2010 has kicked off with some promising new franchises and some great sequels, but now we look ahead at what to look forward to over the coming months. This is an overview of the some of the most anticipated titles, as well as some of the not so great, that is being unleashed on us this Spring.

Splinter Cell: Conviction (Ubisoft) – April 16^th – Xbox 360

Sam is back and he’s pissed! The agency has turned its back on him and he is ready to blow the board room apart. Fans of this stealth action series have had a long wait after 3 separate engine re-builds, budget cuts and the faint rumour of Michael Ironside walking away from the role. Thankfully, the world no longer need wait for Sam to drop on them from the dark corner of the room. The first thing that hits you when you play Splinter Cell: Conviction is how the game has been visually improved since Double Agent. The HUD is your surrounding environment, (which is also destructible by the way) and gives a slight vibe to Hitman Blood Moneys ‘accident’ ideals. The Splinter Cell franchise has long been seen as a rival to Hideo Kojima’s Metal Gear Solid franchise, but this time, stealth and action have been blended in a way to give the series its own standing appeal with the introduction of the execution tagging system. By performing a silent takedown, Sam builds up an ability to clear targets by tagging them, then pressing Y to eliminate them the way a highly trained assassin should. Following the release of an impressive demo through Xbox Live, along with the promise of a Co-Op campaign being available just prior to release, Splinter Cell: Conviction is being hinted as the potential Game of the Year.

For fans of: Metal Gear Solid, G.R.A.W.
Anticipation: 9

             

Nier (Square Enix) – April 23^rd – Xbox 360 (PS3 in Japan and U.S.)

Square Enix continues to flood the JRPG market with Nier; although this time they are focusing more heavily on the action adventure genre as a basis of gameplay. The game itself will realistically appeal to a more niche market of gamers. The artistic style reminisces of ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, with the main character looking suspiciously like Yorda from the former. Typical JRPG level grinding appears to be present as does a whole host of abilities and weapon upgrades. One to watch.

For fans of: ICO, Final Fantasy, Star Ocean
Anticipation: 6

Super Street Fighter IV (Capcom) – April 30^th  - Xbox 360/PS3

This rebalance of the best selling fighting game of this generation of gaming has been receiving some interesting previews all around, with Capcom claiming this version will appeal more to the original core market, something that they were heavily criticised for with the original instalment of Street Fighter IV. Featuring 10 additional characters, including favourites Deejay and Adon; and a rebalance of character priorities, many Street Fighter fans believe this is the release they were waiting for last year. Entering in at a budget price too, this should have players dusting off the arcade sticks for another round.

For fans of: Street Fighter
Anticipation: 7

FIFA World Cup 2010 (EA) – April 30^{th -} Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/P.C./PSP

The creators of FIFA 2010 prepare to kick off the latest World Cup with the official game of the tournament. Don’t expect much different to the club version of the game, although EA have promised that the best players from the entered nations will be able to compete in an online competition this summer.

For fans of: FIFA 2010
Anticipation: 7

Lost Planet 2 (Capcom) – May 11^th Xbox 360/PS3

Lost Planet returns to our screens after what is possibly the most daring change of scenery to hit a sequel for a long time. The once icy world that threatened to claim your characters precious Thermal Energy has thawed out (Think Greenhouse effect in 5 years) and is now changing the climate and the monsters of the surface. Lost Planet 2 has also improved its physics engine quite dramatically. Gone are the clumsy Mechs and the lack of power when firing a weapon. Instead smooth controls and a vast range of monster splatting artillery are introduced to level creatures raging from the size of your foot, to something the size of a crater! Rather unexplained though is the inclusion of several Cameos. Wesker from Resident Evil is fairly obvious as he is Capcom property, but Xbox 360 users have the treat of seeing Marcus and Dom from the Gears of War franchise tearing it up with the Snow Pirates. We eagerly wait to see how that fits into the already loose plot, although the online mode, with added Co-Op missions, will make Lost Planet 2 something worth getting into.

For Fans of: Lost Planet, Halo, Gears of War,
Anticipation: 7

    

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Ubisoft) – May 14^th Xbox 360/PS3/Wii/PSP/DS

As soon as the Sands of Time film was announced, it was only a matter of time before Ubisoft dove into another game. Bizarrely though, the game has reverted back to the original style of gameplay as opposed to the cell shaded Prince outing we saw in 2008. Even more suspect is how the price now looks almost exactly like Jake Gyllenhaal! It is a shame that Ubisoft felt the need to go back to this chapter in the Prince franchise, as for its flaws, the 2008 reboot had a charm and quality that allowed us to see the potential of the new direction. Pressure from fans of the Sands of Time era have obviously thrown up enough of a fuss for Ubisoft to listen and backtrack, but that is not to say that this instalment will suffer, after all the trilogy of games from the previous console generation are often regarded as the most influential games on modern day platform and adventure games, such as Assassins Creed and Fable II.

For Fans of: PoP: Sands of Time/Warrior Within/Two Thrones
Anticipation: 7

   

Alan Wake (Remedy/Microsoft) – May 21^st Xbox 360/P.C.

I’m writing it, but I’m still not sure I believe it. Many had begun to assign Remedy’s survival horror as falling into the Duke Nukem Forever category of gaming........never gonna happen! Yet 5 years after seeing the original trailers and animations, the thriller novel writer’s escapade that was originally slated as a launch title for the Xbox 360, is here. Although anticipation is through the roof, very little is still actually known about the final product, including control style, inventory, weapons or locations. All we know is that Wake is a writer who is visiting a location in what appears to be an American style valley with his wife to garner inspiration. Then out of the blue, she disappears, Alan’s book come to life and he’s knee deep in his own creations of hell with a flashlight and a handgun. Be on the look out for the Special edition, as it features not only additional content for the game, but also a book by the writers of the game that is credited as being one of Alan Wake’s works.....cool!

For Fans of: Dead Space, Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Alone in the Dark
Anticipation: 9

BLUR (Activision) – May 28^th – Xbox 360/PS3/P.C.

Ok, so picture this. Burnout Paradise has a baby with Forza 3. Gran Turismo has a baby with Motorstorm. Years later them two babies meet and reproduce BLUR. Get my point? High Octane, High Danger racing, Licensed Cars, Player Triggered events that can be anything from a car next to you catching fire to an emp turning the engines of those around you off, Boost, Drifting and Visuals that could have you thinking you were watching Fast and Furious by mistake. BLUR is all that. Watch out race fans, a new breed of racer has just entered the pit lane!

For Fans of: Burnout, Need for Speed, Forza, Gran Turismo
Anticipation: 8

Other Titles worthy of mention:

Ruse (Ubisoft) - June 4^th – Xbox 360/PS3/P.C.

Interesting strategy Sim that looks a cross between Command and Conquer and Risk.
Anticipation: 7

Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker – June 18^th – PSP

Big Boss returns and Kojima’s latest instalment, this time for PSP. Pictures have appeared to show this as MGS5 but the statements are constantly being altered to know if this is true or not. We await Kojima-sans word on this!
Anticipation: 6

Naughty Bear – June 25^th – Xbox 360/PS3

505 Games evil Banjo-Kazooie-esque platformer looks like it could be a hilarious take on a Teddy Bear Picnic
Anticipation: 6

The Next Preview will look into the game releases due between June until September 2010. If you want to see a preview of a specific title, email spoofex@hotmail.co.uk and we’ll look into it for future issues.