Five Most Anticipated Games of 2007: Blake's list

2007 is almost halfway behind us, and boy is my wallet tired. For an industry in such a state of Limbo (the surprise success of the Wii, the slow Xbox 360 adoption rate, and the near-disaster of current PS3 sales), we have seen many fantastic releases already this year. Crackdown and Forza Motorsport 2 have both far exceeded my expectations, and WarioWare: Smooth Moves and Super Paper Mario meant that I occasionally had a non-virtual console reason to power on my Wii in the first half of the year. The DS remains strong with Hotel Dusk, Pokemon, and Planet Puzzle League. The PS2 had Chulip. Wowsa. But where is the beef, you might ask? Calm yourself, dear friend. Let me show you the beef. Here are my five most anticipated games of this year.

Note: my sincerest apologies for the IGN watermarked image. I know, I feel dirty too.

5. More Brain Age

Brain Age is certainly my most played DS game to date. Though I've spent much time solving ludicrous murder mysteries with Phoenix Wright, getting told about constellations named "DUUUDE" and the importance of muscles in Animal Crossing, and tapping out the beats of "Material Girl" with the Elite Beat Agents, nothing is in my DS more often than Brain Age. That the sequel promises MORE Brain Age is good enough for me.

4. Assassin's Creed

Assassin's Creed makes it's way onto my list for it's pedigree; this game is made by the team that created last generation's Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. That game had some of the best platforming and environmental puzzles of it's generation and Assassin's Creed looks to up the ante in all respects. The art style looks tasteful, the level of detail looks plentiful, and the gameplay possibilities that come with being able to scale any terrain look vast.

3. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass

The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass has much to live up to. First and foremost it is the first Zelda game to grace Nintendo's most successful system since the days of the Famicom, the Nintendo DS. Perhaps more importantly though it follows closely in the footsteps of what many consider to be the greatest Zelda game yet released, Twilight Princess. I am included in those many. Phantom Hourglass looks to take the series in many new directions with it's extensive use of the DS hardware and touch panel as well as a more "treasure hunting" styled adventure that should mix up the relative linearity of the more recent entries into the series. Eiji Aonuma has never been afraid of experimenting with the Zelda formula, and the game's delay should have helped give the game the extra level of detail and polish that makes Zelda games feel like Zelda games. All signs are looking up for this game, and we will find out how the final product holds up once it is released at the end of the month in Japan.

2. Halo 3

You don't get a screen for Halo 3,

because you should be playing the beta damnit.

If you've played the Halo 3 multiplayer beta you know why this game is so high on this list. All of the disappointment I had with Halo 2 looks to have been made up for with the third entry into the series. It is big. It is stupid. It is very, very fun.

1. Super Mario Galaxy

In all honesty, I have never been quite as excited about any game as I am about Super Mario Galaxy. The first time I saw the game I was watching the live feed of Nintendo's E3 press conference last year, drunk on champaigne with Grant and Stephen. We let out yells of amazement before our jaws hit the floor. When they showed the title of the game, we were stunned. This was the game we had all been waiting for. The result of 10 years of Mario experiments within Nintendo, this game is being billed as the successor to Super Mario World. However, it is not Mario's presence in the game that fuels my excitement. It is the sheer level of wonder present in each moment of the game that has been displayed thus far. The playable demo at E3 last year, though brief, already showed more wonder than most games can ever hope to muster in their entirety. The trailer shown at this year's GDC was even more fantastical. This game, the first proper entry in gaming's flagship series in more than a decade, looks to show the imaginative heights that the medium is capable of. Here's hoping it lives up to it's potential.

Honorable mentions: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Mass Effect, Burnout 5, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, My Sims (Wii version), Grand Theft Auto IV

Worrywort Award: Team Fortress 2. What would have been on this list without a doubt seems much less compelling without grenades. Please prove me wrong Valve!