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Last year we saw a miniature uprising in the games industry. Casual gaming made an all time high with the release of both Wii Fit and Wii Fit plus, with Wii Fit becoming the biggest selling game of all time. Both the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises went into overdrive, releasing a grand total of two new Rock Band titles and six new Hero titles (including Band Hero and DJ Hero). 2009 also saw some great gaming titles too, such as Assassin’s Creed 2, Borderlands, Batman: Arkham Asylum and Halo: ODST.

As last year was such an uprising for casual gaming I believe this year sees the retaliation of the less mainstream game, or the ‘hardcore’ game if you would prefer *shudders*. Underground gaming is preparing a unstoppable legion.

Gamers of the world! I give to you, the warriors of 2010!

Bayonetta – January 8th

The game that has been given 10 out of 10 by Edge magazine, and 40 out of 40 from Famitsu magazine. Hack and slash fans better get ready for this title as the mind behind Devil Ma Cry has teamed up with gaming giants Sega to bring you this new game which stars a witch, who has magic hair. Yes I know it sounds a little barmy but believe me when I say this game is the pinnacle of hack and slash game play. It has the stupidly difficult enemies, the interesting array of moves and combos and I a pretty damn sure its gonna have a whole host of weapons and items for all you crazy combo-ing, button mashing mad gamers out there. Expect to see the official review up on the site soon!

Bioshock 2 – Febuary 9th

The ill-fated splicers make a welcome return in 2010 as we take a second voyage down to the murky depths. Rapture sees us take on a new role as the first ever Big Daddy prototype - meaning we can walk underwater, have that awesome big drill that many of us suffered a gruesome death from, and have a small child on your shoulder who loves the sight of dead bodies. Not only that, you get to use your plasmids and weapon upgrades which we have all come accustomed to. There is also a brand new enemy afoot; one of the saved little sisters from the first game thought land was boring - so went back to Rapture, adorned a sleek-looking big daddy suit and now is hording all the little sisters and running amuck. Its time for big daddy to show big sister a lesson.

Dante’s Inferno – February 12th

A worthy contender for the year of the game legion. Another hack and slash title taking place in the pits of hell! If you are on for classic literature, then this neat little title may be just for you. Following the first part of Dante’s Divine comedy, you are taken through the nine circles of hell to find your girlfriend who has unfortunately been babe-napped by Lucifer (c’mon she is hardly gonna be an ugly woman is she?) so you are led by a ghostly fellow by the name of Virgil through all nine circles of hell to battle it out with the lord of the underworld. And yes, yes you are equipped with Death’s scythe. Enjoy!

Aliens Vs Predator (AvP) – Febuary 19th

Not one campaign, not even two campaigns - this game has a whopping three campaign modes in one unique little disc. From Sega and Rebellion, the next Aliens Vs Predator title is coming. You have the Aliens, The Predators and the human race battling it out for survival in this huge three-way war. You have the opportunity to play as any of these three races who all have a unique campaign story line and unique moves and skills. This all doesn’t stop with the single player campaign though, there is a massive multiplayer mode where you can become any of the three races. Hungry for more info? Check out my AvP preview at Eurogamer and my Plus XP exclusive Interview with Rebellion

 Heavy Rain – 16 feb

Fans of Fahrenheit rejoice as this title follows tha similar gameplay form. In my opinion this is a mixture of game and film. You take on the roles of four different characters and it is up to you how they play their part in the overall story, and the investigation of the Origami Killer. Each character is unique in his/her own way with inner demons to battle as the story pans out. For a more in-depth look into this quite frankly awesome title, check out the Eurogamer preview my partner in crime Leon did last at last years expo.

Final Fantasy XIII – 9th march

A role-playing game that needs no introduction really. The Final Fantasy franchise is huge, possibly the biggest gaming franchise out there with a grand total of thirteen main titles and a countless amount of spin offs. Final Fantasy XII took a different approach to gameplay with a re-hauled battle system, while Final Fantasy XIII on the other hand brings back the turn based party battle system we had come to love. It have been a massive seven years since a brand new turn based style Final Fantasy came to out home consoles and we welcome it with open arms.

God Of War III – March

The long-awaited fourth chapter in the God Of War Series will be hitting all your PS3 systems this March with updated graphics, a few QTE tweaks and all the blood, gore and Greek mythology we have come to love with this franchise. Kratos is back and angry as ever. Hack and slash fans will be right at home here as well as new comers to the genre. Will this title make Game Of 2010? Lets ask Leon with his preview of the game at Eurogamer

MGS Rising – TBA

Solid Snake maybe a sweet memory, but Raiden is still very much alive and kicking. This will be the first MGS title to make its way onto our Xbox 360 consoles. It sounds as though this title will be going down a slightly different genre route too. More slashy-killy than sneaky-shooty. Will this be gaming gold or a step in the wrong direction? Gaming public, I give to you. The 2010 gaming army Wild Card.

Super Street Fighter IV – TBA Q2/Q3 2010

All you Street Fighter fans out there were pretty impressed and happy with the release of Street Fighter IV last year. Hell, I was, so is it a wise idea to bring out the same game again, a year after the first release? Well if you throw in up to eight new characters, new stages, tweaked online play and about as much new stuff as you can throw in without physically calling it Street Fighter V, then I can safely say a re-release isn’t that bad.

So thats just some of the new titles we will be facing this year, we may still get some surprise titles coming our way this year. It has been announced that the new Zelda will be hitting the Wii console before the year is out, and so will project Natal.

So to all you gamers out there, I suggest you sit back and relax because 2010 is giving us some cracking titles.

-Garvaos