The Games Of 2010

Star Wars: The Old Republic
At Last, An MMO For People Who Don’t Like Them

Assumption is said to be the mother of all screw-ups, and it has been widely assumed that the reason for so many MMOs struggling to find an audience is the popularity of World Of Warcraft. We’re crying foul, because as much as the logic holds on a superficial level, the vast majority of post-WoW MMOs imitate Blizzard’s all-conquering universe to such a degree they leave gamers with no incentive not to return to Azeroth’s more populace shores.
This is a side effect of the pleasure of MMOs principally being found in the “multiplayer” aspect, and that’s what makes The Old Republic such a brilliant example of conceptual thinking. Every other studio in the industry has concentrated on finding different ways of spinning the social side of the genre, but it’s the one area that WoW will always have the edge. Instead, Bioware has resolved to create a single-player MMO, one that won’t need the presence of millions of other people to make-up for anaemic gameplay and endless grinding.
There will be other players in The Old Republic’s universe, of course, but it will feature far more constructed elements and non-player characters, all of which will be fully voiced. Add Mass Effect’s wonderful dialogue wheel to the mix and you have an MMO that has the potential to not only turn the heads of WoW players, but to do the same for those who find the idea of life in Azeroth a crushing bore. Plus, it’s Star Wars – apparently it’s quite popular.
World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Azeroth re-forged in the flames of innovation

We’ve gone beyond the Dark Portal in The Burning Crusade and crossed the Northern Seas in Wrath Of The Lich King, but this time Blizzard is literally changing its game. Deathwing’s return to the ‘real world’ from Deepholm is set to tear Azeroth apart politically and geographically, altering the game for every one of its 12 million subscribers.
Making such fundamental changes to one of the biggest games of all time is an extraordinary and radical move, particularly considering that the hugely popular game showed no signs of slowing down. But Blizzard isn’t one to rest on its laurels. Instead, it’s nailing its colours to the mast, proving to the loyal fanbase that within the world of Azeroth nothing is certain for long.
Many of the world’s classic zones have been irrevocably transformed by the eponymous Cataclysm, with Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms twisted almost beyond recognition; The Barrens torn asunder by canyons of lava, and the Maelstrom churning in the centre of the world with a newly invigorated ferocity. Joining the Alliance are the Worgen – creatures who previously were rarely found outside Silverpine, Ashenvale or Northrend – and the Goblins, who have been prompted by the Cataclysm to abandon their neutral stance and join the Horde, with traits that allow them a gold discount in all stores.
There is, of course, the level cap of 85 and a new offering of raids and battlegrounds, but it’s Azeroth’s seismic shifting that’s the real clincher. There’s a whole new world ripe for exploration, and we’re dying to jump back in.
Kingdom Under Fire II
Hacking down genre barriers

It’s not often that a trailer can work the majority of the office into a state of frenzy. Yet with every new bit of Kingdom Under Fire II footage Blueside sends us, crowds form and jaws drop as the absurdly-named heroes hack and slash their way through literal armies of foes. It’s a stunning game to watch, making us wonder how closely the console version will be able to mirror the high-end PC visuals we’ve been slobbering over for so long, although the power the first two games managed to squeeze out of the original Xbox fills us with hope.
But it’s not just our inner graphics whore that can’t wait for KUFII. This is as ambitious a genre fusion as you’ll see, bringing together the scale of the Total War series, the hands-on action of the likes of Dynasty Warriors, and the on-the-fly strategy options of the real-time strategy oeuvre’s finest – the PC version even has a persistent MMO element that ties the whole game together. Just being able to control the battlefield with the tactical map as you carve your way through thousands of orcs is enough for us, but for those waves of enemies to stretch beyond the horizon as they do is just staggering.
The way Blueside brings such a curious mix of genres together and manages to make them gel is commendable indeed, and it’s this that has us most excited for this true sequel to some of the Xbox’s most underappreciated titles.
Valkyria Chronicles 2
A war we’re happy to see continue

