Eight Months of Gaming

Holiday 2008 (Pending Slippage)

Fans of sandbox action titles experienced one of the largest playing fields in such a game to date when Just Cause launched in 2006 from Eidos Interactive. Instead of the city-sized map that most of us have come to expect, the map scale was closer to that of a small country and consisted of a series of islands. While it would take more than a day's time for your character to walk from one end of the map to the other, Just Cause made sure we had plenty of land, air, and sea vehicles to get to our next destination. And if you were flying, you could simply jump out of your plane and freefall for three full minutes from the map's outrageously high canopy before pulling your parachute. [Ed: Bah! Who needs a parachute?]

Just Cause 2 promises an equally large scale map with improved graphics to boot. This time around, Eidos has decided to get rid of all the repetitive side missions that players were required to complete in the previous game, thus focusing entirely on the game's story. So, will you still be able to drive a motorcycle off a cliff, jump off of it in mid-air, land on the tail of a helicopter, kick the pilot out, fly it over a busy street, jump out, pull your chute, use your grapple gun to latch onto a vehicle below, reel yourself in, land on the vehicle, kick out the driver, and then drive away? Absolutely. In Just Cause 2, not only will you be able to perform outrageous stunts, the new and improved grapple gun will allow you to pull them off much easier as it can be used on any object in the game, including your enemies. Expect Just Cause 2 to be released during the 2008 holiday season.

Gears of War made quite a name for itself long before the official release. Originally slated to be an Xbox 360 launch title, the game's delays only added to the hype factor. With stunning graphics and intuitive character design, the game appeared to rival anything released on the console thus far when it finally hit the shelves in late 2006. As it happens, the game delivered on all fronts. And now, with Gears of War 2 officially announced, the hype factor is back in full force.

When the sequel was announced at the 2008 Game Developers Conference, lead designer Cliff Bleszinski took the stage to ensure fans that Gears of War 2 would be "bigger, better, and far more badass than the first game in every way." New additions to the game include chainsaw duels, an improved cover system, a slew of new weapons, drop-in co-op play, and improved physics that were made possible in the latest version of the Unreal Engine 3. Although only an Xbox 360 release has been announced, gamers can bank on an eventual release for PC.