A look at Games for Qtr 1 of 2011 Part 2!

As promised part 2 of our look at hot new games for 2011 Quarter 1.

If you haven't read part 1 by all means do so!

Part One of our Inside look at gaming for 2011

Part 2 looks to be as sequel heavy as our first editorial. That's the nature of the beast now-a-days in the gaming world. Sequels are always going to be the developer's and distributor's safe bet. Anyway lets kick this pig!

Halo Killzone 3D 3! Sony's big attempt at having a flagship shooter of their own comes to it's 3rd installment. The game will pick up right where the 2nd left off and this time will have a stronger focus on the story. Guerrilla Games has hired professional writers and hollywood voice actors to step up the quality level on the single player experience. Now while Killzone has always had strong game play (even with a story that took itself too serious) I just wonder.. why did it take til the 3rd game in the series to want to high these professionals to tie up your story? Either way this is also Sony's big title in the world of 3D gaming. 3D gaming as of yet has not really made a splash. We have the Nintendo 3DS on it's way as well as Playstation making 3D it's next big thing. I'm still not convinced that 3D is really the next step in entertainment but I guess this will be the first test. Killzone 3 explodes in your face (in 3D no less!) Februarry 22nd.

Apparently February 22nd was deemed "Shooter day" as on the same day as Killzone 3 is released we get a new franchise from Epic called Bulletstorm. Basically whatever ideas or games you referred to as over the top shooters are going to be killed in the balls and peed on as they lay there in pain by Bulletstorm. Epic is going all out to create a completely ridiculous and over the top shooting experience. Big guns, big egos, points for exploding monster's heads with your gun, bullet time, you name it and it's in here. I mean the story says it all. You play Grayson Hunt, a mercenary who along with his friend Ishi Sato realize they are fighting for the wrong side in an ongoing war. After they turn their back on their commanding officer they are exiled and sent to the far reaches of the galaxy. A few years later Grayson becomes a drunken space pirate and after being involved in an interstellar crash landing happens to come across his old partner sato as they are trapped on a lost paradise surrounded by flesh eating monster gangs. They then decide to team up one more time to get off the planet and find the man who put them there. If that doesn't sell you, it's got the Gears of War 3 multiplayer beta. Oh Epic, you went and pulled a Bungie on us you crafty bastards.

Bioware strikes again! This time with a sequel to their latest RPG franchise Dragon Age II. This time instead of creating your own character and following a generic story set to the races of the game you follow a specific protagonist. Your decisions from the first game as well as the expansion Dragon Age Origins - Awakening. This game has gotten a strong following from fans of medieval genre games which fits a typical RPG. If you have what it takes to lead your character to be the Champion of Free Marches then pick up Dragon Age II on March 8th.

You ready to tear up some aliens in New York City in a bionic super powered suit and damaging upgradable guns? The Crysis 2 is your game. Sequel to the heavy hourse powered PC Juggernaut (in the fact that you needed a super computer at the time to run it) Crysis 2 takes you out of the jungle and into NYC after an alien infestation. You still have upgradable weapons and powers and it finally comes to consoles! Crysis 2 is an exciting game to come to consoles as it broadens the audience of who can experience this game. It's all constructed on Crytek's own graphics engine that has gained much praise for not only it's looks but also the physics engine. It does come out not long after two other shooters making the genre a crowded market in a short amount of time but I feel it had a good chance at making an impact. Crysis 2 starts blowing shit up March 22nd.

No it's not a hippy game, not a game based off the Garden of Eden. This is the spiritual sequel to cult classic trippy shoot'em up Rez. Child of Eden is coming to XBOX 360 for the Kinect as well as The Playstation Move. Your hands will be used to target and shoot all enemies coming on screen. Demos of this title at E3 have looked impressive with how fluid the motions are. Its trippy design with techno soundtrack has garnered Q entertainment a big following since the Dreamcast days. It may not appeal to all (especially since it's exclusively motion controls)but it is the first attempt to a motion game to appeal to the hardcore crowd. It's a good sign that Microsoft is committed to making the Kinect something for everyone. Child of Eden motions its way to us March 29th

Closing out our quarter 1 coverage is Socom 4. March 31st Sony's long running tactical 3rd person shooter franchise gets it's 4th installment with more Navy Seals action. The bread and butter of this franchise is the multiplayer. 32 people in a team based tactical battle reminiscent of Counter Strike. This is the game that attracted the military buffs before Call of Duty came to consoles. It's not one for running and gunning, you need to strategize and complete objectives. This game will be really big for Playstation owners as a strong online community type experience. If you like a little strategy with your shooters and heavily team based check this game out.

That wraps up our look at upcoming releases for the first 3 months of 2011. In the coming months we will cover releases throughout the year and look for some of these games covered to be reviewed by me or one of the other writers. Be on the lookout for more coverage like this as well as other features we will put together.