Computer games I’d like to see (part 1)

My rig is too old to play the latest and greatest video games that were released in the last two years. However, I don’t think I really missed very much. Except perhaps Oblivion and a few others. I’m planning to buy a new computer when I finally go to university and hopefully, one of the games of my dreams will have been announced by then. I will add to the list the next few days.

In no particular order

1. Aliens vs. Predator 3
I played Aliens vs. Predator 2 and I really love the game. Its atmosphere is great and it combines survival horror with straight first person shooting. The story is great and offers a few twists and the suspense lasts till the very end. Above all, the three really distinct races provide for three different play styles. The Marine, as the name suggests, makes for traditional shooter gameplay. Weapons had several ammo types that could be used for different tactics. The pistol and the shotgun, for example, had armor piercing bullets useful especially against predators. The flamethrower is one of the weapons that is seen very little in current games, I think. The alien on the other hand provided a way to literally rip your opponents to pieces. Except for jumping in their faces, the alien had to go for melee attacks to get rid of an opponent. The possibility to walk on walls and ceilings, the unmatched speed of the aliens and the self-healing by eating corpses balanced this perfectly. The third race is the predator, who relies on high tech sci-fi weaponry. The returning disc could dismember opponents and remote bombs, the net thrower and the shoulder cannon could be used in several ways which enhanced tactical variety. The predator’s masks let you see marines, aliens or other predators more clearly. Moreover, all of your attacks and the predator’s self-healing device need energy which has to be regenerated in a rather slow process. These three races also work perfectly in multiplayer mode. It is one of those games we play (or played) at every LAN party (the last one was two years ago, sadly) that was genuinely fun. A sequel is a must. I’d love to see the same basic gameplay with improved mechanics and graphics and above all with a working physics engine (burning flamethrower liquid flowing realistically, as I saw on a video, for example).

2. Soldier of Fortune 3
This one was erroneously announced a year or so ago, but is not officially in development as of yet. The second installment was probably the best single player first person shooter I ever played (I didn’t like half-life very much). The story could be right out of a good book and the action was tense. The weapons and the overall realism (80 or so hit zones on one enemy) of the game hold strong even today, I think. I replay it every now and again just because I think it is so much fun. The enemy AI is also great, although I haven’t played any of the latest shooters and cannot comment on their AI. One of the infamous features of the Soldier of Fortune franchise is, of course, the realistic gore system. It might be putting some people off, but it has something to it that truly adds to the game play, in my opinion. Maybe I’m twisted, but I still think it as one of the best features of the game. I want a sequel with a story at least as good as the last one with even more realism and better graphics, obviously. It goes without saying that the gore system would also have to be improved. I’m looking forward to seeing physics applied to gore and blood. I imagine bullets going right through body tissue with blood splattering the walls behind the enemy and slowly running down. The blood could then collect in pools and flow slowly to some step and drip off or something. I just adds to the realism in a disturbing way.