360: 2007's Most Wanted
What will you be getting for Christmas?
LEGO Batman
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Gamepage
- Release Date: TBA
In all likelihood, of all the games on this list Lego Batman is the least likely to make it out this year. But that won't stop us from slipping it in here in the hope that kind of announcing it might make arive sooner. In their approach to the Lego Star Wars franchise, Traveller's Tales demonstrated that, with time and freedom, they could make an astonishingly robust, appealing and successful movie-tie-in videogame.
The move to Gotham seems perfectly natural, with the Batman mythology providing just as many opportunities for the developer to take the gameplay in the creative and compelling ways that so characterise the Lego Star Wars games. Brilliantly, for a hands-on preview of the characters, vehicles and environments to expect you need only pop into your local Lego store.
Half Life Episode 2
- Gamepage
- Screenshots
- Release Date: Winter 2007
The game opens with idiosyncratic geek protagonist Gordon riding the very same train carriage that took him and Alyx off into the end credits of Episode 1. This feeling of continuity and uninterrupted narrative defines Half Life Episode 2, the second game in a trilogy of episodic releases now spread across PC, PlayStation 3 and 360.
Boasting a new 'cinematic physics system' which presumably improves on the astounding physics system which saw items bouncing and flying around so gracefully in its predecessor, Episode 2 promises to build an as yet unrivalled suspension of disbelief in players' minds. New enemies, such as the tripod walking 'Hunter' can be defeated with new weaponry and Valve is promising more emphasis on the puzzles which were so scarce in Episode 1. As a counterpoint to Halo, the Half-Life games offer a different weight and flavour of First Person Shooter but one which is no less enthralling in style or substance.
Stranglehold
- Gamepage
- Screenshots
- Release date: 7th September
Stranglehold is the Hollywood collaboration between Midway and John Woo that aims to put Hong Kong cinema in our hands. The game is based around Woo's film Hardboiled, and Chow Yun-Fat will be reprising his role as tough cop Tequila, who you'll control as you attempt to take down an entire crime syndicate.
Expect things to blow up, lots of things, as you twirl gracefully through the air and hammer out magazines of bullets from your twin pistols. Slow motion camera, stuns, explosions, noise, mess, guns, action – it is all going to combine to knock you out of your seat, apparently. And it will look cool doing it. Has a big budget and is shaping up well, and ticks all the right third-person action boxes. With a few months to go there's plenty of time for polishing what could turn out to be John Woo's biggest hit for a while.
Eternal Sonata
- Gamepage
- Screenshots
- Release date: November
Atari recently snaffled up the rights to publish this Japanese role-playing game across Europe in November. Bizarrely, it's based around the last moments in famous composer Frederic Chopin's life. He was suffering from tuberculosis and apparently drifted off to a fairy-tale land a few hours before he died, where people with incurable diseases had great magical powers.
Despite its strong musical integration and focus, Eternal Sonata is largely a traditional JRPG fair, with deep strategical elements and an engrossing storyline. We had a chance to play it nearly a year ago at the Tokyo Game Show, and felt we came away having only just scratched the surface.
The game is known as Trusty Bell across the US, and is already out in Japan, where it has received extremely high critical praise. Eternal Sonata is cheerful, colourful, and beautiful, and helps fills the Japanese-style void Microsoft's portfolio has lacked to date.
Project Gotham Racing 4
- Gamepage
- Screenshots
- Release date: September
Bizarre Creations created the third instalment in the series to launch alongside the Xbox 360, and has since come out and admitted to having rushed the title so it was ready in time. It won't make the same mistake again, this time we're promised a from the ground-up next-gen experience that's done when it's done. Which is September, according to Microsoft.
Featuring this time around is a gorgeous and dynamic weather system that effects the track and cars as real conditions would; motorbikes, which you lot will like; hordes of shiny cars, and a heavy emphasis on fun over realism. Kudos points are back again for those who like to do dangerous things, and this time you will be able to record all of your races ever. So if you get knocked out of a tournament you can still watch all the action and maybe stick pins in voodoo dolls of people that have beaten you in the hope they'll lose.