Video Games: 2007

OK, 2006 was a pretty awesome year in video games. The Xbox 360 came to fruition and the PS3 came out (unfortunately with no games really). As good as 2006 was, 2007 is going to be just as good, if not better. There are some kick ass games on the horizon, and I'm just going to list 10 games that I am really looking forward to. I'm going to keep this restricted to Xbox 360 games because I've kind of given up on PC Games, and the PS3 I probably won't be getting anytime soon. Keep in mind though that some of these games will come out on PS3 also.

10. Virtua Fighter 5
SEGA was the best video game company to ever exist. Well, I really liked them anyways. Virtua Fighter 5 just looks sweet. I'm not really a big fan of fighters anymore, but this has got me excited. Maybe that's why I'm looking forward to this, but I've liked the previous games in this series also.

9. Guitar Hero 2
This game is just damn fun. It comes with a guitar controller! Actually the only reason this isn't further up my list is because I actually know how to play a real guitar, which actually takes the fun out of playing a fake guitar.

8. Project Gotham Racing 4
I'm a big car fan, and thus also a big racing game fan. The Project Gotham Racing series of games have just been great. It's not the most realistic driving game out there but the graphics are always sweet and the gameplay is just fun. It's also the only racing game I've played to date that is actually fun to play with others online. Watch the trailer.

7. Forza Motortsport 2
Again, because I'm a car geek, but where Project Gotham is fun and arcadey, Forza is realistic and more a driving simulator. This means lots of real cars, lots of real tracks, and lots of useless realistic stuff, like tire temperature affecting how your car handles and being able to change every part on the car. Basically, it's Gran Turismo for the Xbox.

6. Unreal Tournament 3
This game is being made by Epic studios, the same people who did Gears of War. It uses the same game engine. Enough said. Even though I was never really a huge fan of the previous games I did play them and this does promise to be a good shooter.


5. Resident Evil 5
Well the RE series has been awesome and I am really looking forward to this. Unfortunately, this might not be released this year, but here's hoping.


4. Mass Effect
This is an RPG coming from the same people who did Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic, which I loved. Other than that though I haven't really gotten into RPGs, but this game looks great and might be one of, if not THE, best RPG in 2007. Videos and stuff here.

3. Assassin's Creed
This game looks bad-ass. If you have ever played games like Prince of Persia, this is in the similar vein. I'm really hoping this turns out to be a great game. Watch the little video on the game's website, it's cool.

2. Half-Life 2: Orange Box

The Half-Life games are the best single-player first-person shooters that I have ever played. And even though I have played Half-Life 2 already, I want to do so again on 360. In addition to that, this "Orange Box" package will include the two expansion packs for Half-Life 2 and also the online multiplayer Team Fortress 2.

1. Halo 3
OK, I'll be honest, a part of me is hesitant to put this as my most anticipated game this year. The first Halo was a great game, especially the first time I played it. Halo 2 was technically a better game, but to be honest if the multiplayer wasn't there it wasn't all-that, since the single-player left me a bit empty. And after seeing what next-gen games like Gears of War have done, I'm really hoping Halo 3 lives up to the hype and what not. I have enough trust in Bungie, the people making the game, that they will make a great game. But at this point I think myself, and pretty much everyone else that wants to play this game, is hoping that it will be more than a great game. Check out the trailer.

This list doesn't include a lot of stuff, and there are tons of great games coming out this year. The video game industry is a huge place now. Gears of War, which had a budget of about $15 million, has already sold more than 3 million copies in about 10 weeks.
Xbox also has their "live arcade" games which are basically simpler games you can download onto your Xbox, or old games like the original Doom. Some of these are incredibly fun and only cost a few dollars. One game coming out for download is "Worms", the turn-based strategy game where you control a team of worms and try to destroy the other team with all manner of weaponry. Yup, fun.
And if anyone is reading this and cares, comment on some games that you want to play this year.