Everybody told you that 2007 will be the year to upgrade your PC configuration. But usually, this is supposedly because of the arrival of Windows Vista. I beg to differ. You can forget about Vista, but the upcoming games of 2007 will be a very good reason to shoot your old hardware down. 2007 will be shock-full with good new games.
Left 4 Dead
Zombie? You said Zombie! As a matter of fact, you will have to fight against zombies (dead corpses still willing to hunt you down til you drop… dead). You are 4 survivors (hence the name ;-)) in a post-apocalyptic world that is turned into a hunting ground for… zombies (and you are the ones running). If it was only that we could forget about it until it comes to cheap packages later in 2008, but Valve (of Half-Life fame) also participated. It could well be a fever-paced game. But let’s not forget that the recipe for a game like Left 4 Dead can easily turn to hardly interesting or plain boring, and the characters could become too caricatural to believe into them. Ah yes! One last detail: There is no chance of seeing any ‘no-violence’ option button here. You come here to fight and fight dirty.
Announced for… I’m not sure.
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Bioshock
Who could really say what this video game will be in the end? Basically, this is a classical FPS game but the developers inserted so much flexibility in the player actions and the non-player intelligence that you will not risk facing a rectilinear scenario. There should also be some part of role-playing. Weirdly, the first comparisons that pop to my mind when thinking about Bioshock are: the old DeusEx, SystemShock or even Oblivion. In any case, be ready for a Science-Fiction setup. The adversaries will be varied (very). The environements, too (Do you know how to fight under water?)
There is a risk left with the decision to launch simultaneously the game for PC and XBox360. On the one hand, it may create an impossible technical task; On the other, it may lead to a very simplified game with a poor gaming experience from trying to meet all specifications at the same time.
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Project Offset
At best for the end of 2007: (it seems that Offset Software, its creator, did not yet secure a worldwide producer/distributor for the project), this game made me think about good-old Daikatana. It is a game where you won’t get fire arms but, in this medieval-fantasy setup, you will be loaded with cutting/slashing/butchering swords and knives. Images look simply stunning. But who knows what kind of hardware will be needed?
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S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl
Here is my sweet spot: A game on the drawing board for more time than a female elephant gestation, promising to render an extraordinary atmosphere out of the usual scope of gamers like us (The player is sent to the no-mans-land of post-Chernobyl-accident, ready to experiment a real paranoia in the supposedly empty zone). Probably no risk on the hardware side: The developers kept pace with the news in graphics hardware but do not intend to blow the current PC out of the water. It would be -at last- a really innovating setup for FPS, but will it appear in 2007? Latest news say 22 March…
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Crysis
Everybody speaks about this sequel to FarCry. Everybody is waiting impatiently. Crysis: Action, exotic setup, graphic orgy, artificial intelligence. Don’t run short of the expectations, guys! (The aim is set high by Crytek which wants to better itself after the already excellent FarCry). We already understand that the hardware requirements will be between high and very-high in today’s terms. Since the game is no longer expected for the first half of 2007, the required level will probably be more acceptable then.
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Conclusion
More than one of these titles will appear late, for sure. Some may even miss 2007 and be pushed into 2008 (missing completely the Christmas marketing window) even though they have been anticipated for months and sometimes years. But you can predict that your violent thirst for the blood of the zombies or the alien mutants will only be fully quenched by th euse of up-to-date hardware (even if the editors/publishers still try to adapt to the current hardware when they launch a new product). We’ll keep informing you precisely here about this.
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