2008's Essential PS3 Games

27-Dec-2007 Feature: Games to rock your PS3 to
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It's been a tough 2007 for Sony and PS3, with the majority of the year seeing the console take the place of the underdog, in a three-way race dominated by Wii.

That said, in November PS3 finally outsold Wii in Japan, and following a number of attempts with the SKU Sony finally appears to have hit the right note with the 40GB model. Since its launch, sales have shown a significant increase.

There's now rumblings that 2008 is the year PS3 will start to throw its weight around. Home will launch, and major titles including MGS4, Killzone 2 and Gran Turismo 5 will - hopefully - offer 200-percent proof that the console is a force to be reckoned with.

As our own PS3s tremble in excited anticipation, we've looked ahead into the next 12 months and picked out the game's you'll want to hound like a love-sick puppy...


Killzone 2
The failure of the original Killzone FPS to live up to the hype hasn't dampened anticipation - which is rampant - for the sequel and it's one of Sony's major first-party releases in 2008. It's abundantly clear that everyone wants this game to be awesome.

Cinematic flair has gone through the roof in the sequel, and the new first-person cover system is an exciting addition. Plus the real shooting meat is enjoyable as well. A combination of animation and physics make the Helgast satisfying to shoot; properly rendered blood splatters out realistically while Guerilla's excellent motion capture work creates some great looking death routines, complete with flailing arms and dives to the floor.


Metal Gear Solid 4
Baffling, potentially brilliant, plot aside, Metal Gear Solid 4 is easily one of PS3's best-looking, most-anticipated, exclusive games - and thanks to the intuitive, yet deep, controls there's never been a better time to sample Snake's charms. It's coming bundled with Metal Gear Online too, and what a package that's going to make!


Grand Theft Auto IV
Yes, GTA IV isn't exclusive to PS3, but let's face facts - it's going to be absolutely massive. That's reason 'a' for its inclusion in the list. Reason 'b' is this: Microsoft was making a big song and dance about Xbox 360 being the only console in 2007 that'd have GTA IV and Halo 3. But of course, GTA IV got delayed to 2008.

Turning that on its head, you can know declare that PS3 is the only console in 2008 that'll get GTA IV and Metal Gear Solid 4 (or/and Killzone 2, or/and Gran Turismo 5, yadda, yadda).


Resident Evil 5
Capcom's Resident Evil 4 was one of the best videogames ever made - fact - and as a result anticipation for number five is HUGE. We've been drip-fed information to date, but we do that that series stalwart Chris Redfield is returning as the lead character and that the zombies aren't just zombies any more - they're of human form, with intelligence.

It's looking like the majority of Resident Evil 5 will be played from the same third-person, over the shoulder, as 4, and producer Jun Takeuchi has spoken of the game being influenced by Ridley Scott's visceral war epic Black Hawk Down. We can't wait.


Unreal Tournament III
How many different types of multiplayer slaughter could any man - or woman - ask for? Epic's Unreal Tournament has plenty and, on top of all the carnage, the game looks the mutt's nuts thanks to Unreal Engine 3 lying at its beating heart. It'll have your jaws hitting the floor and hanging around in the carpet pile.

The game's already released over the pond in North America and here in Europe we have to wait till 2008 - but when you leap into the multiplayer fragfest and the UTIII vehicles, oh my.


Haze
It seems we've been waiting for ever for Haze, but it should finally be with us in early 2008. It's a first-person shooter developed by Free Radical - of TimeSplitters fame - which is why the game's surrounded by fuss and interest. Oh, and the fact that it's got four-player co-op.

Haze is set in a near-future where the government has outsourced military operations to private multinational corporations. You play Shane Carpenter, a soldier who works for the Mantel Corporation who has access to high-tech vehicles, kick-ass weapons and performance enhancing bio-medical support.


Gran Turismo 5/Prologue
2008 is the year that will see PlayStation's flagship racing sim's PROPER debut on PS3, and oh boy is Gran Turismo 5 looking absolutely stunning. Anyone who still needs a reason to justify the notes they splashed out on that big shiny box, this will most certainly be it.

Playing GT5 feels like putting on your best suit and going for a no-expense-spared meal at The Ritz. Everything about it is lush. It's elite. It's the most upper class of racing game ever. And we're not just talking about the stunning graphics or super-satisfying handling of the cars.


Fallout 3
So what Fallout 3 is multiplatform? A new project from the developer of the brilliant Oblivion deserves its place here regardless. A sequel in a PC RPG series, Fallout 3 presents players with a free-roaming, post-apocalyptic world littered with mutants and mangled structures.

While an RPG, it's pretty heavy on the action and features a combat system that allows you to target specific body parts of an enemy. It's got some of the bloodiest headshots we've ever seen, and any game with a portable mini-nuke launcher in it just has to be great.


Littlebigplanet
In Littlebigplanet you start off as a small teddy bear-like creature made from wool, and you use your little avatar to construct in-game objects using materials such as wood and cloth. With a bit more time however you can construct entire levels that can then be ran through in a side-scrolling platformer style.

Each avatar seems to be fully customizable, and created levels can be published online via a YouTube-like system where users can play, comment and vote on submitted user creations. Be excited - it looks great.

Final Fantasy XIII
You know that Square Enix's Final Fantasy RPG series is big bananas and FFXIII on PS3 should be extra special. It's "A tale of souls from a futuristic civilization illuminated by the Light of the Crystal", according to SquEnix.

It also promises us that the Final Fantasy XIII "takes full advantage of the PlayStation 3 system's advanced hardware, providing tangible, intuitive controls while delivering seamless transitions between real-time gameplay and stunning in-game cinematics."

And finally...
The idea of this list is to focus on big games coming out for PS3 in 2008, but we thought it'd be doing the console an injustice not to mention the launch of Home next year. It's an ambitious - and massive - online social network and then some and is a major part of Sony's battle plan for its new machine. On top of that, Sony is expected to launch a video-on-demand service for PS3 in 2008, with it reportedly debuting in Japan at the start of the year.

CVG Staff