This article is only about games we know about. We can take some educated guesses about what else is coming, certainly, but we’re going to focus just on confirmed games for now. Also, console exclusive (as in, on 360 and PC but not PS3) is good enough for us.
Exclusives
Perfect Dark – This XBLA remake of the N64 game is one of our most anticipated games of the whole year. Online multiplayer with tons of weapons, maps, bots, and options. Co-op both on and offline. A great story campaign. And it is all wrapped up in updated graphics and running at 60FPS (compared to N64 version which ran at more like 20FPS or less most of the time …). As silly as it sounds, this is probably going to end up as one of the best shooters overall on the Xbox 360.
Mass Effect 2 – While its long term exclusivity is in question (EA and BioWare are being all crazy and bipolar about it) we know that, for the near future at least, Mass Effect 2 is exclusive to the 360. Fans of the original Mass Effect should expect the same great storytelling and characters and amazing presentation, but the gameplay has been tightened up to play even better this time around.
Splinter Cell: Conviction – Finally, a next-gen (current gen) Splinter Cell made by Ubisoft’s “A” team, Ubisoft Montreal. We loved SC: Chaos Theory by this team, so we have crazy high hopes for Conviction. From what we have seen, Conviction turns the series on its ear gives us a different feel than the games have ever had. Stealth and sneaking is still at the core, but there are no rules now – Sam Fisher is on his own and can do whatever he wants, which includes killing as many enemies as he needs in whichever ways he sees fit and even torture and interrogation. It looks gorgeous and will play amazingly well.
Alan Wake – We’ve been talking up Alan Wake ever since it was first shown as an Xbox 360 exclusive, and even years later, we’re still excited about it. It has changed a bit from what was first shown (now more linear as opposed to open world), but the survival horror gameplay, gripping storyline, and amazing presentation are still intact. It is finally going to come out sometime in the first half of 2010, and it certainly appears as if the wait is going to be worth it.
Halo Reach – Bungie’s final Halo game is going to be a doozy. A prequel to the original Halo, this game will showcase the Spartans (yes, there are more Spartans than just Master Chief) and a Covenant attack on the planet Reach. It features a completely new graphics engine, and we would expect a few new gameplay bells and whistles to be included as well. At any rate, it is still Halo at the core, so you know it is going to play well and have awesome multiplayer.
Crackdown 2 – Crackdown 2 is set to follow the “bigger, better, more” mantra of sequels. It will have more players in co-op, more weapons, more vehicles, more abilities, and just plain more stuff to do. We’re not crazy about the mutant-heavy storyline, but it should still be fun.
Fable III – Our advice for Fable III is to go in with zero expectations. Fable I and II were solid games that fell short of producer Peter Molyneux’s pie-in-the-sky rhetoric, which led to some disappointment among gamers. Fable III lets you play as the child of your Fable II hero who is the king or queen of Albion. What all does that really mean in terms of gameplay? Who knows, but it should be interesting. One thing we do know is that it will use Project Natal in some way.
Milo (Project Natal)– The Milo demo at E3 2009 is what really sold the concept of Project Natal for people. The level of interaction with a virtual character has never been seen before, and even if it never evolves past a tech demo to show off Natal, it is going to be a talking point for years to come. It is sort of like Sega’s Seaman games, but instead of just talking to a character you really get to interact with them.
Project Natal – The big daddy of Xbox 360 exclusives comes in the form of the Project Natal camera. Natal takes motion-controlled gaming to a completely different level and also offers facial recognition, item recognition, and more to allow you to really, truly be a part of a game. We don’t know what specific games (other than Fable III and Milo) will use the technology, but all major publishers are working on titles for Natal and you know Microsoft will have a slew of first-party games to really show it off.
Of course, this is just the stuff we know about, and most of it is coming in the first half of the year. What does the Fall hold? Aside from Natal and its games and Halo Reach, we don’t really know.
Multiplatform Games
This article focuses mostly on exclusives, but there are a lot of big time multiplatform games coming this year as well. BioShock 2, Dante’s Inferno, Aliens vs. Predator, LEGO Harry Potter, Bad Company 2, Resonance of Fate, Final Fantasy XIII, Just Cause 2, Quantum Theory, Blur, Red Dead Redemption, Split Second, Skate 3, UFC 2010, Alpha Protocol, Fallout New Vegas, and many, many more are currently scheduled to come out in the first half of the year. And, judging from the past three years of multiplatform games, there is a good chance they will play and perform better on the Xbox 360 than on other platforms, so the 360 version is definitely the version to get.
Bottom Line
To sum it all up, 2010 is going to be amazing. Between some great exclusives and solid multiplatform games, it is going to be awesome. Even better, we really don’t even know what all is coming, as the vast majority of games that will come out this year haven’t even been shown yet. And I’m just talking about 360 games here, when you throw in The Last Guardian (probably my most wanted game of all …), God of War III, Gran Turismo 5, and whatever other PS3 exclusives are out there, 2010 is going to be an amazing year for everyone.
E3 2010 can’t come soon enough.
