Top Five Games of 2010?

Concluding my top 5 lists I present my five most anticipated games of 2010 and my five to watch in 2010.

Most Anticipated Games of 2010

1. Infinite Space (DS)

I have been looking forward to the European release of this Starship-based JRPG for some time. It is my most anticipated game of the year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_space

2. Mass Effect 2 (360/PC)

Mass Effect created a world that I really wanted to spend a lot more time in. Thankfully, I now don't have long to wait to don my N7 suit again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_Effect_2

3. Split/Second (360/PS3)

I played Split/Second at Eurogamer and was instantly won over. This could be the best arcade racer since Burnout Paradise.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split/Second

4. Red Dead Redemption (PS3/360)

If someone could make a decent Wild-West genre game then you would expect it would be Rockstar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Dead_Redemption

5. Professor Layton & The Final Time Travel (DS)

With two fantastic adventures under his belt surely the Professor can be trusted to give us a third memorable game?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Layton-ky%C5%8Dju_to_Saigo_no_Jikan_Ryok%C5%8D

Five to Watch in 2010

1. Bioshock 2 (360/PC/PS3)

Most people are expecting it to fail to live up to its predecessor, but it could once again be a surprise package?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioshock_2

2. The Eye of Judgement Legends (PSP)

No fussy camera or fiddly cards necessary in this portable reinterpretation of the game.

3. Tower of Shadow (Wiiware)

A really interesting concept (using shadows) is at the heart of this future Wiiware title.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/lost-in-shadow-dated-detailed

4. R.U.S.E (360/PC/PS3)

Can an RTS on a console actually work?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.U.S.E

5. Fallout: New Vegas (360/PC/PS3)

It has yet to build any hype, but if it is as good as Fallout 3 no one will be complaining.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fallout:_New_Vegas

Other games I'm really interested in...

• Lego Harry Potter Years 1-4 (All)
• Dead Space 2 (PS3/360)
• Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake (PSP)
• Hot Shot Tennis (PSP)
• Picross 3D (DS)
• Dragon Quest IX (DS)
• Alan Wake (360)
• Splinter Cell Conviction (360)
• Fable III (360)
• Joe Danger (XBLA)
• Heavy Rain (PS3)
• ModNation Racers (PS3)
• Final Fantasy XIII (PS3/360)
• Sonic & Sega All-Stars (All)

First Impressions: Guitar Hero - On Tour (DS)

My copy of GH On Tour arrived this morning, and I am about 25% though the set list.

The Good
- It really is Guitar Hero! (see my photo)
- 3D Animation is very good for the DS
- Touch Screen controls
- Blow to activate Star Power
- New characters

The Bad
- The controller is slightly loose when plugged in
- It is a little awkward to see what is going on behind your strumming hand

The Ugly
- It takes a while to get a comfortable position
- You can only really play 5-6 songs without having to take rest

First Impressions: Wii Fit

The first thing you notice is the weight. The board is heavy, solid and large. The build quality is excellent and the plastics are tough. 4AA batteries sit in the base, as does the WiFi sync button to hook it up to the Wii.

On starting the game you are asked to select a Mii, perform a balance test (something to do with posture) and then enter your age and height. Wii Fit then weighs you and gives you a BMI rating. Just to rub salt into the wound, your Mii then morphs comically according to your BMI. In my case this resulted in a humiliating and depressing expansion.

You are then asked to set your fitness goal -lowering the BMI in my case- and how long you want to set the goal for. The game then suggests the type of games to play and gives you a Wii Fit age; again, depressingly I was 20% over. At this point I was starting to see how Wii Fit works, it humiliates you into loosing weight…it certainly put me off my tea.

The two most interesting games I tried were Skiing (a balance game) and Jogging (aerobic). The Skiing was a lot of fun, whilst the Jogging worked a lot better than I thought. The Jogging doesn’t use the board. Instead you put the Wiimote in your back pocket and jog on the spot. On screen, your jogging Mii follows the trainer around a park filled with all your other Mii characters. Not only was it a good work-out (I did get out of breath), there was enough on screen to make it interesting too. Your fellow Mii’s wave and cheer you on, which improves ones mood a little after the depressing weigh-in.

