This year is insane. No seriously, it's so insane that instead of a Top 10 list I had to make a top 20....and even that doesn't cover everything I'm super excited for in 2011. I'll make another link to my youtube channel at the bottom where hopefully you'll be able to find links to at least one trailer for each of the games. They are the best proof of why you should be excited. Here we go!
20 Nintendo 3DS - Nintendo remains to have the lead in the portable gaming market, but with competition from Apple and Sony stepping up can Nintendo remain top dog? The device will have glasses free 3D, graphics better than the Wii, and an incredible software line up right out the gate. Oh and a Metal Gear Solid 3 remake in 3D. Sold! :)
19 Sony NGP/PSP2 - A mini PS3 on the go? Hell yes! Sony's portable gaming device just got more awesome with the graphics it can pump out, but it also has two analog sticks at last! Hopefully at E3 we can see a price and software line up. Give me a Metal Gear game and I'm sold!
18 Mass Effect 3 - Hi I'm Commander Shepard and this is my most anticipated sequel of 2011. It's not really MY most anticipated one, but I'm sure it is Shepards. Mass Effect 3 is the end of the ME trilogy. Bioware stole a lot of GOTY awards in 2010 for ME2 and it makes sense, although I didn't feel the same way. It gave a varied narrative filled with choice, fun combat, and a really likable cast. ME3 will have Shepard fighting against the reapers on Earth, and I can't wait to see how Bioware crafts the ending/s for this epic franchise. Oh and please no damn planet mining. :(
17 Diablo 3 - Blizzard. Blizzard. Gods among men. Blizzard. Somewhere in there you may start to see why any project Blizzard works on really excites me. They get games, they get gamers, and no matter the wait they deliver. Masters of their craft is not even doing them justice. You can call me a Blizzard fanboy any day, but until they mess up royally I'm ready to drop the money on their new projects day one without any hesitation. Diablo 3 is the long awaited sequel to Diablo 2 an over the top PC RPG that has immense praise and has received plenty of mimics from other developers. Seriously, how can PC gaming ever be dead when Blizzard and Valve exist? Blizzard games are reason alone to invest in a gaming PC, and Diablo 3 will hopefully be 2011's poster child for PC gamers.
16 Rage - id software the brains behind Doom and Quake are back. This apocalyptic FPS seems like a blend of Borderlands and Fallout with a big focus on enemy AI to bring out a very deep shooter in terms of gameplay. While many games today focus to pump out visuals Rage is trying to focus on the AI to make itself stand out. Too many games with mindless idiot enemies who run out into the open letting you mow them down. Rage IS quite the looker too though, and could really scratch that itch games like Fallout 3 leave. This is especially true since Fallout New Vegas was not exactly the sequel F3 deserved.
15 The Last Story - Out in Japan around a week ago with no word of a Western release is a JRPG that is being done by the father of Final Fantasy: Sakaguchi-san. This game could be his last game in a while he said, because if it isn't successful it means he really needs to take a break to figure out what it is people really want from a RPG. Even saying he'll play a lot of World of Warcraft in that down time. It's ever clear that JRPGs have lost a lot of their power over gamers as the years have gone by with not innovating and polishing enough. While Sakaguchi has put out The Lost Odyssey, a personal favorite of mine, it didn't go over so well for everyone else who played it and reviewed it. Last Story though seems to be on paper/trailer doing everything right. If it does come to the west and fails it'll be a heart breaker for many since odds are it will be marketing related and not quality related. The actual game is very impressive with a lot of detail and love going into everything from animation, to voice acting, and a clever battle system that uses strategy turn based along with real time. The game also has a co-op and competitive online aspect which seems to be a wonderful edition to extend the games longevity with consumers. Check out the trailers coming up on youtube to see for yourself why I hope this isn't Sakaguchi's final fantasy. :(
14 Portal 2 - The sequel to the Valve puzzle game that spawned a gamer creed of "The Cake is a lie." Portal is a FPS where you don't shoot, but instead use a gun to open portals to solve puzzles all the while having an AI woman make you feel like dirt. Portal 2 is going to take that all and up it several more notches with new puzzle mechanics. Oh and did I mention it's on PS3? Yeah Valve is making a game for PS3 that they say will be the best version. Madness you say? Well the PS3 version will come with a free steam PC version. 2 copies of the game for the price of one? Wait there's more! PS3 and PC players can play together cross platform in the co-op mode. Oh and did we mention Cloud will allow you to keep save files so you can play the game on PS3 or PC with all of your data ready to go. If this is Valve's version of a, "our bad let us make it up to you," then this is the best abusive relationship I've ever been. I hope more developers take a look at this as a sign that cross platform gaming should have been the future years ago.
13 The Last Guardian - The makers of the insanely highly praised Shadow of the Colossus and Ico are almost ready to give PS3 owners their next game for playing pleasure. SotC is one of the best uses of videogames can be art/are art, and The Last Guardian will hopefully help push the medium further with another game that can get people outside of gaming to look and stare. So many questions are up in the air for this game, so much so we don't even know how it plays, but if a picture is worth a thousand words than the trailers put out for TLG must be in the billions of words category.
12 Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim - Bethesda most recently known for Fallout 3 in 2008 is back to roots so to speak with ES5: Skyrim. Elder Scrolls is a series known for the well running super deep. This RPG series really lets the gamer play the way they want to with leveling and interactions with people. I'd need a few pages to really describe that in further detail, but take my word for it that Elder Scrolls 4 still has me baffled how it all managed to fit on one disc.
