The Top 7... games we want announced in 2009

Even though the first (and only) Revolver game came out nearly five years ago, we still don’t consider this franchise over. Our continued hope that bounty hunter Red Harlow will ride again stems from a video released not too long after the original racked up 1.5 million copies sold, depicting the exact same Wild West setting and main character:

Above: Isn’t this music a bit too epic for a Western?

We know Rockstar’s doing something with this license, and with GTA IV out of the way and LA Noire in perpetual purgatory, it’s time to announce another big-name project. The original’s gory, eccentric take on Clint Eastwood-esque storytelling would fill a blazingly obvious hole in the current generation (does everything have to be post-apocalyptic?), and it’s also the perfect means to re-think the original’s desolate, dusty streets. Let’s see a bustling market with shootouts that send horses galloping out of their hitching posts and into the flat plains, let’s see densely packed saloons with false leads and branching storylines… hell, let’s see a new Western anything at this point.

Above: Picture this, with more everything. And much prettier

E3 2008 came and went with nothing more than a logo, but nothing official stated about content, release date, or even that it is planning on revealing more soon. Finish up that DLC, Rockstar – we’re ready to fire our six shooters once again.

Speaking of long-lost bounty hunters, what the shit is up with Metroid? Prime 3 is over a year old and since then Nintendo’s said next to nothing about one of their longest-running and deeply loved franchises. Now, with the Prime trilogy completed and the first two Primes on track for Wii remakes, what’s next for the series that brought us passwords and one of the first video game heroines? Well, how about doing what it’s always done best?

Above: Zero Mission, the last 2D Metroid

The long-rumored Metroid Dreadis still proverbial smoke being blown up our very real asses. Our last idea for the franchise has also been ignored. So, in the interest of giving hardcore fans a DS game they should actually care about, and giving Castlevania (who’s been borrowing Metroid’s gameplay for 11 years) some genuine competition, announce a new, beautifully animated Metroid title this year.

Above: This is GBA. The DS is capable of so much more

It doesn’t have to be rigidly old-school like the GBA titles, either. Go 2.5D like New Super Mario Bros., ramp up the atmosphere, use the stereo channels to play some audio tricks on us, really sell the idea of a girl all alone on a hostile planet. Most our frustration comes from Prime 3’s ending, which plainly reveals something else should be on the way:

There are countless ways to make this series relevant again. We’ve presented ours – anything you want to add, put it in the comments and we’ll probably agree with you.