The Couch Mercenaries



				2009... Looking Not So Bad After All
				Tuesday, November 18th 2008

				by Chops Suey
















				The holiday gaming season is slowly drawing to a close. Sure, we haven’t seen Prince of
				Persia and Left 4 Dead yet, but with Gears 2, Fable 2, COD:WAR and Fallout 3 all
				hitting shelves in the last 2 weeks or so, it’s safe to say that the big guns of the year have
				come and gone.

				2008 was an incredible year to be a gamer. We saw the biggest launch ever with GTA IV
				selling over 6 million copies in the first week, PS3 finally got their “Grade A” exclusives
				with MGS4 and Little Big Planet and the 360 kept on rolling strong with titles like Gears 2
				and Fable 2. Even Nintendo kicked some gamer ass with Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros
				and Wii Fit selling about a gazillion copies each.

				So with so many awesome titles hitting this year, have developers saved anything for
				2009? You damn right they did. Of course release dates are never set in stone, so don’t
				go planning your sick days around this article but hit the jump for 20 titles scheduled to
				drop in 2009 that you need to know more about.
							--------------------
				20) MadWorld (Wii)			The Mercs
				website: http://www.sega.com/platinumgames/madworld/EnglishUK/index2.html			Chops-Suey
				One of the jaw dropping titles from newly formed Platinum Games (which was formed by			(Webmaster)
				key people from Capcom’s Clover studio after they closed down) and being published by			BigSmooth8
				Sega. MadWorld has you playing in a ultra violent game show called Death Watch, which			(Podcast Manager)
				involves cutting people in half with your chainsaw arm (Ash would be so proud), playing			Highclass 1979
				Man-Darts which involves hitting people with bats onto a giant dartboard for points and			(Graphics)
				using random objects like street signs and impaling enemies in the head only to watch them			GothicMike
				run around like a headless chicken.			(Entertainment)

				Although very violent, the game has a comical feel to it, with a game show announcer			The Recruits
				doing a blow by blow throughout the fighting. What’s really selling this game to fans so far			Murphys Law
				is the stylized graphics which give the game a look similar to Frank Miller’s Sin City.			(TCM Ambassador)
				Guaranteed to be rated M, this game proves that the Nintendo really does have games for			B1gBadDaddy
				all ages. This game is scheduled to hit both North America and Europe in Q1 of 2009.			(Retro Corner)
							F and A Eternal
				19) Aliens: Colonial Marines (360, PS3)			(Editor in Chief)
				website: http://www2.sega.com/aliens/			Weediman
				Gearbox is hoping to squeeze another great title from the Unreal Engine with their tactical			(Community Manager)
				first person shooter Aliens: Space Marines. Published by Sega, the story was written by			Yodathe3rd
				Battlestar Galactica vets and is set after the events of Aliens and Aliens 3 with the player			(Community Manager)
				being part of a search and rescue team sent to find Ripley, Hicks and the rest of the gang.			PDPizzle
							(Sports and Music)
				Coop will be this games strong point, with up to 4 players at once online or 2 player local			Mcl0v1n
				splitscreen. The dev team have also hinted at a huge multiplayer element with one mode			(Writer)
				possibly following in the footsteps of the “Gloom Mod” from Quake II. Latest news has			Maximum F3ar
				this game hitting early March in North America and later on that same month for Europe.			(Writer)

				18) F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin (360, PS3)
				website: http://projectorigin.warnerbros.com/projectorigin/index.html
				The original F.E.A.R. game was one of the coolest FPS games to be released in 2005 on
				PC. The game was applauded for its spookiness and incredible enemy A.I. Monolith hopes
				to repeat their successes with the sequel which has the player taking control of a new
				character who enters the original game’s story about 30 minutes before the ending of the
				first game. They also confirmed that the new hero will also gain the “bullet-time” abilities
				from the first game at some point in the story.

				Expect a more polished game with all the scares and tears from the first title. The AI will be
				incredible once again and the dev team has promised more scenery by taking the game
				outside of the office building where the entire first game was held. Alma is back and angrier
				then ever, so shut the blinds and sit back for a crazy ride.

				17) Lord of the Rings Conquest (360, PS3)
				website: http://www.pandemicstudios.com/conquest
				With so many fans of the LotR series, it would be nice to finally have a fun game set in the
				world. Many have tried and all have failed. Pandemic is hoping to change this with its
				release of Conquest in January 2009. The game is being developed by the same team that
				made the Battlefront games set in Star Wars lore, which were pretty well received, giving
				hope to nerdy fanboys everywhere.

