Chase Porter
Staff Writer
The past year was a big year for video games and gaming consoles with the releases of some of the biggest sequels of the decade. But what’s in store for 2011?
Last year was full of new consoles, games and sequels. The platforms of Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 were transformed by the addition of a controller free game play called the Kinect and Move.
Gaming in the past year unleashed some of the biggest selling games of all time with of course Call of Duty: Black Ops, Halo: Reach and Assassins Creed: Brotherhood, which are all continuations of a franchise game.
Besides just franchise games, 2010 rolled out top games such as Mass Affect 2, Red Dead Redemption and Fallout: New Vegas. All of these games incorporated a large single player world and online play that raised the bar for games in 2011. Also all of these top games had stunning graphics and emotionally pulling sound tracks that made these games and many others hits among the gaming community.
With all of these great games from 2010 how can we ever be entertained by games in 2011? Well, with the amount of sequels being produced out these days there’s always bound to be one coming out.
Dead Space 2, which hit shelves Jan. 25, has received praising reviews and looks to be a great continuation of the previous Dead Space. The game features the same main character, Isaac Clarke, and the game play is scarier than ever according to a review from ign.com.
“Dead Space was really fun and I can’t wait to get [Dead Space] 2 because the fact that the game is scary just makes the game that much more entertaining,” junior Cole Studebaker said.
Gears of War 3 has been announced for release sometime this spring and it has already been named a blockbuster hit. The new Gears of War game will continue the story from 2008’s Gears of War but will include new weapons and a revamped multiplayer match making. In the past the game has been known to be unable to connect to other online players but the developers will now include back up systems to keep you playing without quitting halfway through a game.
“Gears of War is fun for me because it’s a change from other games like Call of Duty and plus you can chain saw aliens during the game which is always fun,” said sophomore Davis Deloach said.
Two new shooters have been announced for 2011, which may rival Call of Duty and Bad Company games. Homefront, which will be released on March 8 and Operation Flashpoint: Red River, which will be released sometime this year, are being called innovative and different for the first person shooter fan.
Both games look to be similar to most shooters we have seen in the past but they do offer some new components to online game play. While in online play you will be able to access unmanned vehicles to scout out the opponent, mark targets and take down the enemy.
“I’m not really that excited for the new games in 2011 because its just going to be another Call of Duty or Halo,” junior Richard Curry said.
Nothing has been announced yet but it’s rumored that the Halo franchise will be working on a new game; who knows if it’s Halo related or not. Also, the Call of Duty franchise is sure to release another big name bestseller sometime this year. Not many other games have been announced for this year but these shooters coming out in the upcoming months will be sure to keep you entertained.