A constant source of frustration for games journalists is the fact that the most interesting, innovative and critically acclaimed games often don’t sell as well as they deserve to. It’s a problem that’s existed since the dawn of the medium and persists today, with great 2009 games like Muramasa: The Demon Blade, MadWorld and Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars all failing achieve sales figures as proportionally high as their own review scores. Every now and then, however, the world surprises us. 2008’s Valkyria Chronicles was so interesting, so fresh and so good that it seemed destined to fail. And for a while it did, until word of mouth caused it to sell steadily for a year until it was actually considered enough of a success to earn a sequel. Now here we are, anticipating a sequel that we would have bet against being made. It’s like finding out you’ve been given an extra ten years of life and gives us a little bit more faith in the games buying public. As a sequel, Valkyria Chronicles 2 might go against our desire to see more originality in games but, as a symbol of the fact that original ideas can sometime succeed, it deserves a huge amount of respect. What’s more, it has one member of games™’s editorial team so excited that he will actually be buying a PSP in 2010, after five years of swearing that he’d never go anywhere near Sony’s handheld. So Valkyria Chronicles II isn’t just an unexpected seller, it’s a killer app too.
Super Street Fighter IV
Now, fight a bunch of new rivals

There are only two things that could make Street Fighter IV better – add more characters, nerf Sagat. And it would appear that Capcom is as aware of this truth as we are, since that’s exactly what Super Street Fighter IV is promising, with a selection of new fighters entering the fray to take the roster over 30. Rebalancing to fit these new faces into the action is well under way, especially with extra moves and Ultras promising to change the way some characters play entirely.
Exciting as this is, however, it’s the improvements to the online side of the game that will have most fight fans salivating. Championship mode has sucked away hours of our social lives as it is, but with the potential for eight-way, winner-stays-on or team-based sessions, we’re just about ready to explode with anticipation. We’re also really hoping that the announcement of dedicated replay channels will mean that matches can be saved to relive any memorable fight, rather than just Championship finals – a real missed opportunity in the original.
And with a handful of characters still to be announced, forums are alight with arguments about who should get the final few seats on the Awesome Bus. We’d love to see Rolento return, and Skullomania would be an amazing rival for Dan. But whomever Capcom decides to bring back or introduce to the series, we’re guaranteed to be fighting like gentlemen early in the year
Lost In Shadow
Prancer in the dark

These lists are everywhere at the moment, and while many are full of praise and anticipation for the usual suspects we think there’s more value in extolling the virtues of the underdog. And when it comes to underdogs, they don’t come much less likely to set the world alight than this – a third-party Wii platform game that hinges on a gimmick. Between an art style that has drawn comparisons to Ico and the ingenious use of light and shadow as its central mechanic, we really want to see Lost In Shadow succeed.
But there’s no denying that in following the likes of Dead Space: Extraction and MadWorld, this is a risky release. Recent trends suggest that only first party titles and fitness-based shovelware succeed on Wii despite the huge user base, and while the great games keep coming, less than inspiring figures are seeing developers either branch out to multiformat releases or take their products elsewhere.
So after a forgettable year for the Wii, 2010 will be a pivotal one in determining the console’s future. And interestingly, it’ll be games like Lost In Shadow and No More Heroes 2 that hold the key to Nintendo’s fate, as without many signs of success for third parties the Wii risks going the same way as the GameCube as support dwindles. And even despite the bigger picture, we’re excited to see where Hudson takes the shadow-based gameplay. The concept is unique and deeply intriguing – it’s just too bad it’ll probably sell about 14 copies.
The Last Guardian
Can Team Ico’s minimalist design survive the leap in technology?

