vashivihan
Let There Be Rock
We’re stoked. In 2008 the next-generation is really set to arrive. Over the last few years the new consoles have been very much finding their feet, relying heavily on shoddy ports and franchise whores to fill in the gaps between ‘new’ games like Gears of War, BioShock, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Assassin’s Creed. Sure we’re still enjoying the return of games like Call of Duty, Halo and Ratchet & Clank, but these games will always be bound in some way to the experiences of the last generation.
For us to truly feel like we are in a new generation of gaming, we need to see original IPs that bring fresh faces, worlds, gameplay mechanics, and stories to our games libraries. It’s like we’re great explorers crossing oceans to discover fresh new lands. For the games listed below, we are the pioneers, witnessing a new generation of series take flight. 2008 will be defined by a lot more than GTAIV, MGS4 and a zillion Mario knock-offs!
Note: With the aim of looking ahead to games we can anticipate in the future, we have ignored early 08 games, film/TV tie-ins, and delayed ports.
1. Saboteur
Available on: X360, PS3
Developer Pedigree: Star Wars: Battlefront, Destroy all Humans!
The Buzz: Overkill on the once revered WWII genre has seen it become ostracised by much of the gaming community, but Saboteur’s unique take on the conflict is hard to ignore. Lead designer Thomas French told us the game is “less History Channel and more Die Hard” as you take up the story of Sean Devlin, an Irishman caught in occupied France seeking revenge on the Third Reich.
Our Take: This game could be very special. The Assassin’s Creed like sense of isolation in a world taken over by conflict is one thing, but creeping around a WWII-era Paris on your own personal vendetta opens the door to plenty of gameplay depth, too. Developer Pandemic has shown a knack for open-world gaming while the cinematic presentation – including Nazi occupied areas going all black and white noir - is inspired.
2. Brütal Legend
Available on: X360, PS3
Developer Pedigree: Psychonauts, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango
The Buzz: “A Heavy Metal and Nordic fantasy inspired alternate history where demons have enslaved humanity” That is where roadie Eddie Riggs (voiced by – who else – Jack Black) finds himself after the beast on his cursed belt buckle comes alive following a few drops of human blood. A third-person action adventure, Eddie plays his guitar to unleash ranged magic attacks on the beasts he confronts.
Our Take: Get excited! The follow-up to Psychonauts was always going to be keenly followed and genius developer Tim Schafer has, on paper, a highly original story and universe for us to explore. Set to prove that a good story with plenty of humour and engaging characters can win out over super high-tech special effects this will surely entertain like no other game in 2008.
Further Reading: Check out our preview.
3. Mirror’s Edge
Available on: PS3, X360, PC
Developer Pedigree: Battlefield series, Rallisport Challenge
The Buzz: Set in a future utopian society, the world in Mirror’s Edge is one under ultra-tight government surveillance. As such, the delivery of confidential information is undertaken by human couriers called Runners who specialise in Parkour. You play Faith, a female Runner who, we assume, is carrying some information that someone powerful wants terminated. The gameplay will aim to bring complex Prince of Persia like movements into the FPS genre.
Our Take: Developer Digital Illusions isn’t new to the ‘being revolutionary’ thing, gamely redefining the war genre with the Battlefield series. The early assets show a stunningly crafted urban landscape with depth and detail we’ve not seen previously. More interesting though is the movement system, with the way Faith interacts with the world around her the primary weapon. Not a gun. You’re a runner, not a fighter. Cool narrative, cool world and cool gameplay… cool!
4. Spore
Available on: PC, Mac, DS
Developer Pedigree: The Sims series, SimCity
The Buzz: In Spore you take control of the evolution of organisms on your home planet from micro-organism to space travelling super-beings. There are five phases in the process, each of which offers a completely different style of gameplay and hours upon hours of gameplay. You have complete control over the ecosystem your create, using sophisticated tools to colour, shape, mould and name your creations before watching them all interact and live.
Our Take: The Sims took the world by storm, satisfying gamers and mainstreams alike. Spore is a huge leap forward in the same direction. Where you previously just presided over the life of one entity, you now control the entire evolution of planets and all the species that call them home. The vision here is amazing – especially the online, visit and invade other people’s planets idea – and developer Will Wright has a history of changing the shape of the whole industry with one release. In short: this could be the biggest game of the decade.
