I dunno about you guys, but I think 2010 is starting to smell like an excellent year for gaming. Normally I don't get too hyped about games - I find something else to concern myself with, and come in to games with an open mind when they finally release. But there are quite a few games coming out soon that I just cannot ignore no matter how hard I try. Here's the five I'm most excited for:

5) Dark Void - 360/PS3/PC - Releases January 12/14/15 (US/EU/AU)

The heavyweight champion of action games, Capcom, is making a Gears of War style sci-fi shooter with jet packs and flying vehicles. Do I have to say anything else? Probably not, but I will. Here's an ad I saw for the game while roaming the intarwebz:

(Sorry if this clips, it's a long image)

ARE YOU SEEING WHAT I'M SEEING? A freakin' GOLD JET PACK? All we need is dinosaur zombie ninjas and we'll have GOTY 2010.



4) 3D Dot Game Heroes - PS3 - Releases March 11 (US)

[Update] Atlus is bringing this to America! They're all saints over there, they really are =D.

I'm so beyond envious of PS3 owners that this will probably be the game that makes me buy a PS3. The art style is beautiful, the music sounds fun, and the gameplay appears to use a tried and true formula. Even if it is a shameless Zelda clone (which it sort-of-is-but-not-really), it'll still be an excellent game.



D'AWW!!! LOOK AT HIM! JUST LOOK AT HIM!!
...moving on.



3) Bioshock 2 - 360/PS3/PC - Releases February 9 (AU/EU/US)

Although we don't know a whole lot about it yet, anyone who's played the first is probably ridiculously anxious to play more. I only have the demo of Bioshock at this point in time (shame on me, I know!) so I can't say much for the story, but I'm beyond impressed with what I've seen. Yeah the gameplay is great, but the environment is just so interesting. I wish I didn't have to watch out for bloody-faced killers, 'cause I'd be perfectly satisfied with just wandering around Rapture and seeing the sights. Anyway.

In Bioshock 2, you'll play as the prototype Big Daddy. We don't know much about him either, considering he was put asleep for some reason for the duration of the first Bioshock. This is pure speculation, but I think he was put to sleep because he was too badass for Rapture to handle. Check him out:



Obviously he's a pretty tough little dude, so the amount of enemies and their difficulty to kill will be scaled to match. Playing as a Big Daddy also means you'll get sweet weapons like a drill, rivet gun, plasmids, and a few other weapons (a gatling gun was confirmed, I believe). The devs also decided to give us the ability to have a weapon and a plasmid out at the same time. Oh yeah, and there's gonna' be multiplayer too. I don't want to form an opinion on that yet...but maybe that excites you. Whatever, it's gonna' be great and you know it.



2) Final Fantasy XIII - 360/PS3 - Releases March 9 (EU/US), AU Release TBA

You would think that after all these years of waiting, the hype would've gone stale for this game. Somehow, even without some of the "dream team" from Mistwalker, SE can still manage to hype the hell out of it. I really hated FF12, so for a long time I was skeptical for 13...but I think it's fairly obvious SE is trying to win back some fans with this installment.

Each character has a fairly set-in-stone role in combat, which adds depth to their personality and balance to gameplay. The story is going to be character based as opposed to politically based, meaning it will be much more similar to the well-received FF6/7/9/X. The sphere grid, my favorite ability system ever, is back and better than ever. And maybe it's just me, but I think the combat itself is very reminiscent of cult classics Chrono Trigger and Xenogears. After all the years of waiting, expectations are sky high, and I'm actually confident that SE will meet them.


Sexy-motorcycle-summon-women are cool in my book

A big part of the RPG audience has kind of lost faith this gen...for good reason. If any game can restore the genre to its past glory, FF13 is it. Make it happen, SE!



1) Mass Effect 2 - 360/PC - Releases January 26/29/31 (US/EU/AU)

You can always count on BioWare for making a solid game with an excellent story. So they're already starting the game with a stacked deck, but it gets better: EVERYTHING that sucked about ME1 is getting completely changed in ME2. The Mako is being exchanged for a new vehicle with more convenience and better controls, the elevator scenes are being removed, the combat system is getting TONS of new weapons...the list goes on. ME was a pretty solid game in the first place, and the fact that they're doing so much to improve the game -- not to mention, they're fixing things that we, the players, complained about most -- is making me wonder how this game will do anything but kick ass.

Oh yeah, and we're all pretty sure that this guy will join your party.


I can't resist! Curse you Bioware for seducing me into dropping $10 more on the tin box edition!



I'm freakin' out over all five of these games, and I'm sure there are plenty more that slipped my mind right now. Agree/disagree? Got your own top 5? Let's hear it!