PC Games To Look Forward to in 2010: Part 1

I thought seeing as I’ve read through a few lists of games that others are looking forward to next year, I would try my hand at doing the same, seeing as there were some glaring omissions on some of those lists.

Now the list is very pro-PC, so console games aren’t a priority, and I will make a few honourable mentions later on for games that although probably won’t be released for PC, still look pretty good, as well as some honourable mentions about games that likely wont make 2010.

Aliens: Colonial Marines

_{Developer: Gearbox Software
Publisher: Sega
Engine: Unreal Engine 3
Platforms: PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date: 2010
Genre: First-Person Shooter}

The first time I heard about this game was years ago. Back then it was referred to as the Alien FPS, in development at Gearbox Software. At the same time I heard about it, it was said that there would be an Alien RPG, developed by Obsidian, which would have rocked but was unfortunately cancelled in 2009, but with rumours of another Alien game to take its place. Colonial Marines has been delayed several times over the years, and the last time I read, it was pushed back because of the next game on the list.

Colonial Marines will feature not only the usual shooting going on but also context-sensitive commands - kind if like Gearbox's other franchise, Brothers in Arms - and will allow you to switch between different team members, who all have different weapons and character traits.

The enemies in the game will include the usual Xenomorphs (aliens) in the various forms, as well as the Predator, and the story of the game is apparently loosely based on or inspired by the movies, especially Aliens, the second film in the original trilogy.

Aliens vs. Predator

_{Developer: Rebellion Developments
Publisher: Sega
Distributors: Sega (retail), Steam (online)
Engine: Asura
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release Date: February 16, 2010
Genres: First-person shooter, Survival horror, Action}

This is arguably the true sequel to Aliens vs Predator, the game from 1999, although there was an Aliens vs Predator 2 in 2001 or so. The same studio is working on it – Rebellion. From what I’ve seen, it looks gorgeous graphically, and will likely be the thrill that many have been seeking since the first game. Almost nothing ranks up there in scary terms with being a weak marine in the dark with a cap-gun with a Xenomorph bearing down on you at 100 kph – except you can’t see it. You can hear it, but you can’t see it.

Unlike Colonial Marines, this game will feature three different campaigns - one for each race, the marines (humans), the Aliens, and the Predator. Each campaign will feature different tactics used by each race, such as firepower, stealth, and speed.

Assassin’s Creed II

_{Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Publisher: Ubisoft
Engine: Anvil
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date: March 16, 2010 (PC)
Genre: Third-person action-adventure}

This game was all ready released on consoles last year, and most people liked it except one particular guy on D’toid. Anyway, this game is all ready said to improve on many things that the original lacked or sucked at, and I personally like playing as a killing machine. I’m a big fan of the Hitman games, and this is like that, except set in the past , and with hidden blades… two of them! I fantasise about those things.

Assassin's Creed II takes place in the future initially, where you control Desmond Miles once again as he travels back in time to assume one of his ancestors via the Animus 2.0. This time it's Ezio Auditore da Firenze, an Italian nobleman living during the renaissance. The game will let players do what they did in the original: the parkour or free-running, the assassinations, but with some improvements to the gameplay like being able to trade, and interact with factions.

And not to mention that the game will also share something else with the Hitman titles: a soundtrack by the talented Jesper Kyd.

Battlefield Bad Company 2

_{Developer: EA Digital Illusions CE
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Engine: Frostbite Engine
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date: March 2, 2010
Genres: First-person shooter, action}

The original Bad Company looked pretty good and had a sense of humour – not to mention destructible environments ala Red Faction. But I was shocked when I realized that it wouldn’t be coming to the PC. Now’s the time for all of use who didn’t get the chance the first time round to play this title.

Of course Bad Company 2's most popular feature will be the multiplayer, and it will be only the second battlefield game to feature blood.

BioShock 2

_{Developers: 2K Marin, 2K Australia, Digital Extremes,Arkane Studios
Publisher: 2K Games
Engine: Unreal Engine 2.5
Platforms: PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows
Release date: February 9, 2010
Genres: Shooter, survival horror}

The sequel to one of 2007’s best games. This is high on a lot of lists for games in 2010 that people are looking forward too. Initially slated for a release in 2009, it was pushed back to the following year.

This time round you take the role of a Big Daddy in Rapture, ten years after the events of the first game. Initially thought of as just a glorified expansion, using the same engine, it seems to be bringing some new stuff to the table gameplay wise, and not to mention the addition of multiplayer, and seemingly the ability to venture into underwater areas and the ocean and become fully submerged - something which BioShock didn't feature.

