Back in December I did a write-up of
The Top 20 Games to Look Forward to in 2005. With the majority of those releases now out (or put back...), I thought it a good time to revisit this list, see how the various games fared, and update you on the status of those that are AWOL. Because in all honesty, it's nothing if disappointing...
20. Middle-Earth Online (PC)
Middle-Earth Online kicked off the list, but has since been renamed
Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar. Unfortunately at the same time it has seemingly dropped a fair bit in quality.
The more recent
trailer that was released showed a basic, dated look, one that failed to get the juices flowing. 2005 has arguably been the year of the MMO after all, and based on this footage, LOTR Online just doesn't look so sweet in the shadow of its competition. Still, one firey-themed shot in that trailer vaguely hints at promise so let's not discount it completely.
Either way, the real bad news is that the game has been officially pushed to 2006 now.
19. Project: Snowblind (PC Xbox PS2)
Snowblind ended up as little more than an average FPS. The Deus Ex connection was ultimately all but severed, leaving a "bionic man faces a zillion enemies" shooter seen a hundred times before. I'd be lying if a said I played it exhaustively, but even the cheap physics and a tacked on gravity gun couldn't keep me awake for too long playing this mediocre offering.
18. Conker: Live & Reloaded (Xbox)
Conker on the other hand, has been one of the true delights of the year for me. As a newcomer to the game, it felt amazingly fresh gameplay-wise, but best of all was the humour, what you could call the glue that holds this whacky platformer together.
The multiplayer wasn't as good as many expected, but for top platformy laugh 'em up action, there are none better right now. Full review
here.
17. The Movies (PC Xbox GameCube PS2)
It's still not here, although last time I heard, it was slated for next month. In the meantime there have however, been some cute mini-trailers hitting the
web in the form of gossipy TV-style news bulletins all created in-game.
A movie studio take on the Sim City formula is enough to get me anxious for this game - big movie freak that I am - but the promise of also creating your own flicks within the engine propels that pre-cum forth. I just hope we get full interactivity over our toons, and it's not simply a case of throwing pre-built animations together. One I still hold out major hope for.
16. A Good PSP Game
While the quality of the PSP's US launch line-up can be debated quite hotly, the recent European release has been kind to the machine - it's been given that jolt of life much needed for the past three months. Joining pleasing launch titles like Ridge Racer and Wipeout have been the likes of Virtua Tennis, MediEvil Resurrection and the upcoming Burnout Legends, some even preceding their US launches.
I still maintain however, that Lumines is quite possibly the best of the PSP's line-up at this point, and worthy of machine purchase alone. A great puzzler that supersedes its genre by a mile.
15. Pariah (PC Xbox)
Although still rooted fairly firmly in the average FPS department, Pariah thankfully turned out a heck of a lot better than Snowblind. It may be simple, basic and somewhat formulaic, but it's got it where it counts; rock solid blasting action.
The weapons are meaty and satisfying, the physics are pleasing to the senses, the explosions rock, and the look/atmos is beautifully reminiscent of the Unreal franchise (which makes sense, given the engine). It doesn't reinvent the wheel, and if sick of FPS games, there's little to see here, but for a Halo-style outdoor blast 'em up, I kinda dig Pariah ya know.
14. Splinter Cell - Chaos Theory (PC Xbox GameCube PS2)
I've
sung the praises of this one for long enough, but if nothing else this gives me a chance to comment on its staying power. I still fire the sucker up for online action on a regular basis, and on my new PC there's rarely a prettier game to be seen. Just ignore the GameCube and PS2 versions and grab it on either of the Microsoft machines.
Chaos Theory is a fantastic improvement to the series, and a great gadget filled spy adventure. Breathtaking.
13. LEGO Star Wars (PC Xbox PS2)
I'll stand by its brilliance 'til I die, haters be damned, but I'd be lying if I said I'd touched it in months. LEGO Star Wars was like a shining beacon of comedic
gold, one that filled me (and my friends') lives for about a week before becoming covered in dust.
We came, we saw, we laughed, we finished. And err, we never touched again apparently. Still fab, mind.
