the mark with this sequel but I'm doing my best to keep the hype down because in my experience they make great games but rarely legendary.
5. Splinter Cell: Conviction - 360
Sam Fisher is back and he is looking alot like Jason Bourne Identity. Judging by the trailers he's out for revenge for his daughter's death and no one is safe from this agent gone rogue. The focus seems to have been shifted to an action sneak game with the focus on action as well as the tone seems to be much darker and raw with brutal torture interrogation scenes. Some people don't approve that the series is moving in a Bourne direction but I personally love it because I was always more a Bourne fan than a Splinter Cell fan. I'm looking forward to brutalizing the bastards that killed my daughter.
4. Alpha Protocol - PC/PS3/360
Alpha Protocol is much like Splinter Cell: Conviction look to take great amount of influence from the Bourne movies but is far more ambitious about it. In essence this is an Action-RPG with the focus on your decisions when you play the game. Make split-second timed decisions in dialogue, develop your character's skills and buy the equipment of your choice. This is being developed by Obsidian (Neverwinter Night 2, Kotor 2) so I expect great RPG elements but knowing these developers I expect the game to lack some polish. None the less, who hasn't dreamt about being a secret agent and making all those badass decisions. I already have plans on having Mike be as close to Bourne as possible.
3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - PS3
Like I mentioned in my earlier blog entry, Uncharted 2 looks absolutely amazing and I'm not just talking from a visual point of view. The gameplay looks amazing, the in-game cutscenes match those of MGS4 and the adventurous charm of the characters is still intact. It's a longer game than the first, it seems more polished in every aspect compared to the first, it has competitive and cooperative multiplayer and I have a feeling it might end up being my personal Game of the Year. The fact that this game already seems more polished compared to many released games with a few more months of development left makes me think that this will clearly be one of the best games of the holiday season and the year. Won't be surprised if it dethrones Killzone 2 as console graphics king either.
2. Mass Effect 2 - PC/360
Mass Effect 2 will be something special, I can tell, Commander Shepard is back and is taking on a suicide mission with a high probability of death. The fact that you can import your Shepard from the first game and the decisions you made then will affect the sequel will be amazing on it's own. I simply adore the first but it had some flaws so this is another sequel where everything seems to be bigger, better and more badass. The bad and repetitive side-quests have apparently been amended, the galaxy map and exploration have been re-done, the dialogue system has been further intertwined with the cinematics and improved, multiple endings have also been confirmed. All these things are amazing but what makes me go gooey is the fact that Commander Shepard is back! I simply adore the default Shepard, the way he looks, sounds and his background and I can't wait to play as him again this coming January.
1. The Last Guardian - PS3
The Last Guardian is the title of Fumito Ueda's new project. I have often said that Ueda is to gaming what Miyazaki is to animation, a breath of pure fresh air. The Last Guardian is appearing to carry on the torch that he started with Ico and Shadow of the Colossus; both games considered by many pure pieces of art. When I saw the impressive trailer for The Last Guardian my jaw was dropped at how beautiful it looked already and how much pure charm is contained in Team Ico's games. I felt like all the other games I had seen at E3 were now forced into a backseat due to them not actually doing anything groundbreaking compared to The Last Guardian. I felt like I was moved back in time to when I first saw masterpieces like Outcast, Deus Ex, Grim Fandango and just like back then I was in awe to be a gamer because with these games and now The Last Guardian I could say to myself "This is possible within gaming?" The pure childish fantasy and imagination I saw in the trailer left me almost teary-eyed, to see the little boy interacting with the huge creatures was unlike anything I had seen in gaming. The fact is that genres are irrelevant to this game, I could try and call it a platform adventure game with sneaking elements but I'd just feel retarded attempting such a silly thing. Instead this is simply one of those times where someone is doing something that is so beyond convention that one can only sit back and hope that it turns out as amazing as it's promised potential. I can't wait.
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