The fall season is usually the time when all the best games come out. We'll just take last year for instance; Assassin's Creed II, Modern Warfare 2, Left for Dead 2, some other random game...2. It just tends to be a glorious time for video games, and it seems the trend will continue this year as well with such an anticipated lineup of video games; Fallout: New Vegas, Rock Band 3, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Fable III, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, etc. There are just too many to list, so let's examine based on the ones I am anticipating more than the others.
Rock Band 3
Certainly my most anticipated of the lot, as anyone who has played video games with me knows my love for the Rock Band series over the Guitar Hero series, everything from the game itself to the instrument peripherals (say what you want, the Rock Band instruments are lighter, quieter, and easier on the fingers and eyes), and unless you've been under a rock for the last few months, you should know the newest rhythm-action game will include a keyboard peripheral (which can be used as a key-tar if you so choose, which I would) so you rock out on the ivories, an addition that I'm sure will quickly replace drums as my favorite instrument. While adding the keyboard to the band, it also include vocal harmonies (introduced in The Beatles: Rock Band) to the main series. No more are the days were one person sits out while four other play (or you could just have more multi-tasking). Still, all the features above pale in comparison to what Harmonix is promising this time around: the Pro-Mode. If you don't know, Pro-Mode is supposed to be the bridge that links fake, plastic guitars to the real deal; that is, when you play in Pro-Mode, you're essentially playing a real guitar/bass/drums/keyboard.
So, all that sounds fantastic, but there's one little thing that's really holding this game back: cost. The standalone game costs $60, as per the usual. This time around, there's only one bundle available which includes the new keyboard for $150. While that's a good thing for those that already own instruments, it kind of screw over the new players, who will need to shell out $60 for a guitar, $100 for a drum set, and $20 for a microphone. Now, let's look at the aforementioned Pro-Mode. As I mentioned, it is essentially a real guitar part, which requires a guitar that has 6 buttons across 17 frets, totaling 102 fret buttons on the controller. Now, this is something I feel needs to be included with the bundle, but as it seems, the industry wants to use the opportunity to take more of your money by charging a hefty amount for these peripherals. Then again, I suppose a high price tag is more caused by the fact these Pro instruments can support MIDI outside of the game, much like the Ion Drum Set could support an electric drum brain. Despite the costly investments, Rock Band 3's features are sure to draw in many suckers (myself included) who will happily pile hundred of dollars into these instruments just so they can pretend to be rock star.
Fallout: New Vegas
I can't put into words how much I am anticipating this game right now, second only to Rock Band 3. I absolutely fell in love with Fallout 3 when it released in 2008 (having never even played or heard of the Fallout franchise until I did, something I quickly corrected there after). Beautiful visuals, exciting gameplay and an involving plot with Liam Neeson as your father; I mean seriously, how could this game have been any better? I have honestly played the hell out of that game; I've finished every quest, found all possible unique weapons, downloaded all five add-ons and unlocked all the achievements. So naturally I would be psyched up for the spin-off title when I heard news of it.
The first thing that grabbed my attention was the location: New Vegas. Now I may not be a genius (in fact, Firefox's spell checker had to correct my spelling of "genius"), but New Vegas is obviously Las Vegas, and a post-apocalyptic atmosphere mixed in with the chaotic, unscathed Sin City would provide nothing but fun for a gamer. From the integrated virtual gambling to exciting and exotic weapons to the wide, open explorable wasteland, New Vegas is surely going to be an absolute blast.
While the core gameplay is ultimately identical to Fallout 3, New Vegas takes the apocalypse one step further by including a Hardcore Mode, which will make the game all the more realistic. While most video game characters (Link, for instance) can carry 9,001 metric tons of equipment without a problem, New Vegas' Hardcore Mode prevents amazing feats like that. While Fallout 3 had the encumbance system to prevent you from lugging around 20 sets of Power Armor as well as an armory of weapons, small items like bottle caps and ammunition (among several other items) did not contribute to your carried weight; Hardcore Mode changes that. Don't expect to carry around 27,487+ microfusion cells, 248 missiles, all while wearing Power Armor that weighs 25 pounds, and a whole grocery isle of canned beans. This kind of realism provides the kind of challenges gamers like me enjoy undertaking.
Fable III
Now I'm just going to say this, and as I do, I'm going to hold up this fire-proof shield : the first two Fable games were great in terms of gameplay; easy controls, friendly interface, and a fairly easy-to navigate menu. When it comes to features, they both had great features and implemented them well and the plots were involving and easy to follow. However, I will admit to the fact that they both had issues that dragged them down the meter, and that fact is broken promises, and lots of them, and its because of that fact that I'm a little skeptical of the third installment. There were so many features that Lionhead had planed to include in both Fable and Fable II, but were cut due to time constraints and while the games still sold and reviewed phenomenally, we all know now that they could have been just that much better. In spite of the few promises they've already broken about Fable III, I just have this gut feeling that I'll still be at my local GameStop at midnight on October 26th getting my own copy (as well as my Rock Band 3 bundle) because as I said at the beginning, the first two games were great, and I'm sure the third will satisfy most of the franchise's fanbase.
Now, as far as the other games I mentioned go, they just don't interest my as much as these three. Call of Duty: Black Ops is certain to achieve success with its own fanbase and while I've tossed around the idea of picking it up, I know I'm still a Halo player at heart and I'll just find the latter to be a more enjoyable experience on my part. And Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is another I'm anticipating, but that was never a franchise that warranted a midnight pickup. I'm sure it will hit its high mark, release and expansion, and quickly find itself in our 'Games I'll Probably Only Play Once' section along with Crackdown 2 and Metroid: Other M.
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