What games are we anxiously awaiting in 2010? Here’s our sneak peek of the year in gaming!
While this preview certainly won’t tackle all of the awesome video games expected to hit stores/your life in 2010, our team will gamely (see what I did there?) attempt to cover a solid cross-section of upcoming life-suckers.
Between Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Assassins Creed II and New Super Mario Bros, 2009 saw some awesome high-stakes sequels. 2010 looks to up the ante, taking some of our best loved characters and worlds to new heights in franchises like Bioshock, Metroid and Final Fantasy.
KIM
Metroid: Other M (Wii)
This is gonna be a big year for the Wii, you guys! And seeing as we nerds love lists for their combined efficiency and tidiness, you’ll find a few below. To ease your transition into this brave new world of 2010 gaming, of course!
One of the most highly-anticipated (at least by me) releases for 2010 is Metroid: Other M, the second game in the Metroid saga; made specifically to take advantage of the Wii’s innovative motion controls. The Metroid series follows the exploits and adventures of bounty hunter “Samus Aran” — one of the very first female protagonists featured in a video game! The games are generally known for relying heavily on exploration and puzzles much like The Legend of Zelda games. The maps are especially massive, scenic, and challenging in the Metroid Prime games.
This particular Metroid instalment is exceptionally unique/exciting because it’s one part first person shooter and one part third person side scroller- perfect for Metroid fans who miss the retro/arcade feeling of the NES, SNES and Gameboy Metroid games!
What You Need to Know About Metroid: Other M
- Nintendo teamed up with Team Ninja (Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive) to create it.
- Chronologically, it’s set between Super Metroid and Metroid Fusion.
- Samus appears to actually speak words in it!
Although not much has been revealed about the plot, Other M is expected to give players a more in-depth look at Samus’ mysterious background- something that hasn’t been done before. Fortunately we can rely on the critical-thinking skills we picked up on in college/university to examine the trailer closely and figure out exactly what’s going on for ourselves, amiright?!
What We Can Deduce From the Trailer:
- PRETTY!
- Am I fishing, or is Samus sporting an alternative-lifestyle haircut? (I knew it!)
- The best way to deal with monsters is to put them in a headlock
- Ridley is still a jerk.
- In order to determine any plot-specifics, we will have to actually play the game.
Metroid Other M will reportedly be released on Wii in Summer 2010.
The Legend of Zelda (Wii)
If very little has been revealed about Metroid: Other M’s plot, even less information has been released pertaining to Nintendo’s follow-up to The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. The Legend of Zelda games follow Link (an Elf-like boy who I suspect is mute) as he consistently gets roped into rescuing Zelda (the Princess of Hyrule, where the games are often set) via a series of puzzles and conflicts that usually culminate in an epic battle with Ganon (Link’s nemesis), in one of his various incarnations- and he has many.
A Summary of the Internets’ (very) Limited Knowledge re: The Legend of Zelda 2010
- It’s going to take advantage of MotionPlus technology to allow players to more accurately slap enemies in the face with Link’s legendary and sacred blade.
- It’s sounding more and more like this release will be a major departure from past Zelda games in terms of interface and combat controls: Legend of Zelda creator Shigeru Miyamoto has said that Twilight Princess would be “without a doubt, the last Zelda game as you know it in its present form.” Cryptic, much? [zeldapedia]
- The new Legend of Zelda will be released when it’s perfect. No really, they said that. So let’s hope that means 2010!
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TAYLOR:
While I’m not sure that I’ll ever touch another game again now that I’ve broken the seal on Modern Warfare 2, here are a few games I would be looking forward to. Okay, I’m still looking forward to these, someone just needs to adopt my copy of MW2 a week before they come out. But I want it back. I’m serious.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
(Mac & PC)
I still haven’t zapped, whacked and slashed my way through all of Northrend from the last WoW expansion pack “Wrath of the Lich King,” but that doesn’t mean I’m not looking forward to getting buried alive under a huge heap of new WoW content again. The Cataclysm expansion will transform World of Warcraft as we know it, rendering the old Azeroth an unplayable relic and changing the game forevermore. Forevermore! Instead of just tacking on a new continent ala former expansions, The Burning Crusade and “Wrath,” Blizzard will actually revamp the entire old world experience. That means that everything’s getting a makeover, from Orgrimmar to Stranglethorn Vale to the unspeakably ugly human male models.
