Top 10 Anticipated Games For 2009 (so far)

Here we are in March of 2009 and we have already seen a few major releases this year, Halo Wars, Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5. With 9 more months to go of 2009 what other major games do we have to look forward to? I have made a top 10 list of the games I am most looking forward to coming out this year. Of course not every game that is coming out this year has been announced and I am sure there will be major announcements in the months to come, but as of right now these are my most anticipated games of 2009. Please keep in mind that not every one of these games have been confirmed to come out this year, many of them don’t have release dates and I am just hoping they make it to shelves this year.

Batman Arkham Asylum
The last good Batman game I can remember was Batman Returns on Super Nintendo which was an arcade style beat ‘em up, sort of like Ninja Turtles. Since then there have been many attempts to make a good Batman game, and all have failed. This game has potential to be good. It looks dark, you have to use stealth techniques to defeat your enemies but most of all has the voice actors from the popular 90’s animated cartoon, Kevin Conroy (Batman) and Mark Hamill (Joker) who for people don’t know played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars movies.

BioShock 2 Sea Of Dreams
Sequel to 2007’s major hit, BioShock 2 takes place 10 years after the events of the first game, and puts you in the role of the iconic Big Daddy, one of the first games most dangerous enemies. Not much is know at this time but is slated for a fall release.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Seems like every year there is always a new Madden Football, Guitar Hero and even Call of Duty game and this year hopes are there is a sequel to 2007’s Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, which departed ways from typical World War II setting and brought the series to modern times, with modern guns and modern story. I was never a huge fan of Call Of Duty games, but Call Of Duty 4 really impressed me. Last year they released a new Call Of Duty game but took it back to World War II, but there have been a lot of talk that this year will bring the return of Modern Warfare which makes me happy. Expect it around November, that’s when most “CoD” games come out.

Dead Rising 2
This game was just announced so I am not completely sure if it will make a 2009 release but man I hoping it will. I am a huge fan of Dead Rising, you play a character who is stuck in a mall full of zombies and have to use anything you can find to fend yourself from the zombie heard for 72 hours, (about 12 hours real time). It felt just like the movie Dawn of the Dead, but much more enjoyable. From what screen shots show, the new game takes place in a casino and you can use items such as slot machines to kill zombies. I don’t know if you have every tried lifting a real slot machine as I have, but there is no way someone can pick one up over there head and slam it on a zombie, but that’s what makes these games so much fun, you leave reality at the door. I am hoping for a holiday release, but it will probably come out early next year.

Diablo 3
Another game that I am not sure will make a 2009 release but I am adding to my list anyway. The Diablo series is one of the only PC games that I have ever played. You play as a character and you just point and click to kill enemies and pick up treasure, it may sound boring and repetitive, but was really addicting when I was younger. I really loved the first two installments and hope that Diablo 3 will bring back those same memories I had of playing the originals. If it were to come out, it would this holiday, but Blizzard the creators of the game have a good history of delaying their products so don’t be surprised it gets delayed.

Ghostbusters The Video Game
I am really looking forward to this one, basically Ghostbusters 3. It has the original actors of the movies providing their voices for the game including Bill Murray. The story was written from the writers of the Ghostbusters movie and it takes place after the events of Ghostbusters 2. You play as the rookie, and you tag along with the 4 original Ghostbusters to save New York from, well ghosts. You fight classic enemies from the Ghostbusters universe sure as Gozer, Slimer, Vigo, the library ghost, and even the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. The game is being released on Xbox 360 and PS3 and the graphics look amazing. It is also being released on the Nintendo Wii, the graphics look more like a cartoon, but from what I understand the story is the same on all platforms. On June 16 2009, who are you going to call? Ghostbusters.

Halo 3 ODST
A new Halo game is being released this year. You do not play as Master Chief in this game instead you play as an ODST soldier. I have not researched much of this game other then it uses the same engine as Halo 3, so basically it is just an expansion to the game. It will feature multiplayer as Halo 3 did. I don’t know much about it, but I know I will enjoy it when it comes out this fall, I would say later September, early October.

Overlord 2
Overlord was just a silly game, you were an Overlord who controlled these crazy gremlin type creatures to do your dirty work such as kill people, burn houses down, get drunk, and kill sheep. It sounds really stupid but after playing it for awhile I got hooked. I really didn’t think the game would see a sequel so I was surprised when they announced a new one was coming this year. Once again you control the gremlins to do your dirty work. There is also a Nintendo Wii version of Overlord coming this year, not sure if it’s a remake of the first game or a completely different game but I am looking forward to both. Look for it this summer either June or July.

Punch Out
The only Wii exclusive title on my list, a new Punch-Out is coming out this summer. As of right now screen shots don’t look to impressive and I just recently learned that you can either use Wii motion controls or use a classic controller and play it like the old school NES or Super Nintendo versions of Punch-Out. Only a few classic opponents have been announced such as Glass Joe, Von Kaiser and good old King Hippo. I am hoping this game brings back memories of playing Punch-Out as a child. Pick it up on May 18th 2009

Terminator Salvation
This will come out a week before the movie Terminator Salvation. It is a third-person shooter that takes place 1-2 years before the events of the movie. Early screen shots make me believe it will play almost like Gears Of War except fighting Locust, you will be fighting Sky Net’s army of Terminator machines. It was announced that Christian Bale (John Connor) will not be providing his voice for the game, but I am still hoping the game will turn out to be a huge success. I have always wanted to good Terminator game, and I think mixing the Gears Of War style game play with the Terminator future war setting would be an excellent idea. Although the game or movie doesn’t focus on Arnold’s T-800 character as previous movies, I have always wanted a game and movie set in the future where you fight tons of machines, and not just against one. Pick up Terminator Salvation on May 19 2009.

Well that’s my list of my Top 10 Anticipated Game For 2009 as of right now. Like I stated before, I am sure there are a lot more great games coming out this year that haven’t even been announced yet and won’t be until around the E3 expo in June. As usual you can expect a new Madden, I am sure there will be another Guitar Hero game or even two of them but since they are so common and new versions come out all the time I didn’t bother putting them on my list.