My adoration of Pixeljunk Eden is almost completely unjustified. I saw the trailer last May and was enamored with the presentation, then I saw a demo/how to play video on The Playstation Blog and still had no approximation of what was happening. It all culminated when I saw it on The 1up Show and the universal consensus was “this looks awesome, but I have no idea what the hell is going on.” The audio/visual aesthetic just kills me, I haven’t seen a game that looks so joyfully minimalistic since Everyday Shooter last summer. Couple that with its alleged nature as a platformer, some insane looking thee player co-op, and a probable price of $10 and you’re left with amazing potential for a breakout hit. Amidst all the next gen chaos sure to ensue, I think this is my most anticipated playable title.
Mirror’s Edge is probably next on the list. Play had it on their cover a couple months ago and, as that is the only mag I still pay actual money to receive, I indulged in their exposition. The free running/parkour angle isn’t necessarily new to gaming (hello, Altair), but the first person perspective presents the opportunity for unparalleled immersion. Walking across the massive bridge on Half Life 2 elicited a feeling of vertigo that I didn’t know gaming could produce, but Mirror’s Edge looks to significantly one up that experience through a more realistic design and inherent sense of balance. You can actually see your arms and legs, and the whole left/right tilt and disorientation after doing a somersault looks to be executed with flawless precision. It makes my head spin, and I mean that in the best way possible.
Mega Man 9 came out of left field last month, and, honestly, few surprise announcements could have made me happier. For me, Mega Man lived and died on the NES. Though I spent the most time with III and IV, the entire collection was in my catalogue. Like a typical day would entail waking up and playing completely through one of the titles. I never played the SNES/PSX sequels to the main series, and only got into X via a brief flirtation with X4. Thus, this announcement really was not only an unheard of blast of nostalgia, but a true continuation of the series from exactly where I left off. People are pissed that Capcom isn’t truly next gening it out, but I think MegaMan should be bound to his 8 bit nature. Would a like a true modern equivalent on the blue bomber? Sure, but this isn’t a disappointing substitute in the least. Besides, as well as it’s going to sell, I’m sure Capcom will consider it.
Sonic Unleashed is also pretty high on the list. One of the first gameplay videos seemed to imply that Sonic Team finally started listening to everyone and not only ditched his pointless friends, but finally may have mastered how to transfer Sonic to the third dimension whilst retaining everything that made the 2D games such a delight to play. I’m not kidding when I saythis, but that trailer actually made me believe they could finally pull off the first Sonic game that didn’t want to make me kill myself since Adventure in ’99. Then Kotaku ushered in a new trailer that pretty much demonstrates the reason everyone wants to cry while they play Sonic. Why does he need to be a werewolf?! The new style of gameplay, despite its allusions to Secret Rings, looked intriguing enough. I fall for this every time, please, Sega, don’t screw it up again.
That’s really it as far as stuff I can drop more than a sentence on. Here are a few more I’m really interesting in seeing:
Flock sounds intriguing, but I have no idea what the hell it is at the moment. Resident Evil 5 is, of course, loaded with awesome and has a rumored ship date for this winter, but I really doubt it’s going to be playable anywhere. Street Fighter IV looks great despite my near total ignorance of the series. I plan to have Mark give me a crash course in II sometime before I leave, you know, so I don’t get my ass kicked by everyone. Just Cause 2 looks to capitalize on the original, a game I love so very much despite the infinite repetition. Dead Space and Crysis Warhead look cool and I hope to figure out what the hell is going on in either of those two. Facebreaker looks way more fun than Nintendo’s rumored Punch Out!!! title could ever hope for in its waggle trappings. Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts looks like a lot of fun despite the ill advised direction the series appears to be taking, Too Human, which is almost as much of a unicorn as Duke Nukem, looks to satisfy the crowd who can’t wait until 2010 for Diablo III, but I have zero interest in the game.
Resistance 2 looks awesome (and I’m playing the first one right now), but I think Insomniac is a little overambitious with their scope. Still, I have to give it to them when they can crank out a four star title every year, especially when you consider Killzone 2 is now three years removed from its hilarious target video. I mean, I have no doubt that KZ2 is going to ooze quality from every orifice, but the time it’s taken to come out, jesus christ. Chronotrigger DS looks to service all the massive SNES Square elitists. I have a perfect, almost sealed copy of the SNES cart as well as the PSX version, Squeenix isn’t going to trick me into buy this again, regardless of a new dungeon. Mad World might be the only Wii game I buy this year, unless Kid Icarus looks exceptionally awesome (which is could go either way given Factor 5’s last game)
Left 4 Dead might trump Killzone and Resistance as my favorite fps of the show; the team centric gameplay and general undead bloodlust look cool as hell. De Blob looks retarded, which I mean in the best way possible. Saints Row 2 looks like hell, but has an outside chance to out gameplay GTA IV in the crazy stuff department (and the latest screens imply that the recently announced delay was a good thing). Gears of War 2 looks exactly like it should and, if it’s playable, I can’t wait to screw up the controls and die ten times before handing off the controller. Last and certainly not least, I hope I’ll be able to actually play Little Big Planet this year. Last summer it was the only playable after Sony’s press conference, and, since that line was insane, I never got a chance to spend any time with it.
— Eric
