For a while now Eden Studios re-imagining of the survival horror game Alone in the Dark (Xbox360, PS3, PC) has been in the back of my mind. Ever since they showed the first trailer with its amazing music and intense action. It looked like a AAA title, but of course this was a trailer. I wasn't going to get too hyped up over a bunch of cinemas.

Well over the past year small bits and pieces have come into light, and I think this could very well be the surprise of the year. Here are 5 reasons why.

5. The Atmosphere - They are attempting a Silent Hill sort of aesthetic. Make the fear of being attacked more scary than the actual attack by using amazing music, sound effects, camera angles and lighting. This has proven time and time again as the best way to scare someone.

4. Chapter Skipping - Skip segments of the game like a DVD. A controversial option at first glance, but when you think about the amount of people who don't actually finish games (i'm guilty of it) this can be very helpful. It will be interesting to see if this succeeds and more games take notice, because its a common issue that many game developers **** about. Personally I probably wouldn't do it since the game is in a television format and I don't want to miss anything (it's possible that it won't skip story segments). Plus if you skip stuff you miss out on achievements which you would only want if your hardcore anyways.

3. Television Format - The game is basically split into "episodes". Like a Television show each episode can stand on its own, but is part of some bigger picture (Lost, X-Files). In fact each episode contains plot twists, revelations, action and cliffhangers. You complete one episode and you feel like you can sit the controller down and come back later. Or you just can't wait to find out what happens next, so you play the next episode. Instead of the Sam & Max way of episodic content where you feel the pain of watching a TV show because you have to wait a month to see the next episode in AitD it's like a TV series on DVD. You can continue when you want to. And so far this format has helped many TV shows find new audiences.

2. Ease of Use - The game can be played in both first and third person view. There is a quick draw option to pull out the last item you used without going to your inventory and in fact your inventory is located in your jacket in real time. As some people may remember how the tension in something like RE4 wears off when you can pause and go through your inventory. Options are the future and seeing Japanese games like MGS4 adopting this policy just reassures this.

1. Real World Rules - Every objects reacts how it would in the real world. From light and shadow to physical items. Puncture a blood packet and create a trail behind you. Combine a bottle of alcohol, cloth and make a Molotov Cocktail. Or take a flare and put some adhesive on it so it sticks to the ceiling. It's like an Oblivion Survival Horror game. This is the kind of revolutionary gameplay that you tend to see in PC games. Games that combine tech and gameplay to advance the medium. Games like Half-Life 2 and Spore.

When you put all of these aspects together you start to get a picture in your head of what kind of game this can be. The team at Eden Studios made Test Drive respectable again a couple years ago with Test Drive Unlimited, so I think we could have a hit on our hands. Of course if they push this sucker out before its ready we could have a stinker. Which sadly happens far too often with games that have this much potential.

Yep Toshiba just announced it. All I can say is that i'm relieved. I've got a PS3, and I won't feel scared every time I buy a blu-ray disc anymore.

http://www.thedigitalbits.com/#mytwocents

My god are there a lot of games coming in 08. This list was very very tough. Now lets just assume that RE5 and FFXIII are not going to make it to North America this year.

Just Missed
Echochrome, Too Human, Alan Wake, Socom Confrontation, Left 4 Dead, Far Cry 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed...must...list...more...

10. Resistance 2 (Playstation 3)

Insomniac never makes a bad game. But this time they better innovate if they want me to love this sequel.

Recently EA announced that Bioware's popular Xbox360 RPG Mass Effect was getting its first DLC pack. An hour and a half of content for $5.

I had some problems with Mass Effect's sidequests and the gameplay involved. They were basically terrible fetch quests that had really no impact on anything. As a result the game felt very short. The main quest itself would take maybe 8 hours to complete which was very disappointing considering the only reason you would continue to play Mass Effect was for the main story. What is this new content going to do to that story? Is it really going to advance it in any meaningful way? Can we take our leveled up characters and use them after we have beaten the game with this content? Is it really over an hour in length (doubtful)? When is Mass Effect 2 coming? We are supposed to get a trilogy on the 360. Personally I would love it if they took their time with it and make a game that had meaningful sidequests. Don't spread a bunch of crap over 20 empty planets. Make 5-6 central planets that have lots of stuff to do on each, and have them feed into the main quest. Make it like KOTOR basically. Want to have a bunch of planets to explore? Well then make the objects and items found on them worth something besides worthless money. Oh and fix all the tech glitches for christ sake.

MISC CATEGORIES

Best Surprise
WINNER: The Simpons Game (Xbox 360, Playstation 3)

This game was genuinely funny. It made fun of so many games and most of the time it worked. The gameplay wasn't the best around, but it was good enough to enable me to play through the entire thing. I havn't been a Simpsons fan in years, but this game just works on so many nerd/gamer levels that I couldn't help but enjoy it. It makes me want a South Park themed game made in a similar way. Who would've thought a Simpsons game made by EA would be good?
RUNNER UPS: Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Agmar (PC)
Odin Sphere (Playstation 2)

Most Disapointing Game
WINNER: Mass Effect (Xbox360)

Hype. Promises, That is what damaged Mass Effect. And saved Lair, Heavenly Sword or Assassins Creed from winning this. Lair for the longest time didn't look too good. It had a great premise, but more and more looked like it would have problems. And it did. It totally sucked. While Heavenly Sword and Assassins Creed never really had ultra-high expectations from me. Them being mentioned here does say that I was slightly disapointed, but not on the scale of Mass Effect. What happend with Mass Effect? Well promise of a whole galaxy to explore? No not really. You can go to maybe 20 planets 95% of which have nothing interesting to do on them. Moral choices that matter? Maybe for the sequel, but in the first game there is really only one, and you end up not caring too much about it because the story that has come before it is so short. A great hybrid of action and RPG? While the combat gets better as you go along it never feels right, and is held back by very bad tech. From horrible texture pop-in that happens right before your eyes throughout every scene, to some bad framerate hiccups. What saves Mass Effect from being a failure is the voice acting, interesting story, characters, and amazing world that Bioware has created. So much so that I actually would give it 8.
RUNNER UPS: Lair (Playstation 3)
Heavenly Sword (Playstation 3)

Well it's the end of an era. The Gamecube and Xbox are dead and the PS2 is done with the good games. It's time for the next generation, so I thought it would be fun to look back at the best of the past 6 years with some top 10 lists (damn do I love them).

Many of the games on this list may not even show up this year. Some (Lost Odyssey, FFXIII) games that would be very high on my list aren't here, because I doubt very highly that they will come out in North American this year.

20. Halo 3 (Xbox360)

Never been a fan of the single player, but the multiplayer manages to bring people together.

19. Pokemon Diamond/Pearl (DS)

Always been a huge fan of the Pokemon series. The formula is getting a little old, but it's been a while since a brand new entry.

18. Blue Dragon (Xbox360)

Dislike the art style, but it got great reviews in Japan so it better be good!

17. Army of Two (Xbox360, PS3)

Great looking innovative co-op gameplay.

16. Metroid Prime 3 (Wii)

The Wii just doesn't seem to work well with first person aiming. And with the power of the Wii lacking one of my favorite game series of all time is quickly looking generic. Still the Metroid series always manages to make a good game.