Cataclysm sees WoW’s villian line-up return to retro-RPG roots. Because what’s more old school than a dragon, really? With the Burning Crusade, we fought angsty fallen night elf Illidan Stormrage; with Lich, you square off against the bossy Lich King and his armies of the undead. And now, the evil ambiguous powers of the Dragon Aspect Deathwing are upon us! Upon us, I said!
I still can’t figure out wtf a “dragon aspect” is, but I’ll take it. Happily, Deathwing will wreak a lot of general havoc, causing tectonic shifts and ravines and volcanoes and shit. So, since he’s sundering apart Azeroth as we know it, Blizzard decided that they’ll not only be updating tons of old zones with new content, but they’ll revamp all of the graphics too! I’m so excited about this! While Northrend has pretty sexy 2008 graphics, the old content still looks just like it did in 2004. Which is to say it looks dated.
And that ain’t it! There’s a shitton of stuff to look forward to in Cataclysm!
- New Races!: Alliance will get Worgen and Horde will get Goblins will both become playable races in Cataclysm. I’m not that into the goblins, but I want to be a werewolf like whoa. Worgen druid, here I come! SWEET. Also the new racial starting areas look awesome. Also, this balances the factions more because Alliance will have something ferocious and Horde will have something small and irritating.
- New Level Cap: You’ll max out now at 85.
- New race/class combinations! Tauren priests! Night Elf mages! I’m all shook up!
- 3 New Battlegrounds (You can find me here).
- You can fly anywhere now! Zoom!
- Messed up old zones! The barrens gets sundered in half and apparently a tidal wave washed Southshore away. Oops. And there are a ton more catastrophic old world changes to look forward to, of course.
- Tons of new quests, critters, content, loot and instances!
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as you know it some time (probably late!) in 2010. We’ll keep you posted.
Final Fantasy XIII (Xbox 360 & PS3)
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Square Enix’s Final Fantasy is solely responsible for my gaming renaissance, so of course I’m looking forward to their latest and greatest Japanese RPG cinematic masterpiece: Final Fantasy XIII.
It all began at some point in early middle school I actually rented (rented! weird!) FFVIII from my local video place on a whim. I started playing it and was absolutely totally baffled by the immersive story, gorgeous graphics and most of all the depth of the content.
I returned the game a few short days and sleepless nights later. But during the course of that rental experience I came to realize just how vast and elegant video games had become. And I knew I’d only scratched the surface. A short time afterward, I bought a used copy of FFVII and it blew all of my existing assumptions about gaming out of the water. Final Fantasy VII was a game-changer for a lot of folks, of course, and now it’s often regarded with an fierce kind of glassy-eyed nostalgia unrivaled by most other gaming experiences. And we shall never speak ill of it.
And as a requirement when speaking of the Final Fantasy series we must pay tribute at the altar of Cloud Strife and his big mofoing sword and big mofoing hair before we dare to discuss the direction and future of Final Fantasy. So we did that: check. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, I’m totally stoked for Final Fantasy XIII! I’ve played every FF game since VII (since I’m not a purist, I didn’t bother going back to the proto-classic games) with the exception of Final Fantasy XI, the only MMORPG (massively multiplayer online take-over-your-lifer).
I’m in the rare camp that loved FFVIII, though it did singlehandedly reignite my love of gaming. FFIX was great (tiny mages, ftw!), though I kind of prefer the series to lean toward realism. FFX’s Polynesian vibe was refreshing and awesome (but I seriously cannot deal with Tidus’ voice acting). And that brings us to FFXII, in which I am still lost in the Estersand covered in Moogles (Seriously. Help). I still this Estersand/Moogles joke is the funniest thing I’ve ever said, so I’ll keep repeating it, article after article, until someone notes how clever and hilarious it is.
On the eve of Final Fantasy XIII, I thought it only appropriate to take a trip down RPG memory lane. Because I’ll be playing FFXIII no matter what, thanks to the long, winding, Moogly path Square has led me down, over the years. And I think 2010-era technology coupled with such a cinematic game can only yield totally mind-blowingly gorgeous cut-scenes. Their graphics have always seemed ahead of their time to me. So prob FFXIII will actually be in 5D. Forget 3D guys.
Other FFXIII treats in store:
- Chocobos like that little fella above, of course!
- Epic Sidequests: Chocobo racing! Blitzball! The Island of Heaven and Hell! Ruby weapon! Obsidian Weapon! Plexiglass weapon! Everything, please! Note: these things are not in store, so much as I wish they were.
- A FEMALE PROTAGONIST! Square’s been pretty good at incorporating female characters as more than just useless eye-candy, and FFXIII will follow Lightning, a super hot, aloof gunblade-wielding twentysomething named Lightning, guys. She’s a little gay, right?
