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Video Game Preview 2011

By Briana Lawrence January 06, 2011

Video Game Preview 2011
© Mania/Robert Trate

So here’s our disclaimer before we get started: we may miss a game or two that you yourself may be excited for so before you attack our homes with burning pitchforks remember this... we have adorable kitties in the house so please, spare them at least!

Multiple Platforms

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim and Mass Effect 3. The titles speak for themselves so let’s move on. 2011 is giving us three titles that are long overdue: Duke Nukem Forever, Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Mortal Kombat -- with fatalities and without DC heroes, but check them out in DC Universe Online. For more bad ass superheroes, check out Batman: Arkham City, Captain America and Thor. Two titles are entering into the Lego franchise this year: Star Wars with Lego Star Wars III: Clone Wars and Jack Sparrow will be lego-ized with Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. Is “lego-ized” even a word?

Many, many part twos and threes are entering the gaming scene. Dragon Age II, Dead Space 2, Portal 2, Test Drive Unlimited 2, Dungeon Siege III, Crysis 2, F.E.A.R. 3, and Shift 2 -- part of the Need for Speed franchise. We didn’t get a Nascar 2010 but Nascar 2011 will be hitting the race track this year. We expect some footballs, basketballs, and hockeys to follow after it. There’s a ton of shooters coming out and the most anticipated one has to be Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Other shooters include Bulletstorm, Deep Black, Rage, Bodycount and Homefront. Each will try and add something new to the genre, from fighting underwater to competing in races while still being a FPS.

Metal Gear Solid: Rising gives us something new to look forward to with the franchise while an old favorite, True Crime, will make its first next-gen entrance with True Crime: Hong Kong. Rockstar games will hopefully be giving us another successful title with the detective drama L.A. Noire. The Deus Ex series is making a comeback with Deus Ex: Human Evolution while the destructible environments of Red Faction return in Red Faction: Armageddon. We’re curious about Shadow of the Damned because it’s being developed by the creator of No More Heroes, the director of Resident Evil 4, and the composer of Silent Hill. Knight’s Contract also intrigues us because it’s one of the most violent trailers we’ve seen this year. Next is Hunted: Demon’s Forge and The Cursed Crusade -- which reminds us a little of Demon’s Souls, one of the most challenging games ever created. For LoTR fans there’s Lord of the Rings: War in the North and last, but not least, is Child of Eden, a spiritual successor of sorts to Rez.

Microsoft XBOX 360

While there are quite of few multi-platform games that we want to play on the 360 -- the shooters, Child of Eden, and Mass Effect 3 just to name a few -- there are few games coming out that are exclusive to the 360. Gears of War 3 is a must have for the console, while racing fans will jump behind the wheel with Forza 4. We expect to see more Kinect games down the line, of course, but as we write this these are the only big 360 exclusives that come to mind.

Playstation 3

There are a lot of exclusives for the PS3 that have been announced, the most recent being Uncharted 3. We were surprised to hear that the once 360 exclusive Mass Effect 2 would be on the PS3, but we’re not sure if we want to buy the game for a second time. We definitely plan on picking up Little Big Planet 2 and we’re also curious about Ratchet’s new co-op adventure: Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One. Heroes on the Move not only features Ratchet, but other Sony icons like Jak, Daxter, and Sly Cooper.

For less child friendly Sony icons there’s Killzone 3, Socom 4, Resistance 3, Infamous 2, and everyone’s favorite demented clown, Sweet Tooth, in Twisted Metal. For all of your Japanese mobster needs, Yakuza 4 is there for you while Final Fantasy XIV will hopefully do a better job on the PS3 then it has on the PC. If you’re done racing down the tracks of Gran Turismo 5 then give MotorStorm Apocalypse a try. The Last Guardian is the newest game being developed by Team Ico, whose classic games Ico and Shadow of the Colossus are being redone in hi-def. Tomb Raider and Splinter Cell are also getting hi-def remakes.

Nintendo Wii

Like any good Nintendo fan we’re excited for Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. We’re also curious about Lost in Shadow, mostly because it reminds us of Limbo. The Conduit 2 will give us another FPS on the Wii while the Mario Sports Mix will give us a couple of Mario sports games on one disc. There’s more exclusives on the Wii compared to the 360, yet somehow it feels like there aren’t enough games that we’re excited for and that worries us about the future of the console.

Nintendo DS

3DS, please! Hopefully, Nintendo’s conference in January will reveal a release date, pricing, and color options. We’re pretty sure that the DS game library is going to explode once the announcement is made, but for now we’ll be content with the following: Kingdom Hearts: Re:coded, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Pokemon Black and Pokemon White, Radiata Historia, Okami Den, and Dragon Quest VI.

Sony PSP

There’s talk of a PSP 2 being released. Here’s the thing, Sony. You have to actually show support of your system this time around, o.k.? Thankfully, there were some decent games last year and there’s more to come this year. More from the Ys series with Ys I and II chronicles, more addictive music with Patapon 3, more fighting action with Dissidia 012 and God Eater Burst, and more Parasite Eve with The 3rd Birthday. It’s a good start, but we want to see more, especially with competition like the 3DS.

