Alright, it's time for something different! I don't have the time to play through a new game every week to review, I don't want to keep reviewing games I haven't finished, and I think I should write more than reviews anyway. So with all that in mind, I'm going to write a bit about the upcoming games (and for today, also a recent release) that I'm looking forward to. Since I'm anticipating a lot of games, I'm going to break these down roughly by genre, which will also allow me to have things to write about in the next few weeks too! So for this very first upcoming games article, I'm going to be talking about the major shooters that are coming out in the next few months.
I have mixed feelings about the shooter genre. On the one hand, they're tremendous fun. In particular, shooters tend to be the genre that most frequently have cooperative play options, and I absolutely love games that can be played cooperatively with a friend. Shooters also tend to be the genre of game that is most frequently mixed with some other genre, which I also have no problem with. On the other hand, there's no denying that the video game industry is absolutely inundated with 'plain' shooters, and originality is starting to wane. And frankly, considering that an overwhelming number of gamers are willing to buy the newest Call of Duty game every year, it's hard to blame publishers and developers for taking the safe bet and aiming to grab a small slice of the enormous pie of shooter profits. However, while I can't make publishers/developers stop making shooters or make gamers stop buying them, I do wish that they would at least work on some new IP's, and you'll see why in a few minutes.
Just as a reference, there were 12 major 'regular' shooters released in 2011 (for certain definitions of 'major') from January through August. These games are: Bulletstorm, Killzone 3, Homefront, Crysis 2, Conduit 2, SOCOM 4, Brink, Operation Flashpoint: Red River, Duke Nukem Forever, F.E.A.R. 3, Call of Juarez: The Cartel, and Bodycount. Of the twelve, only a third of them (Bulletstorm, Homefront, Brink, and Bodycount) are new IP's, the others are part of an existing franchise. For the games without numbers, Operation Flashpoint: Red River is the second game in its franchise, Duke Nukem Forever is the fourth, and Call of Juarez: The Cartel is the third. Also, another game that I'm not going to talk more about but is coming out later this year is Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved.
Also, just a warning, there will probably be spoilers for past games.
The game: Resistance 3
Release date: September 6, 2011 (already out!)
Platform: PS3
Setting:
The Resistance games take place in an alternate history where World War II doesn't happen, and is replaced by an alien invasion. Four years after the end of Resistance 2, Nathan Hale, the protagonist of the first two games, is dead, and the Chimera have won the war and taken over the world. You follow Joseph Capelli as he is forced to leave his family and embark on one last ditch effort to stop the Chimera from completely eradicating humanity.
Why I'm interested:
The Resistance games are fun, especially the weapons. There are a mix of standard guns (machine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle, etc) and futuristic weapons, and all of them are incredibly fun to use. Weapons all have their own quirks, and also have secondary modes that supplement the regular firing mode. The weapons are a blast to play with, and in Resistance 3, weapon proficiency can be leveled up to allow for stronger abilities. The setting is interesting, and the scenario of Resistance 3 seems particularly dark and hopeless. And most importantly, Resistance 3 has a cooperative mode.
The game: Gears of War 3
Release date: September 20, 2011
Platform: X360
Setting:
Gears of War 3 has a very similar setting to Resistance 3. It doesn't place take on an alternate history Earth, but in the Gears universe humans have been fighting a losing war against an alien force called the Locust, that emerged from deep underground. At the end of Gears of War 2, the remaining humans sacrificed their last stronghold (the city of Jacinto) in order to flood the Locust caverns. However, things did not work out. The Locust were devastated, but the Lambent, a faction of mutated Locust, have grown in strength and are now wiping out all that remains of both the regular Locust and the humans. You play as returning protagonist Marcus Fenix and his best friend Dominic Santiago, and save the world again, probably.
Why I'm interested:
I am interested to see how the story for Gears 3 works out, but to be honest, the sole reason I want to play the game is also because it has a cooperative mode. Unlike Resistance 3, the weapons in Gears 3 aren't quite as fun to play with, but the Gears franchise has offered a tremendously fun cooperative game in the past, and I fully expect it to deliver again. Also, cutting enemies in half with a chainsaw will be like a fresh experience again.
The game: RAGE
Release date: October 4, 2011
Platform: PC, X360, PS3
Setting:
Earth has been struck by an asteroid; chaos and anarchy and mutated monsters reign. Other than that, I don't actually know.
Why I'm interested:
No, I'm not interested in RAGE because it has a cooperative campaign. It does have one, though. However, where Resistance 3 and Gears 3 have the co-op mode simply be the main campaign with two (or four) players instead of one, RAGE offers separate cooperative missions, which isn't quite as appealing. Still better than no cooperative mode at all though. The reason I'm interested in RAGE is because it is being developed by id Software, who are practically the father of the shooter franchise. id Software hasn't released a full new game (not including a promotional RAGE iPhone game) in almost 7 years now, and it'll be interesting to see what they can come up with. Also, RAGE looks incredibly good so far.