Final Fantasy XIII is slated for a March, 9 2010 release.+
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SAM:
Bioshock 2 (Xbox 360 & PS3)
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Sam’s Bioshock On the Rocks Recipe:
1 part Ayn Rand, 1 part Orwell’s 1984, 1 shot FPS, 1 shot RPG, top off with salt water
Shake over ice, serve
Bioshock 2 is without a doubt one of 2010′s most anticipated sequels. The follow-up to the critically acclaimed original Bioshock (released in October of 2008) is guaranteed a hungry fan base. Produced by 2K games, the sequel will be (like the original) a voyage into a world that’s part Orwellian 1984-ish dysotopian story, part Ayn Rand’s philosophy of objectivism. That’s heavy stuff for a video game — but BioShock tends to get this shit right.
Also like the original, BioShock 2 will take place in underwater city “Rapture,” created as a laissez-faire utopian experiment by businessman Andrew Ryan. Predictably, all did not go according to plan as soon as somebody started messing around with some ADAM. In BioShock, ADAM is like a steroid that makes you mutate all kinds of super powers. In the first game, we learn that ADAM is Rapture’s black gold; causing all hell to break loose. You know; over-mutated weirdos running around harvesting ADAM from little girls or “Little Sisters,” stuff like that. In the wake of the ADAM-rush, you’ll make your way through an underwater ghost town that has cannibalized itself, leaving mostly terrifying inhuman inhabitants. It sounds creepy. That’s ’cause it totally is creepy.
In the first Bioshock you play as Jack, the only survivor of a plane crash that maroons you in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. But BioShock 2 ups the ante, and you’ll play as one of your creepy former-foes, a Big Daddy. Yup, that’s the guy up there wearing the diving suit.
Set a decade after its predecessor, Bioshock 2 pits you against newly evolved army of Big Sisters; creepy, agile mechanical enemies that will terrorize you in different ways than the nice kind of big sister (lowercase) might. In addition to dealing with a former enemy-turned-protagonist, players will also be challenged by the ability to combine certain plasmids.
Plasmids are your physiology-boosting, ADAM-fueled power source throughout both games. For example, the “geyser” power allows you to create a pool of water which you can in turn electrify to execute your enemies. Fun!
BioShock 2 will also feature a story-driven multiplayer mode as well that takes place in 1959 during Rapture’s civil war, one year prior to the original BioShock. In multiplayer, you’ll be a citizen of Rapture and a test subject for plasmids. It’s an unfortunate fate for sure.
The multiplayer has five game modes, including Capture the Flag-Style. I’m intrigued by the idea of a multiplayer Rapture-set game though I fear the single-player story could suffer as a result. It’d be a shame; the first Bioshock really succeeded for its intricate & involved plot.
I expect BioShock 2 will follow the grand footsteps of its predecessor with mortality at its thematic center. The first BioShock forced the player to consider all kinds of nasty utilitarian decisions, so above all I’m looking forward to discovering which ethical swamps we’ll wade into this time.
Bioshock 2 drops February 9th 2010.+
2010′s already brought us some great games, like Bayonetta, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle and Mass Effect 2. And hell, it’s only February! So, what games are you looking forward to this year?
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51 responses to “Top 5 Video Games of 2010: Zelda, World of Warcraft, Bioshock 2 and More!”
ZELDA!!!!! Aarroooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
‘scuse me.
Sorry.
Had to be done.
::slinks away::
right there with ya!
I’m looking forward to EA’s MMA game. Should start an interested competition between them and THQ’s UFC franchise. Unless EA fails and buys out the company…
http://mma.easports.com
i secretly love MMA and would probably secretly love an MMA game.
You should give the UFC game a try, the mechanics behind it is pretty good + for a fighting game, it’s not all about mashing buttons. If you have any experiences in MMA, you can easily apply your knowledge to strategize and win a fight. I’m hoping EA works out the kinks and what was missing from THQ’s game.
Sqall Lionheart had the gunblade not Cloud Strife.
For me it´s FFX all the way.
this is true! conflating my heroes there. cloud had a buster sword…which i guess means “bigass sword.” i wish they’d return to the atmosphere of ffx myself.
no love for Heavy Rain?
it looks pretty awesome. i wish it was across both consoles, though!
ZELDA IS SO HARD GUYS i have never ever ever beaten a zelda game without a walkthrough. i might just suck tho
YES, Zelda IS hard.
