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Coming Attractions: Shooters & Racing Article
PlayStation 3 PC Xbox 360 Article by Oli Welsh
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Racing
One thing that really surprised us when putting these lists together was the paucity of racing games due out in 2009 - and this after a less-than-stellar year for the genre in 2008. Another surprise was how narrow the selection is, with arcade and kart racers thin on the the ground, a glut of proto-simulators clogging the grid, and a handful of companies dominating the scene. And yet, it was still painful narrowing the choice to five; with experts like Bizarre, Codemasters, Turn 10, Polyphony, SimBin and Sumo weighing in, quality is bound to make up for quantity this year.
Star Attraction
Formula One
On: TBC / Developer: Codemasters Racing / Publisher: Codemasters / Release: 2009
Selling its videogame licence to a small enclave of engineers in the British Midlands - which, come to think of it, is exactly the kind of organisation that builds most of the sport's racing cars - might be one of the better decisions F1 governing body the FIA made last year. We can barely remember a time the world's top motorsport had a game worthy of the name (it would probably the last time Bizarre made one), and Codemasters is bound to change that.
There is no developer with more experience of turning real-world racing into virtual entertainment and evoking the drama of the track. Last year's Race Driver GRID showed Codemasters can add mass market accessibility, an innovative career structure, personal rivalries and presentation that shames games with far bigger budgets to its high-octane brew.
Now the GRID team has been tasked with delivering a world championship experience that can match the excitement of the 2008 season, and a handling model that most people can actually enjoy. We don't know what they're planning, but we wouldn't be surprised to see a few lesser formulae turn up as supporting acts, too, TOCA-style.
The bigger question marks hang over the source material. Can Formula One survive recession, and will the sport's penny-pinching retreat from the technological cutting edge generate the excitement Codemasters needs to feed off? Only one thing is certain - we'd never bet against Bernie Ecclestone.
Supporting cast (in alphabetical order):
Bizarre's mystery racer
On: TBC / Developer: Bizarre Creations / Publisher: Activision Blizzard / Release: 2009
If we knew anything about this at all - beyond the teasing soundbite from an advertising conference, "Mario Kart meets Forza" - it would probably have come top. Bizarre's blend of sensual handling, mouth-watering car porn and smart score-attack mechanics made Project Gotham the world's greatest racing series for four straight games. Activision Blizzard has bought its way straight into tarmac royalty.
Forza Motorsport 3
On: 360 / Developer: Turn 10 / Publisher: Microsoft / Release: 2009
This one isn't officially announced yet but leaked images, a regular two-year schedule and some large holes in Microsoft's 360 line-up for the year make it more than likely. Forza has nosed ahead of Gran Turismo in the eyes of handling aficionados now and the custom-paint trade is one of gaming's most fascinating subcultures. That said, we'll certainly be looking for a more diverting structure from this next instalment.
Fuel
On: 360, PS3, PC / Developer: Asobo / Publisher: Codemasters / Release: Summer 2009
In the absence of a sequel to the wonderful Test Drive Unlimited (Atari has ruled it out for 2009), this will have to do. Also French, and also open-world on a massive scale, Fuel presents vast tracts of procedurally-generated wasteland for off-road exploration and racing. It's an unknown quantity, but it's different, and you have to assume Codemasters knew what it was doing when it signed this.
Gran Turismo 5
On: PS3 / Developer: Polyphony Digital / Publisher: Sony / Release: 2009
Really? Yes, really. Kazunori Yamauchi is coy, but Sony suits in the US and Europe are confident we'll see this at the end of the year. And say what you like about AI or damage - as a tech demo, the latest Gran Turismo is always hair-raising, eye-disbelieving stuff, and as a fastidiously detailed love letter to the automobile, GT5 will surely be peerless. As for the PSP version? Who knows.
Other players:
A very special mention for Bizarre's "racing and driving" Bond game, due in September - now that's what we call smart licensing; ditto for the arrival of SimBin's superb sims on console with the 360's Race Pro; ditto again for OutRun Online Arcade, hopefully another brilliant Sumo home version in high-def and download form; Burnout Paradise gets an "ultimate box" (cheap, all the DLC) and a PC version; Need For Speed needs to go back to the drawing board (again); System 3's Ferrari racer goes non-denominational with Supercar Challenge; maybe Vin Diesel's magic grunt can enliven Midway's The Wheelman; which reminds us, what's Reflections up to for Ubisoft?
Are you excited about Halo 3: ODST on Xbox 360?
View Eurogamer readers most anticipated games
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9 December, 2008 [30]
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Moonprince
19/01/09 @ 14:23
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lol at star attraction. Halo? Seriously..? As much as I love it... common...
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Ignatius_Cheese
19/01/09 @ 14:27
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Bioshock 2 is a sequel AND prequel, or did I miss something completely there...?
Surely The Chronicles of Riddick deserves more than a fleeting mention, seeing as its been pimped to the Nth degree over the past few weeks ;o) |
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Huh, I'm not even an FPS fan, and I would put Killzone 2 as the star attraction in shooters. Probably because it's the only FPS I eagerly await.
