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October 22nd, 2010, 21:09 Posted By: wraggster
It's that time of year. Winter's drawing in, it's dark when you go to work, it's dark on your journey home and it's bloody cold all the time.
All the big events of the year are behind us, the anticipation and revelations of new tech and big announcements long gone. You'd be forgiven for letting a little bit of gloominess creep in.
Not so fast, glum nuts. Although there's little more than a mere two months to go before the year's out we've still got some of the biggest titles of 2010 waiting in the wings.
Here's our list of the best games of 2010 that are still waiting to wow you. If nothing else, they're a great excuse for hiding from the chill in the warm glow of the TV.
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
Release: November 19
The follow up to Assassin's Creed II sees the continuation of Ezio's story and it's looking like a stonker.
Now that our favourite hoodie has become a master Assassin there's a whole new world of killing to be had. Not only will you get to roam around in Rome - which is three times the size of the largest Assassin's Creed city to date - but you'll have a team of fellow Assassin's at your command.
Recruit them, train them and call them in when you're in a spot of bother for the ultimate "You and whose army?" come-back you always wanted in school.
Or, why not send them off to take out historical Templar sympathisers around the world? Brotherhood will bring depth to the franchise we never even anticipated.
That's before we've even mentioned the multiplayer, which looks like it's going to offer up deathmatches like we've never seen before.
None of this running, gunning and dying malarkey, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood online will be all about taking it slow, hiding in the crowd and striking without anyone even realising. Sweet.
Football Manager 2011
Release: November 5
OK so it's not everyone's bag. To a lot of gamers out there, Football Manager is nothing but a massive collection of numbers and 22 moving dots. To those who have acquired a taste for virtual gaffery, however, it's the greatest collection of numbers since the phonebook.
We've said how these games will give you an excuse to stay in for a month or two but, as far as Football Manager is concerned, it's not exactly up to you. It is a condition people, and we need more awareness.
This year is looking like a real must have in the series as well thanks to a couple of mechanical overhauls that will change the way the game's played in a few key areas.
The new contract negotiation system, for example, where you'll now be bartering with players' agents in real time rather than over email.
Plus there are actually five different agent types so that the players' representatives can be characterised as being particularly tough or open.
You're also going to be able to criticise your players or discuss their concerns privately rather than in the open. Basically, SI has realised that, from a man management perspective, it's probably not always desirable to flag up your key man's lack of form in front of a group of journos (the scum) every time.
It's upping the intuition like this that means we're about to lose a lot of friends all over again come November.
Call of Duty: Black Ops
Release: November 9
Remember all those games we said we were looking forward to? They were pretty good weren't they? Yeah, scrap 'em. Scrap 'em all.
There's no pretence here, we all know that it doesn't matter what games come out between now and New Year, by November there's only going to be one name that matters and it'll dominate right up until it's sitting under Christmas trees up and down the country.
Say what you like about Modern Warfare 2, Treyarch, the Infinity Ward debacle or Activision, Call of Duty will always be the number one game of the masses and it will always do the numbers.
And, so far, Black Ops looks like it will reward the eye-gouging anticipation come release day.
As far as the FPS genre, and the Call of Duty name more specifically, it isn't going to be a gaming revolution but that's only because CoD has set such a high standard already. In terms of a brand, the world's best FPS is kind of competing with itself.
That doesn't mean we don't look forward to a fresh bit of CoD every time one's fried up for us.
This time Treyarch's departure from the WWII setting and its move into the Cold War is an interesting one and we're looking forward to getting our hands on some specialist weapons like that mean looking crossbow.
Multiplayer's looking nicely padded too. You can expect the full CoD online treatment with kill-streaks and perks galore but the addition of Theatre Mode, AI bots and a ton of new customisation options makes the online portion of the game look more ambitious than we ever expected.
As if there wasn't enough kill power in these game already, two new super weapons are going to be thrown onto the mix as well in the form of the Death Machine (a big-ass minigun) and the Grim Reaper (an super-duper scoped grenade launcher). See you on the battlefield in November!
Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit
Release: November 19
If you want incredibly fast super cars and tons of carnage when it all goes wrong (which it absolutely has to) then Burnout studio Criterion is probably a pretty safe bet.
To have Criterion concentrating all its efforts on Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit - the next in one of the most thrilling racing franchises on the planet - is something of a hot prospect then.
We're expecting a sense of speed that actually makes you press your head into your seat. We need those near miss moments as we slalom in and out of head on traffic silently screaming, desperately looking for a gap in the centre barrier so that we can get the funk back onto the right side of the road.
