20 MASSIVE games of early 2010

13. Dante's Inferno - Multi

Expected release: February

Should you care?

A lot of people are already dismissing Visceral Games’ Dante’s Inferno as just a shameless God of War knock-off. And that’s understandable. Because it basically is. But those people would do well to remember that we said the same thing about Visceral’s Dead Space in regards to Resident Evil 4, and look how that turned out. Suddenly a lot more exciting, is it not?

Delayed?

Nope. But the February release date could now see it in an interesting battle with the similarly button-mashy combat frenzy Bayonetta all the same.

14. Super Street Fighter IV - Multi

Expected release: March

Should you care?

Of course you should. It’s an upgrade to one of the finest fighting games ever made. Eight added characters (including Super Street Fighter II faves T. Hawk and Deejay), a rebalanced existing cast and new Ultra moves all round should make this one of the meatier of Street Fighter’s many historical updates, and while many (Radar UK’s resident SF-nut Dave H included) are peeved that there isn’t even an option to buy it as a downloadable update to the original, the promised lower price takes away the usual Street Fighter upgrade sting somewhat.

Delayed?

Not yet. In fact it’s only just been announced. But by the time SSFIV hits, the hype surrounding Tekken 6 will have long faded, meaning that direct competition will be virtually non-existent.

15. Lost Planet 2 - Multi

Expected release: Quarter 1 of 2010

Should you care?

The excitement for Lost Planet 2 has snuck up on us steadily but surely in the office over the last few months. The original game, Capcom’s first open attempt at targeting the western audience, was a solid but uninspiring shooter, but the sequel is a whole new deal. A four-player co-op shooter, it’s essentially Capcom doing Gears of War, and that would be exciting enough. But then consider that it has huge, Shadow of the Colossus-style bosses which require genuine multi-part teamwork to take down. And that Capcom is one of the few companies in the world that can still deliver brilliant, single-player, normal sized bosses. You see where we’re coming from on this one? Good. Be excited.

Delayed?

Nope. Capcom is just known for putting out big releases around the beginning of the year. See Street Fighter IV and Resident Evils 4 and 5 for example.

16. Mafia II - Multi

Expected release: January – April

Should you care?

If you’re in the market for a classier-than-usual crime story, yes. The eight-year wait between the first, rather excellent, Mafia game and its sequel seems to have been well worth it. Huge, beautiful, packed with imaginative, layered, structured missions and dripping with ‘40s and ‘50s smoothness, its epic, decade-long story of a Mafioso’s rise and fall looks to be the absolute antithesis of the likes of Saints’ Row. The thinking man’s crime sim. That’s the feeling we’re getting.

Delayed?

Yup, knocked back “to allow additional development time".