Gaming in 2009: 21 Things We Missed!

If our list of 50 of the hottest releases, events, unveilings and announcements scheduled in 2009 wasn't enough, thank the internet's gaming forums, friendly publisher PRs and our own grey matter for an additional helping of 21...

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Diablo III
TBC (PC, Mac)

Not confirmed for 2009, but a man can dream. Blizzard is in the unenviable position of owning three franchises so utterly venerated worldwide that anything more than slight adjustments to the formula are liable to be branded blasphemy. Mind you, there's nothing unenviable about the original Diablo's 94% Metacritic average, nor its two and a half million unit sales. Thus far, the third game in the action-RPG series seems to be a more drastic reinvention than StarCraft 2. Luxuriantly detailed randomly generated levels are back, ensuring that no two play-throughs are the same, but walls and the like are now destructible. The interface has been streamlined - lead designer Jay Wilson says you can play with just the mouse - and there are five classes, of which the only returning class is the in-your-face Barbarian. Witch Doctors can summon locust swarms and possess their enemies, or raise the dead to fight on their behalf. Drop-in/drop-out coop is in the offing, and Blizzard has promised the game will scale well to weaker hardware. -EET

Wolfenstein
TBC 2009 (PC, Linux, PS3, Xbox 360)

Chunky alien mutants have their points, but there's nothing quite as fun to shoot as a Nazi - especially a Nazi wearing a jet-pack and carrying some kind of fancy electric ray gun. Wolfenstein, id Software's top-down stealth game turned pioneering FPS turned multiplayer modder's title of choice, is back. The latest entrant runs on an overhauled id Tech 4 engine, and pits series protagonist Agent Blazkowicz against Heinrich Himmler's feared Schutzstaffel and their otherworldly weaponry. Wolfenstein has always been renowned for its multiplayer, as id's annual QuakeCon pro-gaming tourneys attest, and the new game will offer lashings of class-based team objective play. The plot once again takes a running leap from the brink of historical accuracy, as the Nazis tunnel into hellish parallel dimensions. World War II isn't over yet. -EET

Bayonetta
TBC 2009 (PS3, 360)

We checked this out earlier in 2008, and it's looking really quite tasty. The Devil May Cry-like game from PlatinumGames and SEGA is directed by Hideki Kamiya, who as creator of the Devil May Cry series knows a thing or two about third-person action gaming. My question is, will it better Ninja Gaiden, which is top of the pile if you ask me. But the good news for Kamiya fans is that Bayonetta has plenty going for it - a unique new lead character with GUNS ON HER HANDS AND FEET, and on top of that, the demos we've seen are pretty insane, with environments and action on a scale that's definitely stunning. We've yet to play it for ourselves, but this is definitely one to watch. -AD

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