It looks like we won't be let down either. Take the production values and feel of Burnout Paradise, add some of the most sought after super cars in the world, stick blue lights on half of them and send them racing and pursuing down specially built stretches of tarmac with a boot load of weapons.
That's Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and that, friends, is what we're talking about.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II
Release: October 29
But wait we thought Starkiller was dead? Oh he's a clone! Or is he? Or isn't he? Maybe!
We haven't even slipped the AA batteries into our light sabre yet and this adventure's already looking twist-tastic. The best bit is (and don't tell LucasArts this) we'd settle for a pretty basic story as straight as a beanpole as long as we get to chuck things about with The Force.
But the narrative is the first thing that LucasArts wants to get right this time around. As far as the actual gameplay is concerned, you can expect more evolution than overhaul.
Using your Force powers is now easier in terms of control and targeting, which means that picking up those poor little Storm Troopers, shaking hem about and throwing them into some sort of pit/wall/abyss is just that little bit more accessible.
The Force Unleashed II is going to build on the foundations of its predecessor, which means you can expect more action than Action Man and the chance to step into the boots of one of the most powerful characters in the galaxy.
It may not blow the competition off the shelves in the real world as such, but we're more than happy merely with the power to blow our enemies off just about anything in the Star Wars universe.
Fable III
Release: October 29
Peter Molyneux may not think any of his games to date have been great, but we're a fan and if there's one franchise that's got Molyneux written all over it it's Fable.
Embarking on an epic open world journey to the throne before ruling over your kingdom; farting, conjuring, dancing and fighting up a following along the way - That's the gist of it.
This time, however, Lionhead has taken on the difficult task of evening out the RPG elements of the game so that the threads of action and adventure are more prominent as you fight off everything from wolves to the police (that's if you've been naughty).
You'll also find yourself getting more touchy-feely in the co-op mode with a new touch system that allows you to drag friends around, hug the ones you love and burp at the ones you love even more to express yourself with ease and accuracy.
There's even a full on marriage system (and we call it a system so you remember it is just a game people) that brings all manner of choices in to play such as where to get married, who you should marry in the first place and whether one marriage is really enough. Hey it's 2010.
God of War: Ghost of Sparta
Release: November 2
Probably the mightiest, meatiest and most violent game in the history of PlayStation if not video games in general.
When you think about it, God of War is little more than fancy-dancy version of your basic arcade action game. The quick-time events, the light, light, heavy combo system, they've have been around for years and years.
You only need to look at the epic scale of God of War 3 though, to see we're dealing with something incredible here. The first section of the game is actually set on a pair of stone giants as they climb a cliff-face for the love of God!
The question, then, is this. When God of War makes the jump to PSP with Ghost of Sparta, will the unspeakable size and spectacle of it manage to make it over as well? There's not a lot of room inside that little handheld compared to its big brother you know?
Well, if you've watched the latest God of War: Ghost of Sparta, you'll probably be in agreement with us when we say that Kratos' next adventure is looking ace. The graphics look amazing, the animations detailed and nuanced and Kratos himself is still clearly meanest man in games.
From what we've seen, we're confident that the small screen won't hold God of War down.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
Release: December 7
World of Warcraft dominates the MMO world like a fat man sprawling across a desk. It's a hallmark of gaming itself as millions of players all around the globe populate an entirely different globe in the virtual world.
What's wrong with the real world? Well, it rains for one. Even if it didn't, WoW offers fantastical races of people, weapons of old, magic bursting from Mages' hands, a Griffin airline system and its own underground.
It's better than anything God could have created. He just didn't have the technology back then.
Despite the vastness of World of Warcraft there are a lot of players who've spent more than a healthy amount of time playing Orc (or Orc smasher) and by know they'll know Orgrimmar like they know the inside of their head.
That's why Blizzard are making sure that Cataclysm isn't just an update in name alone, they're going to shake the whole place up with new races, zones, quests and refreshes for existing areas. You'll also be able to 85 for those of you who've maxed out already you dedicated devils.
Gran Turismo 5
Release: TBC
More in hope than expectation, this one - but Sony remains confident it will be here before Christmas. One of the most delayed games in living memory, its long gestation has purely been a by-product of the perfectionism of its auter, Polyphony Digital's Kaz Yamauchi.
With over 800 cars, head-tracking, 3D support and the input of real-life F1 and other professional drivers, this promises to be everything we dreamed it could be. The physics alone already look head and shoulders above anything we've seen before - although perhaps not the damage effects. If it doesn't match up to expectations, Kaz will certainly have some explaining to do...
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