Being a list of games I’m really looking forward to in 2009.
(This is sort of a quick cop-out post to keep the blog active as I dive head-first into TNM’s crunch.)
Alpha Protocol (Obsidian Entertainment)
Way up there at the top of my list. Deus Ex meets Jason Bourne as written by Chris Avellone. The Origin/Looking Glass school of game design meets the Black Isle/BioWare school. There is basically no way this can turn out as anything less than a fantastic game. Obsidian have always been stalking in the shadows of BioWare, and even now as they’re working on their first original IP, the project looks conspicuously like Mass Effect in another setting. But is this a problem? On the contrary. Obsidian’s games may generally lack the polish of BioWare’s, but they always add a spark of vision to BioWare’s often formulaic designs, and that’s why I love them. And that’s why Alpha Protocol will be great.
Dawn of War 2 (Relic Entertainment)
I’m not proud to admit that I’m not into RTS games. As a game designer, dismissing entire genres from my repertoire is a massive shortcoming and a crippling limitation of my creative potential. But Dawn of War 2 more than any previous game seems to have asked why people like me don’t like RTS games and then addressed the problem. Dawn of War 2 looks more like a squad-based Diablo – the emphasis is on small-scale tactics rather than base defence and tank rushes, your teams are led by persistent characters with personality and evolving skill sets, and the mission structure is open and dynamic. This is an RTS game designed specifically for me. How can I be anything but excited?
Dragon Age: Origins (BioWare Corp)
Rumours have emerged that the development of Dragon Age has been badly managed, but I remain confident that it will be a good game: BioWare has yet to let me down (even NWN with its lacklustre singleplayer campaign granted me one of my best and most lasting gaming experiences in multiplayer), and Dragon Age looks defiantly old-school and aimed squarely at the hard core roleplayer demographic.
Mass Effect 2 (BioWare Corp)
To be honest it’s still a bit up in the air whether the second game in the Mass Effect trilogy will be released in 2009. Wikipedia puts it on December 31, which seems like an odd release date to begin with (seeing how all the shops will be closed?), so it’s definitely skirting the edge, but who knows? In any case, Mass Effect 2 is bound to be great simply because Mass Effect was brilliant, and alledgedly it’s been planned as a trilogy from the start. Hopefully they’ve managed to fix some of the first game’s shortcomings this time around (the awkward vehicle sequences, the uninspired uncharted worlds, and the silly semi-QTE hacking minigame).
Velvet Assassin (Replay Studios)
This could go either way really. So much of what they’re doing with that game looks great: It’s a stealth game directed by a former key member of IOI’s Hitman team set during World War 2 and framed by an off-beat coma story in a hospital ward. It’s also made in Germany by a studio with an unimpressive track record. Some of their story features sound decidedly weird, but I think they just might be weird in a good way.
Care to share your own list?
I have actually never heard of any of those, well, you mentioned DoW2 on the forums obviously and Mass Effect is known so you might argue that I would know ME2, but I didn’t know it was already announced.
I’m not really sure what’s coming out this year, but I’ll probably be playing The Sims 3 when it comes out.
Do you like action-RPG’s?
(I’m assuming you do because I know you from the DX community.)
Then you might want to keep an eye on Alpha Protocol
Well yeah, I do like ARPGs, but judging by your description and the wikipedia page there is nothing to judge yet
I mean, it could be good but play like crap (like Kane & Lynch). I do like Bioware though (at least, the BG series), I’ve never played anything by Obsidian (heretic!) but NWN is interesting. Lastly Chris Avellone, again, never played anything created by him (not even Icewind Dale!).
So I’m reserving my judgment until I see it.
As for other games, I really don’t know what’s coming out this year so I’m not really looking forward to anything. I’m on a strictly need-to-know basis I guess
Luckily I still have my games mag to keep me up to date
You’ve never played Fallout 2 or Torment or KOTOR2? That’s a shame, man. But I guess your time is limited like the rest of us
Your games mag must be different than my games mag, because my games mag is all too happy to tell me what sorts of awesome games are coming out within the foreseeable future.
“As for other games, I really don’t know what’s coming out this year so I’m not really looking forward to anything.”
Exactly my position, until I read your list, now it’s mine!
You’re welcome to it! Free of charge
Fallout: I have recently acquired the first for 2 euros, but I have to do some linux magic to get it working under wine. Don’t really feel like doing that atm
Torment: I have heard here and there that there is LOADS of text in it, and not much gameplay. I generally value gameplay over a good story. As it’s a black isle game, I might buy it if I come across it (like I did with Fallout).
KOTOR: I played the first 10 minutes or so, but it was a friends’ copy and I was playing on my friends’ machine.
The mag does have previews (obviously
) but I only read those when I have the time. Some months pass where I don’t read the mag at all.
Oh well the Fallout games actually have really solid turn-based combat. I think Torment’s combat is very weak and uninteresting compared to how tense and tactical Fallout’s is. You definitely play Torment for the story – it’s probably the one game that comes the closest to the concept of an interactive book. And yes, I prefer to use visuals and actual dialogue audio to convey a story in this medium as well, but Torment’s story and characters are head and shoulders above everything else, so I’m willing to forgive its bland combat many times over.