Having already brought you the first part of our 20 for 11, there’s some things still left to cover, namely ten items we’ll be watching out for this year. And those things are all going to be video game-related (sure, there’s other things we’re looking forward to, but this is what you visit the site for, right?)
Perhaps it says something about the video game industry overall that pretty much everything we’re looking forward to this year is some form of sequel (even if just spiritual.) But we’ve thrown in some hardware too, just to keep things interesting.
Since games are a bit less dependable than movies, we’ve tried to keep this list in some kind of order based on release dates, but like everything else, they’re subject to change.
Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate Of Two Worlds
If you’re a regular BurnAllZombies reader, it should come as no surprise that this game made our list: it’s not like we spent most of 2009 playing the second game (and writing about it.) It’s eleven years since MvC2 came out, and in many ways, fighting games have changed…and then come back full circle. We’ve been through fighting games moving into 3-dimensions, we’ve seen story modes to try and give the games something more…and then we’ve seen them all go back to the classics, like with Street Fighter IV.
Keeping with the similar cel-shaded style of SFIV, MvC3 will pit characters from Marvel Comics and Capcom games against each other. 3D graphics in a 2D fighting environment: in other words, the kinds of gameplay we used to dream about when we were kids, back in the days before your attempts to execute a special move caused your character to step into the foreground instead.
Let’s be fair, nobody really cares about storyline when it comes to fighting games: it’s all about what big names you can use to kick the asses of other characters, and Marvel vs Capcom 3 might not have as expansive a roster as its predecessors, but you can still expect the usual run of big names like Thor, Captain America, Chun-Li, Ryu, Chris Redfield and…sigh, yes, there’s Deadpool too.
Portal 2
There’s one thing I can say about Portal and it is that….this is a triumph.
As far as puzzle games go, Portal has provided one of the most brain-melting, addictive experiences ever, and Portal 2 looks set to provide more of the same, with players returning to the Aperture Science facility to confront a new version of GLaDOS. While the story of Portal is important, it’s always really been secondary to the gameplay (and even then, only really of interest if you’ve played the other games in the Half-Life universe.) Instead, it’s all about the fun of turning things upside down, inside out, back to front and flinging over impossible distances…thanks to portal technology (and cake…it’s all about the cake.)
So what does Portal 2 add? Well, aside from more addictive portal-ing, campaigns are supposedly twice the length of the original, with a new co-operative multiplayer that puts players in control of two robots in the facility, each armed with their own portal guns. It won’t necessarily get the love it deserves (what with using a portal gun, rather than a mindless call-of-duty machine gun) but if it’s anything like Portal, we’ll somehow still be playing it a few years later, just for the kick.
Nintendo 3DS
It’s hardware, rather than a game, but we’re still looking forward to Nintendo’s newest console…even if it’s kind of a remake of an existing one. But c’mon…3D gaming in the palm of your hand. With no glasses (unless…y’know, you need to wear glasses.) That’s a pretty big deal.
Perhaps even more impressive is the list of titles that have already been announced for the console, with some massive franchises (Street Fighter, Resident Evil) promised. And then there’s the remakes, some of my own personal favourite games ever, including LylatWars/StarFox 64, and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time.
The 3DS will feature backwards compatibility with existing DS/DSi software and hardware, a 3D camera and we’re even likely to get some 3D movies on it too. With all that, there’s really nothing not to be excited about (unless you’re one of those idiots who still think that Nintendo expanding their market was the worst thing to ever happen to gaming.)
Mortal Kombat
Perish the thought of a Capcom fighter coming out without an offering from the arch-rival franchise of Mortal Kombat…ah, those were the days, back when life was a choice between Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat, between Mario and Sonic, and where being player 2 was a fate worse than death.
With Midway studios having…moved on, the Mortal Kombat franchise is now under the watchful eye of Warner Bros, and it looks like things are back to the way they were with this latest game in the franchise. No, literally. The plot starts at the end of the current series where, on the verge of death, Raiden sends a message to his younger self, thus changing the events of Mortal Kombat 1-3 and allowing for the franchise to rebooted from the very beginning.
It’s not that Mortal Kombat ever took itself particularly seriously, but the games tried to have a storyline, something that just started to get far too confusing (usually in an attempt to include a character multiple times over.) But this should give the game a chance to stand on its own bloody two feet, and given the footage that has been released of Mortal Kombat so far, it looks like a 2D brawler that takes the blood and gore we know and love to the modern age could be exactly what’s needed to reignite the old rivalries.
