Games to look forward to and others

Call of Duty: Black Ops. The follow-up to the ultra-popular Modern Warfare 2, this is no doubt the game to get to satiate your frag thirst. If you’re tired of Halo: Reach already and can’t wait for Killzone 3, this one is not to miss.
(I actually found MW2 to be a bit underwhelming, yet there is no denying that the franchise’s popularity ensures you’ll get plenty of people to headshot!)

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood. This is not AC3, and neither it is AC2. More like AC2.5. You play again as Enzio, the assassin from the previous entry, and this time, you build your own assassin’s guild! Plus, multiplayer!

Batman: Arkham City. Another sequel, this one follows up on the stellar stealth-action Arkham Asylum. Expect more classic Batman Villains, more Batman references that you can throw a batarang at, and more action/stealth in a really creepy Gotham.

Farther down the road…

Metal Gear Solid: Rising. This time, you play as cybernetics-enhanced Raiden instead of good ol’ Snake. Despite the game’s focus on a more action-oriented character, it has been confirmed that once again, it is possible to finish the game without killing anyone. Plus, the sword mechanic looks pretty sweet!

Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Huge cast of characters, cool graphics, simple but deep gameplay à la Street Fighter IV, insane super moves, what more can you ask for? Of course, everyone’s favorite is NOT going to be in the final roster, so expect a lot of trolling (or is it trollage?). Still, a cast so varied is rare in a fighter, and this one will no doubt eclipse my current favorite, BlazBlue Continuum Shift.

Disgaea 4. More weird humor, more insane leveling, more of everything in a sequel that may be Nippon Ichi Software's last... apparently, the Japanese developer's business is not going so well, despite the fact that the Disgaea franchise seems quite popular (for a niche game anyway!). Sprites are going to be HD this time around. Since we can expect NIS to put everything they got into this latest effort, this will assuredly be either an awesome swan song, or another entry in a great and continuing series.

Games to check out NOW!

Castlevania Lords of Shadow. Disclaimer: this game is NOT like, well, 95% of the other games in the series. It is much closer to the awesome Simon’s Quest, as you do more exploring in the “Vania” part than in the “Castle” (i.e. more outside trekking). The game’s not terribly original: look for ideas borrowed from God of War, Prince of Persia, Shadow of the Colossus, Zelda and Dante’s Inferno. Yet they are meshed together quite well, in one of the most visually appealing game of 2010.

Games to avoid NOW!

Fable 3. As anyone who read my other articles may have noticed, I am not a huge fan of Fable 1 and 2. Sadly, the game has been even more dumbed down. Instead of the awesome action-RPG series that it could have been, we get an action game in a world where you interact with people by farting and belching, and where killing hundreds of people has no more consequence than eradicating the whole Goomba population. Play only if you somehow fall into the ranks of the series’ fans or if you really liked the previous two entries’ sense of humor (which, at this point and in my humble opinion, remains the only redeeming quality to the series).