The 21 Best Xbox 360 Games Of 2009

Sports Legends delivers the biggest games you'll want to keep an eye on in the New Year.

Aliens Colonial Marines

The Aliens gaming franchise has gone down the tube much like Sigourney Weaver's acting career. There is hope, however, as the upcoming first-person shooter release Aliens: Colonial Marines should give the series the jolt it needs to once again rise to prominence. Here's why.

4. Marine Tough
The marines that you'll be using throughout the game aren't just random, cookie cutter soldiers. They all have their own unique skills and personalities and react to different situations just like a real soldier would. Out of the 12 you can comprise your team of four; some are more likely to panic than others but may wield more powerful guns.

3. Not Your Average FPS
Aliens: Colonial Marines takes a different approach than other first-person shooters in how it plays out. Instead of being one long, continuous story, Aliens is broken down into three different acts with each one containing a certain amount of levels.

2. Blowing off Face-huggers
Sega's new Aliens game will be bringing back many of the standard weapons from earlier installments in the series as well as adding new guns, too. Players will have flamethrowers, mounted guns, pulse rifles, grenade launchers, and more at their disposal.

1. Allies in Alien-killing
The online version of Colonial Marines will allow people to play through the campaign with their friends in teams of four. What's cool about this is that players can enter the game or leave it without disrupting anything or forcing the team to go back into some type of lobby.

Total Screens: 16

Alpha Protocol

When Jason Bourne came along, he showed that the world of espionage isn't all about sipping martinis, sleeping with tons of women, and Judo-chopping your enemies, which rules out three of James Bond's favorite hobbies. But Sega seems to think there can be a link between the two and has cooked up their own secret agent in Michael Thorton, who is refined enough to attend dinner parties yet brutal enough to take down entire crime syndicates.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Alpha Protocol is that it's billed as a role-playing game. One might expect this since Obsidian is the developer and they've been responsible for such hits as Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights II. The obvious twist in Alpha Protocol is that it's pretty much the first of its kind as a modern day, espionage RPG. Players will take Thorton from a novice spy to one capable of outsmarting his former CIA employers and uncovering the truth behind why he's being hunted.

Even though this is an RPG, there will still be plenty of action involved. Players can make Thorton beat on his enemies with close combat moves or they can also blow them away with guns and other cool gadgets. But they'll want to be careful as different actions will affect the ending of the game. If you're sick of your dialogue-heavy RPGs always set in space, this game will be well worth the wait.

Total Screens: 13

BackBreaker

We've all seen sophisticated physics engines shred simulated vehicles like tin foil, but imagine applying that same processing power to two charging gorillas on the gridiron. Instead of running those meatheads into each other and watching one of a handful of canned and repetitive tackle animations, Backbreaker's Euphoria engine conjures up dynamic collisions that are both realistic and bone-jarring.

The players populating this football upstart won't be modeled on real NFL superstars (due to EA's continued exclusivity) but every one will house a complex collection of simulated flesh, bone, and protection. The result? Just as you're unlikely to see the exact same circumstances unfold in any two televised games, so does Backbreaker promise to make every down a unique experience. Better yet, the same physics system could just as easily showcase epic wrecks of contorted limbs that even the game's designers couldn't have foreseen.

Few details are available about the rest of the game's components, but we do know the developers hope to immerse fans in the tense atmosphere of on-the-field decision-making, from the quarterback's desperate search for a receiver to a tackler's quest to put him on the ground by any means necessary. Besides, even if Backbreaker proves too ambitious for its own good, the added competition should help to improve everyone's game.

Total Screens: 16

Borderlands

Borderlands turns you loose on the hostile backwater planet of Pandora to find your fortune and the location of a mysterious alien "Vault." Gameplay mixes first-person shooting with the leveling and skill development of an RPG, but developing and customizing three character classes is just the beginning.

Much has been made of Borderlands's claim that it contains more than half a million different weapons, but more impressive than sheer quantity is the inventive variety of this arsenal. Rather than simply spawn firearms with better stats and new skins, the loot system fabricates wild and wonderful new weapons from a diverse library of component parts and modifications. Whether you fire huge explosive shells, sticky goo, or some oddity of your own creation is up to you.