PC

The game we want most is Diablo 3. With StarCraft II coming out last summer -- be sure to check out the expansion this year -- and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm coming out over the winter, wouldn’t Diablo be great this summer? Please? We’re also insanely curious about Star Wars: Old Republic but we’re not sure if that’s this year or not. Two definite PC releases this year are Fable III and Witcher 2, two great games to tide PC gamers over.

Bonus Round!

Games we want more information on: We hope that Persona 2 will be brought here on the PSP since other Persona titles have been brought over, but Catherine? The first next-gen Shin Megami title looks wonderfully strange and creepy, but the obvious adult content makes us worry that it won’t be released in the U.S. We’re also not sure if that gorgeous game by Studio Ghibli is coming out in the U.S., but we really hope it does. Ashura’s Wrath reminds us of God of War while NeverDead features a character who’s immortal, but we’ve only seen one trailer for each of these games.

This is going way out there, but Kingdom Hearts 3 would be nice to see some information on after playing Birth by Sleep. We’d also like more information on Final Fantasy Versus 13... yeah, we’re not holding our breath. We desperately want more information on I Am Alive, a sort of “natural disaster has destroyed things” game that seems to have disappeared off the gaming radar. After the massive success of Red Dead Redemption and the upcoming L.A. Noire, we hope to see a Grand Theft Auto V somewhere down the line.

Any new information on Bioshock Infinite would make us extremely happy. We also want more information on the franchise reboots of Tomb Raider, Devil May Cry, and No More Heroes on the PS3. A while ago there was talk of a new Silent Hill and Alice: Madness Returns but we haven’t heard much about either these days. To fill the creepy meter, the mind behind Pan’s Labyrinth is making a game. Insane. No really, that’s the title of the game.

We wanted to talk about Max Payne 3 but apparently there is no definite release date for that anymore. We also hoped to talk about Street Fighter vs. Tekken/Tekken vs. Street Fighter and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 but there’s no solid release dates for those either. Prototype 2 isn’t this year, but we’d like to see more information on it. We’d also like to see more on X-Men Destiny, Tales of Xillia, and the Final Fantasy IV Complete Collection for PSP. Last, but not least, we’d love to know what’s coming in the upcoming Dreamcast Collection -- a system we still remember fondly.

And that’s 2011! How does it look so far? And more importantly, what did we forget to mention, because we know we forgot something.

COMMENTS AND RESPONSES

Calibur454 1/6/2011 6:17:51 AM

The conduit is the big one for me being that I am a nintendo wii guy. I also wouldnt mind seeing ghost reconn future soldier as well.

monkeyfoot 1/6/2011 6:36:42 AM

I'm not a gamer but I happened upon the trailer for Batman: Arkham City (google for it) and it was fantastic with very realistic CG animation. I got the same feeling for it that I got when I saw trailers for Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Foirce Unleashed: somebody needs to make these into full length CG movies. The Batman one would make a great Direct to DVD feature and even serve as a prelude to the next Chris Nolan movie.

Actually I don't see why Lucas, Marvel, and DC don't regularly do realistic CG movies to DVD. They would be great moneymakers.

LocoLobo73 1/6/2011 7:15:49 AM

i want my Ultimate Alliance 3 , hopefully with improved game play , and I heard they are doing Secret Wars, Beyonder style, loved the first two in the franchise , cant wait for Ghost recon and Gears. Just finished Mass Effect 2 and that was a great storyline intrested in seeing where they go with 3 . However my big game that Im willing to wait for as long as the finished product is as good as the cut scenes I ve sence so far and thats Knights of the old republic, mainly because i was so disappointed with Force unleashed 2, my god it was short , it was over before it started it seemed like the game is beautiful and hell of alot of fun to play, but when I get a game I want my moneys worth and that wasnt it . Hopefully they will release a whole lot of free DLC with new maps something.

Tashiro 1/6/2011 7:34:49 AM

For me, it's Little Big Planet 2, and Guild Wars 2. THOSE are what I'm looking forward to in 2011.

scytheofluna 1/6/2011 8:18:11 AM

My Wii will continue to collect dust this year. If all you've got is a Wii, why bother playing games at all? There are some great games on the console, or rather they would have been great six or seven years ago. By todays standards even the most impressive piece of Wii software is outdated when compared to the best iphone games, let alone the 360 or PS3. I've tried to like Wii games, over and over again. I buy stuff on day one for full price, and after ten or fifteen minutes I realize it's yet another gamecube game trying to pass itself off as something fresh. Maybe the Wii-too will ditch the retro hardware in favour of something more current, but I've learned to expect only disappointment from Nintendo.

Assuming the 3DS doesn't cause eye damage (it's a possible issue), I will pick one of those up to play the Ocarina of Time remake and the Metal Gear Snake Eater port.

The 360 and PS3 are going to be on FIRE this year, and I'll be dividing my time almost equally between the two platforms. If you ignore all of the stupid JRPG games and kiddie puzzlers the PSP has about twenty good games. That's not overwhelming, but for a portable device it's not a deal breaker either, but I'm agreed that the support for the PSP2 needs to be broader. Less focus on what Japanese gamers like, and more focus on the rest of the world will help. I couldn't care less about games like Patapon, or Ys (seriously, stupidest franchise name ever).

