The OTHER upcoming Xbox games... (P2)

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K

Only one game you need to know about in K, and that's because it's the only one coming this year: Knights of the Old Republic 3. As we revealed last issue, well-placed sources are telling us Obsidian are handling development on the regular KOTOR, while Bioware take things online in a KOTOR MMO.

L

LA Noire. Not even officially confirmed for 360, but likely to make the trip over from its 'only on PS3' status once the exclusivity period has expired, this 40s-era private 'tec tale is from the team that did The Getaway, and made itself known to the world on the back of a tidy pre-rendered teaser trailer. Could be one to watch. As could The Last Remnant, a Square RPG that isn't Final Fantasy, pencilled in for this year, but probably more likely to go walkies into 2009, and Left 4 Dead , the corking-looking multiplayer survival horror from Turtle Rock, which uses Half-Life's startling Source engine to power its zombies and severed limbs.

Talking of severed limbs, can you imagine what it would be like to have your leg removed by a GIANT GRIFFIN? Because that's exactly the spine-tingling scenario in the brilliantly named Legendary: The Box, which paints the following, terrifying picture: what if some twat opened Pandora's Box and unleashed an awesome evil power, including werewolves and, er, minotaurs?

Moving on, we forecast Danish plastic brick companies will see their profits rise even more this year as Traveller's Tales dish out Lego Batman and Lego Indiana Jones, while Steven Spielberg can add some extra dollars to his already bulging pockets thanks to a multi-million tie-up with EA, and the mysterious LMNO. What is it? Who knows, but apparently it's an 'action adventure' where you pair up with a female companion. Sounds cosy. Two Lost's to finish up: first... uh, Lost, as in the frustrating/brilliant TV show of the same name, and secondly Lost Odyssey, Mistwalker's giant RPG, which - by the time you read this - will have hit Japanese stores to almost-guaranteed TOTAL MAYHEM.

M

Truth is, by the time you read this, Marvel Universe Online, the MMO superhero smash-a-thon from City of Heroes developers Cryptic, could already be dead and buried. US rumours continue to suggest it's not long for this world, but as we write this, official word hasn't broken. We're hoping it's not on its way out, as the idea is preposterously good, but as there's been virtually nothing on it for a year and a half, and Microsoft aren't even talking about it anymore, the signs, we'll admit, ain't good.

Rockstar's Midnight Club: Los Angeles brings freeform racing to the Angelino streets in late spring. We saw it a couple of months back and, while it looked impressive, it's going to have to go some to keep up with Burnout Paradise. Two all-action outings to round things off: one is DICE's Mirror's Edge, a glitzy-looking FPS set in a Half-Life 2-ish future, and Mortal Kombat, which will have the gritty look of Gears of War, according to series creator Ed Boon. How that works, we don't know. But still: bank on a lot of blood.

N

Unbelievably, only one game populates the N's in 2008 and that's Ninja Gaiden 2. Apparently less hardcore than its predecessor, Tecmo's Xbox classic gets a next gen makeover with hyper-lush environments and the most amount of blood in any game ever.



O

You wait ages for someone to mount some kind of operation, then two come along at once. The first is Operation Darkness, a thoroughly silly Japanese action game that pitches you - in a Wolfenstein turn of events - against supernatural-dabbling Nazis, one of which appears to be Hitler himself. The other is Operation Flashpoint 2: Dragon Rising, the sequel to one of the very best war games of all time.

Despite playing awesomely, the original did have some small issues - namely that it was so astonishingly ugly some onlookers wrote it off as being a sub-10% mess of a game. Luckily, Codemasters have taken the follow-up in-house this time round and applied some next gen polish - which explains why the first shots look the business. The only question mark now is whether they can replicate Bohemia's incredi-gameplay from the first title.

P

Time hasn't been kind to Perfect Dark Zero. On its release it was a jazzy, shiny, quick-fire FPS, but pretty soon after it became a whole lot of yesterday's news thanks to the likes of CoD 2, GRAW and Rainbow Six Vegas. And now? Now it's a whole lot of yesterday's yesterday's news with the arrival of FPS greats like The Orange Box, Bioshock and CoD 4. Will Perfect Dark 2 put Rare back on top? Maybe. It hasn't been officially announced, but one thing's for sure: once it is, they're going to have to pull out all the stops, some other stops, and probably some more stops too, to topple the competition.

