20 MASSIVE games of early 2010

9. Gran Turismo 5 - PS3

Expected release: March

Should you care?

A couple of years ago we would have said “Yes!” without a doubt. Now however, we’re not so sure. Of course, Gran Turismo has always been the premiere serious driving simulator, but past the glory years of its PS2 heyday and with world class competition from Codemaster’s amazing Racing Studio, we’re not entirely convinced that GT5 can have the same impact any more. It’s visually brilliant and it will play as well as ever, and the old GT hardcore will absolutely lap it up, but that’s kind of the problem. We haven’t detected a huge amount of progression from what was once such a groundbreaking series, and it’ll be interesting to see just how big a deal part 5 turns out to be in the current marketplace.

Delayed?

Kind of. The release date has always been pretty nebulous, but at one point Sony’s Southern European Chief Exec mentioned Christmas ’09. That was never fully confirmed, but considering the game was first mentioned in 2006, we can consider this one fairly late regardless.

10. APB - PC

Expected release: March

Should you care?

We rather reckon so. After the disappointingly messy Grand Theft Auto IV multiplayer failed to properly take off, APB’s dedicated online crime war should be exactly what we’ve always wanted in regards to internet cops and robbers. Did we mention that it’s by the guys who made Crackdown? And that their boss made the original GTA in the first place?

With enforcers taking on crims in a persistent, spontaneously evolving urban war, APB looks like a dangerous amount of fun, and we absolutely cannot wait to session the hell out of it.

Delayed?

2008 was originally mentioned, then 2009, and now 2010. A 360 version was also planned to release alongside the PC edition, but there’s currently “nothing concrete to announce” on that one. Our bet? A staggered release once the PC version gets up and running, quite possibly under the wing of Microsoft itself.

11. Final Fantasy XIII - Multi

Expected release: Quarter 1 of 2010

Should you care?

You already do or don’t. By this point everyone in the world is either a wide-eyed Final Fantasy obsessive, a lapsed fan of the old days, or just couldn’t give a shit. If you’re in the former category you’ve probably already got 15 copies pre-ordered. If you’re in the latter you’re already in the duck-and-cover position for the impending explosion of hairspray and car crash pseudo-androgynous cosplay.

For the middle-grounders however, things are a bit more interesting. There’s something about the vibe of FFXIII that seems to hark back to older, more traditional Final Fantasys around the VI and VII era (though obviously the merry old days of steampunk production design are long gone), so if it all turns out well it stands a good chance of bringing a few of us back to the fold. Let’s just hope the story and characters stand up to comparison to the golden era.

Delayed?

Like Gran Turismo 5, Final Fantasy XIII has never been given a solid release date, but has been in production for about 8 million years so feels massively delayed whether it officially is or not.

12. Split/Second - Multi

Expected release: Early 2010

Should you care?

Possibly so. As we said in our recent ‘devs to watch’ feature, the arcade racing genre needs more than Burnout Paradise and Mario Kart Wii, however good Burnout Paradise is. Split/Second developer Black Rock has already made a good case for itself as a rival with the likes of last year’s quad-bike racer Pure, and there’s a chance that case could be strengthened with its follow-up road racer. The promise of track-deforming, rival-screwing, triggerable explosions makes it sound like a hoot. We just hope that there’s enough gameplay beyond the gimmick to make it a keeper. Current previews are a little ambivalent.

Delayed? 

Nope.