Further Reading: Check out our preview.
5. Disaster: Day of Crysis
Available on: Wii
Developer Pedigree: Xenosaga series, Baten Kaitos series
The Buzz: The Wii’s 2008 line-up doesn’t look particularly spectacular for gamers – kids and mainstreamers sure, but not veterans. Disaster: Day of Crisis, however, remains a light of hope. You play as former Elite Rescue Force member Ray, tasked with surviving a host of natural disasters while preventing a bunch of rogue commandos from using the distraction to steal an atomic bomb. The game was announced way back in 2006 before dropping off the radar, but is still very much in production.
Our Take: Recreating the terror of natural disasters may not seem like everyone’s cup-of-tea, but there is no doubt it makes for an intriguing take on the survival-horror genre. The Wii is an odd choice for the game given the importance visuals will play, not to mention the control method, but if developer Monolith Soft can turn these apparent restrictions into strengths this could be the game that reinvigorates interest in the Wii come the end of 2008.
6. Afrika
Available on: PS3
Developer Pedigree: Noobs
The Buzz: What is this game about? We’re not sure just yet. First announced back in 2006, all we have seen since are trailers that reveal a character taking photos of beasties in the African savannah. Is this a similar concept to Endless Ocean, asking users to do little more that simply experience an environment they might otherwise never see? Or will our nature loving protagonist go all John Rambo on the arses of some wildlife poachers and ivory dealers.
Our Take: Depsite the lack of information, Afrika is impossible to ignore. A PS3 exclusive, this is one of those games which is expected to tap into the console’s famed Cell processor to produce stunning results. Certainly the trailers look awesome, but don’t all Sony pushed trailers? Until we find out more, we can only hope the pictures shown thus far are for real.
7. PROTOTYPE
Available on: X360, PS3, PC
Developer Pedigree: Scarface, The Incredible Hulk
The Buzz: Alex Mercer wakes up in a research lab deep beneath modern day New York City with amnesia. He makes his way to the surface only to find it completely overtaken by war, as the Black Watch Special Forces attempt to keep the civilians safe from a spreading virus that is turning them into monsters. You step into this world with the aim of not only surviving, but also attempting to discover who you are, and how you ended up in a research lab. Then there is the question of your strange new superpowers, which include the ability to turn into a beast, superhuman strength and to assimilate the looks and memories of humans you consume.
Our Take: Developer Radical Entertainment are open-world specialists and what we have seen of the game thus far shows the superhero carnage of the Incredible Hulk game mixed into a gritty and realistic New York. The ‘neutral-hero-stuck-in-the-middle-of-a-war’ thing is the new black, but this game has a hero with amazing superpowers, a raging war in the streets of NYC and a fully co-op narrative. Nice!
Further Reading: Check out our massive feature.
8. Army of Two
Available on:X360, PS3
Developer Pedigree: SSX Blur, Boogie
The Buzz: Army of Two follows a duo of fighters “as they fight through war, political turmoil and a conspiracy so vast it threatens the entire world." The game is designed around the concept of cooperative play, between the user and the PAI “Partner Artificial Intelligence” or with another human. The experience will delve quite deeply into the war machine, with customisable weaponry, and a reliance on an array of realistic co-op based tactics.
Our Take: After the success of Gears of War, we really expected co-op gaming to be all the rage, and while a few games have tried to implement the feature, for every game that has got it right (Crackdown) another has got it lame (GRAW 2). Army of Two however has remained steadfastly focused on taking the concept of co-op gaming forward and that alone is enough to keep this game firmly fixed on our radars, despite a stack of release delays.
9. LittleBigPlanet
Available on: PS3
Developer Pedigree: Rag Doll Kung Fu
The Buzz: A side-scrolling platformer for the next-generation. LittleBigPlanet sees users take control of a bunch of little rascals in an environment full of objects that can be completely manipulated to facilitate progress. The gameplay is all about physics-based puzzle solving, with the gamer required to make their way through various challenges cooperatively, competitively, or on their lonesome.
