It’s that time of year. You know, the time when your wallet begs you for mercy? Yes, as the last quarter of 2010 comes, so does the deluge of new releases. But have no fear, WingDamage is here to help you remember which games are coming out for the Xbox 360. Let the insanity begin!

Vanquish

“In a world saturated with shooters, it’s absolutely necessary to bring something new to the table if you want to stand out. Shinji Mikami’s Vanquish mixes up the traditional third person shooter formula by giving it the pace of an action game. Rocket boosting your way across the map is thrilling and the action is hectic. Hoards of enemies and giant boss fights abound as you make your way through a highly detailed, futuristic world as an ex-football player in a robo-suit.” -Jesse

Fable 3

“Fable II was one of the best RPG’s of 2008, and possibly this whole generation. On the surface, it was a light and breezy adventure through a Victorian Fantasy world. But hidden beneath the surface was a sharp, intelligent Action RPG with some incredibly dark story elements and a healthy dose of black humor. Mix that with a fully realized world actually affected by your choices, and it was an amazing package.

Now Peter Molyneux is dropping Fable III this October, and is promising that all of the little flaws that hampered the previous Fables will be streamlined, and all of its strengths will be kicked up three or four notches. It may be that Mr. Molyneux is simply saying things I want to hear, but I’m more than willing to give him a chance when Fable III releases this fall.” -Russ

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow

“I was ready to decry Konami’s decision to trust the folks at Mercury Steam and Kojima Productions to reboot Castlevania as nothing more than a quick grab for cash in the shape of a God of War clone. But darn it, they’ve been trying their hardest to convince me otherwise. All the trailers and gameplay footage released so far has been nothing but classy, featuring gorgeous art, graphics, voice talent, and most importantly, music. It’s still up in the air if Konami’s experiment pays off and turns Castlvania back into a top tier franchise, but I’ll be first in line to check it out.” -Russ

Fallout: New Vegas

“Until I saw it at PAX ’09, I never thought Fallout 3 was a game that would interest me. I thought it was just another first person shooter, but with the added flavor of an RPG.

Boy was I wrong. Fallout 3 has taken a spot as one of my all-time favorites. The atmosphere, story, and gameplay sucked me into the Fallout universe more than I could have ever imagined. Not surprisingly, Fallout: New Vegas has been on my radar since its initial announcement.

I had the chance to play it briefly at PAX ’10, and it is exactly what I expected; more Fallout 3. Now before you get your nerd rage on, I personally am happy about this. They have added some interesting new game mechanics revolving around reputation with various groups within the game, and that’s just from playing a 15 minute demo. I can’t wait to see what else Obsidian Entertainment has in store for us when New Vegas drops.” -Jonah

Call of Duty: Black Ops

“Many people see the boys (and girls) at Treyarch as the B team of the Call of Duty franchise. Black Ops is their opportunity to finally prove that they can hang with Infinity Ward. Even if they don’t quite make it, the results look to be spectacular. With an improved graphics engine sporting crisp and smooth 60 fps and the ability to save replays of your kills to show off to your friends, Black Ops will be the biggest online shooter of the holiday season. You know you’ll play it if only for the anticipated return of Zombie Mode.” -Dave

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood

“If Metal Gear Solid: Peacewalker has taught us anything, it’s that adding multiplayer to a stealth game is a recipe for a good time. Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood does just that. Following the events of Assassin’s Creed II, you will experience the later portions of Ezio’s life as he builds up his team of assassins in Rome to fight the Templars. Besides Ezio, you’ll be able to control a variety of assassin’s, each with their own abilities and customizable perks.” -Jesse

DJ Hero 2

“The original DJ Hero was a breath of fresh air in the stagnant rhythm genre. DJ Hero 2 takes things to the next level with new meaningfully scored freestyle sections. Not only will you free style with samples (which now apply more consistently to each song), you’ll also be able to freestyle scratch and freestyle crossfade. Combine this with a more robust multiplayer experience and you have more than a glorified track pack. This is a true sequel that expands on the great fundamentals the original laid down.” -Jesse

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II

“The first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed had its issues, but overall I did have a lot of fun with it. The story and characters were interesting, and by the end when you were fully powered up, the force powers kept the battles fun.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II boasts better controls, more force powers, and double lightsabers (so intense). Starkiller is now searching for his lost love as Vader is pursuing him in an attempt to clone the perfect Sith Warrior. It’s all a Star Wars nerd could need to get their heart pumping!” -Jonah

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit

“The only Need for Speed game that I every really got into was Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit. Even though I’m not a big racing game guy, I enjoy the ones that give the more fast paced, arcade-style experience.

Jesse and I played a lot of the mode in Hot Pursuit where you took turns being the cops and try to chase each other down. The fancy now-gen Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit seems to be bringing back what was fun in the old version, but with fancy HD graphics and online play. It’s the guys behind Burnout, so you know over-the-top take-downs are a given.” -Jonah

Enslaved: Odyssey to the West

“The trailer for this game sold me on the concept. Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is a science fiction, far future take on the classic Chinese tale, Journey to the West.

In Ninja Theory’s new action/adventure video game version of the tale, your duo must work together to make their way through a decimated Earth, battling the mechs that have taken over the world. Though it’s been years since the bulk of humanity was eradicated, the mechs are still determined to carry out their “kill all humans” orders when you stumble across them. From the footage we’ve seen so far, the game looks to be in the same vain as Uncharted.

Another cinematic experience along those lines will definitely be welcome to my game library.” -Jonah

Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2

“The original Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm was the best looking use of cell shaded graphics I had ever seen, bar none. The sequel somehow looks even better. This is a game with visuals that look far better than the source material on which it is based. The frantic, full-3D fighting returns, this time taking its cast from the second Naruto series, Shippuden, meaning even the returning characters will be very different.

With the addition of online matches, over 40 playable characters (including Tekken 6′s Lars Alexandersson), dynamic stages with destructible environments, and new gameplay systems to deepen the combat, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 looks to pack a punch… and maybe even a Rasengan.” -Jesse

Fist of the Northstar: Ken’s Rage

“To the uninformed, Fist of the North Star is the common ancestor of Dragonball Z, Naruto, and other Shonen properties that rule the Anime spectrum today. Set in some non-descript, post-apocalyptic wasteland, Fist of the North Star stars Kenshiro, the only remaining master of Hokuto Shinken, an ancient martial arts that pinpoints a man’s pressure points (usually resulting in said person’s body exploding into a giant bloody mess).

Kenshiro roams the land, destroying the evil gangs that endlessly torment the innocent people of the wasteland. Now, transplant this summary into a Dynasty Warriors game, and you essentially have the greatest Hack n’ Slash ever. And it just so happens to be coming out this November.” -Russ

Tags: Anticipated games q4 2010, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, DJ Hero 2, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, Fable 3, Fallout: New Vegas, Fist of the Northstar: Ken's Rage, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, Vanquish, Xbox 360

This entry was posted on Friday, October 8th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.