Even the environment itself is constantly changing. A procedural system that changes around the location of enemy encampments, strategically valuable buildings, and ambush points promises that even regions you've visited in previous expeditions will offer fresh challenges, whether you're hoofing it alone or tearing up the terrain in a customizable vehicle with three friends.

Borderlands makes some pretty big promises, but Gearbox's track record and early glimpses of the frenzied action give us the high hopes to match.

Total Screens: 15

Brutal Legend

Tim Schafer's past credits include Grim Fandango and Psychonauts, so it shouldn't come as a surprise that his latest project features a comically offbeat premise. When heavy-metal roadie Eddie Riggs, voiced by none other than Jack Black, bleeds onto a cursed belt buckle, he and his black mane are whisked away to a fantastic demon-filled landscape yanked straight off a 1980s hard rock album cover. There he must rescue Ophelia, a true gothic babe in the music-video mold, who's been kidnapped by an evil bassist.

You'll tear through local nasties with a giant battle axe, cast magical spells with your Flying V guitar, lead a hopelessly emo human resistance against the pointy-tailed multitudes, and grind gears in a bitchin' hot rod. This guitar hero's adventure will blend intense third-person action-adventure with an affectionate tongue-in-cheek parody of heavy metal culture, and your army will grow with every victory as defeated foes join the throng at your back.

Everything about Brutal Legend screams loving tribute, from the voice-over participation of legends like Lemmy Kilmister and Rob Halford, to ancillary characters like the Headbangers and Fire Barons. Melee combat, unapologetic high drama, and self-conscious rock posturing might sound like an unlikely mix for a modern video game, but the final product of that unholy union is bound to be one of a kind.

Bionic Commando

Back in the late 1980s, when the NES ruled the world of console gaming with an iron fist, Bionic Commando became one of the early hits for the system. In those days, the simple acts of beating on Nazis and using a bionic arm were more than enough to produce a best-selling video game. Now, 20 years later, Bionic Commando is making a return to consoles, but this time it will be in 3D. Here's a look at some of the aspects of this new 3D world.

4. Armed and (More) Dangerous
The old Bionic Commando relied heavily on the usage of the hero's mechanical arm. It allowed players to swing from one platform to another and avoid falling in pits. And even though the new rendition is in 3D, players will still use the arm quite often. People can aim the arm in the direction they wish to swing and even use it to pick up objects and hurl them at foes.

3. Arm-Slinging
As with many other 3D games, Bionic Commando is going to have a huge city for players to explore. Similar to some of the Spider-Man games, players will be swinging through the city with their arm and have the freedom to go where they want to. Much of the action, however, will take players to specific areas, such as a lush tropical jungle.

2. Ammo Commando
Using the Bionic Commando's guns is just like pretty much every other 3D shooter out there. Weapons such as the tarantula (rocket launcher) and machine gun will feel very similar to most other 3D games. Swinging kicks and attacks round out the hand-to-hand combat.

1. Making the Jump
The old Bionic Commando literally had no hops as players had to use the arm to cross every gap. But the upgraded 3D commando is different in that he will actually be able to jump, which will make life a lot easier for players this time around.

Total Screens: 19

Dark Void

Your calloused feet have torn across hundreds of miles of cratered terrain on alien worlds and WWII killing fields, but how many frequent flyer miles have you logged? Dark Void blends the familiar thrill of incendiary run-and-gun action with extended sequences of breathtaking aerial combat.

Alien Aggression
When the cargo ship you're piloting plunges into the Bermuda Triangle, you're transported to a troubled parallel universe called "The Void." This harsh realm is infested with would-be invaders called "The Watchers," creeps who clank around in metallic armor and unload energy blasts at anything that moves, opposed by a desperate resistance force comprised of your fellow shipwrecked humans. Grab an assault rifle and join the struggle to gain ground against overwhelming odds by blind-firing from behind outcroppings and debris, or get in close and smash the butt of your weapon through some jerk's faceplate.

