Alan Wake 

From Remedy Entertainment, the Finnish developer behind Max Payne, Alan Wake has been described as a psychological action thriller, and is slated to arrive exclusively for the 360 next year. The game begins with Alan, a novelist suffering from writer’s block and insomnia, who has checked into a secluded clinic outside the small town of Bright Falls. Once in the town, he begins dreaming and writing again, except the dreams become nightmares, and the town itself starts changing according to his terrifying visions. The developer has stated that the town will serve as a free roaming environment, but the game will still be highly character and story driven.  

While Wake will feature intense action and combat, the gameplay is mainly focused on adventure and exploration, adding to the story driven theme. It has also been revealed that while Alan my carry a gun, his flashlight will also play an integral role as the enemies are vulnerable to light. The aspect of light is suspected to play an important part in the gameplay, and will need to be taken advantage of by the player in order to survive. Although many gamers may have been anxiously waiting for Max Payne 3, Remedy went a different route and decided to create something new. And after seeing what they’ve done so far, anyone can appreciate their decision to move in a different creative direction instead of offering the same old stuff.  

Too Human 

Unfortunately vaporware is an all too common problem in the videogame industry, and Too Human has suffered the same troubles as when it was first shown back at E3 1999. However things are starting to look more positive now, as the game seems to finally be coming together for a 2008 release. It offers an intriguing storyline inspired by Norse mythology featuring an epic struggle between machines and man. In order to stay strong against their mechanical adversaries mankind has used cybernetic alterations on itself, helping them defend their humanity, but sacrificing it at the same time.  

Too Human possesses fast paced melee and ranged combat, but also makes use of RPG elements such as skill progression and exploration. Obviously, the cybernetic aspect of the story will factor into character creation as a wealth of classes, armor, and cybernetic enhancements will be available to the player. The game is also planned to be a first part of the trilogy, which will allow players to carry over their skill progression from one game to the next. Also included is a cooperative multiplayer mode which allows up to three other players to join your campaign at any point in time. While Too Human may be having a tough time making its way onto the retail shelves, its originality in story and ingenuity in game design has many gamers cheering for this one to reach the finish line and finally be released to the public.  

Left 4 Dead 

Zombies have always been a token element of videogames, but rarely have they been included the way that Turtle Rock and Valve are planning. Left 4 Dead is designed as a team based multiplayer game, where four players will assume the role of human survivors and another four will lead a hoard AI controlled zombies. The game will allow for a unique experience regardless of which side you play on, and each will involve different strategies and options.  

The humans of Left 4 Dead will be given two tiers of weapons ranging from shotguns, M16 and M14 rifles as well as submachine guns, which will be available to certain players depending on what character you play as. While the zombies may not make use of projectile weapons they will also be given different classes with abilities such as throwing large objects, seeing through walls, and of course carrying more AI controlled zombies with them. They also carry an advantage over the human team as they are able to continually respawn, while humans must be revived by team mates. While incorporating zombies into a game is nothing new, Left 4 Dead is changing the classic scenario of man versus the undead into a team based multiplayer shooter that is adding something new to the world of online FPS games.  

Lost Odyssey 

As said in the other section, Final Fantasy creator Sakaguchi is branching out into some new intellectual properties including the RPG Lost Odyssey, which is being developed by Feel Plus. In the game, you play as the character Kaim, who has been sentenced to live for a 1,000 years. Sakaguchi has said that he is experimenting with a number of different game design scenarios because of Kaim’s extraordinarily long life. What these may be is unknown, but some have speculated that the game may go in a different direction than other Japanese games which usually present a clear conflict between good and evil.  

The game takes place a point during tremendous social upheaval due to an industrial revolution combining advanced technology and magic that could have dire consequences. So far details of the combat system are scant, but a few details have seeped out. The game includes over 150 combat rings which possess a wealth of different elemental powers that can be thrown during a fight, and can also match an enemy’s attack. The party system will also include a function that allows the stronger party members to protect the weaker ones by forming a defensive line and take damage for them. So far it seems that Lost Odyssey is going to introduce some interesting new elements to the world of Japanese RPG’s and help push the genre forward.   

Huxley 

Last but not least comes the MMOFPS (is that acronym official yet?) that gamers have been waiting for, and hopefully in 2008 the waiting will finally cease. Huxley takes place in the far future where nuclear radiation and natural disasters have thrown the world into disarray and have split the population up into two factions, Sapiens (humans) and alternatives (mutants). The developers at Webzen have stated that the gameplay is somewhat similar to the Unreal Games in that it is very fast paced. It has also been mentioned that the early stages of character development will proceed more quickly so players will be able to get in on the action fast, like most other FPS games.  

Webzen has stated that the cities in Huxley will be able to contain up to 5000 players, and player vs. player battles can contain over a hundred combatants. Besides PVP play there will be cooperative quests available like other MMO’s where players can team up against AI controlled opponents. The game is also said to be cross platform between Windows Vista and Xbox 360, but details on exactly how this interaction will work are unclear. This is not the first time an MMOFPS has been attempted; PlanetSide was released in 2003 by Sony Online Entertainment but never really took off. Hopefully Huxley will successfully combine the world of FPS gaming with MMO’s, because it is still a genre that has yet to be properly established and could very well have a large audience on the 360 given the popularity of shooters on the console.

We haven’t forgotten the PS3, click here to see what we thought!