It's either Bioshock 2 or Killzone 2, but I don't think we know enough about Bioshock 2. Bizarre's "Mario Kart meets Forza" sounds like the Virtual Karting games on the Amiga - which were bloody good, if I dare say. http://hol.abime.net/1580
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I still find it a bit strange that Eurogamer keeps calling Killzone 2 a tactical shooter, when all the gameplay videos I've seen so far pretty much just shows the player running and gunning, while occasionally ducking behind cover for a second or two.
Anyway, whether it's a "tactical shooter" or more straight forward it can't be released quickly enough :). I'm mostly in it for the multiplayer though. |
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YobRenoops
19/01/09 @ 14:34
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You honestly expect us to believe that Halo 3:ODST, an x-pack, is your most anticipated shooter? Really? I mean really? The standouts for me are Killzone 2 (which has seen hype levels hit intergalactic since New Year) and Bioshock 2.
Admittedly its a year a bit thin on the ground for shooters, which can only be a good thing! Agree with the Racers though, F1 and GT5 all the way. |
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Ignatius: Riddick was highlighted in our action section on Friday. Bit of a toss-up which section it went in, but the adventure and stealth elements made it not just a pure shooter, we thought.
And it's precisely because Halo 3 ODST and GTA Chinatown Wars are being dismissed as an expansion to an old game and a "really bad" DS spin-off that we chose to highlight them as star attractions. We think they're both going to be a bit special (we KNOW Chinatown Wars is going to be special), and they deserve more recognition than they're getting. |
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muscleblade
19/01/09 @ 14:36
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Halo 3 ODST deserves to be on top of this list imo. 3-5 hours of quality gaming sounds good to me.
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Marshall2008
19/01/09 @ 14:36
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Seeing as the original Killzone was a complete abortion of a game I can't see why anyone would be excited by a sequel. Same with RtFoM the first game was crap and the sequel equally as crap.
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"Truly looking forward to Forza 3 and Race Pro. I couldn't get into the handling of GRID, no idea why. "
Because it's horribly arcadey? In the bad way with pivot point physics that made you feel like you were rotating rather than turning around corners. Oddly enough, despite those very severe flaws, the game still managed to keep my attention for quite a few hours - probably because the actual racing was quite exhilarating and the graphics and damage model pretty spectacular. I really do wish Codemasters would get their act together and use a decent physics engine - which is possible even in an arcade racer. |
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muscleblade
19/01/09 @ 14:42
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"we no longer measure quality by the yard. It's not the contraction in length that interests us, but the contraction in scale"
I absolutely agree. I hate when games drags on for too long. |
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woodyrulesok
19/01/09 @ 14:49
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I really hope the new formula one game is good.
I didn't like the last one. |
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BadBoyBonner
19/01/09 @ 14:51
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What's happened to Kart Attack?
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/art... As it would surely have been a must have purchase on Live/PSN - would appreciate a little digging on our behalf Oli. |
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Eighthours
19/01/09 @ 15:17
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terrible single player campaign with no stand out moments...
Facing off with a Scarab was massively boring, obviously. |
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And it's precisely because Halo 3 ODST and GTA Chinatown Wars are being dismissed as an expansion to an old game and a "really bad" DS spin-off that we chose to highlight them as star attractions.
Well fair enough, but I reckon you shouldn't call them star attractions then. More like anticipated biggest surprise. Because I have pretty a strong feeling that for most people Killzone 2 will be the star attraction in the FPS genre.
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cyber_nicco
19/01/09 @ 15:21
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The handling sucked in GRID because there was an almost consumer-friendly amount of understeer dialed into almost every car. I believe they did this to encourage full-throttle, breakaway oversteering, but this is not what you want to do while racing (except in the drift portions). Try the Chevrolet Lacetti is an example of a car that was tuned a bit better in the game, but most every other car understeered like a Volvo road car.
TOCA 3 suffered from the same thing, while TOCA 2 was somewhat better. I think modeling production cars correctly (understeer and all) is the way to go, but when you give me a (supposedly) race-prepped car complete with splitter and wing, make it untuneable, then you better make the handling model one that I can race with. |
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ligurmatic
19/01/09 @ 15:22
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At a push, I'd say F1 is the game I'm looking forward to the most this year.
The prospect of non-F1 racing is interesting (especially the European-based GP2, Formula BMW and Porsche Supercup), but what would be fantastic are some of the forgotten circuits (Magny Cours, Montreal, A1 ring etc) as (let's be realistic) DLC. |
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Lemon Project
19/01/09 @ 15:23
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I've played and finished Killzone 1 and while it's broken it's definitely not an abortion. I enjoyed it overall. Story, the cohesiveness of the world from section to section, the pacing of the game, weapons (as in how loud and violent they are), art style, music, cut scenes and voice work is all top notch. Where it's broken is the platforms' capacity to execute the game. It's no Half Life 2 but it's not as bad as many who've likely not played the game would want to have you believe.