Command & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight

_{Developer: EA Los Angeles
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Engine: RNA
Platform: Microsoft Windows
Release date: March 16, 2010
Genre: Real-time strategy}

Over the years I’ve had the fortune to play practically almost every game in the main series of Command& Conquer and Red Alert, and after there was such a long gap between the second and third generation titles in their respective series, it’s quite a shock to see a new one arriving so soon. C&C 3 was only released in 2007, so that’ll make it about three years, unlike the eight year gap between that and C&C: Tiberian Sun.This latest C&C title will supposedly be the end of the series however.

This new title is sticking with the whole Tiberian theme and has the subtitle Tiberian Twilight (Tiberian Dawn, Tiberian Sun, Tiberium Wars, etc.), and sees the GDI and NOD seemingly coming together in a supposed alliance. The Scrin from C&C 3 and The Forgotten (a new faction) will also make appearance as enemy factions, although in the game you can only play as the GDI or NOD.

Something that might make this game bomb is the fact that you might have to be online at any time you play the game, whether you're playing single or multiplayer campaigns.The devs are also doing away with resource gathering.

Crysis 2

_{Developers: Crytek, Crytek UK
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Engine: CryEngine 3
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Release date: 2010
Genre: First-person shooter}

Crysis was released in 2007, and people quickly found out that it was a beast to run – virtually nobody could run this thing at full quality back then, unless you had technology at the cutting edge or from the future. Some even declined on giving awards for best graphics that year, instead choosing CoD 4: Modern Warfare, seeing as Crysis was just too much for us too handle, but it clearly deserved it.

Now Crysis 2 will be here in 2010, and it’s using a new engine unlike some other series sequels, CryEngine 3, and will also be released on consoles this time around.

The game is the second in a trilogy of Crysis games, and is the direct sequel to the original, taking place a few years after the end of the first game. Features to look forward to include a new, improved Nano Suit 2. And details and trailers about the game suggest that the game may well take place in some urban environments.

Deus Ex 3

_{Developer: Eidos Montreal, Square Enix
Publisher: Square Enix
Engine: Crystal engine
Platform: Microsoft Windows
Release date: 2010}

Deus Ex was a classic, and has featured on lists of best games ever made, as well as best games of the last decade, despite its flaws. It was the story involving lots of conspiracy theories, and the gameplay that kept people coming back, and made it so popular. Deus Ex: Invisible War was released a few years afterwards and kind of fell flat as a sequel, and was a disappointment to many.

Deus Ex 3 is a threequel, or prequel to the original game,despite being the third game in the series, and will obviously therefore tell of the events that happened before Deus Ex. It's set in 2027, and unlike Deus Ex which had nanotechnology, this game takes place before that technology was discovered, and will instead focus on biotechnological or mechanical augmentations That sounds kind of like what BioShock was to System Shock 1& 2. Even UNATCO doesn't yet exist and a lot of stuff that will take place in this game will lead up to what you all ready knew in Deus Ex.

New game features include a cover system combined with third person viewpoint, and regenerating health.

Now under development by a company other than Ion Storm – Eidos Montreal - and without Warren Spector to oversee the project, we’ll just have to see if it turns out to be any good.

Fallout New Vegas

_{Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Engine: Gamebryo
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date: 2010
Genre: Action role-playing game}

Fallout 3 was a major success, whether you thought it was really a true Fallout title or not. It won game of the year nominations and awards in 2008 and 2009 with the Game of the Year addition with all five DLC packs.

Since Fallout 3 explored Washington D.C. in what was renamed the Capital Wasteland, another place we’d like to see after the apocalypse is no doubt Las Vegas.

This title will be developed by Obsidian instead of Bethesda, and the game isn't a direct sequel to Fallout 3, but takes place in the same fictional universe, based on real world locations.

I actually watched an episode in the series of Life After People recently where they showed us all what it would look like, and this made me want this game even more. I think there’s so many possibilities. The Fallout series just has an infinite amount of them. Who else thinks that we’re bound to see Fallout: New York and Fallout: LA somewhere down the line?

Hitman 5

_{Developer: IO Interactive
Publisher: Eidos
Platforms: Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release date: Late 2010
Genre: Third-person shooter, Action adventure}

As I said earlier on, I’m quite a big fan of the Hitman games, and in my opinion you’d have to go quite a way to top 2006’s Hitman Blood Money, which featured some great gameplay and an excellent soundtrack.

Anyway, it’s been quite a long gap since said game, seeing as there’s been a new Hitman title every two or so years since 2000, and I can’t wait to take the role of the bald, cold, ruthless, efficient, bar-coded killer, Agent 47, again.

To our collective relief, rumours that this game would be based on the story of the next Hitman film were denied.

So, there you have it: Part 1 in a series of...maybe two or three articles dedicated to telling you about what games to look forward to next year. If your game isn't here, then it may pop up in the follow-up, Part 2. And remember, this is all just down to my opinion.