Our Take: While the description above may sound like simplistic gameplay, LittleBigPlanet is set to become the poster child for a new generation of physics focused gameplay experiences and, with Home, the PlayStation Network’s marquee community builder. We’ve seen the amazing amount of customisation options in action and they are spectacular, allowing you to build your own levels, starting at the models and backgrounds themselves. This could be the new Tetris.
10. Space Siege
Available on: TBA
Developer Pedigree: Dungeon Siege, Supreme Commander
The Buzz: At the start of the game Earth has been completely destroyed by an alien race, who then move on to attack your massive colonisation spaceship. In order to survive you will face a moral dilemma: do you stay human and battle with your current strengths, or engage in cybernetic augmentation to turn yourself into something more powerful, but also more machine? The decisions you make will affect the ending.
Our Take: Although scheduled for a Q3 2008 release, not much is known about the game. Developer Gas Powered Games’ CEO Chris Taylor is a legend of the RTS scene, although Space Siege is being pitched as an action RPG. This provides an interesting cocktail: sci-fi role-player, space setting and strategic micro-management based combat.
11. Fracture
Available on: X360, PS3
Developer Pedigree: MechAssault I and II
The Buzz: In the distant future, the strain on natural resources has led to a huge war which has literally split the USA in two. On what is left of the east coast is the Atlantic Alliance who specialise in cybernetic solutions to their resource needs. The west coast consists of the Republic of Pacifica who have instead opted to alter the human genome. When you enter the conflict, both sides have just discovered a new technology which allows the tectonic shape of the Earth itself.
Our Take: When geo-mod gameplay was first championed in Red Faction, it was full of potential, but it was never maximised in the years that followed. Fracture is geo-mod gone next-gen. We’ve seen it in action and the puzzle element it brings to traditional combat is quite invigorating. Imagine in Battlefield 2, or Call of Duty 4, just creating a hill in an instant to block enemy fire!
Further Reading: Check out our preview.
12. Alan Wake
Available on: X360, PC
Developer Pedigree: Death Rally, Max Payne
The Buzz: Described as a "psychological action thriller", Alan Wake certainly has an interesting story. It sees the titular novelist Alan in small town USA trying to beat his insomnia. Finally he begins to sleep, only to have vivid nightmares. He begins using these nightmares to inspire his next book, only to find the events he depicts on paper materialise in real life.
Our Take: This is one of Microsoft’s big guns, expected to show up the PS3 with its photo-realistic visuals. Certainly the trailers look pretty, but we’ll need to see more before we are convinced. The twisted story has us intrigued though, as does the unusual gameplay, which sees Alan combating the foes from his nightmares with light, either from his torch of from the booby traps he creates.
13. Dead Space
Available on: X360, PS3, PC
Developer Pedigree: SKATE, Burnout Paradise
The Buzz: A ‘Planet Cracker’ is a class of ship big enough to destroy dead planets, and to then harvest useable minerals from the remains. You play Isaac Clarke, a space engineer sent with two compatriots to one of these Planet Cracker’s to answer a distress call. On arrival you discover it has been taken over by a gruesome alien race known as Necromorphs that inhabitant human bodies, hungering for your life even after you’ve shot of all their limbs and they’re left to chew their way along the floor. Your task is to simply survive.
Our Take: Two genres that are perfectly suited to the high-def capabilities of the next-gen machines are sci-fi and horror. Combing them both in the form of a third-person shooter, Dead Space has already shown us blood-curdling screenies and trailers that reveal a game set to tackle the Resident Evils and Silent Hills of this world for genre supremacy. Futuristic weaponry and interesting universe mythology are icing on the cake.
Further Reading: Check out our preview.
14. Haze
Available on: PS3
Developer Pedigree: GoldenEye, Timesplitters, Second Sight
The Buzz: The Mantel Corporation is a futuristic mercenary army available for hire. They have become the most feared force on Earth thanks to a drug called Nectar which increases their soldiers’ strength, speed and intelligence by inducing a pain-free hallucinogenic state. The game follows three days in the life of solider Shane Carpenter, who is sent by Mantel to quell some guerrilla forces in a tropical paradise, and his realisation that he is being brain-washed into a killing machine.
