Hello, good morning and welcome to Christmas Eve!

Click through to read the final part of Keith Stuart’s article on key gaming trends to watch out for in 2009. We’re talking gore, gangsters, action and open-world…

Ambitious epics
Action thrillers set in vast open-worlds are set to be a key feature of 2009, with hot ‘brands’ like GTA IV, Heroes, Cloverfield and Jason Bourne providing plenty of inspiration. The most intriguing is certainly Heavy Rain, the visually astonishing drama from French studio Quantic Dream, which promises a rich, emotional narrative and deep characterization – a bit like Street Fighter IV, then. Sega’s Alpha Protocol, a modern day espionage RPG, is more conventional but comes with plenty of pedigree; it’s by the makers of Fallout and Baldur’s Gate. There are also two rather apocalyptic romps with everyman heroes – survival horror/disaster movie crossover I Am Alive from Ubisoft and inFamous, in which an everyday guy finds he has super powers after surviving an enormous explosion. Hey, it could happen. Finally, look out for PROTOTYPE from Radical Entertainment, another sandbox biggie with a hero who can consume the powers of his enemies.

www.quanticdream.com/#home
www.sega.co.uk/alphaprotocol/uk/index.html
iamalivegame.uk.ubi.com/
www.suckerpunch.com/detail.php/games/infamous
www.prototypegame.com

The hardcore contingent
Naturally, Killzone 2 will be getting most of the shoot-‘em-up press next year, but it won’t be alone. Gearbox, the Texan studio with several Half-Life offshoots in its holster has two offerings: sci-fi blaster Borderlands, complete with customizable weapons and RPG undertones, and Aliens: Colonial Marines, a squad-based shocker taking in well-known locations from the movie series. Taking a different approach, HAWX is the latest title inhabiting the Tom Clancy universe, a sort of squad-based jet plane shooter with wingman-based multiplayer action. And Clancy’s EndWar RTS will be facing stiff competition in the form of Stormrise from Creative Assembly, the British chaps behind the brilliant Total War series on PC. No, not a shoot-‘em-up but absolutely, definitely hardcore.

www.borderlandsthegame.com
www.sega.com/aliens
www.sega.com/stormrise
hawxgame.uk.ubi.com/

Grand guignol shockers
While first-generation console titles tend to be rather prim and earnest, next year should see several developers kick back and really enjoy the PS3 hardware with some outlandish game ideas. Sega is at the head of the frothy-mouthed pack with Bayonetta, a hack-‘n-slash romp based around a witch with guns in her boots and deadly hair. It’s by Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya , so subtlety and restraint can be more-or-less ruled out. Similarly, Namco is re-making eighties arcade gore shooter Splatterhouse, with more gore and more shooting, including the use of severed heads as weapons. Yay. Meanwhile, fans of rock music and/or classic LucasArts adventures like Monkey Island should be excited about Brütal Legend from legendary game designer Tim Schafer – it’s about a roadie fighting the forces of evil in a mythical heavy metal kingdom. And 2009’s guilty pleasure? It could well be the preposterous 50 Cent: Blood in the Sand, in which the rapper battles a worldwide crime cartel. Somehow it simultaneously works – and appalls – on many different levels.

Bayonetta trailer
www.brutallegendgame.com/splash/
www.50bloodonthesand.com/us/

(Un)original gangsters
What the world needs now is more gangster games! And if your mind says things like that, you’ll love this year. Troubled publisher Midway is going glitzy with This is Vegas a weird hybrid of GTA adventure and poker sim; the veteran company also has breathless movie tie-in the Wheelman, which could be this generation’s Driver. For period thrills, you’ll get the choice between Mafia II from 2K Czech, formerly Illusion Softworks of Hidden and Dangerous fame, and (perhaps) LA Noire, by Team Bondi, headed by Getaway creator, Brendan McNamara – they’re both 40’s- and 50’s-based with a nod to the works of Raymond Chandler and Elmore Leonard. Oh and EA is having another bash at Godfather, this time tackling the second movie. No, nothing is sacred – this is the games industry for heaven’s sake.

www.thisisvegasgame.com/
www.mafia2game.com/
www.wheelmangame.com/
www.rockstargames.com/lanoire/
www.ea.com/godfather2/agegate.action