Also yet to be announced is Prince of Persia, which Ubisoft unwittingly showcased to the world during 2006's bungled leak that also exposed Far Cry 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Lost. The first batch of artwork suggests a return to Sands of Time stylings rather than the more visceral Warrior Within. Rounding things off are a couple of Projects: one, Project Offset, is a visual spectacular from little-known dev studio Offset, and sees you FPS-ing your way through a fantasy land full of orcs, goblins, dragons and trolls; and two, Project Origin, Monolith's unofficial sequel to their own F.E.A.R. Given their work on Condemned and its sequel plus PC titles like No One Lives Forever and Aliens vs Predator 2, it's safe to assume that the fare they'll be dishing out will be quality.

R

Last year's Colin McRae Dirt was a great racing game, proving Codies are right up there with the best when it comes to four wheel funishment. Race Driver: Grid, an evolution of the TOCA brand, is likely to dish out similar levels of car quality when it strikes later this year.

Vehicles also feature heavily in id's new game, Rage, which isn't dissimilar to Gearbox's Borderlands, and combines FPS and racing with a 'Wild West in space' setting. Of the two, Rage undeniably looks better, showcasing brand new tech from the Quake and Doom boys, but Borderlands' procedural arsenal could give it the edge. Either way, the safe money's on id not making their '08 release date, given their long history of slippage. Slippage which, as it happens, is perfectly demonstrated with Return to Castle Wolfenstein, announced to great fanfare almost two years ago... and then followed up with a big, fat load of nowt since. Given that the film of the game is on the way, and being helmed by Silent Hill director Roger Avary, expect more details as we get closer to its 2009 release date.

Three markedly different games to round off R: the ridiculously named Rainy Woods, which comes on like Twin Peaks meets Silent Hill meets rain meets woods meets murder; Rockband, EA's take on Guitar Hero, which is garnering super-high reviews in the States (we'll have the definitive verdict next issue); and Bethesda's Rogue Warrior: Black Razor, which - after a big hoo-ha - has gone all quiet. Based on the books of hard-ass marine Richard Marcinko, it sees you - er, as hard-ass marine Richard Marcinko - taking a group of highly trained SEALS into North Korea and destroying a bit of this and that with some well-placed bullets. It ain't original, but early shots were tidy, and the multiplayer sounds ace.

S

Right, lots to cover here. First, Pandemic's Saboteur, a clever wartime tale, which uses black and white and colour to determine which parts of the levels you've successfully aced, and ambitiously mixes stealth and gunnery. Not many guns in Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, a hardcore RPG sequel to a PC original, which sees you reigning from on high as a Seraphim. Guns are back on the menu for Saints Row 2, in which Volition are promising bigger, better, more - though the first batch of shots look almost exactly the same as the first game. Not enough guns yet? How's WWII thriller Schwarzenberg take your fancy, where you play a scientist trying to find out more about dastardly Nazi medical experiments?

Playing Romancing the Stone to Activision's Indiana Jones is Shadow of Aten, which does pretty much everything Indy does - just without Indy. Things get weird in Silent Hill 5 - but with development switching to The Collective from Konami's internal studios, we're not 100% convinced things get weird and good. Skate 2 will definitely be good, as long as EA stick to everything great about the first game, but tweak a few key areas like actually being able to walk up stairs. The Spiderwick Chronicles is a Vivendi-published kiddie licence, based on the film of the book. You're a kid, you battle goblins, probably going to score 63%.

Where's Spore? Will Wright's mind-shattering God sim has disappeared, despite being one of the most hyped games of 2006. We doubt it'll make '08 to be honest, but it's one to keep an eye on during the course of the year because with its concept (start as a tiny amoeba and evolve into worlds) it won't stay quiet for long.

Bit of Star Wars next. Specifically Star Wars Battlefront 3. Expect development to remain with Pandemic, the creators of the first two, and expect it to be pretty decent. Star Wars Force Unleashed is being pitched as the seventh episode, but from what we've seen of it so far, the opportunity to become Darth Vader's apprentice and some super-shiny physics aren't going to save this from being another above average contribution to George Lucas' bank account.