Our Take: Developer Free Radical has a great back catalogue of excellent FPS games and they’ve pumped a lot of cool ideas into Haze. The visualisation of the effects of Nectar look awesome, as does the environment. But it is the multiplayer options that have us the most excited, with some great gameplay ideas – like playing dead – and four-player co-op. A juicy exclusive for PS3 fans!
15. Sins of a Solar Empire
Available on: PC
Developer Pedigree: Noobs
The Buzz: Imagine a combination of Civilization and Supreme Commander, set in space. The game’s core is 4X real-time strategy: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. You build up a civilization on a planet and then explore the galaxy looking for communities to conquer. This will entail management of entire fleets of spaceships, engaging in diplomacy and mining new resources from the planets you explore. There will be three unique races to choose from.
Our Take: We’re in awe of this game’s scope as it is set to deliver the largest and most fully realised galaxy every seen in a game. The Strategic Zoom function allows you to scroll from one ship right out to an entire solar system! The proprietary Iron Engine has also been said to accurately show the difference in size between a small fighter and a giant sun. In their words, a "massively scaled, fully 3D environment featuring entire galaxies, orbiting planets, clusters of asteroids, space dust and radiant stars." Sounds pretty sweet to us!
16. Tom Clancy’s EndWar
Available on: X360, PS3, PC, DS
Developer Pedigree: The entire Tom Clancy range
The Buzz: While WWII may be out at the moment, WWIII – in its many imaginative incarnations – is very much in and Tom Clancy is already there. EndWar’s in-depth narrative runs through a reasonably logical progression of events that leads to full-scale war between the European Federation, the US and Russia in 2020 over oil. Unlike previous Tom Clancy games, this is an RTS, with the user controlling entire armies rather than just individuals or squads.
Our Take: Other than the notable exception of Rainbow Six: Lockdown, the massive library of Tom Clancy titles is chockers with quality game experiences. This gives us great confidence that this foray into all new territory will be something special. After all, an RTS is the natural progression from the squad-based gameplay for which the Clancy range is famed: an army is just like a really big squad. And as every developer and his dog attempts to successfully RTS-ify the console market, Ubisoft is banking on voice commands to get around the lack of a keyboard and mouse. From our experience thus far, it’s a winner!
Further Reading: Check out our exclusive feature.
17. Heavy Rain: The Origami Killer
Available on: PS3
Developer Pedigree: Omikron, Fahrenheit/Indigo Prophecy
The Buzz: Not a whole lot is known about the story in Heavy Rain, although the title would suggest someone in the game hates paper swans. The game’s director, David Cage, has described it as being "a very dark film noir thriller with mature themes". Like Fahrenheit a key feature of the game will be its adaptable storyline, with the decisions the user makes branching down multiple narrative paths.
Our Take: Developer Quantic Dream made a big splash with Fahrenheit, and when Heavy Rain falls it could very well wash away our current expectations of the mystery/thriller genre and raise the bar anew. The fact that it is a PS3 exclusive and heavily backed by Sony is also notable, as it is becoming more apparent by the day that the Cell processor, when harvested properly, offers the very best in jaw-dropping visuals.
18. White Knight Chronicles
Available on: PS3
Developer Pedigree: Dark Cloud, Rogue Galaxy
The Buzz: Developed along traditional RPG game mechanics – customisable characters, experience points, 60hrs of gameplay – the key feature of White Knight Chronicles will be its scope. The aim is to go huge, with creatures described as being similar to those in Shadow of the Colossus. Combat will occur in real-time, although users will be able to customise their own move combinations and save them prior to battle.
Our Take: Developer Level-5 showed in the previous generation that they have their finger very much on the RPG pulse and now they are looking to take that know-how next-gen. We love the idea of filling the world with amazing, humongous beasts and we’re intrigued to see how their vision of real-time RPG combat – still not satisfyingly achieved – comes to pass.
19. Too Human
Available on: X360
Developer Pedigree: Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness
The Buzz: The ancient Norse ‘Gods’ were actually cybernetically enhanced humans. When an attacking race of machines threaten the world, they are tasked with defending it, including the God Baldur, who you will play. The narrative is said to be the game’s major selling point, as is the highly customisable combat class system ranging from weapons to cybernetic enhancements. Co-op play will also be available online.
