Call of Duty: Black Ops - Treyarch

I must admit that Call of Duty: Black Ops (Nov 9, 2010) is probably the game I am waiting for the most. Not so much because I believe it is going to be the greatest game ever, but mainly because I have become “totally addicted” to Modern Warfare 2. I will most likely play Black Ops quite a lot too, and I am very curious about what Treyarch is able to bring to the table this time around. Dedicated servers are said to be back, and I hope they do something to counter all those cheaters the we see in Modern Warfare 2.

Then there are a few games that most likely will have a story (as opposed to the last few Call of Duty games). We have Mafia II (Aug 24, 2010), Fallout: New Vegas (Oct 19, 2010), and Fable III (Oct 26, 2010). All of these are sequels to great games. Mafia looks quite good, and the previews I have seen are quite positive. Fallout does unfortunately look a bit dated, but I still have high hopes (Note to self: still need to complete Fallout 3). Fable, don’t know yet. I am not sure if I want it to become even less RPG than the previous. However, Fable 2 was a good and cute game. I really love that they have British voice actors.

Civilization 5 - Firaxis Games

The final tittle that I have high hopes for is the return of the undisputed strategy champion, Sid Meier’s Civilization V (Sep 21, 2010). I have unfortunately not played the last game as much as I should, but I am very much looking forward to this new game. It will most likely be great! I just hope that I have the patience to play strategy games, after way too many hours of online multi player FPS.

Worth watching

There are also a few other games that I am a bit uncertain about. However, I will be tracking them closely as they are released. First up is Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (Aug 17, 2010). The first game was not very good, and I don’t really expect the second to be an epic game either. Nevertheless, I am found of the two player, this and the likes of Army of Two, offer. Moreover, I really enjoyed the Hitman series from IO Interactive (the developer of Kane & Lynch). Who knows, maybe they’ll get it right this time around.

Medal of Honor - EA

Then we have Halo: Reach (Sep 14, 2010). Halo will without doubt be a big game, but I am not really a hard core Halo fan boy. I prefer more realistic shooters and the game engine looks a bit dated to me. Next up is Dead Rising 2 (Sep 28, 2010). Zombie killing is always fun, but I am not 100% convinced yet. Medal of Honor (Oct 12, 2010) falls into the same category. I love modern first person shooters, but I am not sure what MoH adds to the table. We have already seen Battlefield Bad Company 2 this year (from DICE – the developer of  the multi player component of MoH), and Call of Duty Black Ops is due just a few weeks later. I have already tried the Beta, and I was unfortunately not blown away. Well actually, I was blown away in a one hour spawn rape before returning to Modern Warfare.

In addition we have Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood (Nov 16, 2010), and  Fifa 11 (Sep 28, 2010). I guess these will be just more of the same, which is a good thing as their predecessors were very good games. However, what about a bir more innovation? Finally, there is Stracraft 2 (already released). I am not really a big Starcraft fan either. I do not really have the patience to play real time strategy against people over the Internet (I would probably get pwned). However, for those who like it Starcraft is a dream come true (at least so I’ve understood).

Unrealistic dreams

Duek Nukem Forever - who knows??

Recently, rumours surfaced that Gearbox had picked up Duke Nukem Forever. I don’t believe it until the game ships, but as long as there is some hope I’ll be waiting for the duke to return. Moreover, I would also love to see a new game from Egosoft (the creators of the X3 series). Nothing has been announced yet, so I won’t hold my breath. However, X3 Terran Conflict was released about two years ago and in my eyes it is about time for something new. What are your wishes for Christmas?

Even though the majority of big titles has been given 2010 release dates there are still a few games worth looking out for this fall. Norwegian diaries like VG and Dagbladet, and web sites like Big Download and Box of M.E.S.S. have laid out there expectations. Now, it is my turn to review my five most anticipated games.

Most anticipated fall games

1. First up, no big surprise: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PC). I let the video speak for itself. I have lost count over the hours I have spent with CoD 4 and 5 the last two years (and I do not dare to check either). The next installment looks stunning and I can’t wait till November 10th.

2. Modern Warfare 2 should really be both first, second, and third but that would be a bit silly. However, another online shooter is mass murdering its way into second place. Left 4 Dead 2 (PC), the sequel of last years co-operative zombie slaughter, is due November 17th. Having in mind that I have my birthday around that time I guess I am gifting myself both CoD and Left 4 Dead as soon as they are released (can’t wait for either until the 18th (my birthday)).

3. Next up is a spy-game. I have not seen that much footage of Alpha Protocol (Xbox), but it is enough to get me intrigued.  The game is to be released on October 27th.

4. We find yet another shooter on forth place. I have not tried Arma2 yet and I have not seen that much from Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising (PC), but I hope it will be a good game. I will at least keep my eyes open on October 6th when it is supposedly released.

5. The fifth spot is taken by, guess what, a shooter again. I am not totally impressed by what I have seen of Borderlands (PC), but I like the concept enough to be waiting in anticipation for its October 6th release.

I am certain that Modern Warfare 2 and Left for Dead 2 will be great game. I am however not sure that the others will cut it. I hope they do because they seem to innovative and bring a few new things into the gaming scene. Let’s cross our fingers they are able to pull it off.

The more obvious choices?

There are a few other big titles which are being released this fall but none of them have really caught my eye. Batman: Arkham Asylum was just released and got great critics. Despite these excellent critics I have not fallen for the game just yet. We do also have Brütal Legend and Halo 3: ODST. However, I am not that big of a Halo fan and I hate Jack Black.

