2010: The Year of Better PC Games? [2010 Preview]

PC gaming - will it finally die in 2010? No. C'mon, stop already with that. Sure, 2009 had its ups and downs, PC gaming is very much alive and maybe looking healthier than ever in 2010.
Blizzard will, we hope, stick to its early 2010 release date for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty, the first entry in the planned real-time strategy trilogy. And the publisher developer is threatening to release two titles next year, including the third World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm.
But 2010 cannot survive on Blizzard alone. Blizzard and Valve? Maybe, but beyond more Left 4 Dead 2 and Team Fortress 2 content, we're not sure what to expect. Episode III? Let's not set ourselves up for disappointment.
Thankfully, there are many strong contenders due in the following year, including highly anticipated MMOs like Star Wars: The Old Republic, DC Universe Online, Star Trek Online and APB, to name but a few. So let's take a look at what's will be pushing PCs to their limits in 2010, starting right now.
Note: We'll be looking at every platform's currently announced and estimated 2010 slate over the course of the rest of the week-and much much more.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...tarcraft_2.jpgStarCraft II: Wings of Liberty
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image..._cataclysm.jpgWorld of Warcraft: Cataclysm
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...2/500x_apb.jpgAPB: All Points Bulletin
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...500x_cc4tt.jpgCommand & Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...r_wars_tor.jpgStar Wars: The Old Republic
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...rse_online.jpgDC Universe Online
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...election_2.jpgNatural Selection II
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...deathspank.jpgDeathspank
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...bal_agenda.jpgGlobal Agenda
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...er_fire_ii.jpgKingdom Under Fire II
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...metro_2033.jpgMetro 2033
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...t_hunter_v.jpgSilent Hunter V
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...of_pripyat.jpgS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image..._online_01.jpgStar Trek Online
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...ods_online.jpgTiger Woods PGA Tour Online
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image..._alan_wake.jpgAlan Wake
Max Payne developers Remedy give PC gamers a flashlight-heavy dose of literary horror, sending the titular Alan Wake to the Pacific Northwest to confront his writers block, only to find himself in a nightmare of his own creation. It's gonna be scary!
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...conviction.jpgSplinter Cell Conviction
Sam Fisher is back and looking less haggard than originally planned. Expect Splinter Cell-style stealth gameplay, with a few new innovations, including more cooperative and competitive multiplayer.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...s_effect_2.jpgMass Effect 2
BioWare's epic space saga continues, now with better shooting mechanics on top of the already intriguing intergalactic soap opera.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image..._company_2.jpgBattlefield: Bad Company 2
Another shooter bound for the PS3 is Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which will fight MAG for big, bombastic multiplayer FPS for the year.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...bioshock_2.jpgBioShock 2
Be the Big Daddy in 2K Games' sequel to the mega hit BioShock. The prequel adds multiplayer, if you consider that a positive or negative.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image..._dark_void.jpgDark Void
Capcom's oft-delayed jetpack hero adventure may have a hard time standing out in a crowded early 2010, but the third person shooting, climbing, flying and UFO hijacking sounds like a good combination.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...d_rising_2.jpgDead Rising 2
Zombies require killing in Fortune City and you're just the right guy to do it. Kill 'em again with motorcycles, roulette wheels or moose antlers. Your choice.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...ad_space_2.jpgDead Space 2
Visceral Games follows up on the excellent Dead Space (and very good Dead Space Extraction) with a new Necromorph dismembering adventure for old Isaac Clarke. Rocket boots? Yes, please.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...t_planet_2.jpgLost Planet 2
Get up in them giant bug guts with the sequel to interplanetary adventure shooter Lost Planet. Everything's bigger!
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...f_honor_01.jpgMedal of Honor
EA reboots Medal of Honor, taking the series from World War II theaters and into the modern age. Could have more beards than any other first-person shooter released next year.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...0x_mafia_2.jpgMafia II
Shoot things '40s style with Mafia II, another game that should've been released in 2009, but will settle for a 2010 release nonetheless.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...ax_payne_3.jpgMax Payne 3
Max is back and far less attractive to women. The paunchier, less follicled Payne is drawn back into the dive and shoot at things world he tried to leave behind him. Expect this one late in 2010.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...s_predator.jpgAliens Vs. Predator
Aliens and Predators settle their differences in this, the first Sega game that will actually take advantage of the Aliens license. Rebellion is at the helm again, which can only mean good things.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...lout_vegas.jpgFallout: New Vegas
Crap, they got Vegas too? We don't know too much about Bethesda's follow up to Fallout 3, only that gambling and mutant showgirls are likely to be involved.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...a_protocol.jpgAlpha Protocol
The espionage RPG!
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...500x_brink.jpgBrink
Splash Damage's squad based and class based tactical shooter is brighter and more promising than most, featuring a unique movement method dubbed SMART.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...ingularity.jpgSingularity
Raven's time-traveling first-person shooter was moved out of Modern Warfare 2's way, but now lands directly in the middle of 2010's busy first half. Perhaps that time glove will find it a better spot to find an audience...
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image.../500x_ruse.jpgR.U.S.E.
Real-time strategy? On my video game console? From Ubisoft? Yes, at least based on our hands-on time with the game, which seems to work quite well.
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/image...darksiders.jpgDarksiders
Be the Apocalypse as one of four horsemen in this gritty action adventure game from THQ.


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