Our Take: There’s a lot of ground between Devil May Cry, Diablo and Mass Effect, but Too Human aims to bridge it, introducing fast-paced combat while maintaining deep RPG elements. There is no doubt the story is intriguing and the mythology has legs for multiple sequels, inviting us to enter on the ground floor. Early gameplay footage suggests it has the addictive gameplay Microsoft is banking on.
20. inFamous
Available on: PS3
Developer Pedigree: The Sly Cooper series
The Buzz: Very little has been released about this game, but what is out there certainly sounds enticing. This third-person open-world game claims inspiration from the superhero MMO City of Heroes. The gamer will have access to an interesting range of superpowers including: psychokinesis, flight, super jump and electrical conduction. The gameplay will also focus on moral dilemmas – you can be a hero, or an anti-hero.
Our Take: It has been interesting watching Sony’s second-party kiddie game developers stepping into mature territory for the PS3. Insomniac moved from Ratchet to Resistance, Naughty Dog from Jak to Uncharted… now we have inFamous from Sly Cooper’s developer. Given that track record, this should be quite awesome! Most certainly, having to make a moral call on a gameplay situation when armed with superpowers will test the darkness of our souls.
21. Viking: Battle for Asgard
Available on: X360, PS3
Developer Pedigree: Total War series, Spartan: Total Warrior
The Buzz: Asgard is the realm of the Norse Gods and it is suffering through a major war. It began when the Goddess Hel was banished, a fate she took none to kindly, summoning an army of dead Viking soldiers and the wolf-God Fenrir in an attempt to bring about Ragnarok, which will destroy the heavens. So big is the war, it spills out into the mortal world of Midgard. Now it’s left to the warrior Skarin to defend Midgard from the forces of Hel.
Our Take: Developer Creative Assembly like their **** medieval, but they also like their hardcore strategy, which makes this foray into hack ‘n’ slash adventuring all the more intriguing. The narrative is interesting enough, but we’re yet to be convinced that the game can offer deep enough combat. That said, we can’t help but anticipate how the developer will infuse their wealth of strategy knowledge into a hack ‘n’ slash affair.
Further Reading: Check out our preview.
22. Left 4 Dead
Available on: X360, PC
Developer Pedigree: Counter-strike: Condition Zero
The Buzz: A four-player co-op survival horror set in a world overrun by zombies where the core gameplay mechanic asks you to work together to survive. The game will utilise the Source Engine and will feature a ‘Director A.I’ that will dynamically alter the population of zombies depending on how challenging/intense the action is to a user’s skill. A second eight-player mode will allow up to four players to take control of the zombies.
Our Take: Valve make awesome games and they like Left 4 Dead enough that they bought the developer. That’s one mega tick of approval in anyone’s books. Not that it needs it: the concept of co-op survival horror where two teams of four can play off in a survivors vs. the horror situation is brilliant. The only question mark is the Source Engine – awesome on PC, but yet to be truly tested on next-gen consoles.
23. Borderlands
Available on: X360, PS3, PC
Developer Pedigree: Brother in Arms series, Half-Life expansions.
The Buzz: In a time far, far away, colonization ships on the edge of the galaxy discover the planet Pandora, and set up a settlement whose population hopes to harvest a fortune in minerals. Unfortunately, the planet is barren, and society soon breaks down into anarchy as the people fight to survive. Seven Earth years later, Pandora changes in season and in doing so awakens hibernating monsters. The only chance the humans have of survival is to find alien technology hidden somewhere on the planet and to make good use of it. Ambiguously described as an open-world, RPG FPS the game will progress through quests (WoW style), feature randomly generated weapons and items, three playable, customisable characters and four-player co-op.
Our Take: Of all the games in this list, Borderlands could be the most exciting, and certainly the art that has been released thus far is spectacularly sci-fi in its beauty. MMO-like in design, if they can marry the FPS combat to its RPG elements seamlessly we’ll be stoked beyond belief. Developer Gearbox Software likes a good series, so we can see this one expanding further into the universe, too.
Further Reading: Check out our big preview.