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Autocanibal
19/01/09 @ 15:25
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There goes Eurogamer worshiping Halo again... You could move Halo 3: ODST to the Other Players section and say the same thing that you say about COD6:
"Halo 3: ODST is unlikely to surprise but will deliver" I believe most old school PC gamers, FPS lovers, see Halo as just a "better than average" shooter. That's all. Personally, I think COD4 was much better than Halo 3 (haven't got near COD5, of course), both singleplayer and multiplayer. So I'm looking forward to COD6, not Halo 3: ODST. Killzone 2 might be good, it's been in development for ages, but it's been hyped to death and the first one wasn't great. I'll wait until I read some reviews. BioShock 2 might be a game to look forward to. But I don't know if it belongs in this list. I loved the first one, but not for its shooting, which was rather poor, but for its story, story telling, art and music. Rage might be good too, but I'm not really an id fanboy and don't trust them lately. Will wait until I see some reviews too. So COD6 is my main coming attraction as an FPS lover. That and Team Fortress 2 and Left 4 Dead updates :D |
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Moonprince
19/01/09 @ 15:29
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Because Halo won't get enough exposure? Common Oli, who the fk you trying to kid?
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ryohazuki1983
19/01/09 @ 15:31
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"Is Outrun Online Arcade really coming out at the end of this month?"
Where did u read that? good news if so! |
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Ignatius_Cheese
19/01/09 @ 15:31
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@ Oli - Cheers mister. I've got a brain like a sieve today... o_O
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Petulant_Radish
19/01/09 @ 15:32
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Halo’s multiplayer is the most fun multiplayer around, much more fun than COD’s. So I am looking forward to the expansion quite a lot, should be very interesting. I find all the hate for it quite funny really, it must be absolute pony if it is still in the top games played on Live after all this time hey?
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Anyone know where the next Battlefield BC style multiplayer shooter will come from for the 360? My buddies and I have played that to death this year and loved every minute but need something new. Much prefer the wide open maps and vehicle combat of Battlefield compared to the relatively close quarters arenas of COD. Not that we didn't play COD4 to death of course.
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I'm sorry, ordinarily I wouldn't have a bad word to say against Halo but this new expanse (for that is what it is); how much do we know about it and Bioshock 2? Nothing. No God of War 3, but these games we haven't had any concrete info or pics of are "Star Attractions"? hmmm. My cynical mind is working overtime.
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"And it's precisely because Halo 3 ODST and GTA Chinatown Wars are being dismissed as an expansion to an old game and a "really bad" DS spin-off that we chose to highlight them as star attractions."
This just doesn't make any sense whatsoever... Why didn't you make Wii Music game of the year then - because everyone was slagging it off... Killzone 2 has to be the most anticipated shooter of 2008. And you wonder why Eurogamer is thought of as biased towards XBox... |
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ryohazuki1983
19/01/09 @ 15:48
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Cheers KujiGhost, hopefully we'll have a confirmed date, as it's approaching end of the month!
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"the halo expansion gets more love than CoD6?! where are your priorities?!"
One of the most dynamic, replayable, and sandbox-oriented shooters in existence introduces hub-and-spoke exploration and new storytelling mechanics, all the while drizzling it with glorious gobs of fanservice (ODST is basically a love letter to those who follow the Halo fiction). Meanwhile the masses clamour for more glorified, 'realistic' shooting galleries. Gaming's in the toilet. |
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I'm very interested in Halo 3: AD&D, wait, ODST? Screw that then, I thought I'd finally be able to roll my fighter/cleric to take on the covenant. ;(
Only the single player portion would be of interest to me, I don't play Halo multiplayer so whether or not I bite depends on the overall cost. I'm not spending that much on a glorified expansion that takes three to five hours to complete (which is most likely towards the three hour mark). Mind you as Bungie seem to think that three maps are worth $10 I'm not betting on good value for money here, particularly as "Bungie has previously told us that Recon will have plenty of replayability in the form of Achievements and four-player co-op, plus new multiplayer maps and perhaps modes". Anyone up for grinding the same game again and again for Achievements? Didn't think so. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/halo-3... Either way a light game with some multi-player maps seems an odd choice for Star Attraction. Oh well, to each their own. Call of Duty 6, Operation Flashpoint 2, Aliens: Colonial Marines and The Conduit would be above it in my list. And Battlefield Heroes, depending on how much they try to nickle-and-dime us. |
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Petulant_Radish
19/01/09 @ 16:05
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“Anyone up for grinding the same game again and again for Achievements? Didn't think so.”
Hmmmm… |
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@ miiiguel: "The world must be wrong..., right?"
That's not what I said, if a Halo Expansion deserved to be above KZ2 in the list - no problems, but you can't tell me that it is a more anticipated release for 2008, because it just isn't. As someone has already said, COD6 probably deserves to be above the new Halo. I have no problem with the popularity of the Xbox, I just think Eurogamer has it wrong in this instance... |
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I love the 360 coat tails comment. FFS EG, ffs. Especially after Halol3. Just hope ODST can redeem it a bit. Funny how the series went in order of shitness (Halo being awesome).
Anyway, Riddick is the one I'm still looking forward to most out of that little lot.
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