Moreover, we have Forza Motorsport 3. While I enjoyed Forza 2 quite a lot I am not sure if I bother to buy another racing game. I have probably not driven more than a fraction of the cars in Forza 2, what would I do with 100 new cars in Forza 3? My problem with these series including the likes of Fifa, NHL, Madden and so is that it is somewhat difficult to see what a new installments bring to the table. They seem too similar. I am sure that there are improvements but they don’t manage to get me all worked up.

Finally we will also see Assassins Creed II on November 20th and GTA IV: The Ballad of Gay Tony on October 29th. These are two I will be paying attention to even though I have not yet finished Assassins Creed nor bought Lost and Damned for GTA IV. I will probably try to get my hands on the GTA extension but I am not sure about Assassins Creed. It is probably a great game but I have never really been able to get into the first one yet. I am still trying though but I have not found time.

A few other games worth looking out for

There are of course a lot of other titles being release this fall but nothing which rises my anticipation like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. However, we will see Section 8, Majesty 2: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim, Dragon Age: Origins, The Saboteur, Risen, Order of War, and Cities XL. Several of these could turn out to be really great games.

Even though there has been a lack of new titles I have been able to put in some time with a few old games. Before I look forward to the games to arriving this fall, I’ll go through some of the things I think are worth mentioning from the previous months.

Some of the anticipated ones

I was not really psyched about that many games the first half of the year. I previously mentioned that I was waiting for the likes of F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin and Company of Heroes Tales of Valor but none of these got that great critics. Then we had Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and Damned and we will soon see another add-on to GTA IV, The Ballad of Tony Gay. I guess I at some stage will get my hands of both of these DLC as I really liked GTA IV.

Resident Evil 5 - Screenshot

Finally, we had Resident Evil 5 which got a pretty good reception. I recently got my hands on it and it was a fair game. However, I am not sure if I liked its boss fights. It was fun and sometimes a bit chaotic to blast away zombies. A thing which I liked was that the game had coop, even though this could have been implemented a lot better. Why not use the whole screen?

Social gaming is fun

Army of Two - Wall paper (Gamespot)

I have also been enjoying several co-op and social games lately. I have gone through first of all, Kane and Lynch. This game was rather shitty and I cannot believe that Jeff Gerstmann got fired for giving this game a low score. Army of Two on the other hand was a rather positive surprise.  I have in fact played through it three times now. It is not Gears of War 2, but it is rather enjoyable, particularly with a friend (or a girlfriend).

Probably the biggest gaming success is that I have managed to get my girlfriend somewhat interested in gaming. Games like Guitar Hero: Metallica and Lego Indiana Jones have appealed quite a lot to her. Guitar Hero was really a blast. Getting both a game and Metallica in one package is quite incredible.

We have also tried Worms (downloadable), Scene it Lights, camera, ready (she kicked my ass), and Facebreaker. Facebreaker looks kind a fun, but it was one of the most boring games I have ever tried. I am no fan of fighting games partly because I really hate loosing, but this one was really bad.

On-line multi-player mayhem

Team Fortress 2 - Wallpaper

I have really never played any games on-line until Call of Duty 4 Modern Warfare. Lately, I have however gotten my share of both Left 4 Dead and Call of Duty 5 World at War. I recently picked up CoD 5 WaW for the third time and it is still great fun. I have in fact played a bit of Team Fortress 2 as well during the last months. All four games are really good and something you should own if you consider yourself a gamer.

All quiet on the strategy front

I have had Command and Conquer Red Alert 3 and Sins of a Solar Empire a quite long time but I have really never found any time to play them. Earlier this year, Men of War came out as well and when it was on sale on Steam for €7 I had to get it. However, now I have three really good strategy games which I have not played yet and there are a couple of other ones out there which I would like to get my hands on.

First up is Anno 1404 or Dawn of Discovery as it is called in the US. Then we have Empire Total War which is another title I really would have liked to have time to play. I have not bought any of these yet but I assume I will when I find some time to play them.

Buggy games

Empire Total War leads me to think about some of the buggy experiences we have had lately. Empire Total War was according to the ones who have played it not exactly a bug free experience and the Total War series is not really known to be bug free. This is really a shame because the game has plenty of potential.

It seems as Arma 2 has gone in the same trap. The game has plenty of potential and ambitions but a sloppy implementations. This has put me off for some time. I decided to rather wait a bit until the game is patched, more playable, and hopefully not full-priced. This is really a shame for the developer because they will not make as much money as if they had made a more polished product.

X3 Terran Conflict - Screenshot (Softpedia)

I waited for almost a half a year to play X3 Terran Conflict.  X3TC was a very buggy game when it came out. However, I waited until the 2.0 patch was released and I have enjoyed it a lot (I guess some will say too much). If you want a deeper than run-and-gun-experience, X3 could be the thing for you. It is a space exploration, trading, and shooting sim with a offer-demand economics. It is a bit hard to describe but you should try it. Don’t give up when you see its steep learning curve, it is really worth the struggle.

While not being a buggy game, Fallout 3 offers a lot of the same depth but in a bit different way. I guess it is this depth which one finds in games like X3 and Fallout 3 which makes many games a lot better on the PC than on any console.

A couple of other releases and a big back-log

There has been a few other releases lately which I might pick up if I have the time. Prototype, Call of Juarez Bound in Blood, and Red Faction Guerrilla are all titles which have received good critics and I am sure I would enjoy them. However, I have borrowed Fable 2, Assassins Creed, Darkness, Halo 3, and Hitman Blood Money, all of which I would like to go through on the Xbox.

In addition, I have bought Red Alert 3, Sins of a Solar Empire, and Men of War and I have not yet tried them. Hence, I really don’t see any time for that many new games, and I am supposed to finish a PhD as well… Priorities, priorities