24. The Agency
Available on: PS3, PC
Developer Pedigree: Everquest series, Star Wars Galaxies
The Buzz: In The Agency players choose between the The United Nations Intelligence and Tactical Experts (U.N.I.T.E) or Paramilitary Global Operations Network (ParaGON) groups and then enter a world of espionage and combat online. Yes online: this is an MMOFPS, complete with vehicular combat. Progression occurs by accepting and then completing missions, which unlock Operatives who supply you with further details. There will also be mini-games to enjoy with other humans, like Texas Hold ‘em Poker.
Our Take: Surely the next big step for the MMO is to take FPS combat into a persistent online environment –this could be the game that does it successfully. Developer SOE already had a reasonable crack with Planetside, so hopefully they can build on that idea. The creation of this game, however, is bucking some trends. Few games that rely heavily on multiplayer appear on the PS3 and PC, but not the Xbox 360, especially when using the struggling Unreal Engine 3. How the hell will it work? We’re not sure, but we can’t wait to find out.
25. Warhound
Available on: X360, PC
Developer Pedigree: Chrome series, Call of Juarez
The Buzz: The terrorist thing is getting a little tired, but Warhound could give the setting some extra legs by utilising an open-world for its FPS action. You play an ex-Delta Force operative now working for the world’s biggest military contractor doing jobs on randomly generating battlefields across the globe. The game’s biggest promise is complete freedom in the way you go about progressing through the game, choosing everything from weapons and vehicles to the exact insertion point and time. You will also need to manage your finances, training and profile – you’re a mercenary after all – and the game hopes to revolutionise the use of cover in an FPS.
Our Take: Developer Techland has been an ‘almost there’ developer for quite a few years now, which leaves us slightly worried about this game. Still, the premise is stacked with potential and the concept of being a mercenary in an open-world battlefield powered by a realistic economy is hot. This could be the one for Techland and certainly the trailers look awesome!
26. Legendary
Available on: X360, PS3, PC
Developer Pedigree: Call of Duty: Finest Hour, Turning Point
The Buzz: In normal everyday New York City, the thief Charles Deckard opens up Pandora’s Box and releases a host of mythological creatures who set about bringing on the destruction of Earth. Players will take control of Deckard in this FPS which hopes to segregate itself from the rest of the genre pack via an extensive three-way A.I system. Deckard, the creatures and the normal human population will represent three distinct groups all going at it at once.
Our Take: We’re not too sure about this one. The idea of unleashing mythological beasts on the streets of New York City has us intrigued, and the three way A.I should ensure a unique gameplay experience with every play, but developer Spark Unlimited doesn’t have the finest track record. Watch with caution.
27. The Last Remnant
Available on: X360, PS3
Developer Pedigree: The Final Fantasy series, Star Ocean
The Buzz: In a fictional world populated by four distinct, but humanoid races, powerful artefacts called ‘remnants’ have been the cause of many wars. 18 year old Rush Sykes finds himself in the middle of such a conflict as he seeks to find his kidnapped sister. Players will control Rush, and a ‘union’ of soliders under his command. The game hopes to shake up the genre with a new combat system described as a "turn-burst, command-based system using symbol encounters."
Our Take: There is a lot riding on this game, given that it is the RPG by genre legends Square Enix that is going multi-format. Sneaking along under Final Fantasy XIII’s massive shadow, it is an opportunity for the developer to experiment with a new combat system and a new world. We also like the fact that it is being developed as much with the western world in mind as the company’s local Japanese audience.
28. Backbreaker
Available on: X360, PS3
Developer Pedigree: GTAIV and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
The Buzz: NaturalMotion, the company that is revolutionising A.I with its Euphoria engine, has decided to develop a game. It’s an NFL game, which will make use of a third-person perspective and the developer’s famous character animation engine to provide a sport experience like never before. For more on Euphoria click the link below.
Our Take: We normally couldn’t give a toss about that crazy American sport – wearing helmets and pads just seems so soft and lame – but nevertheless, it could be the setting for one of the biggest revolutions in the sport genre since the onset of 3D. An entire field of players each behaving completely independently of the borders inherent in traditional animation libraries. Doing it all from a third-person perspective just adds to the sense of anticipation.
Further Reading: Check out our must-read feature on the Engines powering the next-generation of gaming.
very nice. sad to see only a few games there. link
