Most Anticipated Games of 2009

Hear we ordered some populated games in 2009 and hope you guys also accept this. Hear we describe some features of those games.

The types of games that pack the most appeal will naturally be different for each of us. For example, Nate is too young to remember Punch-Out!!, but when I get the Wii version of the game, I am going to tear open the shrink-wrap with my teeth.

We also tried to constrain this list to games that will actually come out this year. So no Alan Wake, no God of War III and certainly no Duke Nukem Forever.

With these factors in mind, we present the 11 most anticipated games of 2009. Time to sharpen your incisors.

Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and the Damned (Xbox 360)

I’m sick of hanging out with Niko Bellic. I mean, I know he had a rough adolescence in Serbia and all, but that can only excuse so much murderous, sociopathic behavior. But man, oh man, I sure do miss kicking it in Liberty City. What a place! The sights, the sounds, the insane stunt jumps and plentiful rocket launchers! I’m itching for the chance to visit again, this time in the company of grizzled biker Johnny Klebitz.

The new Xbox 360 downloadable expansion to GTA IV offers a lengthy new narrative, and upgrades my favorite virtual metropolis with new weapons, missions, vehicles and multiplayer modes. What’s that you say? Klebitz is probably a murderous sociopath just like Niko? Yeah, well … as long as he doesn’t have an annoying cousin that’s always phoning him, I think I can put up with that.

Resident Evil 5 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

Until we zombie purists convince George Romero to open a game development studio, Capcom Entertainment is our best substitute in the pixelized fight against the undead. Metal Gear Solid 4-level visual polish, a nicely modified strain of the Resident Evil 4 control scheme, online co-operative multiplayer and the woefully underrepresented setting of the African Savannah all indicate that Resident Evil 5 almost has to be something special.

Honestly, I’m just giddy for a chance to pop off heavy munitions into the brains of some undead foes. At the end of a long workday, nothing is more satisfying than the wholesale slaughter of shambling hordes. — Earnest Cavalli

Dark Void (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Windows)

Gears of War’s cover system is getting a bit tired these days, so when I heard at E3 that Capcom’s upcoming shooter Dark Void lifts it, I had to stop myself from yawning. But then the developer giving the demo twisted the camera angle to reveal that we weren’t walking down some dark hallway blasting enemies — we were flying up the side of a tower, leaping from cover point to cover point courtesy of a very Rocketeer-ish jetpack.

Moments later, the protagonist leaped off the side of the tower, cutting a beeline toward a wildly maneuvering metal disc. Try as it might, the disc couldn’t get out of his path, and when he alighted on top of the frame, a familiar sequence of button presses popped up just as they might in God of War. Triangle, X, Square and the craft’s pilot had been beaten soundly and thrown from the disc — only to have his ride hijacked, Grand Theft Auto-style, by our hero. Three minutes of gameplay and Dark Void had cemented itself in my mind as the sleeper hit of 2009