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Assistant Editor Given the fact that many of the games I was looking forward to this year were pushed to next year, I didn't have trouble coming up with a list of anticipated games. Since there were no basketball games released for the PC this year, EA Sports' NBA Live 2001 is a specific point of interest. EA Sports has gone to great length to improve the look and the gameplay of just about every game in its 2001 lineup. Madden 2001, while disappointing in terms of gameplay, is still a huge leap in visual quality from past Madden games. FIFA 2001 is a personal favorite because EA Sports did such an excellent job of increasing the visual quality and of making the actual game a little more realistic by slowing down the pace and improving the strategic aspects of the series. So, if the trend continues, NBA Live 2001 should at least be a visually solid game if the gameplay doesn't receive the same kind of treatment as other games in the EA Sports lineup.
In 2001, the strategy genre will have a few noteworthy releases like Peter Molyneux's Black & White, which is still at the top of my list. It seems that Black & White will offer a truly unique gaming experience with the environment and creatures changing, depending on what kind of actions you take as a god. It's definitely a unique experience, to say the least, and, hopefully, a few more developers will undertake projects in the god-game genre. Though development has seemingly slowed since the first demo build, Startopia is another game to watch in 2001. Imagine being in control of a massive space station, where the slightest actions can have a profound impact on the type of station you have and the type of people who inhabit it. A good portion of the game involves micromanagement, but other games, like The Sims, have proven that even the mainstream audience is willing to deal with the idea of micromanagement. Of course, there are a few traditional strategy games that are of great interest as well. Barring any unforeseen delays, Blizzard's Warcraft III should be out in 2001 and should continue the line of great strategy games from Blizzard. Then there is Empire Earth, the strategy game in development at Stainless Steel Studios, which is headed by Age of Empires designer Rick Goodman. The project is definitely ambitious - it'll attempt to cover 40,000 years of human history - and it should be interesting to see if Stainless Steel can successfully execute its initial plans for the game. There are so many other games to mention, but a few of them may not even make 2001. Neverwinter Nights is still my most anticipated game, and while development seems to be progressing at a steady rate, there still isn't a solid release date for the game. Overall, 2001 should be an interesting year, with a few familiar faces and a few groundbreaking gaming experiences. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
