| Games of 2010 |
| Videogames - Reviews | |||
| Written by Murphy Simmonds | |||
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After one of the greatest years gaming has yet offered, Murphy Simmonds looks ahead to 2010Remember 2009? No, us neither. We're all about 2010 here, and the fact that we can't decide whether to call it "two thousand and ten", "twenty ten" or "ten past eight" is plunging us into some kind of existential crisis. We're just lying on the floor in the foetal position, munching on hardened chunks of cheese left over from Christmas and weeping softly to ourselves. Not that we can remember Christmas, of course, as it took place in 2009. There's only one way out of this stupor, and that's to get ourselves excited about the gaming delights coming up in 2010. And when we say "excited", we absolutely mean it in an entirely sexual sense. That's where games make us tingle: right in the spuds. We'll hopefully be playing Bayonetta (PS3/X360) as you read this. We've played the demo to death and ogled overseas reviews on the interweb, and if there's ever been a better game about slicing off monsters' heads very fast, we'll eat our own spines. You can hold us to that. But let's talk about stuff you can't already buy now. We've been drooling erotically all over the trailers for Splinter Cell Conviction (PC/X360, Feb 26) which rebirths sneaky-sneaky shadow-dwelling action hero Sam Fisher as an angry dad who boshes bad people's heads through mirrors in nightclubs. It's stealth sieved through modern cinematic HD whizzbangery with added explosions (from what we can tell) and we are very much on board. Talking of action makeovers, Max Payne 3 (PC/PS3/X360, Aug-Oct) seeks to update the definitive bullet-time shooter from trenchcoat noir to to tramp chic. Max has gone all bald and beardy, and the thought of dispatching goons with a man who looks like he sleeps in a bin - and 2010's tech behind the slo mo effects - is enticing. Promising at least eight new characters and new ultra moves, Super Street Fighter IV (PS3/X360, after Mar) is baiting our breath better than a fishhook full of garlic. Street Fighter IV was an unmitigated success, pumping hot 3D steroids into the world's finest 2D fighter and turning a near-20-year-old game into one of 2009's highlights. For it's followers, Super SFIV will be unmissable. But enough violence. There are few games that can be called exquisite, yet PS2 owners may recall an unassuming twosome named ICO and Shadow of the Colossus which warranted precisely that description. They were fairy tales, adventures with beauty and subtlety and sorrow, and their creator, Fumito Ueda, has a PS3 project in the wings which we hope will arrive this year. Last Guardian (PS3) will undoubtedly be without peer. The only question is how much of our breath it will take away. Find the E3 trailer on Youtube for an early indication. We have barely scratched the surface of a year which promises to deliver us Mass Effect 2, Alan Wake, Rage, Final Fantasy XIII, Heavy Rain, Halo: Reach, Starcraft II, God of War 3, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Crackdown 2, Bioshock 2, No More Heroes 2, the intriguing Team Ninja and Nintendo collaboration of Metroid: Other M and expansions and downloadable content (DLC) for the likes of World of Warcraft, Fallout 3 and Modern Warfare 2. Our New Year's resolution, then, is to laminate our sofa. Because we don't plan to get off it until 2011. Get a chunk of RollZero delivered direct to your inbox with the weekly Electric Letter. Sign up here.
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