Andrew's Shortlist of Upcoming PC Games for 2010 You Should Be Aware Of

Napoleon: Total War

Next up: Napoleon: Total War, a project that started off as an expansion for Empire: Total War and ended up becoming its own stand-alone game. While Empire introduced a lot of new gameplay and concepts and brought the Total War series into a new era, it also had some issues, most notably with its AI. Developer Creative Assembly is pushing even harder to build in a smarter AI into a game that will take place on a much smaller scale, following the illustrious career of Napoleon Bonaparte, rather than the massive unification of the Old World or of the Roman Empire. Having seen Napoleon for myself and covered the game in our last preview, I have to say that I'm intrigued by the idea of the more-intimate scale of the game, partially because I'd like to see how the Total War engine handles smaller-scale conflict, and partially because it will be good to not have to manage 12 different conquered countries every turn for a change. Napoleon will ship in February.

Mafia II

Projected release date: TBA 2010
Genre: Third-Person Shooter + Open World
Recent Preview Coverage: Updated Impressions

Mafia II will be the sequel to (wait for it) the original Mafia, an underrated sleeper-hit PC game from 2002 that never got its due. Mafia II will revisit the idea of early- to mid-20th-century big-city gangsters in a story that will span World War II. I enjoyed the original Mafia, because although it also had an open world to explore (like the Grand Theft Auto series, which has its own charm), your exploration was mostly directed and purposeful, and you weren't getting arrested every 20 seconds for running someone over. (Or, maybe that's just me.) Mafia II seems like it will have an intriguing story, modern third-person shooter mechanics, and more than a little style. The game will also appear on the Xbox 360 and the PS3, and will ship out...sometime this year.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty

Projected release date: Q2 2010
Genre: Strategy, Real-Time
Recent Preview Coverage: Updated Hands-On - Single-Player Campaign

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty. Any explanation needed here? No? Great, let's move on, then. I won't be providing a release date here for reasons that should be obvious to us all.

Diablo III

Projected release date: TBA
Genre: Action RPG
Recent Preview Coverage: Updated Hands-On -- The Monk

Diablo III. No explanation needed here either, yes? Assuming the game makes it out this year, which it may or may not. All right, then.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm

Projected release date: TBA 2010
Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online RPG
Recent Preview Coverage: Hands-On Impressions

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. Let's call a hat trick on the whole "it's self-explanatory why these particular PC games are on the list" thing here. Ditto on the release date for this one.

APB

Projected release date: March 2010
Genre: Massively Multiplayer Online RPG, Third-Person Shooter
Recent Preview Coverage: Updated Impressions

Next up, APB. Believe it or not, this is a game I've been chasing for a while, back before developer Realtime Worlds even announced Crackdown. It had quietly been in development for so long that many of us had forgotten about it until it made its grand redebut at last year's E3 and then at GamesCom.. I have to say that the premise of creating a customized gang sounds intriguing. I'd like to see more. APB will apparently launch this year, and it will also be coming to the Xbox 360.

Max Payne 3

Projected release date: Q3 2010
Genre: Third-Person Shooter
Recent Preview Coverage: N/A

Max Payne 3. The first two games were excellent on the PC (it's where the series debuted), and the idea of an even older, even more haggard Max could be an even more interesting development for our friend Mr. Payne. Unfortunately, information on this game has been hard to track down, but since it's scheduled for release this year on the PC, as well as on the Xbox 360 and the PS3, we'll hopefully know more soon. (The same actually goes for the next game from the original developer of Max Payne, Remedy. I'm talking, of course, about Alan Wake, whose PC version is who-knows-where.)

Deus Ex 3

Projected release date: September 2010
Genre: Third-Person Action, RPG
Recent Preview Coverage: N/A

Deus Ex 3. The sequel, the myth, the mystery. A game that has been passed around from generation to generation, and apparently development studio to development studio. We know that Eidos established a new Montreal development house last year and that this group is tasked with the game. And we know that the game is also planned for release on the Xbox 360 and PS3. And...that's about it. The original Deus Ex was a quirky, open-ended RPG/shooter hybrid that became a cult classic on the PC. The sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War, was developed from the ground up as a console game and in my opinion, and the opinions of other people as well, suffered for it. Which path will Deus Ex 3 take? We'll find out this year. Hopefully.

R.U.S.E.

Projected release date: February 2, 2010
Genre: Strategy, Real-Time + Turn-Based
Recent Preview Coverage: Updated Impressions

Up next: R.U.S.E., an interesting new strategy game with a really confusing video trailer. For the record, I've seen this game in motion, and you don't get a really cool flat-panel TV table that you slide your fingers over. Instead, you fight out World War II in a real-time strategy game with a tactical map that you can use to set up different stratagems and feints, such as guarding a territory with phony units while you sneak your real troops into battle under radio silence. I'm looking forward to seeing and playing more of the game--it will also appear on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 and will ship in February.

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising

Projected release date: Q2 2010
Genre: Strategy, Real-Time
Recent Preview Coverage: Hands-On Impressions - The New Campaign

Rounding out the list is Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War II - Chaos Rising, the first expansion for Dawn of War II. I wanted to really enjoy Dawn of War II and got a lot out of it, and I felt that the 15-minute single-player campaign missions were a great idea in theory, even if they may not have worked out in practice. As I mentioned the last time I saw the game, Relic is clearly working to flesh out the campaign to make sure missions feel less identical and offer steeper challenges. Plus, Chaos is back, which means more ways to wreak havoc in multiplayer. That isn't a bad thing.

I'm about out of time here, so I'll sign off at this point. Feel free to share your thoughts, and any other 2010 PC games on your radar, with me by leaving a comment. For the record, if I left your favorite game off the list, it's not because I'm "biased," or because I was bribed by another company, or even because your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries (though that last part about your parents is true, and I have the police documents to prove it). No, it's because of that one time that you didn't introduce me to Jerry, who I understand is a major player down at the sewing store.