12. World of Warcraft (PC)
Game of the year? Game of the century? Game of all time? The four million subscribers would certainly say so. I tried my best to distance myself from Warcraft after hitting level 30, but the cravings soon kicked in and I had to resub. The game should be titled World of Warcrack - it's just too addictive for legality. Possibly
too much so, even...playing this game is essentially a full time job.
If ever you could fault a game for being too good, it's this one. It's brought a heck of a lot of people into gaming (particularly online), but it's also resulted in plummeting sales across the board, a wasteland of PC releases, and non-existent friends who disappeared off the face of the earth in favour of living in Azeroth. I wonder if I'll ever see any of them again.
There are two kinds of people in this world; WoW players, and normies. I try desperately to be a latter...but I must face facts; I'm a former. WoW
has me.
11. Ghost Recon 2 (PC)
Oh deary me. In one of the sadder tales of the year, Ghost Recon 2 was scrapped for the PC, apparently making way for the upcoming Ghost Recon 3 - Advanced Warfighter instead. Admittedly that looks astronomically stunning (check out
this footage, dear god), but I had eager expectations for playing the blissful prequel too.
At least we have the console versions, and if nothing else, the recent stand-alone "expansion" Summit Strike to spruce it up. Poor PC owners though - you missed out on a beauty, and you don't even know it.
10. S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chenobyl (PC)
What some are calling the new Duke Nukem Forever, S.T.A.L.K.E.R has also slipped to 2006 with barely a word. The concept still sounds enticing - a single player FPS with a wide open MMO-esque gameworld - but with each passing month the graphics look ropier and the trailers less thrilling. I fear for the hype this game created, and can only salute the devs for bottling it up in more recent times.
Here's hoping for a final game that delivers...when it eventually shows up...
9. The Legend of Zelda (GameCube)
And another 2006 slip. Zelda games are one of those childhood franchises like Mario that I can't help but get a little giddy over each time a new one pops up, and all footage points towards this one (which we now know is subtitled Twilight Princess) not only looking the bizness, but also being startlingly polished. As a result, one has to wonder if Nintendo are simply holding this sucker back as a weapon to counteract Microsoft and Sony's big releases.
Both companies have next-gen systems destined for store shelves within the next six months after all, while Nintendo's Revolution system isn't due 'til the end of 2006. As a result, Nintendo need
something to release in the meantime - if only to remind the world it's still here.
Twilight is pretty much all it has at this point, so it makes sense of them to milk its release and use it a bridge to see them through to the Revolution's launch. Mind you, with Mario Kart DS and Metroid Prime: Hunters also seeing similar slips, this is all becoming a little too familiar from the big N...
Incidentally Nintendo big man himself, Shigeru Miyamoto, has cryptically stated this title will mark an "end of an era" for the series. Will Link bite the dust? Will Zelda get her kit off? Who knows, but prepare for big things.
8. Revenge of the Sith (Xbox PS2)
Even if I don't agree, when some games are hated, I can see why. Doom III for instance, I can understand - boy do people hate that fucking flashlight. Revenge of the Sith's hatred though, I just don't get. Attached to a slightly disappointing movie it may be, but as a game in its own right, it's absolutely fab fun. If nothing else, Sith is the best lightsaber game ever made, and that must surely account for something.
Yeah, it's not a classic by any means, and in fact fails to ignite my fire as much as its little LEGO brother, but I'd be lying if a said I didn't have a
blast with this game, and am still known to fire it up on occasion. Oh, and the unlockable levels are fucking brill. Underrated.
7. Jade Empire (Xbox)
Jade enjoyed a stupidly high 9.9 out of 10 from IGN this year, and although I doubt any game really deserves that, I will say this is my personal fave RPG of the year thus far.
As with many of its genre, the opening of Jade is slow, wordy and pretty damn laborious, but in true BioWare tradition, it's all basic scene setting which they use to pull you in deeper and deeper, expert story tellers that they are. The resulting plot twists and turns
captivated me like nothing else, and although the much hyped real-time fighting was basic and limited, the journey as a whole was thrilling right up until that final punch.
