PlayStation News, Articles and Information for the UK and Europe

What will be the ‘Game of Year’ in 2010 for the Playstation 3 platform? At this early stage it’s anyone’s guess, but here’s our pre-release guide to some of the favourites so far:

5 – Red Dead Redemption 

• At number five we have Rockstar’s upcoming ‘sandbox’ western game, Red Dead Redemption. For those of you who don’t remember, this is the sequel to the Playstation 2/Xbox game Red Dead Revolver which, back in  2004, had some pretty good reviews and was very popular with fans. Six years later and it looks like we’ll finally get the long-awaited sequel. As far as sandbox (free roaming, do whatever you want) games go, Rockstar practically invented the genre with the release of Grand Theft Auto 3 back in 2001, so there are very high hopes for Red Dead Redemption. Early previews indicate that Rockstar have had some serious problems with the development but providing these can be ironed out, Red Dead Redemption has a moderate chance of being the GOTY 2010.

4 – Bioshock 2 

• Number 4 brings us Bioshock 2 - the sequel to the critically acclaimed Bioshock. Originally not released for PS3, Bioshock was eventually brought to the Sony Platform in 2008, complete with extra missions, all the enhancements from post-release patches and trophy support. Coupled with a price reduction to between £10 and £15 within just a few months, Bioshock gained a lot of favour with the PS3 community and the expected sequel is virtually guaranteed to be very successful when it is released on 9th February. Quite how the developers (2K Marin) will top the original remains to be seen – with added multiplayer support and ability to dual-wield both guns and plasmids this time around, it could be a case of the best just got better.

3 – God of War 3 

• The long-awaited God of War 3 comes in at number 3. The God of War games, exclusive to the Sony platforms, have a loyal following from a large number of Playstation gamers and being the first God of War game for the PS3, expectations are very high, particularly with the release of some particuarly impressive screenshots. The only question is how well the gameplay has transposed to Sony’s ‘Next-Gen’ console. Games and gamers have moved on since the days of the PS2, so only time will tell if God of War still has what it takes to succeed with a new generation of gamers.

2 – Heavy Rain

• Heavy Rain is probably the most elusive yet exciting PS3 game coming out in 2010. Is it a game? Is it a movie? There’s been a lot of hype and publicity about the fact that it blurs the lines between gaming and movies. In reality it is still a game, albeit with many of the production styles and values that we love from movies. The real benchmark of whether Heavy Rain will the GOTY 2010 is how well it lives up to its claims to be truly ground-breaking and original. Judging from pre-release screenshots, the graphics are going to be fantastic – if the gameplay matches, we could be onto a winner.

1 – Gran Turismo 5 

• Finally, the hottest contender for GOTY is surely Gran Turismo 5. Hyped beyond hype and coming off the back of four of the most stunning and in-depth racing games/simulators ever made, Gran Turismo 5 has even non-gamers getting excited. From the early preview version Gran Turismo 5 Prologue it seemed like Gran Turismo has been coming along nicely but since then we’ve seen a Time Trial ‘demo’ on the PS Store and dozens of spectacular videos and screenshots that would make Michael Schumacher blush with jealousy. With the rumoured ‘Track Editor’ looking more and more likely, as well as the long-awaited ability to damage cars, Gran Turismo 5 could just end up being the most exiting, realistic and in-depth racing game ever made: if it ever gets released that is! With delay after delay, it finally looks like Gran Turismo 5 will be released in Autumn 2010. Keep your fingers crossed!