I happen to notice the “This Time Last Year” post mentioning Bioshock and I realized that we’ve not been hit with very little exciting news on the FPS gaming front this fall.  At this point last year we had a few titles already hit (ET: Quake Wars, Medal of Honor: Airborne and, as mentioned, Bioshock) with quite a few on the horizon for late fall (UT3, Crysis, Call of Duty 4, Timeshift, Hellgate: London, F.E.A.R. Perseus Mandate, Painkiller: Overdose and an initial Frontlines: Fuel of War demo).  So that was 3 titles already out and 8 demos available by mid October.

So far this year we have Far Cry 2 scheduled for October and Crysis Warhead coming next Tuesday.  Call of Duty: World at War is coming complete with Kiefer Sutherland lending his voice with a November release but I’m not sure where this game really treads new ground.  I guess I’m happy to see another WWII installment but the Pacific theater doesn’t ever seem to be that popular in gaming.  The addition of bushido rules and the reinsertion of vehicles may work out.  Throw in Jack Bauer barking out orders and maybe it’s a more exciting release than I’m expecting.  Battlefield Heroes is suppose to hit as a free download in 2008 (using the branding power of the Battlefield series while using the cartoon look of Team Fortress 2) but as far as I know there’s no solid date and while the seeds of Battlefield 3 have been planted, it too hasn’t really been discussed by EA/DICE.

There’s a few others hitting as well such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky (which I have a disc of Shadow of Chernobyl laying around that I have been meaning to try), Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway, Legendary (Not real sure about this one…not big on mythological shooters), Huxley (on the Unreal 3 engine and in the making for several years),

We’re also closing in on another years end without our famed hero from 12 years ago, Duke Nukem, having nothing announced other than the few typical rumors.  Not to mention we’re 2 years now past the release of Prey from 3D Realms.  Of course you could have watched exclusive footage over the summer on the Xbox 360 but alas it would also cost 80 points to do so.  What the hell?  You have a game in the making for 12 years, I’d assume you’d want people to see the freakin’ thing.  As much as I loved 3D, I’m not paying anything to watch an exclusive video of what’s been vaporware.  Speaking more nicely of Duke, I am looking forward to playing Duke Nukem 3D on Xbox Live…has that hit yet?  I’ve not touched the Xbox for a looooong while and still have to finish Battlefield Bad Company and I’ve yet to open Madden 09.  My Xbox is hating me hard!!

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