Classic BioWare on the whole, if perhaps not their best. Now bring on Dragon Age, you crazy Canadian eaters of Kroff Dinner.
6. Republic Commando (PC Xbox)
Star Wars game of the year without doubt. For fans of the saga it's a nice little exploration into perhaps a grittier side of the world, while for FPS fans it's just a solid Halo-inspired shooter. PC review
here.
5. StarFox: Assault (GameCube)
Possibly the biggest
disappointment on the list. Assault could be beaten in a day, and not a particularly thrilling day at that. Many criticise the on-foot sections, but they're just one of a host of problems with the game. At the end of the day, a couple of way-too-short flying segments hint at the game we all wanted, but in practice never got.
Still, despite a couple of troubling GameCube offerings now, the StarFox name is far from killed off for me, and I hope to see more pleasing titles on the Revolution.
4. Halo 2.5 (Xbox 360)
The jury's still out on this one being real, or just one of a billion internet hoaxes, but one thing's for sure...the Xbox 360 is right around the corner. Whether or not we see a so called "Halo 2.5" bundled on the hard drive as rumoured, we now know backwards compatibility will be a feature anyway, so you'll be playing Halo 2 on there whatever happens. In fact, Microsoft employee Major Nelson spoke about testing it himself over on his
blog recently.
Personally I don't hold too much stock (or even excitement) in a Halo 2.5 at this point - I still find the first game way better and would prefer something done with that - but what does rev my engine are these more recent rumours of a Halo 3 planned to coincide with the PS3 launch next year. Sneaky Microsoft...
3. Doom III: Resurrection of Evil (PC)
Resurrection of Evil was alright. It fixed a couple of Doom's probs, while neglected some others.
Depth was added to the gameplay in the form of special powers and new weapons. The world felt more alive and interesting due to much enhanced physics use and a grav gun. The graphics and sound also similarly shined as they did first time around.
At the same time though, the flashlight prob continued, teleporting enemies prevailed, and it still essentially felt like the same game underneath it all, yet lacking that first hour-filled awe of Doom III's intro.
Ultimately Evil is a nice enough continuation if you dug the original, and even has one or two pleasing surprises of its own, but I wouldn't expect a huge amount beyond that.
2. Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 (PC Xbox PS2)
If StarFox was the lamest game on this list, Brothers in Arms is a close second. I had very high hopes for this game, and it
failed me.
The much hailed tactics and group dynamic boiled down to simple flanking every
single time, the characters had the depth of Keanu Reaves and worst of all the levels were cramped and tiny.
Beyond the authentic look of this game, there's very little I enjoy about it, despite repeated attempts to see it through to the end. I'd play Medal of Honor or even Call of Duty a thousand times over before coming back to this big old sigh of a title.
1. Quake IV (PC Xbox 360)
Still not with us, although more and more
footage has recently sprung up to keep us going at least. With it now being hailed as an X360 launch title, I'd place bets on a November/December release for both that and PC.
Either way, let's face it, the single player looks frighteningly poor thus far. Simplistic, dated FPS stuff that bares little similarity to its prequel. I'm pleasantly surprised by the multiplayer side of things, however - it really does look like a heavily spruced up Quake III Arena brought into the new millennium. The action is stunningly fast for the Doom III engine, and the look is just gloriously bright and colourful compared to the aforementioned.
I still have high hopes that Raven won't drop the ball on this one, but it must be said Prey looks to be the (much more impressive) next big FPS on the horizon at this point.
And thus, while many games here left me somewhat dissatisfied, the good news is that many not on my list filled in the blanks over the past nine months.
Resident Evil 4,
Battlefield 2, Guild Wars, God of War - there's been some absolute stonkers this year, that's for sure. And we still have a ton more releases to look forward to along with a brand new console before year's end!
You can expect more on all those soon, along with a major run down of the whole year come December. In the meantime sign up for the
forums as I'm also using that for posting a lot of "mini news" and other smaller titbits.
