Saturday, December 11, 2010

What Got Me Excited at the VGAs...

Spike TV's Video Game Awards happened tonight and while I don't care about the awards themselves as always, its the exclusive reveals that got people's attention even though most of them have been rumored for the whole week, but not a lot of surprises even though its good some games were officially confirmed...
I might as well start off with the showstopper that is Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. Coming out on November 1, 2011 and the sequel to my favorite game of last year, Among Thieves, Nathan Drake is back on the loose with his adventuring ways. This time, there are no jungles, well for now, as the franchise takes a different turn at the desert where more possibilities can be thought of. Considering Naughty Dog's pedigree and amazing success with Uncharted 2, I want to see them top themselves with Drake's Deception next year. No word about multiplayer or co-op features yet other than lots of improvements to those modes even though like the last game, looking forward more to the campaign than the rest. I hope Uncharted 3 blows my mind when the final version is out in November because it already is right now.
One of my favorite franchises (even though I jumped on late) from the last generation of consoles finally makes a return, which is the SSX franchise. The new game, SSX: Deadly Descents is the series going in different directions with its premise and new developer. The Skate team is now handling the game as we'll see how their expertise can be handled to the world of snowboarding. Will the crazy tricks and style that made SSX awesome come back? I hope so, but its too early to tell for now. SSX: Deadly Descents is out next year and another most wanted game for me because of my love for the franchise.
Forza Motorsport 4 was somewhat a surprise, but the announcement trailer confirms its existence and its release for Fall 2011. Expect it to trash Gran Turismo 5 (which I still have to review lol) as well as Kinect-related features that Microsoft was demoing at E3 too.
Prototype 2 has been rumored for a while too and while the original didn't live up to its expectations as some hoped, I guess it was successful enough for a sequel to happen. I got nothing else to say about this since I didn't play the first game, but it is out in 2012.
Resistance 3 has been teased before, but finally there's some gameplay footage this time around as Insomiac hopes to keep the momentum going with this franchise despite mixed reactions with Resistance 2. Its out on September 6, 2011 and we'll see if this shooter can make the next big leap up to AAA status Sony wants it to be.

The leaks with Mass Effect 3 came true as this game is officially confirmed for release next holiday season (PS3 Mass Effect 2 is still out next month which I'm considering getting it since I didn't play it on 360). The Ravagers have invaded Earth and as its defenses to down to a slim, it is up to Shepard to save the home planet of the humans or let it fall. Who knows how the choices from the previous games will play out in this third and maybe the end of the trilogy.
Mortal Kombat gets a PS3-only character is none other than Kratos from the God of War franchise. He's no stranger to the fighting game world being in that Soul Calibur PSP game, but his brutal personality and no holds barred combat style makes perfect sense to be in the new Mortal Kombat. Just seeing the trailer of Scorpion, Sub-Zero, Shao Kahn, and then Kratos coming in was kind of nuts. Who knows if I would rock him in the game, but the new MK is still coming in the spring time.
It is about time Bethesda returns to the Elder Scrolls franchise after dabbling with Fallout for three games. The fifth game, Skyrim, is planned for release cleverly on 11/11/11. Since I enjoyed Oblivion and never cared that much for their Fallout games, hopefully Elder Scrolls can bring it back for my Bethesda RPG needs.
Batman: Arkham City is also out next fall and Hugo Strange seems to be the main villain this time around. With the amazing success of Arkham Asylum last year, can Rocksteady's magic happen again with this new one. I hope so...

There were some other stuff at the VGAs, but I didn't care much about for now. Next fall is already looking crazy and arguably better this fall after tonight's bombardment of announcements. All I have to say is bring them all on!