InFamous 2
The first InFamous game was probably the best superhero video game that wasn’t about a pre-existing superhero. High hopes for InFamous 2 then. Cole MacGrath returns, having grown from a messenger in the first game to a pretty darned powerful superhero (or villain, depending on how you played) and the plot twists certainly set up a lot of places for the franchise to go. This time around, Cole has left the New York-like Empire City for a thinly-veiled New Orleans (called New Marais here) for more open-world gameplay with his electrical powers. And, as we discovered in the first game, his powers are ever-expanding.
It looks like Cole’s powerset has been redefined to include some ice-based powers, but we won’t know how or why exactly until closer to release; ditto on the redesigned Cole that was revealed last year, causing outrage from fans, and the character model being changed back to closer resemble the Cole from the first game.
If InFamous 2 can continue in the same fashion as the first game, we’ll have an impressive franchise on our hands, but developers Sucker Punch need to up their game as well: having finished InFamous as a full-fledged super-man, going back to basics in the sequel is just going to feel forced.
Batman: Arkham City
Well, Batman: Arkham Asylum was all kinds of fun, so it was no real surprise that a sequel was on the cards. Nor that the stakes would be a little bit higher. Now, Arkham is full of so many inmates that it’s been forced to expand to its own ghetto of Gotham City, and Batman’s going to be forced to deal with enemies that have a lot more resources to hand.
Like all things Batman, Batman: Arkham City is generating more rumour than fact, and there’s not much that we can honestly tell you about the game, other than Catwoman playing a big part in the game’s storyline. There’s also a rumoured multiplayer, but whether that will be as Catwoman, as one of the rest of the Batman family or a totally unfounded rumour…well, we don’t know yet, do we?
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Back in 2009, we named Batman: Arkham Asylum our cross-platform Game Of The Year. And Uncharted 2: Among Thieves claimed the prize for platform exclusive. Somewhat appropriate that both should have sequels out this year, and both deservedly make our 20 for 11.
We don’t know much about Uncharted 3 yet (save the continuing adventures of Nathan Drake, and something to do with a desert…the game was only announced a few weeks ago) but Nolan North (aka the voice of every male video game protagonist ever) always needs more work.
The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword
There’s always a huge amount of hype for any Legend of Zelda game, and this one has been going for nearly two years, after the below artwork showed up after 2009′s E3.
As with all Nintendo (and Zelda) games, the game will really be left to speak for itself (that’s our nice way of saying we don’t know a lot about it. Save for some gameplay footage shown at E3 2010, which was more about mechanics than anything else, all we really know is that this entry in the epic series will look at the origins of the Master Sword.)
Nintendo are also playing their cards close to their chest with regards to a release date, although the Zelda games have a habit of appearing in stores just before the festive season (however, if recent releases are anything to go by, release could be sprung on us with only a few weeks’ notice.
Mass Effect 3
Nope, I’m not sure just what it is about Mass Effect that somehow manages to have won over millions either, but there’s no doubt that, having come from relatively nowhere, it’s become one of the biggest franchises on the XBox 360. (Yay me for avoiding the douchiness of saying “killer app.”) And perhaps soon to be the PlayStation 3 too (once Mass Effect 2 launches on the console this month.)
Mass Effect was always touted as a trilogy, but given the success (and relative slow-moving nature) of Mass Effect 2, there’ll be no surprise if this just closes one part of the story while leaving everything else wide open. And that story? Oh, just a Reaper attack on earth. With lots of Reapers. Attacking Earth. Seriously, the trailer below just has a mix of imagery that you rarely expect to see in a sci-fi game like this.
The Last Guardian
Nope, we’ve nothing new on this one since we wrote about it two whole years ago but the long awaited new game from Team Ico should be with us this year.
Emphasis on should be.
With an uncountable number of games (okay, we could count, we’re just too lazy to do it) out this year, there are a few honourable mentions as well: Dead Space 2 / DC Universe Online / Gears Of War 3 / the Tomb Raider reboot / Ms ‘Splosion Man / Bulletstorm / LittleBigPlanet 2 / LA Noire / Duke Nukem Forever (hah! hahahahahaha…we’ll believe it when we see it) / X-Men: Destiny / Star Wars: The Old Republic / Dragon Age II / Doom 4 / Crysis 2.
Mass Effect 3, Mass Effect 3!!!!! Canna wait.
I know! I swear, I’ve already picked my team in the hopes that it has the same characters as ME:2!