Genre: FPS
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Bungie
Release Date: September 25, 2007
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With the multiplayer beta giving Halo 3 all the bonus buzz it would need to keep gamers at bay until September, Microsoft opted for low-key presentations at E3, keeping the game in a dark room for the huddled masses to watch (but not play). Much like the Fable 2 meeting, this was not meant as a comprehensive overview of the game — not only is Halo beyond such things, but Bungie is also attempting to keep a Grand Theft Auto level of secrecy
Genre: MMORPG/PVP
Publisher: Gamecock
Developer: Auran
Release Date: Q4 2007
One of the interesting things about the MMORPG genre is that it is, technically, a niche market. Not everyone wants to play one of them, and those who do, don't tend to play much of anything else. As World of Warcraft has recently proven, though, it is an extremely big niche, with room for hundreds of variations on the theme.
Fury is one of those variations. PVP is a big part of most MMOs, but as most of the (deeply whiny) hardcore fanbase of those MMOs would tell
Genre: RPG
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: Lionhead Games
Release Date: TBA 2008
Peter Molyneux has earned himself a curious reputation of making promises he can't keep in regards to his unreleased projects, but while the half-hearted backlash hasn't stopped the legendary developer from making prognostications, his most recent one leaves quite a bit of wiggle room.
"Fable 2 will be finished sometime next year... at 4:20 am," he said, opening a guided demo presentation of the massive (and massively anticipated) sequel. "Can't tell you the day, but I can tell you the time."
At least he still has
Genre: Action/Shooter
Publisher: LucasArts
Developer: Day 1 Studios
Release Date: Summer 2008
First announced back in May, LucasArts'original IP Fracture has been gaining hype for its unique emphasis on nonstop terrain deformation, as each weapon and absurdly powerful grenade in the game can reshape the very ground upon which you stand. Fracture will pit the Atlantic Alliance and Pacificans against each other in a bleak, war-torn vision of America in the year 2161.
The ability to raise and lower the earth will factor heavily into any mode of play, but the biggest concern is likely to be
Genre: Shooter
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: Queasy Games
Release Date: Late Summer 2007
The term "everyday" is often applied to something that lacks style or innovation, but Everyday Shooter, available later this summer via the PlayStation Network, is not so... well, everyday. Everyday Shooter is indeed a shooter that will draw instant comparisons to Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved, but it was not made with competition as the core design element. Instead, creator Jonathan Mak of Queasy Games believes it should simply be enjoyed, much like a record.
"It's like a music album," said Mak, "except instead of it being
Genre: Survival Horror
Publisher: Konami
Developer: Climax
Release Date: November 13, 2007
Meanwhile, in the world of survival horror, Silent Hill Origins has changed almost completely.
It was playable last year at Konami's summer barbecue in San Francisco. There, it was heavily influenced by both Resident Evil 4 and the "Silent Hill" feature film, with the player's camera constantly mounted behind the protagonist, Travis O'Grady. The graphics were somewhat grainy, and Travis wielded a sledgehammer and shotgun with uncharacteristic skill for a Silent Hill character. At the time, the game was supposedly comprised of one-third new content, one-third
Genre: Fitness/Mini-Games
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release Date: TBA 2008
It must be an odd time to be a hardcore Nintendo fanboy. After a decade of playing second fiddle to the likes of Sony (and more recently, Microsoft), Nintendo is flying high on the success of the Wii and Nintendo DS. But in crafting these blockbusters, the company is, in some ways, turning its back on the old guard of Nintendo fans.