Will Street Fighter 4 make 2008? No hope in hell, but you can read more over on page 12. Finally, just as we stated in last month's issue, PC RTS giant Supreme Commander is coming to 360, with developers Gas Powered Games confirming so. It's a corking game on a Bill Gates-sponsored Windows machine, but how will those controls work on the 360?

T

The Greek-made Theseis isn't likely to punch your face in with its visuals and startling gameplay innovation, but at least Track 7 are attempting something different with their gun-free, myth-filled explore-a-thon set against a backdrop of minotaurs and gorgons. They, on the other hand, is remarkably familiar: a Half-Life-styled alien invasion shooter, though one with intriguing weaponry. Weaponry is also at the forefront of Free Radical's Timesplitters 4, which possibly won't make '08, but will definitely include some form of shooting monkey. The guys were still in pre-production when we went up to see them in September though, so this has some way to go.

TNA Impact has been getting office wrestling goons Matt 'n' Mike excited, especially after the disappointment of this year's Smackdown. Matt reveals that it's "more of a simulation" and "everything looks so fluid compared to Smackdown's mechnical robo-men".

As we type this sentence right here, Rob has just jetted in from Mexico having seen the new Tomb Raider game in action. Want the first shots, details, interviews... and pictures of Mr Muscle flouncing around on a Cancun beachfront? Next issue, readers!

Totems. A weird one. About six months back we received a small wooden box with feathers in it, and a URL. The URL reveals... well, nothing, but we've since discovered it's the new game from Elveon developers 10tacle. As gifts go, a wooden box full of feathers isn't as good as a free copy of Bioshock, but still... More soon.

Finally, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, the 'alternative history' FPS from Spark, has an intriguing Fatherland-style premise and - based on what we saw of it a couple of months back - fairly generic gameplay. It'll hit stores in February.

U

Despite the fact that no one's sure whether RTS's will ever really work on console, developers and publishers keep churning them out. Following in the footsteps of Command & Conquer, Halo Wars, Endwar, Supreme Commander and - just ahead in W - World in Conflict, is Universe at War: Earth Assault, which strategy man Rob tells us is the absolute business, despite looking uglier than a rampaging half-Rottweiler, half-Frank Ribery hybrid. More visceral is Ultimate Fighting Championship, which will replicate the no-holds-barred, anything-but-the-groin face-twattery of the real thing for the first time in next gen. And last up, Unreal Tournament 3, Epic's PS3-leading multiplayer FPS. We've played the finished thing on PC and, while undoubtedly sexy and staggeringly quick, we're not sure it's quite the fit for consoles that you might imagine. Expect it to land after Sony's exclusivity runs out in spring.

V

Viking: Battle for Asgard is Creative Assembly's latest attempt to do something other than a Total War game on PC, and it's a vast, gory rape-and-pillage-'em-up with added might and magic. We played it to death and back last month and it was great fun... though we're worried that there isn't enough stategy involved in the fighting, and that the levels might turn out to be a little too linear.

W

Warhound. Doesn't mean anything to you - until we tell you it's a mercenary-based shooter from Call of Juarez developers Techland! Eh? Still not interested? Oh. Yeah, truth is, the whole thing looks a bit standard, but then Juarez wasn't all that in screenshots or concept and turned out to be a genuinely interesting adventure. Two words that could just as easily be applied to Wet, the Lara-meets-Stranglehold acrobatic blaster that sees a woman whose NOT AT ALL LIKE LARA dole out justice and flip her way around levels, running up walls and turning over tables. Not original, but worth a gander.

The Wheelman is a Vin Diesel-starring heist game that Midway unveiled early last year, but which has gone AWOL since. Is it still in development? Does anyone even care? Finally, World in Conflict, another 'alternative history' war game, but this time in RTS form. It's the 1980s, the Soviets have invaded the US, and there's Tears for Fears on the soundtrack. The PC version has been garnering crazy-good scores, so
there's hope for the 360 version yet.

Xbox World 360