10 - Dragon Age 2
The first Dragon Age was just masterful. Bioware are the absolute epitome of what it is to make a thrilling story within a game, and the sequel has a lot to live up to. There were some gameplay issues with the first, for example if you took 2 mages the game was a cakewalk, if you took any less it was impossible. Any fixes to these would be welcome. The new graphical style, I'll admit, doesn't look very good to me, which is why I'm putting it at 10th.
9 - Crysis 2
To this day, since the release of Crysis, no-one has ever bettered it's graphical magnificence. Sure the plot was a bit cliche but the gameplay, particularly the unbelievably interactive physics, meant that it was such a spectacle it was difficult to see anything else. I like the look of the sequel more than the original - Crytek pledged to try and make a better story out of it and the setting is an urban one, which at the same time looks better than the jungle whilst not killing your PC if you put any anti-alaising on. It's supposedly easier to run due to better optomization than the first, but the fact it is going multiplatform is an understandable worry for PC gamers.
8 - The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings
7 - Duke Nukem Forever
As Duke himself says in the trailer - after 12 years, it better be good. You know what, it actually looks like it might be. This is a game that is so legendary, I would buy it to mount it on my wall no matter how awful it is. It is the mythical holy grail of games, the Chuck Norris if you will. Nobody ever thought they'd see this, and yet it's coming. Everyone thought the final product, if it did come, would look like a horrible mash up between the various engines and graphical styles of the years it took to produce, and yet it doesn't. If you want to a man, if you want guns, aliens and to rescue hot chicks, there is nowhere else to go. Always bet on Duke Nukem.
6 - Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Lets not beat around the bush. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion had it's flaws. The AI was at times borderline idiotic, and when you levelled up a certain amount, rather than many new monsters that 'troll' has now become an identical looking 'angry troll'. That said, the modding community was huge, and with a load of mods running this game was brilliant. What it set out to achieve, that giant free-roaming RPG world but from a first person perspective was so ground breaking I didn't care about those things. What Bethesda have shown with the Fallout series since then, is that they have entirely learned from their mistakes. None of the problems with Oblivion appear in Fallout. If Skyrim takes all that was great about Oblivion and combines that with the good parts from Fallout, it really could be a genre definer.
5 - Defense of the Ancients 2
You probably won't see this on many of this other lists, it's coming in fairly somewhat under the radar, but any list that omits this is INSANE. Defense of the Ancients created an entire new genre by itself, a mod that was so good it spawned two full blown games (League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth), yet DotA remains the daddy. DotA 2 is being developed with Valve, and everything Valve touches tends to turn to gold. The formula for DotA works brilliantly and DotA 2 will likely leave much untouched besides the graphics. What Valve really want to grapple with is the notorious community. Generally there is a negtive atmosphere overhanging these 3 games, but Valve are implmenting systems such as rewards for helping new players to encourage positive gameplay. I really don't see how this game can be anything but a massive hit, considering how it's predecessor already is, and is just a mod.
4 - Portal 2
Portal was a triumph, I'm making a note here, huge success. It really was hard to overstate my satisfaction. No but seriously if you want a better example of a short but engaging and brilliantly scripted masterpiece, look no futher. If Portal 2 could even emulate the first it would be an instant buy, yet Valve are looking to beat it. Co-op was long thought of as the one missing piece from Portal, and yes, it's here. There is just so much untapped potential it beggars belief, with an infinite array of puzzles that can now be composed with a second player entering the fray. That's ignoring the single player campaign, which promises to be a bit longer this time around. Portal isn't just still alive, it's going to be killing you.
3 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
In terms of an RPG styled as an FPS, the ancient beast that is the first Deux Ex has never been bettered. There was literally nothing you could not do. You want to kill the integral plot characters? Do it, the game finds its way around it. Crysis attempted to emulate it's choice of stealth or action, but ultimately did not manage it at all. Deus Ex is the ultimate tactical game. You can do anything, anyway, all the while being treated to the breathtaking visuals and incredible interaction that this new outing boasts. In the year where a franchise as old as Duke Nukem is being revived, it is only fitting that Deus Ex, possibly one of the greatest games of all time, gets to have a go too.
2 - Mass Effect 3
1 - Diablo 3
No-one, not even Valve, can boast a track record like Blizzard. I'm not a fan of World of Warcraft, but even still, you have the Diablo series, the Warcraft series and the Starcraft series. Bam, just like that, 3 of the biggest series' ever in PC gaming. Blizzard are quite famously never rushed into finishing a game, and they proved last year they can always up their game, doing the impossible and beating Starcraft with it's sequel. Warcraft III is still one of the most highly competitive games in existence. Diablo 2 is now 14 YEARS OLD, I just can't believe that, and still has a large online playerbase. Just like Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 looks for all the world to be the next step. Both series' predecessors were arguably the best in the genre, Starcraft 2 is the world's pre-eminent strategy game, if you were going to place your bets on Diablo 3, saying it will be anything other than crazily good would be madness.
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