Nowhere was this more evident than at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Santa Monica, where next month's Metroid Prime 3: Corruption was kept
Genre: RTS
Publisher: SEGA
Developer: Petroglyph
Release Date: October 2007
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There are certain beats you can comfortably expect a space RTS to hit. There will be a number of factions that handle more or less like the StarCraft factions. Some noble humans fighting to save their planet or race are going to be the heroes. There will be some friendly aliens, and some truly nasty ones to serve as the bad guys. If you win in the story mode, you probably save the galaxy ... at least until the sequel. Most of your gameplay involves obsessing
Genre: Mini-Games
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive
Developer: Warner Bros. Interactive
Release Date: Q4 2007
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"Good" is not a word that springs to mind when one things about a Looney Tunes game. In fact, you are more likely to think about eye-searing pain. The track record of the Looney Tunes license in games is probably one of the most shameful this side of the Simpsons (who never got to star in a good game until 2003's Simpsons Hit & Run, after well over 10 years of duds). It got off to a ragingly awful start with Kemco's
Genre: Open World/3D Fighter
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montreal
Release Date: October 2007
There was once no greater a dire sentence to offer a games writer than "cover a Naruto game." They were almost universally decent, workmanlike fighters, with some of the portable titles skewing into the truly dire range. They lacked depth, and beyond listing out which characters were playable and which weren't, there was really not much to be said about them (let alone the 500-1,000 words most employers expect). It would be fine if you could turn in a character list, collect your paycheck,
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis Games
Release Date: Spring 2008 (PS3/360/DS), Fall 2008 (Wii)
To call Civilization console-agnostic would be a misnomer. In actuality, it's just been a long damn time since Sid Meier's turn-based world-beating sim last made a console appearance. Almost a decade, in fact — Civilization II for PSone popped up in 1998 (following the original Civilization for Super Nintendo in 1994), and since then, the closest the series has come to escaping the clutches of computer gaming is an N-Gage version that quietly shipped early last year.
So it came as
With the likes of Grand Theft Auto IV and BioShock in Take-Two's second-half lineup, it would be easy for a Wii-exclusive title like Carnival Games to get lost in the spectacle that is E3 (even in its weakened state). In fact, we weren't totally sure that we were going to see it, but after our brief look at Civilization Revolution, we were whisked into a curtained-off section of a nearby room at get a quick hands-on look at the late-August release.
While unlikely to
Genre: Survival Horror
Publisher: Gamecock
Developer: Renegade Kid
Release Date: Q4 2007
Back when the Nintendo DS first came out, one of the most frequently heard comments was that it was a surprisingly good system for first-person shooters. Between then and now, every developer on the face of the planet has seemingly forgotten that in favor of publishing a variety of touch-screen-dependent 2D games.
Dementium is a break in that routine. The development studio, Renegade Kid, is a new house made of veterans of the Turok series on the Nintendo 64, and they've sat down to provide the
Genre: Action/Shooter
Publisher: D3Publisher of America
Developer: Digital Extremes
Release Date: January 2008
Every significant game eventually breeds a series of imitators, and just as Resident Evil 4 helped beget Gears of War, Epic's smash shooter is paving the way for several other games, including D3Publisher of America's Dark Sector. Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of flattery, but the term carries with it an inherent negative connotation, as the imitator is perceived to be lacking in originality. But if a game can bring enough to the formula to truly set it apart from
Genre: Stealth-Action
Publisher: Gamecock
Developer: Replay Studios
Release Date: 2008
"We're a team based in Germany," the developer said, "and we're making a World War II stealth action game."
An awkward silence followed.
Most of the World War II games that have come out up until now have been riding a bizarre nostalgia wave. WWII has come to occupy an odd niche in American society as the last good fight; after that, it's all downhill and shades of gray.
Sabotage is most notable because it's not being made by Americans or Brits, so it's coming from an obviously different place.
Genre: RPG
Publisher: Microsoft Game Studios
Developer: BioWare
Release Date: November 2007
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Mass Effect may be the most highly anticipated Xbox 360 title to not be spawned from an established franchise, but the universe-exploring RPG has something else going for it that might be worth as much as a million-selling predecessor: the BioWare logo emblazoned on its packaging. More importantly, BioWare’s trademarked style of highly customizable experiences, introduced to console gamers with Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire, infuses every inch of Mass Effect, its most ambitious project to date.
Following three-plus years
Genre: Extreme Sports
Publisher: Activision
Developer: Neversoft
Release Date: Fall 2007
For the ninth core release of the venerable Tony Hawk franchise, Neversoft appears to be tossing in everything but the kitchen sink — though we wouldn't be especially shocked if such an item appeared in the game's compelling new Skate Lounge mode. As expected, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground will build around the modernized core developed for last year's Tony Hawk's Project 8, but the amount of new content (in the form of features and new gameplay mechanics) is simply staggering.
We've seen the game in action