The minimalism in the design of Shadow Of The Colossus and Ico is reflected in the purity of Fumito Ueda’s initial, singular vision. With Ico, it was a boy leading a girl by the hand. With Colossus, it was a tiny figure challenging a giant. From these mental images came two of the most significant videogames in the canon.
This time it’s the pairing of man and nature – a theme embodied in The Last Guardian’s control of a small boy who in turn influences the actions of a towering, fantastical creature. It’s a core premise that furthers Ueda’s work on his previous games: the connection between the boy and his companion mirrored by that of Yorda and Ico, Wanda and Agro. It’s the cultivation and nurturing of this union that makes The Last Guardian such an intriguing prospect.
Set once again in an poignant world of haunting architecture – the indelible visual signature easily identifying the game as one born in the mind of Ueda – the power of the PlayStation 3 will be set to use in creating a believable and palpable bond between boy and beast – a feat only Team Ico has convincingly achieved before.
What we’re really interested to see, however, is how the advanced technology of the PlayStation 3 affects the modest approach of ‘design by subtraction’ exemplified by Team Ico’s work. Ueda himself admits that the loneliness and longing inferred by players in Colossus and Ico were happy accidents – the results of technical limitation rather than intended artistic design – so we’re curious to see how Ueda’s vision is refined with these restrictions removed.
Dust 514
When two worlds become one

Narrative-free multiplayer games have an unpredictable history on consoles, with titles like Section 8 and Shadowrun providing transitory experiences rarely embraced by gamers. But Dust 514 has an ace up its sleeve. Sure, it’s a strategic first-person multiplayer in the same vein as Battlefield 2142, but it inhabits a fully realised and persistent world already telling the personalised stories of over 300,000 players. It is New Eden, the world of EVE Online.
The large-scale multiplayer battles that occur on the surface of EVE’s planets will directly affect the intergalactic politics and warfare of the space-faring MMO, which in turn can also affect the action occurring planet-side. Dust 514 presents a lot of firsts for Icelandic developer CCP. It’s the company’s first game since EVE, and its development is in the trust of a satellite studio located in Shanghai. Furthermore, Dust 514 is an FPS, a genre CCP has little experience with and pitches the title up against some imposing competition. Finally, the concept of an FPS and an MMO directly affecting one another is something that has no precedent.
To what extent these unique features are exploited by either group of players remains to be seen – do the viciously entrepreneurial players of EVE really want to trust their dominance to the hands of trigger-happy console players? Conversely, Dust 514 will need more than a list of very clever ideas if it want to capture the capricious hearts of console gamers – it will need to play as good as Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield, and that’s no easy task for an untested FPS developer.
Heavy Rain
It’s just one big cut-scene, innit?

There are many reasons to be excited about Mass Effect 2, but none more unusual than its interruption system. Where before you had to wait for other characters to stop talking, you can now rudely butt-in, or even shoot them before they’ve had a chance to finish. A colleague of games™’s called the idea “genius”, and there can be few more damning indictments of the alleged maturity of this medium than that – 1000 different ways to kill people and take corners at speed, but the basics of general conversation remain a Holy Grail.
This is inextricably tied to the reasons why Heavy Rain could be so revolutionary for videogames, and why the fear that it will be “one long cut-scene” is so hopelessly reductive. David Cage is trying to break free from the hyper-reality of traditional games, where the only actions that matter are those that take almost no creative thinking to turn into gameplay mechanics. You will be asked to perform humdrum activities like dressing, shaving and making sure your son does his homework because such things comprise the human experience, and videogames have a singularly appalling track record of tapping into it.
If Heavy Rain looks like a cut-scene, it’s because that’s where the vast majority of storytelling in this medium has taken place – shoved to one side while designers conjour endless iterations on punching someone in the face. You’ll be able to punch people in Heavy Rain, and shoot them, but David Cage wants you to feel the emotion that these brutal actions should inspire; to place them in a world where they aren’t the only course of action, but a last resort. It’s a world we have no frame of reference for, which is why people want to brand it a cut-scene, and why, for us, Heavy Rain’s release can’t come soon enough.
Alpha Protocol
Obsidian Entertainment is finally let off the leash