Overall, I have actually been impressed with Wii Fit. My Wife has been looking forward to getting the game and gizmo for some time. Time will tell if it actually works or just becomes another peripheral collecting dust.

First Impressions: Rainbow Six Vegas 2

Rainbow Six Vegas 2 is a slightly disappointing sequel to one of the best games of 2006.

Vegas 2 lacks the polish and level design of its predecessor, with the first 3 acts consisting of narrow corridors in dull buildings. Some of the levels, like the Convention Centre, are constructed from multiple featureless rectangular objects and flat surfaces. The result is that Vegas 2 looks like a high-res version of a 5 year old game...quite frankly, it is ugly in places. The original Rainbow Six Vegas had much more variety and far superior level design to this. It makes me wonder if this game was developed by a different team?

The basic gameplay is still spot on, and T-Hunt is great. However, both are hampered the numerous technical issues and AI problems that did not effect the previous game. I lost count how many times the NPCs have got stuck or I have fallen through or clipped the scenery. What is it with Ubisoft at the moment? Do they not have a QA department?

The additional EXP stuff is neat, but it only unlocks all the same weapons we had in the previous game. That seems kind of pointless really? The revised achievements are well designed, equally rewarding players in Player and Ranked matches.

Unfortunately, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 feels rushed and unfinished. For me, this was a missed opportunity.

Preview: Final Fantasy XII – Revenant Wings (DS)

First off, I have never played FFXII. Fortunately, that doesn't seem to matter as the story kicks off after the events in the original game, and the characters (including Vaan) are all carefully introduced for new players.

The game is an original concept in the series. It cleverly merges a traditional RPG with real-time strategy (instead of the turn-based FF Tactics). Each member of your party is able to summon units (Espers) to fight along side them. It plays very much much Warcraft 3's heroes system, with each character fighting as well as controlling one group of units. The units themselves follow the standard RTS convention of three different types that all counter each other: Ranged > Flying > Melee; and Fire > Lightning > Earth > Water. In order to win each level, you must capture summoning points, and assemble your little army, before defeating the enemy forces. As you progress you can level-up to obtain new weapons, units (Espers), magic and abilities.

I'm about 20% of the way through the story (about 3 hours), which is excellent, witty and compelling. I've enjoyed the challenges presented so far, and the level design has been very interesting. What really amazes me is the quality of the dual-screen full motion video used in the cut scenes. The quality of the images and animation on the little DS screens is incredible. The levels are also highly detailed with some fantastic textures.

The only couple of niggles I have found so far is that it can get a bit chaotic on screen (like all RTSs do when it becomes a unit brawl) and the stealth missions are horrible.

I'll probably publish a full review when I get past 50%.

Preview: FIFA Street 3 (X360)

My pre-order arrived, and I played the first 4 challenges on FIFA Street 3 last night. I have to say that I really like it.

EA have basically taken the NBA Street Homecourt engine and applied it to the concepts you see in a Nike/Adidas football advertisement. They have also thrown in abstract caricature styling and player models – which some folks will dislike, but I think they are an interesting twist.

Now I was a big fan of NBA Street Homecourt. I actually think the over-the-top acrobatics and simple arcade controls make for a better video game. It worked perfectly in Homecourt, and it works really well in FIFA Street.

If you approach this game as a “football sim”, then you will undoubtedly hate it. However, if you come to it with an open mind and embrace the “trick combos” and “gamebreaker” mechanics, it is a load of fun. I've read a few reviews and been surprised by some of the comments. In some cases I have felt that the reviewer has missed the point. It is not football sports game, but an arcade game that happens to use cartoon footballers and a ball.

I'll need to play it a lot more to see how much depth and longevity there is, but so far the 4 games I played were great fun. The team/character combinations are really quite clever (players are grouped into sets like “Youngsters”, “Veterans” and “Speedsters”) and I personally like the caricatures (- particularly Samuel Eto's which made me laugh!.

BTW: There is an achievement for scoring a hat-trick with Peter Crouch!