I was either a sophomore or a junior in HS (so I was at a pretty decent age as a human being) when Ocarina of Time came out and I had to stop playing for like two months because the sorceress sisters HONESTLY scared me.
They were my fave!! I always thought they were mostly hilars.
beating a Zelda game definitely requires a big time commitment and sometimes a walkthrough hint.
Wow guys, zelda games are not that hard lol. I love Zelda games so much, after you play so many of them you just kinda get the hang of it, and the games after that get really easy. Though I remember playing ocarina of time when I was younger and yeah the forest temple scared me.
There seems to be something in most Zelda games that’s scary.
In Link to the Past, I hated the skull palace place where the hand would drop down and snatch you up.
In Ocarina of Time, it was the forest temple and also the creepy zombie things that jumped on your back and humped you.
In Majora’s Mask, I think it was a total creepfest, from the scary sewers bit to the UFOs invading the ranch.
In fact I think the only one that never creeped me out was Link’s Awakening on the original Gameboy, because it must be categorically impossible to scare anyone with monochrome LCD.
Majora’s Mask never fails to scare the living crap out of me.
But that might have something to do with the gigantic moon with rage eyes threatening to repeatedly fall on my face and crush me for the entirety of the game.
No love for God of War III? It’s the front-runner for game of the year.
Has anyone played the demo? It’s going to be a pretty sweet game.
oo, where is the demo? i’m not all that familiar with the series, but it does look sweet.
the God of War franchise is only for ps3
- I played the psp game and that was fun.
Yeah, its a PS3 franchise. If you’re ever at a friend’s place and they have a PS3, you should totally rent the games. I recommend God of War II (until March 16th, anyway) as the graphics are better and the controls a little smoother then the first one.
Well, I love going to haunted houses and watching scary movies, but I’ll tell ya, the first BioShock scared the bajeezus out of me. I couldn’t handle it. Then again, I’m not one for single player games. I guess I’m gunna have to get through it so I can experience BioShock 2. *cringes*
it scared the crap out of me too the creep factor. cerebral thriller. 2k studios just posted the 3 min trailer. *fist pump*
I can’t handle scary/creepy games either. So, Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Bioshock: I can’t play them by myself. I do love watching other people play it for me… I had this great system with my ex: she was the one using the controller but she couldn’t play without me.
I find it just as good as playing. Anybody else feel the same way?
My roommate and I had/still kind of have a similar arrangement for Resident Evil 4! The best.
that is the best system! i plan to bribe my gf into doing this with bioshock 2. because i get really freaked out playing creepy games in the first-person as well. I AM SCARED OF SPLICERS. DO NOT WANT.
Shoot. Why the hell didn’t I think of that? o_0 Next time I find a cute gamer gal, playing BioShock will be on the to-do list.
yayy FFXIII! sooo excited
I was excited for Cataclysm, but I’m still unsure on how I feel about it, so I let all my excitement go to the amazingness that is Final Fantasy =)
how do you feel about it? it’s kind of crazy that the old world will just like…cease to exist. that’s kinda problematic.
indeed…I’m sort of leaning towards I’m not excited for the new xpan…but I guess we shall see. To me, it just seems like they’re making the game easier and easier. Hopefully the new raids and classes will be fun though!
I shall make a Worgen, and be a super skinner! yay! Also, flying in the old world will be awesome, even though I’ll have to re-learn the zones.
woop…and by classes I meant races =p
what’s your main, dare i ask? it’s such a full expression of one’s personality, of course.
my main’s a dranei priest..also got another 80 that’s a dranei death knight =p
GOBLINS
YES
In other tangential news, has anyone played Mass Effect 2 yet? It’s kind of awesome, but I’m not impressed with the lack of girl-girl relationships. (Except Kelly, but SHE’S A GODDAMN TEASE.)
i cannot understand the desire for goblins! i can’t listen to someone say “time is money, friend” ever again, maybe. i tend to avoid goblin towns as well. perhaps i am racist? i also hate gnomes. so prob i am actually heightist.
worgenworgenworgen!
I hate the Draenei, they are just so absolutly stupid in everyway. I mean WTF is up with the spaceship?
They’re just freaking awesome. And their reskin is boss. And have you ever seen one dance? XD
Hey, it’s ok, my brother’s racist against night elves.
And I can’t get excited about the worgen for some reason. Maybe I’ve just spent too much time lowbie leveling in Silverpine and got killed by too many Sons of Arugal.
I’m not extremely excited about Worgen, but I’m more excited for Worgen then Goblins…I just hate those short, green things.