The game: Battlefield 3
Release date: October 25, 2011
Platform: PC, X360, PS3
Setting:
Battlefield 3 is actually the 11th game in the Battlefield franchise, though the last game in the main series, Battlefield 2, was actually released all the way back in 2005. Battlefield 3 is set in modern day Earth, and focuses on the wars in the Middle East. I don't know much else about the setting.
Why I'm interested:
For one, Battlefield is one of the series that I have heard many good things about, but never played. Battlefield 3 seems like a perfect opportunity to try out the series, and it looks absolutely amazing with the new Frostbite 2 engine. Also, as with RAGE, there are separate co-op missions, though it appears Battlefield 3 will not have splitscreen play, which is somewhat disappointing. However, the main reason I am interested in Battlefield 3 is because it is the primary challenger to the Call of Duty franchise, the current king of shooters. I don't have any particular preferences between Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3, but the clash will hopefully be spectacular.
The game: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Release date: November 1, 2011
Platform: PS3
Setting:
Uncharted 3 once again follows Nathan Drake on his adventures in search of lost treasure. This time, Drake is in search of the "Atlantis of the sands". Lots of shooting and jumping around ensue, and I imagine a bit of deception too.
Why I'm interested:
The Uncharted series has extremely solid gameplay, and perfectly mixes battle scenes, environment traversals, and jaw dropping set pieces throughout the campaign. The stories are fun and reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies, and the characters are generally all very interesting. Finally, Uncharted is also one of the few series that I associate with incredible presentation; the graphics are stunning and the music both fits the occasion and is quite memorable, particularly Nate's theme.
The game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Release date: November 8, 2011
Platform: PC, X360, PS3
Setting:
Modern Warfare 3 is also set in modern times. However, although the original Modern Warfare had a focus on a conflict in the Middle East, the story has progressed to the point where World War III is about to start, and all of the world's major cities are under attack.
Why I'm interested:
To be honest, this is probably the game that I'm least interested in out of the ones I'm mentioning here. Don't get me wrong, I greatly enjoyed both of the other Modern Warfare games, and I'm expecting this one to be equally good, or even better. I just don't care as much about this one. For one, the cooperative options in Modern Warfare games have been generally rather shoddy. There will probably be some cooperative mode of some sort, but it will probably pale in comparison to even the separate online only co-op modes offered by Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3, and even more so compared to the cooperative modes offered by the other three games. Or maybe I don't care because I'm not expecting much more than what was already offered in the other Modern Warfare games. Or maybe I just want to see the king fall. Probably that.
So, these are the major shooters coming out over the rest of this year. Three of them feature humans versus aliens or monsters of some sort, the other three are set in mostly realistic modern times. Now we're only missing a game or two set during World War 2, and we'll have covered all the standard shooter bases. All but one of these upcoming games have the number 3 in their name. These games will probably all be great, and I'm still very much looking forward to playing them... but this, this is why the video game industry needs less shooters and more originality.
I have mixed feelings about the shooter genre. On the one hand, they're tremendous fun. In particular, shooters tend to be the genre that most frequently have cooperative play options, and I absolutely love games that can be played cooperatively with a friend. Shooters also tend to be the genre of game that is most frequently mixed with some other genre, which I also have no problem with. On the other hand, there's no denying that the video game industry is absolutely inundated with 'plain' shooters, and originality is starting to wane. And frankly, considering that an overwhelming number of gamers are willing to buy the newest Call of Duty game every year, it's hard to blame publishers and developers for taking the safe bet and aiming to grab a small slice of the enormous pie of shooter profits. However, while I can't make publishers/developers stop making shooters or make gamers stop buying them, I do wish that they would at least work on some new IP's, and you'll see why in a few minutes.
Just as a reference, there were 12 major 'regular' shooters released in 2011 (for certain definitions of 'major') from January through August. These games are: Bulletstorm, Killzone 3, Homefront, Crysis 2, Conduit 2, SOCOM 4, Brink, Operation Flashpoint: Red River, Duke Nukem Forever, F.E.A.R. 3, Call of Juarez: The Cartel, and Bodycount. Of the twelve, only a third of them (Bulletstorm, Homefront, Brink, and Bodycount) are new IP's, the others are part of an existing franchise. For the games without numbers, Operation Flashpoint: Red River is the second game in its franchise, Duke Nukem Forever is the fourth, and Call of Juarez: The Cartel is the third. Also, another game that I'm not going to talk more about but is coming out later this year is Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, a remake of the original Halo: Combat Evolved.
Also, just a warning, there will probably be spoilers for past games.
The game: Resistance 3
Release date: September 6, 2011 (already out!)
Platform: PS3
Setting:
The Resistance games take place in an alternate history where World War II doesn't happen, and is replaced by an alien invasion. Four years after the end of Resistance 2, Nathan Hale, the protagonist of the first two games, is dead, and the Chimera have won the war and taken over the world. You follow Joseph Capelli as he is forced to leave his family and embark on one last ditch effort to stop the Chimera from completely eradicating humanity.
Why I'm interested:
The Resistance games are fun, especially the weapons. There are a mix of standard guns (machine gun, shotgun, sniper rifle, etc) and futuristic weapons, and all of them are incredibly fun to use. Weapons all have their own quirks, and also have secondary modes that supplement the regular firing mode. The weapons are a blast to play with, and in Resistance 3, weapon proficiency can be leveled up to allow for stronger abilities. The setting is interesting, and the scenario of Resistance 3 seems particularly dark and hopeless. And most importantly, Resistance 3 has a cooperative mode.
