Coming Attractions: Strategy, Simulation & Sports
S Club party.
Simulation
One of the few genuinely reclusive and exclusive subcultures in gaming, simulation is still one we like to pay attention to when we can, but we found rooting out intriguing prospects for 2010 quite difficult. Possibly because we didn't know where to look. If you can think of more than these two, let us know.
Silent Hunter 5
On: PC / Developer: Ubisoft Romania / Publisher: Ubisoft / Release: "Early" 2010
We didn't realise we knew so many frustrated U-boat captains until Silent Hunter 5 broke the surface last year and caused genuine waves of excitement among our friends, especially among the staff of Eurogamer's various European sites. If the goal of simulation games is wish-fulfilment as well as authenticity, then the chance to wander about your sub in first-person will drive them crazy, and it's enough to get us more than a little intrigued, too.
Storm of War: Battle of Britain
On: PC / Developer: 1C: Maddox Games / Publisher: Ubisoft / Release: 2010
Meanwhile, in the skies, we find EG contributor and sim expert Tim Stone's pick of the year, which he thinks "should be pretty special". The long, long-awaited sequel to the 2001 classic IL-2 Sturmovik couldn't feature a more iconic setting than the Battle of Britain, nor more iconic hardware than the Spitfire, Hurricane and, er Fiat BR.20, not to mention the Bristol Bolingbroke.
Sports
Tom writes: As EA boss John Riccitiello noted in an investor call this week, 2010 promises "FIFA in a World Cup year". It also promises - although hasn't officially promised yet - a FIFA World Cup game in a World Cup year. Thanks to EA Canada's footballing behemoth, sports was the one genre that stood toe to toe with Modern Warfare 2 in 2009 (at least in Europe), and while many of the dollars and pounds directed in its direction in 2010 will head for one or two games only, there are more interesting stories to be told than you might imagine.
Highlights
Backbreaker
On: PS3, Xbox 360 / Developer: NaturalMotion / Publisher: 505 Games / Release: Spring 2010
It's an American football game, made by a physics engine company. Anyone? Perhaps it won't be a monster hit, and it certainly won't dethrone Madden, for which EA is promising innovations this year (infer what you like). And we don't know whether it has a better solution to the developer's dilemma of trying to capture being and thinking in two different places at once, quarterback style. But if Backbreaker's unique selling point is that it captures the physical minutiae of matters atop the gridiron better than its rival, then whatever else NaturalMotion does with the game it may rest upon a threatening set of foundations. The iPhone version was cheap and excellent too, for what it's worth.
FIFA 11
On: Unknown - but expect EA to challenge everything / Developer: EA Canada / Publisher: EA / Release: Unknown - expect November 2010
2011 is a challenging year for the football development team at EA Canada, which has to deal with being the critical and commercial market leader not just for the first time, but for the first and second times in a row, thanks to the inevitable, albeit unannounced World Cup game and the prospect of the real deal, FIFA 11, some months later. Some changes and updates will be simple and obvious - dial down the crazy goalkeepers, bug-test Manager Mode - but while there's clearly a lot of make-believe tarmac still to cover on the development team's gameplay roadmap, FIFA 10 is already an excellent simulation, and so in order to consolidate its position this year's instalment may call for that rarest of things in a sports game: imagination.
Pro Evolution Soccer 2011
On: Unknown - but expect PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, etc. / Developer: Konami Tokyo / Publisher: Konami / Release: Unknown - but expect November 2010
PES 2010 had its moments, but not enough of them to worry FIFA 10, and not enough to outweigh the stagnation elsewhere. Even the Konami development team was under few illusions about this, flying journalists over to a French press event prior to the game's release to effectively admit they weren't sure of themselves any more and ask for input. With expectations set lower than ever, though, PES 2011 can only be an improvement, and does have positives to build upon: overdue but wilful attempts to break free of the series' ingrained rails of movement for one, the perennially superior Master League for another, and of course the official Liverpool FC licence. (Actually, I probably can't get away with the last one.)
Skate 3
On: PS3, Xbox 360 / Developer: EA Black Box / Publisher: EA / Release: May 2010
Activision Blizzard may be the biggest third-party publisher in the world, but in a year that saw its rivals diving around to avoid Modern Warfare 2's crosshairs, bubbly brunette Bobby Kotick won't be pleased that so many of us finished the year pondering the apparent commercial failure of DJ Hero, Band Hero, Guitar Hero 5 and Tony Hawk: RIDE. EA may be in the ascendancy again, but would do well to keep this in mind as it rolls out a third instalment in the popular but hardcore Skate series this May. Online team-building, new multiplayer modes and better on-foot behaviour are the sort of marginal-sounding changes that could divert Skate 3 into the same cul-de-sac the previously lovely Tony Hawk found himself rolling down before he went a bit 3/10 and lost it on Twitter. We're hoping Skate 3 is a coronation instead.
Also in 2010
Frozen Britain would presumably work as a good PR angle for this month's Vancouver 2010 were it not discouraging people from going to the shops; Tiger Woods is cutting down on public appearances anyway, so it's a good thing you can play the Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online open beta at home this month; Cyberbike's full-size exercise bike definitely needs to be kept behind closed doors; Hot Shots Tennis for PSP is an unknown quantity, supposedly imminent; EA put PS3 and 360 Grand Slam Tennis on the back burner, but you never know, it might show up come Wimbledon; John Riccitiello says this year's Madden will be "innovative" (perhaps it's about baseball); and 2010 FIFA World Cup is an as-yet unannounced inevitability, hopefully with better goalkeepers.