				The game will have 2 single player campaigns to play through. The good campaign will have
				you complete the biggest moments from the movies, including kicking some Balrog ass in
				Moria, taking on Saruman in Isengard and going hardcore on some Orcs at the Black gate
				(you control different characters from the series at different points of the game).

				The evil campaign (which is only available after finishing the good side) will follow an
				alternate history with Frodo failing to destroy the ring in Mount Doom. Then the fun begins
				as you take control of the Nazgul to kill Frodo and all the chaps from the fellowship. Which
				all culminates with you taking control of Lord Sauron himself as you lay siege on Rivendale.

				16) Bayonetta (360, PS3)
				website: http://www.sega.com/platinumgames/bayonetta/EnglishUSA/index2.html
				The second big title from Platinum Games to hit gamers in 2009, Bayonetta has been slowly
				picking up steam since it was announced. Directed by Hideki Kamiya (creator of the Devil
				May Cry series), the game tells the story of a witch reborn in modern times to take on both
				angels and demons.

				DMC has been established as one of the greatest action games of all time and Bayonetta is
				looking like a true competitor in the genre. The lead character has uses a combination of
				gun (some of which are attached to her feet) and magic to kick some serious celestial ass.
				Her hair also seems to have crazy powers, changing into different attacks as you progress.
				No exact date has been given for release yet, with the dev team currently aiming for a late
				summer/early fall release.

				15) Halo Wars (360)
				website: http://www.halowars.com
				RTS games have had a hard time cracking the console code with games like Command
				and Conquer usually fairing quite poorly on the console side. Developer Ensemble Studios
				is creating a new console focused game in the hopes of reversing this trend.

				Of all the settings to possibly crack the market, Halo probably has the best chance. Even a
				year after release, Halo 3 is still in the top 3 games played every week according to Major
				Nelson and the MS team. Set 20 years before the first Halo game, the player gets to take
				on the covenant in a whole new way, using strategy in place of raw fire power. Promises
				that the flood also show up has made many gamers very happy indeed and they won’t
				have to wait long with a planned release in February.

				14) Fight Night Round 4 (360, PS3)
				website: http://eacanada.ea.com/
				Fight Night Round 3 (created by the now defunked EA Chicago) became a sleeper hit
				back in 2006, proving that a well made boxing game could still hold some weight in a world
				were fighter games usually involve weapon combos or dragon punches. EA Canada is
				hoping to follow up on the success with the new title currently schedules for “sometime”
				in 2009.

				Don’t expect huge changes from the winning formula that made FNR3 a hit. But the dev
				team is using a new Physics engines called REAL (Record Evaluate Adapt Learn) that will
				allow punches to be blocked, half-blocked, hit shoulders or land squarely adding for
				realism to the boxing sim. Oh... did I mention that Mike Tyson is in the game? This game is
				scheduled to land sometime in 2009.

				13) Prototype (360, PS3)
				website: http://www.prototypegame.com
				Although it was supposed to be delivered to us late 2008, Radical Entertainment chose to
				hold the game back a few extra months to add polish, especially since this “little” title
				ended up getting some huge love from fans everywhere.

				A spiritual follow up to their surprise hit, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, the
				player takes on Alex Mercer, a genetically mutated shape shifter in a huge open world
				New York as he takes on other mutants and humans in his quest to regain his memory. If
				we see no more delays with this game, it should be hitting shelves sometime in April.

				12) UFC 2009 Undisputed (360, PS3)
				website: http://www.ufcundisputed.com/
				The last (and first) official UFC game came out way back in 2004 when we got our hands
				on UFC: Sudden Impact. THQ has since secured the rights to the franchise and will be
				releasing their first title in the series somewhere in the middle of 2009.

				Not a whole lot has been shown on this game, but an in-game trailer released in 2008
				showing a match between Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin was enough to make
				UFC fans blow up with excitement. The popularity of the sport has also grown quite a bit
				in the past 5 years so expect this game to not hold back any punches (get it… punches…
				UFC… sorry).

				11) Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion (360, PS3)
				website: http://unleashfusion.marvel.com/
				Created by Activision, the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance gave gamers a chance to duke
				it out in a four-man action RPG, giving us the chance to choose from a wide range of
				Marvel heroes and villains. Better yet, players could take their game online and play coop
				with 3 friends, each player taking the role of the character they choose.

				The sequel is set in the Marvel Civil War story arc. The devs are also using an updated
				version of the Alchemy game engine which will allow them to use Havoc physics, 3D
				Sound System and lips-to-dialogue speaking. The name Fusion also comes from the fact
				that new power combos will allow two characters to combine their powers for a powerful
				attack, such as Invincible Woman creating a force field and Iron Man overloading it to
				create a massive bomb.

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