Last week I ran down my favourite games of 2008 so it’s only fitting I take a look at five games coming out in 2009 that are getting me all excited.
The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
One of my favourite games on the original Xbox was The Chronicles of Riddick. I liked it so much I went to see the film of the same name which was a mistake as it was very, very bad and nowhere near as good as Pitch Black. The game already looked incredible back then and this sequel called Assault on Dark Athena looks like it could be a belter too. It’s a brand new story and this time there’s a multiplayer mode and of course it will look even better. The original Butcher Bay game is on there too complete with enhanced graphics and gameplay tweaks.
Resident Evil 5
After the fantastic Resident Evil 4 gave the survival horror genre a swift kick up the arse, it’s great to know we only have to wait a couple of months for Resident Evil 5. This one’s set in Africa and once again there’s another outbreak of that lousy T-Virus. Chris Redfield and the ever-cheesy Wesker are back in the action along with female characters Sheva and Excella. And of course, there’ll be plenty of angry infected people and mutants to shoot from your third-person view. Although this won’t revolutionise things this time around, I’m sure they’ll tweak this to make it even better than the last one.
Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams
Although all we can show you of Bioshock 2: Sea of Dreams is this rather relaxing teaser trailer where a girl looks out to a lovely sunset holding what seems to be a Big Daddy doll made out of a baseball and a cork, it’s something I’m excited to play. Even though the last game was flawed in my opinion with the regeneration chambers mechanic, it did have an atmosphere about it I haven’t experienced since playing the original Half-Life. I’m not even sure if the game will be set in Rapture or in a completely different world. Hopefully there’ll be more magic in this sequel, and of course the ability to shoot fire, lightning and ice from your bare hands.
God of War III
I’m not a massive hack and slash fan but I can easily spare some time for the God of War games. This is the first game for the PS3 after Kratos’ outings on the PS2 and PSP, this game promises to be a painting in motion. From the looks of this it’s going to play smoother than the proverbial baby’s bottom and it looks like Kratos has got some funky new god-given upgrades to play with.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Uncharted took me by surprise when I played it on the PS3. I was expecting a run-of-the-mill action adventure and was totally blown away by everything about it. Ok, so it borrowed the best bits from Prince of Persia, Tomb Raider and Gears of War but that’s not a bad thing. In this sequel, Nathan Drake is on the trail of some Marco Polo treasure and travels to Italy, Tibet and even gets to play in the snow. There’ll be more stealth in this game as well as better climbing and that seamless stop and pop combat. It’s just another reason why I’ll play on my PS3 more this year.
That’s just five of a long list of games I’m going to play this year, and then of course tell you if they are in fact any good or not. Thanks for supporting Gamesweasel in 2008. Tell your friends get them to subscribe and hopefully, we’ll all make it through 2009 with loads of gameplay hours and achievement points behind us.
Eidos Interactive presents a tantalising taster of Tomb Raider: Underworld’s stunning Thailand setting in which Lara shows off a beautifully smooth repertoire of moves against an evocative and atmospheric backdrop.
Footage of The Incredible Hulk 2008 PS3 game has been released from Sega and it’s looking pretty sweet. Coming out suspiciously close in time to the Incredible Hulk movie, we’re really hoping this game (and the movie) finally lives up to the reputation of the original TV show. The Incredible Hulk playable characters include Bi-Beast and Abomination – all raising hell in the open world gameplay version of Manhattan.
Get ready to go green with rage with The Incredible Hulk 360 game, PS3, 360, PC, PS2, Wii and DS on the upcoming Incredible Hulk release date on the 13th June.
Last week I was lucky enough to get a very nice demo of Far Cry 2 on a 50 inch plasma screen and boy, it looks good. Let me tell you more. The demo started with your assassin standing deep in the jungle where they showed off how lovely all the trees look. They then decided to shoot the leaves off and let it be known that they will grow back in time too. Not necessary for the gamer to know but cool none the less. They then walked into a pre-Savanna-type plane and walked into a camp, chatting to an NPC who would be on your side later in the demo. We then high tailed it out of there in a jeep. Luckily, no-one chased us and we drove to a high mountain road.
Looking through binoculars, we could see the camp we were about to invade and also an indication of wind speed. You can start fires in this game so it’s good to know which way the wind’s blowing in case you end up barbecuing yourself.
Anyway, driving into the camp we ran someone over, got out of the jeep and took cover. These enemies are clever though and flanked us, filling us with bullets. Suddenly, the dude we chatted to earlier helped us up and to cover, where he gave us a pistol to get us back on track before picking up another weapon. And they don’t always work. Twice we saw the weapon jam whilst our character tried frantically to clear the blockage whilst being shot at.
Out came the flame-thrower next and soon we were torching wooden huts with people inside and a wooden rope bridge to stop people sneaking up behind us.
Then, it was time to go hang gliding and drift over some of the massive 50 square kilometres of the map which never stops to load in the next segment.
Lastly, we saw that you can set your alarm and have a kip to change the time of day, so if you fancy invading camps at night and being stealthy, you can.
I have to say this one’s looking amazing and there’s not a sign of sci-fi anywhere. It’s a lot more real-worldly, whilst keeping with the open-ended gameplay. Finally, the Far Cry 2 release date is scheduled for the beginning of Autumn.
Just been to a secret Street Fighter IV game hands-on event at Capcom Headquarters. When walking into the room I was quickly ushered out before I could join the throng of journos clambering to get their hands on the game and made to sign an NDA so I wouldn’t talk about any top secret stuff that they don’t want you guys to know yet.
I can, however, tell you that it looks fantastic and it’s modern, yet still retains the look and feel of the older games. Although with a 2D style, all the characters are in full 3d and fight like you remember them to from left to right and vice-versa. I played as Blanka in the single player mode and somehow managed to win three fights in a row (a feat which hadn’t been done yet during the morning session may I add). We then all had to leave the room while the multiplayer build was set up so we didn’t see any characters they want to keep under wraps. Guile and Chun-Li were paired off to fight each other and for some reason Guile’s corn-like hair’s shorter and Chun-Li’s thighs are fatter.
Each player has a super move which they can unleash when they’ve made a number of hits, but also revenge moves which can be activated to devastating effect if you’re taking a bit too much of a beating. This can certainly turn the tables if you’re about to lose.
Needless to say I got pummelled by a human opponent, so I grabbed a can of Diet Coke, a packet of crisps and a Twirl and left promptly.
No word yet on a Street Fighter IV release date but remember to subscribe to the Gamesweasel blog rss feed to keep informed with more updates when we hear about them, including a Street Fighter IV game review and a Street Fighter IV trailer.
