Games of 2010 Post To Be Dissected Like An Unlucky Frog Later

Yes, it's here! My own, special, Most Wanted of 2010. I'll try to be more accurate this time, sir, but random appearances from unexpected games or unexpected successes may tip the scales in December. Right then:

Top 5 Most Wanted Games of 2010!

Mass Effect 2

Yes, it may be out by the time you read this, but it's still one I've wanted for a while and will certainly occupy a lot of my gaming time. I'm eager to know what happens next in the story, and if Bioware correct the problems of the first game this could be my favourite game this year.

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Swings and roundabouts with this one, especially with the silly release date stuff going on. Still certain I'm going to love it come... April? Whatever. Luckily it still looks incredible, although if that Infiltration mode truly is exclusive to the Collector's Edition I may be really pissed off at it. Interestingly though, the book's already out here in China! The real danger now with the release date slipping however is from:

Alpha Protocol

Or is that the other way around? Still no release date apart from a vague "June, maybe", Obsidian's first original RPG since their Black Isle days is looking very interesting. If they pull it off and truly give you the opportunity to spy whatever way you like (Daniel Craig or Roger Moore?) it'll be high on my list by the end of the year... assuming length isn't a problem (missus) and there's enough variety on show.

Crysis 2

This was so nearly taken up by Rage, but id Software's blatant Fallout-ripping-off and desperate desire to piss off the PC market that have sustained them for, ooh, every single one of their games nudged it out. Yes, Crysis may have been flawed, but Warhead corrected almost every single one of it's mistakes and the original still had tons of brilliant moments in it - and let's not forget Far Cry, which still is arguably the best FPS ever made. And yes, Crysis 2 may have gone all console, but they're doing that out of necessity rather id's backstabbing (see also The Witcher 2 for another game that's going to be on consoles but still mostly a PC game). And frankly, it'll also bring down the system specs and allow more people to play it on PC too, which was Crysis' biggest problem. No plane level this time, though, please.

Aliens Vs Predator

Call me a pessimist, but I'm extremely suspicious of the next AVP game. Rebellion haven't made a great game since the last PC AVP game, Sega seem to have rushed this one into existence to make up for the absence of Colonial Marines, and Rebellion have already had the AVP licence back once and buggered it up. Nevertheless, at this precise moment it’s looking very, very, very good. And it'll also be quite funny to have the developer's three best games be Aliens Vs Predator, Aliens Vs Predator and Aliens Vs Predator.

And The Runners-Up:

Rage: despite my criticisms above, a new id Software-developed FPS is A Big Deal to me. They haven't made a game I haven't loved, and if it wasn't for a few niggles Doom 3 would've been better than Half-Life 2 in my opinion. They get knocked down to the Runners-Up for their console bias.
Call of Duty: Vietnam: the only reason this didn't get in my Top 5 is that it still doesn't officially exist and AVP's coming out next month. Despite it just being another COD, I care more for it than I do MW2. It may be the obvious rivalry between Treyarch and Infinity Ward, it may be Infinity Ward desperately trying to piss off all PC owners, or it may be an expanded and improved Nazi Zombies mode.
Deus Ex 3: could go either way this. I respect Eidos Montreal's desperate desire to get it right, but the words 'cover system', 'regenerating health' and 'Square-Enix doing cutscenes' do not go with 'Deus Ex'. They've got a lot to prove, and if they bugger this and Thief 4 up they better start hiding and hoping their cover system works in real life.
Fallout: New Vegas: Obsidian doing a Fallout game. Wish fulfilment fantasy there, it'll be utterly brilliant. So why not in my top 5? Firstly, there's no guarantees it'll be out this year, and secondly, I already had two RPGs in my top 5 (one also by Obsidian) and I wanted to spread out my choices a bit!
Super Mario Galaxy 2: yes, I loved the first one and I'm looking forward to the second one. Sue me. The only reason this didn't get in somewhere in my Top 5 is that all four of the people reading this blog would've had a heart attack.
Bioshock 2: a big "hmmmmmmmmm" here. Looking forward to it, but a lot of questions need answering, and not being able to read the first reviews doesn't help. Still, they were only PC Gamer and a Playstation mag, so they don't count.
Sam & Max Season Three: unless Telltale make another Tales of Monkey Island season (which they inevitably will) or an even better licence gets the most made out of it (Futurama? Doctor Who? Loom?!), this'll be their big game for 2010. Let's hope they take some of the lessons they learned from TOMI and not just give us another "one location and one new character an episode" season.

And the ones that got away...

C&C4: Tiberium Twilight: Tiberium? Tiberian? Can't remember. I really, really don't like the way this game is going (three mobile types of base? You can't lose?), and it's far too soon for another straight C&C game. Thank you for making it PC-only EA, but the rumour is that you did that because you're worried it's going to suck. It's also far too expensive on your website as well.
Assassin's Creed II: it's brilliant, but Ubisoft's ridiculous shenanigans in their anti-piracy scheme combined with forcing PC owners to buy the DLC that was literally part of the game in the first place and should've been included anyway has dampened my enthusiasm.
Singularity: never again, Raven/Activision.

So that's it for now! Feel free to join me guys.

Guys?

- Chris Capel