Jan 05 2009
Looking Forward Into 2009
Alright, it’s January 5th 2009, which means the news engine for the videogame world can begin turning once more. And I’m excited, considering the slow period that the weeks during and around Christmas are a ridiculously slow period for videogame news, as the titles we’ve all been waiting for are released, and practically everyone is on vacation. But now we can look forward to 2009, and the titles it will bring.
My most anticipated so far? Well the console version of The Witcher of course, but other than that? Sacred 2 for Xbox 360. If you’re a fan of this style of RPG then chances are you’ve played the original on PC, and it was awesome, if not a complete Diablo clone like many PC action RPG’s. The console version of Sacred 2 is going to be real time action, which means you will control the combat through button presses, instead of pointing and clicking. And that’s why I’m excited.
I love hack n slash, but I really love quality hack n slash games, which are few and far between. The last one of real quality I remember in fact is Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I would say Fable II but the combat is horrible unpolished, and I hate contextual button mapping, ie the fact that you have to hold ‘X’ to block/execute a powerful attack, because it never works as well as planned.
But Sacred 2 so far looks like it will be awesome. The graphics are good, and Sacred will bring an experience for the RPG dungeon crawling world that hasn’t really been touched on a console yet. Not to mention the awesomeness of drop-in-drop-out play over Xbox Live. Meaning if your buddy is also playing Sacred 2 they can transport their character into your game for some co-op questing. And that’s the major reason I can’t wait for Sacred 2. Fable II promised great co-op and didn’t even come close to delivering. . . at all. I’m hoping not to be burned again.
Oh and Wii Sports, though I admit I still don’t get the gimmicky appeal of the Wii, is now the best selling game of all time with well over 40 million units sold. Blowing up previous bestseller Super Mario Bros.