At every major show this year, Alpha Protocol has been sandwiched between Bayonetta and Aliens Vs Predator on the Sega stand. The latter two games are catnip for fanboys: the first an intense, vibrant beat-em up, the second an atmospheric fusion of the most famous names in science fiction. The games industry and its press have always placed too much emphasis on the surface, and the merits of Alpha Protocol were lost on many who saw it, bedazzled by its colourful, iconic Sega stable-mates.
That changes now, because if you know games and understand what makes this medium so special, Alpha Protocol should be one of your most anticipated releases of next year. This is a game from Obsidian Entertainment, the studio formed from the remnants of iconic RPG developer Black Isle studios, and boasting the prodigious talent of Chris Avellone. In a nutshell, the creators of Planescape: Torment, Icewind Dale, Fallout and Fallout 2 are generating their first new IP in almost ten years, and it has been widely overlooked in favour of the eighth reboot of Aliens Vs. Predator. That’s nobody’s fault but ours.
After decades of the RPG being dominated by futuristic dystopias and verdant fantasy worlds, it’s disheartening to witness the suspicion that greeted the real-world setting, as if the range of its colour palette has a single thing to do with how brilliant the experience could be. Basing Alpha Protocol in our reality is the exact opposite of ‘boring’ or ‘playing it safe’ – a universe all the more original and creatively challenging for being so defiantly everyday.
Castlevania: Lords Of Shadow
The vampire killers bite back

Despite being one of the oldest and best-loved franchises in the history of gaming, Castlevania is facing a bit of a crisis. Though it is well respected by classic game fans, the property is quickly being left behind by the modern generation, many of which have probably never heard of any of the Belmont family. The reason, undoubtedly, is because of the complete absence of a decent console-based Castlevania game since 1997’s Symphony Of The Night.
As the mass-market games business has embraced 3D graphics, relegating 2D to downloadable arcade games and handheld titles, Castlevania has been left in the doldrums. Each attempt to update the series in 3D has produced only disappointing results, damaging the franchise’s reputation with fans and further withdrawing the brand from the collective conscious in the process.
As huge fans of the series, this gradual decline into obscurity has been difficult to witness but, thankfully, we can’t see it lasting much longer. Lords Of Shadow looks as though it might finally break the curse of Castlevania, kick-starting the series’s revival with a 3D game that will get more than just diehard completists excited. The move toward God Of War style action-adventure gameplay may seem wrong to purists but if that’s what it takes to get this venerable franchise back in the limelight then that’s ok with us. And if the Mercury Steam and Hideo Kojima can retain the classic feel of the property while also moving it forward then that will, of course, be ideal.
Metroid: Other M
Past its Prime, in a good way

One of Nintendo’s biggest surprises at E3 2009 was this collaboration with Team Ninja, a partnership nobody saw coming but everyone seems to be excited by. But since its summer reveal, Nintendo has fallen totally silent on Samus’ return and we’re still clinging to those few moments of footage as our only indication of the Ninja Gaiden studio’s new direction for the series. It would appear that in addition to the first-person action of the Prime trilogy, Team Ninja will be offering a chance to sample a third-person Samus Aran but how the blend will play out remains to be seen – on-the-fly switching would be the dream, although there’s every chance that different areas and gameplay elements will instead enforce a fixed viewpoint.
For a firm that receives constant flak based on its often by-numbers handling of its biggest series, that Nintendo has outsourced one of its most popular brands is big news indeed. Perhaps this indicates a slight change in attitude for the home of Mario and great as the Prime trilogy was, there were certainly signs of stagnation towards the end of the third. Moving development away from Retro is the logical solution, passing the torch to one of the leading lights of action game development the unexpected yet massively exciting result. We’re massively looking forward to what twists a new developer can offer on the Metroid franchise – last time the series changed hands, the end product was games™’s first ever ten…

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