Gerren’s Wishlist

I’ve decided to take a different approach to this by organizing my list into my most-wanted from five major genres.

Action (Non-shooter) - Mirror’s Edge

The first-person parkour/platforming hybrid is one of the two new IPs EA is counting on to spawn new franchises. Being more risky an idea than Dead Space, this also gives Mirror’s Edge the biggest opportunity to innovate as a genre-buster if done correctly. Of course it could also be a colossal disappointment if the gameplay isn’t up to par.

Shooter - Call of Duty: World at War

I know, I know. This isn’t an Infinity Ward CoD. I know, Gears of War 2 and Resistance 2 will be bigger and probably better games. But I’m a person who, before Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six: Vegas, was woefully disinterested in most shooters after Black. So this is the the next game in the series that opened the door for me to care for Resistance and Gears at all. If Treyarch can correct the mistakes of CoD3 and take advantage of this new engine, WWII may be worth revisiting.

Sports - NCAA Football 2009

Online dynasty, full and proper, for a sports game. That in itself makes me love this title. Add the tweaks in gameplay, campus legend and AI, as well as the custom chants and music for specific scenarios--seemingly small but an absolute brilliant move for creating proper atmosphere for a college sports title--and you have this college football nut’s wet dream.

Platformer - LittleBigPlanet

If the community aspect of LBP comes together in the manner Sony has attempted to sell it, this might prove to be a generation-defining title. Early signs are incredibly promising, with people creating levels that fall into completely different genres from that of the main game.

RPG - Fallout 3

As an admitted Square Enix fan, it was very hard for me not to include Chrono Trigger DS in this spot. Being one of the very few people that didn’t completely drool over Oblivion at its release, I had very tempered expectations of this Fallout 3. After getting about four hours into the game, it’s easily the front-runner for my favorite RPG of the year. We’ll see if that stands upon completion, but it already feels like a must-play.