A Look Ahead to 2011

The 2010 gaming year is now behind us. There are no notable releases left for 2010, so with the year's final issue of Inside Beat we can look ahead to 2011 and some of its most anticipated titles. Remember to save those holiday gift cards, as next year looks to be a good one for gamers.

1) Crysis 2: March 22

PC gamers fondly remember the original Crysis as the game that laughed in the face of any CPU and GPU that was on the market at the time of the its release. Those who possessed a several-thousand-dollar gaming machine were treated to a game that not only impressed with graphics that were years ahead of its time but with a deep gameplay experience. Next year, Crysis 2 will be released on Xbox 360 and PS3, as well as PC. The game boasts a new and improved Nanosuit 2.0, with all new powers and the interesting ability to combine two different powers into a single effect. Early footage of Crysis 2 also shows a change in setting, from the wild, untamed jungles of North Korea, to the concrete jungle of New York City. Multiplayer footage has also been shown off, pitting two teams of super soldiers against one another in a deathmatch-style game type. From what has been shown so far, Crysis 2 looks like an intense game.

2) Pokémon Black and White: Spring 2011

After all these years, Pokémon remains the only game in which the player enslaves helpless animals and forces them to fight one another for money. Humanitarian issues aside, Pokémon has followed the same successful formula for more than a decade. It has attracted both young fans of the TV series as well as older, hardcore gamers. This time around, the series will implement a number of changes to keep the game feeling fresh including new camera angles, variations in gameplay and, of course, almost 160 new Pokémon.

3) Portal 2: April 18

Portal was a game that was released along with Half-Life 2 as part of the Orange Box bundle. The developer, Valve, did not even consider releasing Portal as its own standalone title. The success of the game was unexpected. Portal was considered one of the most original titles of 2007. It provided challenging puzzles driven by an advanced physics engine. Of course, Portal has become known for its dark humor and the loveable, robotic character GLaDOS, who has been shown to make a return in Portal 2.

4) Star Wars: The Old Republic: Quarter 2, 2011

At E3, both last year and this year, two of the best cinematic trailers in the show have come from Bioware. In each, they showed some amazing footage from The Old Republic. Unfortunately, cinematic trailers are hardly indicative of how a game will ultimately look, but nonetheless The Old Republic looks brilliant. The game takes place thousands of years before the original movie trilogy during a bitter conflict between the Republic and the Sith Empire. Players can align themselves with either side, choosing to use the light or dark side of the Force. The Old Republic will be and MMORPG that Bioware speculates could draw an even larger audience than World of Warcraft.