The game: Gears of War 3
Release date: September 20, 2011
Platform: X360
Setting:
Gears of War 3 has a very similar setting to Resistance 3. It doesn't place take on an alternate history Earth, but in the Gears universe humans have been fighting a losing war against an alien force called the Locust, that emerged from deep underground. At the end of Gears of War 2, the remaining humans sacrificed their last stronghold (the city of Jacinto) in order to flood the Locust caverns. However, things did not work out. The Locust were devastated, but the Lambent, a faction of mutated Locust, have grown in strength and are now wiping out all that remains of both the regular Locust and the humans. You play as returning protagonist Marcus Fenix and his best friend Dominic Santiago, and save the world again, probably.
Why I'm interested:
I am interested to see how the story for Gears 3 works out, but to be honest, the sole reason I want to play the game is also because it has a cooperative mode. Unlike Resistance 3, the weapons in Gears 3 aren't quite as fun to play with, but the Gears franchise has offered a tremendously fun cooperative game in the past, and I fully expect it to deliver again. Also, cutting enemies in half with a chainsaw will be like a fresh experience again.
The game: RAGE
Release date: October 4, 2011
Platform: PC, X360, PS3
Setting:
Earth has been struck by an asteroid; chaos and anarchy and mutated monsters reign. Other than that, I don't actually know.
Why I'm interested:
No, I'm not interested in RAGE because it has a cooperative campaign. It does have one, though. However, where Resistance 3 and Gears 3 have the co-op mode simply be the main campaign with two (or four) players instead of one, RAGE offers separate cooperative missions, which isn't quite as appealing. Still better than no cooperative mode at all though. The reason I'm interested in RAGE is because it is being developed by id Software, who are practically the father of the shooter franchise. id Software hasn't released a full new game (not including a promotional RAGE iPhone game) in almost 7 years now, and it'll be interesting to see what they can come up with. Also, RAGE looks incredibly good so far.
The game: Battlefield 3
Release date: October 25, 2011
Platform: PC, X360, PS3
Setting:
Battlefield 3 is actually the 11th game in the Battlefield franchise, though the last game in the main series, Battlefield 2, was actually released all the way back in 2005. Battlefield 3 is set in modern day Earth, and focuses on the wars in the Middle East. I don't know much else about the setting.
Why I'm interested:
For one, Battlefield is one of the series that I have heard many good things about, but never played. Battlefield 3 seems like a perfect opportunity to try out the series, and it looks absolutely amazing with the new Frostbite 2 engine. Also, as with RAGE, there are separate co-op missions, though it appears Battlefield 3 will not have splitscreen play, which is somewhat disappointing. However, the main reason I am interested in Battlefield 3 is because it is the primary challenger to the Call of Duty franchise, the current king of shooters. I don't have any particular preferences between Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3, but the clash will hopefully be spectacular.
The game: Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Release date: November 1, 2011
Platform: PS3
Setting:
Uncharted 3 once again follows Nathan Drake on his adventures in search of lost treasure. This time, Drake is in search of the "Atlantis of the sands". Lots of shooting and jumping around ensue, and I imagine a bit of deception too.
Why I'm interested:
The Uncharted series has extremely solid gameplay, and perfectly mixes battle scenes, environment traversals, and jaw dropping set pieces throughout the campaign. The stories are fun and reminiscent of the Indiana Jones movies, and the characters are generally all very interesting. Finally, Uncharted is also one of the few series that I associate with incredible presentation; the graphics are stunning and the music both fits the occasion and is quite memorable, particularly Nate's theme.
The game: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Release date: November 8, 2011
Platform: PC, X360, PS3
Setting:
Modern Warfare 3 is also set in modern times. However, although the original Modern Warfare had a focus on a conflict in the Middle East, the story has progressed to the point where World War III is about to start, and all of the world's major cities are under attack.
Why I'm interested:
To be honest, this is probably the game that I'm least interested in out of the ones I'm mentioning here. Don't get me wrong, I greatly enjoyed both of the other Modern Warfare games, and I'm expecting this one to be equally good, or even better. I just don't care as much about this one. For one, the cooperative options in Modern Warfare games have been generally rather shoddy. There will probably be some cooperative mode of some sort, but it will probably pale in comparison to even the separate online only co-op modes offered by Battlefield 3 and Uncharted 3, and even more so compared to the cooperative modes offered by the other three games. Or maybe I don't care because I'm not expecting much more than what was already offered in the other Modern Warfare games. Or maybe I just want to see the king fall. Probably that.
So, these are the major shooters coming out over the rest of this year. Three of them feature humans versus aliens or monsters of some sort, the other three are set in mostly realistic modern times. Now we're only missing a game or two set during World War 2, and we'll have covered all the standard shooter bases. All but one of these upcoming games have the number 3 in their name. These games will probably all be great, and I'm still very much looking forward to playing them... but this, this is why the video game industry needs less shooters and more originality.
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