Dranei are one of my favorite races…they’re so…just awesome. Also, they’re the only Alliance class my girlfriend will play, cause she says all the other ones are too ugly…so I’ve just taken a liking to them =p
Zelda reminds me of my childhood…also my teenhood. Alright. Who am I kidding, I’m 27 and playing Twilight Princess through right now, for the second time.
I am also with all you kids who prefer to watch rather than partake in Survival Horror-style gaming. This wasn’t always the case, but an incident involving Nemesis, a rocket launcher, and a horribly injured Jill Valentine (recall how slowly she drags her mangled leg behind her) traumatized me forever. I did manage to play BioShock, but I had to psyche myself up for days.
All that is to say, if video games have taught me anything, it is to always check a corpse for ammunition.
I swear, if I don’t get BioShock 2, Heavy Rain and God of War 3 in my Playstation and hands as soon as humanly possible.. I might have a seizure. I am just saying.
[...] Bioshock 2, Metroid: Other M, WoW: Cataclysm and More: 2010 Gaming … [...]
Totally out of topic and out of place as well (but a. this is where the geeks hang out and b. Autostraddle is where everybody knows your name and you can share your feelings): Is anybody interested in having an open thread where we can talk about Lost? Cause srsly guys, I really wanna read what everybody thinks and talk about how much I miss Michelle Rodriguez.
[Reasons NOT to have an open thread about Lost: this is not TWOP, all tv shows should be given the same opportunity then, there's no gay content in the show, Walter's grown so much in the last few seasons it's scary, etc.]
[Reasons to HAVE an open thread about Lost: OMGIT'STHELASTSEASON, Kate, Autostraddle commenters are the funniest ppl ever, I feel other places just don't understand my need to process and talk about evey. single. detail.]
Just putting it out there…
I agree with this.
oh, we will be having LOST feelings- don’t you worry!
Am I the only one stoked for StarCraft II? Even though I’m less than impressed that they’re splitting it into three games, (and they got rid of the original Kerrigan! WTF?!) I’ve still been waiting for this game for over a decade. You just know Kerrigan’s sitting on a throne of badassery waiting for her moment to come out and shitstomp the galaxy into submission.
Also, Mafia II looks awesome in a way the Godfather series could only wet dream about.
I am pumped for starcraft II I think the beta just got released.. I think i read that somewhere. I am also tired of Blizzard dragging their feet. Diablo III got pushed back till 1st Q 2011 and that makes sense not to release 2 major titles at the same time I want both ASAP. Also shitstomp is a great phrase I am going to borrow it.
I figured Diablo III wasn’t going to come out for a while anyways, so I’m not surprised by that. I’m still not sure how they’re planning to work that out exactly, seeing as all the prime evils are having lunch with Deady McDeaderson, but I fully admit I’ll be on the pre-order list.
RIP crispy gamer
http://www.thebigmoney.com/articles/impressions/2010/02/03/crispy-gamer-gets-burned?page=0,0
2009 was absolutely the best year ever for me gamewise. I got zombies, more zombies, airstrikes like whoa, and some sweet Italian assassinating action.
So far, I can’t find anything I really want to play in 2010. DON’T KILL ME PLEASE.
I guess I need to broaden my horizons…but I can’t get into super fantasy stuff, ie: wizards, goblins, and elves OH MY. It just doesn’t tickle my RT button.
HOWEVER. I’m kind of interested to see what Ubisoft does with R.U.S.E….. is it going to be just another boring WWII game or super delicious? And what is this Fallout New Vegas Murmuring?
Starcraft 2 needs to come out this year. I feel like I’ve been waiting for the last 5 years for it.
Wings of Liberty is practically guaranteed to drop this year (at least, as guaranteed as you can be with Blizzard) but who knows how long the Zerg and Toss campaigns will take to come out after it.
[...] Bioshock 2, Metroid: Other M, WoW: Cataclysm and More: 2010 Gaming … [...]
I’m too late for the party as always. FAIL
There’s seven years in between super metroid and fusion. I hope this game’s mission will only take four to six mounths to complete within the metroid timeline. That way we’ll see yet another game that would follow after other m.
Here is my wish list:
1. 2d Metroid II remake.
2. Updated version of Super Metroid (just paint over the games mechanics).
3. New Prime style metroid series staring one of the hunters from MPH.
4. A metroid game that takes place after fusion.
Do you really have to have samus in a metroid game?
Is it not a real metroid game without her? After all the series is called Metroid not Samus.