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FIRST things first: It will be nearly impossible to shop for video games this fall without wandering, willingly or not, into the Halo 3 zone. When the last version of Microsoft’s science fiction über-franchise was released three years ago, it generated more than $100 million in sales in its first 24 hours on the market. As the cornerstone title this year for the Xbox 360 console, Halo 3 has a chance to top that record when it is released on Sept. 25.
Microsoft Game Studios
Mass Effect, by Microsoft, to be released in November.
The only game that would have had a legitimate chance to match Halo 3 in either sales or hype would have been Grand Theft Auto IV, originally scheduled to be released in October. Last month, however, the game’s makers delayed its debut until next spring at the earliest.
But fear not. Even if your next virtual urban crime spree has to wait until 2008, there appears to be no dearth of excellent games that are not named Halo 3 headed to screens this fall. Here are some of them:
BIOSHOCK Released late last month, this game already seems on its way toward becoming the sleeper hit of the year. With its creepy yet engrossing back story and often terrifying foes, Bioshock is the spiritual successor to the cult-favorite System Shock series. Writing and pacing are key in a single-player shooter game like Bioshock, but Bioshock doesn’t skimp on the graphic bells and whistles either. The environments themselves are wonderfully detailed, but perhaps more important, the art direction oozes an Art Deco-gone-bad vibe that sells the story perfectly. Yet any journey to Bioshock’s underwater city of Rapture should avoided by the faint of heart or slow of finger. Publisher: Take-Two, for PC and Xbox 360. Available now.
CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE Nobody has done World War II first-person combat better than the designers of the Call of Duty series. It’s not exactly realistic, but who wants to die from just one bullet when you’re storming the Reichstag? The hallmark of the franchise has been rewarding players for thinking their way around the battlefield (rather than simply charging in, Rambo style) while also keeping the action moving at an almost arcadelike pace. Now the Call of Duty team is bringing its act to the modern world with a game set in the Middle East and the former Soviet Union (crazy nationalist dictators, terrorists and so on). Publisher: Activision, for Sony’s PlayStation 3, PC and 360. To be released Nov. 5.
GUITAR HERO III/ROCK BAND Their publishers are going to hate having these games lumped together, on this list and in the public eye, but at some level it is inevitable. Rock Band and Guitar Hero III are set for this holiday season’s great music-game showdown. May the heaviest metal win.
In one corner, the third installment of the smash Guitar Hero franchise, illustrating that you don’t need superadvanced graphics to make a great game, just an innovative, addictive idea. Before Guitar Hero, who would have thought that channeling your inner Jimi Hendrix with a plastic guitar could be so much fun? Publisher: Activision, for PS2, PS3, 360 and Nintendo’s Wii. To be released Oct. 28.
And in the other corner, the upstart Rock Band. If you ever thought that Roger Daltrey was cooler than Pete Townshend or that you might like to be Bill Wyman instead of Keith Richards, or if Lars Ulrich has always been your favorite guy in Metallica, Rock Band is your game. While Guitar Hero games let you play, uh, guitar, Rock Band will also let you play bass or drums, or sing some famous rock anthems. You can even recruit three buddies and form a virtual garage band together. Publisher: MTV Games, for PS3 and 360. To be released before Christmas.
RATCHET & CLANK: TOOLS OF DESTRUCTION Have a kid? (Or do you not take yourself too seriously?) Have you been waiting for top-end exclusive games for the PlayStation 3? If the answers are yes, get ready to buy the next installment of the classic Ratchet & Clank franchise. The team at Insomniac Games has basically been a savior for the PS3. Most recently, when the console made its debut last fall, Insomniac’s shooter Resistance: Fall of Man was clearly the only world-class game available for the system. Now Insomniac is returning to its roots with a new Ratchet game, the latest in a goofy, child-friendly series that began in 2002. The fluidity of the levels, its eye-popping, colorful graphics and its whimsical art direction can make the game feel like an interactive animated film. And the gameplay doesn’t seem so bad either. Just wait until you disable an entire pack of enemies with a weapon called the Discotron (complete with funky lights). Publisher: Sony, for PS3. To be released Oct. 23.
