Games I might actually buy

I figured on this, the eve of my first video game purchase of the year, I would take a look at what games have actually earned the right to my 60 dollars a pop, and why. This way, at the end of the year I can look back and reflect on what I actually thought I wanted to play, and what I did. You see, for the longest time (all my life) I've been a horrible hoarder of video games, burning countless dollars on games I only enjoyed for a week, a month, and in some cases not at all. About 6 months ago a friend of mine turned me on to Gamefly, and I've never looked back. Post Gamefly subscription, I've bought only 4 games, Bionic Commando, Batman, Tekken, and something else I'm not remembering. Point is, in the 2k10 the increasingly crooked publishers are gonna have to earn my $60 so lets see whose already won my heart.

We can start with the sure things, which are mostly sequels to games that have earned a place in my heart, in order of awesome.
Bioshock 2 - Undoubtedly purchased tomorrow, Bioshock 1 was hands down one of the greatest shooters I've ever played. The new one promises a continued single plot in a setting I love and multiplayer with a plot and advancement options. That is not to say they couldn't blow it spectacularly, but if they don't? Whoo wee.

Batman Arkham Asylum 2 - If it wasn't the best game of last year, Batman certainly was the most suprisingly good game of last year. Why? Well, because batman games suck. Superhero games suck. Somehow Batman Arkham Asylum was a good game, and it was a good batman game, and it had replay value, and it was by a relative unknown. Seriously, Rocksteady could make a game about ponies and I would give it a shot. I still play Arkham 1 to this day, their next trip back to the nut house is a sure buy.

Fallout: New Vegas - Like Arkham, the Fallout followup gets a bye. Not so much because Fallout 3 was so just that awesome (even though it was), I am just a titantic Fallout fanboy. As long as they don't do anything cripplingly stupid with the premise, this is a guaranteed win.

Crackdown 2 - The legends say Crackdown 1 got a raw deal because it got packaged with the Halo 3 multiplayer demo, but I came to the Xbox 360 party late and hate Halo, so all I know is that Crackdown is a horribly shortsighted and awesome game. Even with a new and unproved development studio, more orb hunting, and a stupid mutant zombie plot, CD2 promises more super powered roof top hijinx, structured missions, and four player co-op. What could possibly go wrong?

Dead Rising 2 - Crackdown 2 and Dead Rising 2 are pretty much in the same boat, each were early exclusives in the 360's life, each one presented some new concepts that turned sandbox gaming on its ass, and each one is getting a sequel shoved out this year from a new staff. The difference is, Crackdown had almost nothing but room for improvement, Dead Rising however has a lot more to lose. Its almost guaranteed they are going to "fix" the save mechanic because current generation gamers just can't handle it, and the multiplayer is certainly not going in the direction I'd like it to, but they're promising weapon combination on the fly like motorcycles mounted with chainsaws, so there's going to be some gold to be mined for sure.

And in the runner up category;

Alan Wake - This game looks like everything Alone in the Dark wanted to be, which would be a pretty fantastic deal if they got it right. I'm a sucker for cerebral games, brain over brawn and all that. But the track record is not good. Not since the death of Sierra.

Split Second - Every once in a while a racing game comes along that isn't exactly the same as every other racing game out there. Split Second may be the one. Or it may be as boring as the later burnouts. We'll see.

-F.