The months after Christmas are the doldrums of the PC game industry,
but we're just about to emerge in the light. Three things I'm looking
forward to:
- Rise
of Nations: Thrones and Patriots
- Expansion pack for the most satisfying RTS I've ever played,
Rise
of Nations. I'm not sure this is going to add a lot to the
original game but I'm
hoping it facilitates a second wind for RoN.
- Hitman: Contracts
- Sequel to the fantastic Hitman 2, the stealth FPS. Hitman 2 was just the right mix of
silly and intense with a gameplay that could be easy if you wanted or
hard if you were careful.
Hitman: Contracts looks to be a
bit more serious and dark, but I think it will work out OK.
- Thief: Deadly Shadows
- Sequel to the groundbreaking Thief: the Dark Project, the game that
invented the stealth FPS. Thief is the nexus of a lot of game
development talent: the original was made by the late-lamented
Looking Glass Studios who also
developed System Shock 2 and
whose alumni have gone off to do great things. Thief 3 is
Ion Storm and
Warren Spector's chance to recover from the disappointing
Deus Ex: Invisible War.
- The Sims 2
- Sequel to the genre-busting Sims. I haven't heard much buzz about
this game. But just
adding modern graphics
to the Sims formula will make for a pretty entertaining product.
All of these games are sequels! So are the other two
highly anticipated games coming out - Half Life 2 and Doom 3. I wonder
what the next really original game will be? Maybe Peter Molyneux'
The Movies?
