GamerNode: Columns - Top 10 most anticipated games (non-sequels) of 2008

..article continued from page 1

7) White Knight Story (PS3) -

White Knight Story wowed gamers with it's beautifully rendered scenes and nearly flawless animation when its debut video was shown at the 2006 Tokyo Game Show. Since then, only a few new pieces of footage have made it into the spotlight, but everything about this game screams, "play me!" The combat is especially refreshing, and seamlessly blends real-time action with pre-defined tactics while maintaining a new-yet-familiar RPG feeling. This all comes as no surprise, of course, considering JapanStudio and Level 5 (Rogue Galaxy, Dragon Quest VIII) are behind the project.

6) LittleBigPlanet (PS3) -

Speaking of refreshingly original games, LittleBigPlanet is really unlike anything I've seen before. Aside from how wonderfully stylish the game looks, it also presents gamers with new ways to approach the games we play. Not only do players have a variety of methods by which they can physically interact with their environment (woohoo for physics!), but the game is actually a miniature game creation studio, allowing players to design and share content with others over the Playstation Network. This game has the potential to be endless, and it's all about fun.

5) Dead Space (360, PS3) -

The survival horror genre has seen a large amount of growth over the past few years, expanding into new settings, new subject matter, and even new realms of gameplay mechanics. Everyone seems to want a piece of the survival horror pie, and EA is offering up Dead Space - a deep space sci-fi fright-fest. The development team is taking the the concept of fear very seriously, researching horror movies and making sure to run the gamut of ways to scare people. They want gamers to be afraid to play. The protagonist is an engineer with no combat training, and the vessel on which the game takes place isn't exactly overflowing with weaponry. This is going to be a bit of a challenge; custom-built tools of war are surely in order. On top of everything, the game features top-notch visuals that bring the situation to life, and will quite possibly bring nightmares to your slumber.

4) Brutal Legend (360, PS3) -

It's hard to imagine that a game put together by Tim Schafer and his team at Double Fine Productions could be anything but incredible. They did, after all, create the surreal and captivating Psychonauts. Well, these wild imaginations have run wild once again, grabbing Jack Black and a handful of rock idols along the way. In Brutal Legend, roadie Eddie Riggs finds himself in an open world of all things heavy metal. The elder metal gods have created a place where spiders "spin guitar strings out of silk, and if you chop a tree down the cross-sections are perfect tires, and there are V8 engines growing underground. ...all these things are just waiting for you to discover." Of course, humanity has been enslaved by demons, and Eddie is charged with building an army against them. You can bet that the cast will be colorful, and the tasks will be insane. It's got that Schafer magic, and that's enough to land on my list.

• (11)
• 
• 
• 
•