The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim will eat up a good chunk of next fall for me, along with Mass Effect 3. Gears of War 3, Uncharted 3 and Infamous 2 are all on my must-have list as well. Dead Space 2 and Killzone 3 are just weeks away, so there's a lot to look forward to on the big 2 consoles. The Wii needs to hurry up and die though. What a complete waste of money.

scytheofluna 1/6/2011 8:26:59 AM

I'm agreed with Monkeyfoot on the need for more CG animated films. If Lucas wasn't up his own ass, he'd have been working to make some Star Wars films in CG. All of the actors from the films could reprise their roles with digital doubles filling in. The Force Unleashed had a lot of potential, but was ultimately a pretty linear and repetitive experience, and the demo for the sequel struck me as more of the same. The reviews supported that assertion, and it's a damned shame, because the CG cutscenes, the tone, and the style are all exactly what most of us have been wanting from Star Wars. If they made a CG film based on the games it could potentially be awesome.

Arkham City will be awesome. I'm Rocksteady games has taken some notes from the Assassin's Creed franchise. 'Still not crazy about the name, but I can't wait to play it. Here's hoping the collector's edition features a utility belt replica to go along with the Batarang from Arkham Asylum.

Jakester 1/6/2011 8:35:29 AM

The kids just got a Wii for Christmas. The only game they got (other than Wii Sports & Wii Resort) was Sonic Colors, which is pretty fun. I've never been a Nintendo fanboy (quite the opposite), but it definitely has the most kid-friendly titles. They'd probably dig Zelda.

I still haven't taken the next-gen console plunge and am still dicking around w/ a PS2. To be fair, I do most of my gaming on my PC, playing City of Heroes, so I'm not in a big hurry. I'll probably get a PS3 because of the built-in Blu-ray player. Stuff I'm likely to buy would be the new MK, any Metal Gear title, Silent Hill, and the older MK vs. DCU.

DC Universe Online looks like teh suck. I don't want to MMO on a console, and I don't want my PC MMO to look like a console port. That said, the opening movie is AWESOME.

fallensbane 1/6/2011 9:46:54 AM

Many solid games coming out. But for me its Mass Effect 3 and Elder Scrolls V. Bioware really struck gold with the creation of the Mass Effect universe. It's a scifi alernative to Star Wars, but still has that epic feel too it. I am glad to see Mass Effect branching out into novels, comics an hopfully soon movie/television.

zalder 1/6/2011 12:11:41 PM

to much emphasis on crappy console games needed much more emphasis on pc games...yes the new elder scrolls and mass effect games are big contenders but why skip them...because they are pc only or best on the pc? The anti pc feeling on this board (much like the anit anime feeling) got old a long time ago.

scytheofluna 1/6/2011 1:01:07 PM

Zalder, I don't know where to start. Look, I know millions of people are still hanging on to the idea that PC gaming is still cutting edge, but the vast majority of first rate titles aren't ever released on the PC. PC is the format of choice for MM0 and RTS games, but that's really the only place PC leads at this point. Yes the PC does occasionally outshine consoles in graphics, but with numerous costly tradeoffs. If you want to upgrade your hardware every ten minutes, then yes, the PC will out perform it's console counterparts.

You're going to have to get used to the fact that PC gaming is a shrinking market. I'm not sure which "Crappy console games" you're referring to, but games like Uncharted 3, Killzone 3, Gears of War 3, etc. aren't available on the PC, and just because you don't have the sense to open your mind a little doesn't make the games bad. PC has some small advantages, but the landscape of the video game market has changed. Maybe you should get out more. Elder Scrolls V, Crysis 2, The Witcher II and Diablo III are the only major releases on the horizon for the PC, if you disregard the endless flood of nearly identical MMO and RTS games. Diablo III looks a lot like Diablo II with better graphics, and the other three I mentioned will all be coming to consoles at some point as well, (albeit with a negligible decrease in performance) so which PC games are we all supposed to be wetting ourselves over? I've got a PC that's more than capable of running anything that comes out this year, but I don't see PC gaming as being a major focal point in my future because most of the good stuff will be on the PS3 and 360.

Also, I'm sorry you don't think Anime gets it's due, but it's pretty played out for a lot of us at this point. I'm not saying Anime hasn't made a huge contribution to western animation, comics, games, film, etc. I liked Akira, Ninja Scroll, and Ghost in the shell back in the day, but the genre hasn't really gone anywhere good since then. You couldn't pay me to watch any of the stuff you Anime fans are into now. Samurai Champloo? Inuyasha? Cowboy Bebop? No chance in hell. Silly looking characters, goofy storylines, crappy dialogue and ridiculous voiceover work are a big turn off for some people. Don't even get me started on Anime video games. If one thing is hurting innovation in gaming more than motion controls and casual gamers it's anime inspired shovelware. It's totally cool that some people like it, but don't get your panties in a wad if some of us can't stand it.

It's not 1995 anymore. Quake is no longer the bomb, and World of Warcraft is lame.

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