11 Deus Ex: Human Revolution - A prequel story set before the original Deus Ex. Deus Ex is a FPS/RPG hybrid set in a Ghost in the Shell future Earth. Easily the game that delivered the best trailer of last year to get people excited, and for good reason.The gameplay has so much variety between close combat, weapons, stealth, and more to tackle it as you see please. Add to that a well scripted and suspenseful story to get a game to be dialed into until its released later this year in the spring.
10 Resistance 3 - The next chapter of the fight against the Chimera. Resistance is a FPS set in the 1950's in an alternate Earth where aliens come to mess stuff up. It's a fight for survival and from the looks of it so far a really beautiful and chaotic one.
9 Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - The game that surprised me the most last E3. Not having been a fan of any of the Tom Clancy games at all is probably why this shocked me since it looked SO GOOD. Forget that Modern Warfare stuff, it's all about the future man! Details are scarce, but the gameplay released so far looks to be something I could invest too much free time into. :)
8 Killzone 3 - The lead shooter series for the Playstation along with Resistance. What's there to say about Killzone 3? It does EVERYTHING. 3D? Yup. Motion control? Yup. Dedicated Servers online? You got it. Co-op? Done. Epic campaign? Got that too. This game is poised to give FPS games a perfected FPS formula with more bells and whistles than a....bells and whistles store. The beta is 5 hours away as I type this. Let's see if it was worth being #8 on my list later on. :)
7 Marvel vs Capcom 3 - Only about 2 weeks left for DAT MAHVEL. 10 years of begging paid off, and it looks to be a blast. 38 characters, a fight mechanic system that combines Tatsunoko vs Capcom with the Marvel vs Capcom 2 one, and a more polished online than previous Capcom fighters. Oh if any game has the potential to steal hundreds of hours of free time this year it's this, and I'm ready to take that ride!
6 The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - What could very well be the Wii's swan song. With the Wii sales going down bit by bit, and the novelty of its motion controller mostly faded it seems only natural Nintendo will move onto their next big plan for hardware. This year seems reserved for the 3DS to blossom, so the software line up needs to be solid to keep selling Wii's. What better way than with Zelda? This title aims to really go full force with motion control and deliver some new twists to the Zelda formula. Honestly not many are needed as Zelda has virtually retained 80% of the same thing from game to game and yet remains amazing every time.
5 Gears of War 3 - The final chapter in the Gears trilogy. The sequel to a multi-million selling crap fest known as Gears of War 2...the online really was. I've said plenty of times before how much I played and loved Gears of War 1 even with its few problems. To go from that to Gears 2 was heart breaking. Coming into Gears 3 I told myself that if they don't beta test and have dedicated servers I'll only rent it for the story conclusion. Low and behold Cliff B and EPIC delivered. If the beta is promising then sign me up for the biggest and best collectors edition you got. I'll offer my first born for this to be a success... and really it has to be as the 360's line up this year is really slim as far as we gamers are aware. Hopefully E3 will drop more exclusive bomb shells to make the 360 holiday season a good one for the hardcore gamer.
4 Witcher 2- PC exclusive dark Fantasy RPG sequel to the wildly popular and excellent Witcher? Sign me up! The Witcher 2 looks to make an amazing WRPG with fluid real time combat, a powerful graphics engine, and a well crafted tale with plenty of wiggle room from your choices. Who says PC gaming is dead? Idiots that's who!
3 Uncharted 3 - Nathan Drake is back for more puzzle solving, climbing, shooting, and dazzling adventures across the globe. The sequel to 2009's GOTY by more places than you can count, and the best example of why you should be a PS3 owner by now. Can Naughty Dog raise the bar again enough with this jam packed year? We'll find out 11-1-11.
2 Dark Souls - The sequel to THE best next gen RPG? Of course I'm excited! Read more on my post about the game specifically for more, and check out the trailer on youtube to be blown away.
1 Brink - This game sense it was unveiled has shown nothing but promise. The promise of ripping down game convention walls and really pushing the FPS genre forward in new ways. Everytime something new comes out for this game I get more and more excited. If Brink delivers on its movement system and bridging together single player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer like they keep saying it will...then it could be not only a sleeper hit of 2011 but a game of the year, which would be really surprising considering how many incredible and established franchises are setting out a sequel for 2011.
Honorable mentions: L.A. Noire, Duke Nukem Forever, and Dead Space 2. LA just hasn't enough gameplay to know what to expect, Duke is a bit of a game you play really for laughs and the industry spectacle it has become, and Dead Space has already come out.
The scary thing about this list is it doesn't have everything I'm excited for AND there's still more to be revealed at places like GDC and E3. I may have to start doing adult films just to make enough income to afford 2011.
There you have it. :) What are others excited for in 2011?
Hey gang, It’s been a whirlwind few months here at the Larian castle, attending some of the biggest awards ceremonies in our industry, and we are absolutely humbled by the recognition we’ve received from our players and our peers.
Publisher One or EIGHT and developer Team EARTH WARS will release physical standard and Deluxe editions of LOST EPIC for PlayStation 5 and Switch on August 8 in Japan, the companies announced.
Golf With Your Friends gets better again, with the introduction of a Critical Hit DLC pack and the launch of Speed Golf.
Can't say I agree with your list at all but one thing, Brink. I've been waiting for the masterpiece for months now and we've finally got a release date. Day-1-buy for me and it'll be played untill my thumb get's a permanent X-hole. (I just realised that only happens when playing PS2).
My shortlist:
1. Battlefield 3
2. Brink
3. Portal 2
4. Crysis 2
Nice list!
I lol'd @ Mass Effect 3 comments.
I agree w/ most of your list (if I give no relevance to the numbering).
Only two things I'd kick off and put in are:
NGP/3DS
with:
DA2
Battlefield 3
(Most of my lists are number arbitrarily since I'm indecisive in choose fixed spots for all these great games!)