Last year, the gamer nation enjoyed what many declared the medium's greatest year yet. But while we hunker down and try to finish 2007’s pixelated riches--oh yes,
Mass Effect, I will defeat you!--it’s time to look ahead at what's barreling down the freeway...
Spore (Maxis) PC, DS
Will Wright pioneered the “god game” with his mega-popular
SimCity/Sims franchise. Now the acclaimed creator is planning to put his genre through the next evolutionary step. Feverishly anticipated since its
announcement a few years back, especially after repeated delays,
Spore allows you to evolve a creature from a single-celled organism through tribal development and civilization building and into sentient, spacefaring race all to a Brian Eno soundtrack. Sounds ambitious as all get out.
LittleBigPlanet (Sony) PS3
After a rough birth, the PS3 is banking on a barrage of sequels (
Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy XIII, Killzone 2) to get the console on its feet. But the original
LittleBigPlanet is promising a truly next-gen experience. This
do-it-yourself platformer allows gamers to create, and share, their own levels. Like Sony’s
LocoRoco, the uniqueness should be enough to hook the hardcore while the adorable aesthetic, as embodied by protagonist Sackboy, should bring families and casual gamers. Development house Media Molecule say “Creativity is part of the gameplay experience and playing is part of the creative experience.” We say: Neat!
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (Level-5) Nintendo DS
The DS has been a bastion of brain-training and puzzle-games, but word is that Layton may be the best yet. Created by Level 5 (of Dark Cloud and Dragon Quest VIII fame) the adventure-puzzler has become a smash hit in Japan (one sequel is already out and another is in development) with many of the puzzles coming straight from Akira Tago's big-in-Japan Head Gymnastics book series and animation looking beautifully Miyazaki-esque.
Fallout 3 (Bethesda Softworks) Multiplatform
After gifting us with the practically endless Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Bethesda decided to take a break from sprawling fantasy worlds for a little retro-futuristic post-apocalyptic role-playing. Taking the reigns of this long-running, and deeply beloved, series set in the late 21st century following a nuclear war between America and China (as if imagined by denizens of the 1950s), you’ll leave the safety of your underground shelter to wander the mutant-filled Washington DC wastelands in search of your father.
Brütal Legend (Sierra) 360, PS3
Psychonauts‘ hilariously inventive Tim Schafer being behind this game is enough for me to buy in. But the fact that the cult creator’s new game is a third-person action title inspired by the music and imagery of heavy metal--”demons, axes, hot rods, blood, guitars“--well, that’s better than biting a head off a dove. Plus, Lemmy, Lars Halford, Ronnie James Dio and Jack Black all contribute voice work. Rock on!
GTA IV (Rockstar) 360, PS3
After years of detours through Vice City and the state of San Andreas, Rockstar is finally approaching the onramp back to Liberty City, the Gotham-like locale of the groundbreaking third edition.This return to roman numerals promises an evolution, not merely an expansion, of the series’ criminal sandbox aesthetic with a gritty storyline about an illegal Eastern European immigrant, Niko Bellic, sucked into the underworld and the addition of a multiplayer mode and additional episodic content post-release. Plus, as an added bonus, players apparently get to shoot evil lawyer, and anti-gaming crusader, Jack Thompson.