TOP GAMES TO MAKE AN IMPACT IN 2010

DARK VOID

We've seen this game before. It's the familiar Humans vs Aliens combination where players must battle the aggressors before humanity is destroyed forever. OK, so we've seen this many times before. However, the story and gameplay Dark Void is implementing makes this game worthy of your interest. A pilot, William Grey, crashes in the Bermuda Triangle and teleports into a parallel universe, where humans are slaves, and the superior alien race are looked upon as Gods. If this universe only had jetpacks, maybe someone could do something about it. Oh wait, there are jetpacks? Yes!

Dark Void takes the gameplay mechanic we've seen before in games such as Superman and Iron Man, and adds flight to what would normally be a typical third person shooter. Add in the vertical cover system developed by Airtight Games, as well as a sure-to-be-memorable score composed by Battlestar Galactica composer Bear McCreary, and you have the recipe for an awesome gaming experience. If the recent movie rumors are true, Brad Pitt may bring Dark Void to life on the silver screen. Which means we could see this new IP turn into a brand new multi-million dollar franchise. Does this sound like a winner to you?

DANTE'S INFERNO

EA, EA, EA... it's such a love-hate relationship with you. Dead Space came along and blew my mind and ever since, I find it hard to doubt your abilities to create a truly epic gaming experience. I don't want to like you, but you made an intelligent decision to have the same developers behind Dead Space, bring Dante's Inferno to life. And if this game will be the Xbox 360's version of 'God of War', I believe millions of gamers will find it hard not to purchase.

Based on Dante Alighieri's poem, The Divine Comedy, you control the character, Dante, to chase your beloved Beatrice into Hell and free her soul from Lucifer. The player will find themselves playing through the nine Circles of Hell to save her. Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud and Treachery are all levels you'll need to face to complete the game. You can imagine the amount of creative flexibility Visceral Games must have had when thinking of demented and twisted ideas for each of these circles. The sky is the limit and I look forward to seeing the finished product. Even if I may find some images disturbing.

BLUR

When I think of my top favorite racing games I have played over the years, the first game that comes to mind is Mario Kart on Super Nintendo. One of the funnest racing experiences of my youth, and still a blast to play to this day. My second choice would have to be the series of Burnout racing games. Who doesn't like to fly a car into a fuel tanker and explode on impact to watch the glorious explosions? It was only a matter of time before someone developed a modern day Mario Kart type of game and combine Burnout elements which include intense speed, destructible vehicles and environments and special power-ups. Each race, and the racing genre as you know it will never be the same.

To assist in making your race as chaotic as possible, power-ups laid nicely on the track will consist of Shock, Barge, Shunt, Nitro, Mines and Repair. Use them to send electromagnetic pulses to ward off the nearest driver, emit a wave of energy to knock other cars off their path to victory or drop a banana, I mean, a mine behind your car when racing to stop your competition dead in their tracks. Blur, developed by Project Gotham Racing veterans at Bizzare Creations, is making it's way up to the top of my list of must have games for 2010. I just hope the bright neon on full display in the trailers and screenshots won't distract from the core racing experience.

ALAN WAKE

Oh Alan. You're such a tease. How many years have gamers been waiting for you to come out of your cabin, hidden deep in the woods? Going on five or so years of development, Remedy Entertainment better be giving us the gaming experience of a lifetime for making us wait this long. I guess game studios in Finland are on a different time schedule than those in the states who are used to 1-2 year development cycles. (5-6 year development cycle may be a good thing? We'll see.) But since they are the original developers for one of my most memorable games growing up, Max Payne, I'm more than willing to say: "OK. I'll wait. I trust you."

A best selling writer, Alan Wake, has an unfortunate case of writers block. It's quite severe because he hasn't written anything in two years. His wife decides to move him to a small town called Bright Falls to regain his creative edge. As with most psychological thrillers, someone vanishes. In this case, it's his wife who disappears. Mr. Wake then finds himself trapped in his own self-created nightmare. A thriller that he wrote, but can't remember even writing, and everything he wrote is coming true right before his eyes. I bet he regrets moving to that small town now, eh? Nothing good ever comes from moving to those damn towns, especially in the woods. You'd think he'd know better.

MAX PAYNE 3

The third installment, and maybe the final act of the Max Payne series finds itself with a different developer. This time around, the fate of Max Payne's tormented soul is in the hands of Rockstar Vancouver, not Remedy Entertainment. If you remember, Rockstar Vancouver became best known as the developers of the controversial video game, Bully. Using a different engine than Bully this time, the same 'RAGE' engine used by Rockstar North and developed by Rockstar San Diego for Grand Theft Auto IV, we'll be viewing Max Payne in a whole new light. And as you can tell from some of the screenshots, Max Payne has definitely had a makeover. More like a makeunder? Poor Max is old now, and he's even bald. But it looks like he is definitely ready to bring-the-pain in ways we could have never imagined. 5 o'clock shadow, beer gut and all, the hurt is coming. Bruce Willis style.

The new story of Max Payne takes place in Brazil, approximately 12 years after the events of Max Payne 2. He works for a private security firm and must protect a wealthy local family. I'm sure there is way more to the story than that but so far, that's all the information we have been given by tight lipped Rockstar. The highly anticipated return of Max Payne and the inevitable 'bullet time' gameplay should see daylight in Summer 2010.

RED DEAD REDEMPTION

I've been writing about Red Dead Redemption since February so of course Rockstar San Diego's latest will be included on my list. I'm starting to get tired of talking about it and not actually playing it. Quite honestly though, I did not enjoy their first Western, Red Dead Revolver. I had a more memorable time with the game, GUN. Still, I look forward to seeing what this new Western experience will offer to fans of the genre. With the RAGE engine reputation and the immense talent I saw on display at the offices of Rockstar San Diego, I bet fans will be more than satisfied, and new fans will be created.

In the game, set in the early 1900's, you'll play as John Marston, a former outlaw. John is hell-bent on killing or capturing his former gang partner, Bill Williams. (Why is there always a Bill or a Billy in Westerns?) You'll find yourself immersed in an open world environment, capable of going just about anywhere you want. This world is huge, I've seen it. So put on your cowboy hat, hop on a horse and hop on a train to bring in the rule of law in a lawless world. The Western genre will officially return to your favorite console April 27, 2010. 


Those, my friends, are the games I believe to have potential to make a significant impact on gamers, the game industry, and hopefully the economy in 2010. The game industry needs a big year so developers can start hiring again. Sure there are other games worth mentioning, like God of War III, Halo: Reach and even Metro 2033. But the one's I have mentioned, could be game changers.  Time will tell.


Cheers to 2010. I look forward to your arrival, and the incredible epicness of games to come along with it.