The gritty visuals, intense firefights, and cover-hugging mechanics might initially call to mind another apocalyptic stop-and-pop classic, but then Dark Void turns the Gears of War gameplay mechanic on its side. Thanks to the jetpack on your back, the battlefield doesn't end when you reach a cliff-it goes vertical. Peer over the rocky edge and continue the assault, letting gravity pull you down 15 feet at a time, or clutch a handhold and plant slugs in enemy heads from below when they poke out to have a look. Don't get too comfortable, either: explosions could shake you loose and send you tumbling to your death unless you master a simple "grip system" mini-game.

Flexible Flyer
You'll improve your armor and weapons with scavenged alien technology as you run, gun, jump, and climb, but there's another awesome airborne twist in store. Once upgraded, that jetpack strapped to your back is good for more than just bunny-hops. With a bit of tinkering, those thrusters transform you into a full-blown rocketeer, and send you soaring across the heavens in pursuit of heavily armed UFOs you can cling to, sabotage, and even hijack. Dodge turret defenses, evict the pilot, and then engage reinforcements in crazed dogfights filled with energy weapon special effects and fiery destruction.

With its mix of traditional, cover-based third-person ground combat, vertiginous vertical assaults, and flight-simulator aerobatics, Dark Void looks like an ambitious attempt to blend genres and add appealing new wrinkles to tried-and-true gameplay. It's hard to tell this early how seamlessly the different gameplay components will gel together, but we can't wait to have the heady freedom to pound ground, scale cliffs, and take to the skies when it finally hits store shelves.

Total Screens: 18

Final Fantasy XIII

Final Fantasy XIII's multi-platform release could be revolutionary. Other than a couple of slasher film franchises, nothing has really spawned as many sequels as Final Fantasy has. Now with a 13th installment in place, Square Enix is looking to push the series into unexplored territory with its multi-platform package.

A Bold Move
Ever since Square Enix announced its intentions to release Final Fantasy XIII (PS3, Xbox 360), Final Fantasy Versus XIII (PS3), and a cell phone game called Final Fantasy Agito XIII under the label Fabula Nova Crystallis Final Fantasy, people have been wondering if they are innovators or have simply lost their mind. Only time will tell, but this is a truly unique concept and all three games will take place in a single universe divided into two worlds. Cocoon is appropriately named because it's a sheltered world that protects people from the monsters and dangers of the outside world in Pulse. As if the monsters inhabiting Pulse aren't a big enough turn-off, people who venture into Pulse also get quarantined.

First Lady
The story of Final Fantasy XIII centers on a heroine by the name of Lightning which is interesting because the series has never really put a female in the lead role of the game. Armed with her gun sword, Lightning must battle her way past tons of monsters and uncover why they've suddenly been appearing in her land. Final Fantasy Versus XIII takes a different approach in that the lead character, Mr. 33cm, is a male and is somewhat of a maverick personality-wise. Strangely enough, the two will be fighting in the same world due to the aforementioned single universe concept.

Prepare for Battle
Square Enix will once again be trotting out the Active Time Battle System as the method of combat for the game. But this time around it will be slightly modified so that players can execute combo attacks on their enemies. For example, a player can now use a combination of a stab and slash attacks instead of just using the stab command. Once a player makes their move, the attacks are animated in beautiful graphics. Going beyond the combat, people who played the previous installments of Final Fantasy will notice that the gameplay is a lot faster in Final Fantasy XIII which should definitely please fans of the series. Looks like 13 might just be Square Enix's lucky number.

Total Screens: 5

The Godfather II

Things have changed since we first got an offer we couldn't refuse. This time, instead of being a lowly gun-toting thug, you step into the shoes of The Don himself. A strategy element has been added to the gameplay adding an extra bit of challenge as you try and expand your family's business.

Godfather II helps put you in the Mafioso mood by adding what is called "The Don's View." At anytime during the game, you can call up a 3D map of the surrounding area (in this case) Miami. It shows all the various rackets and crime rings and the families that are running them. Using this map you can strategize exactly how you will take over the city, conquering multiple crime rings at once if necessary. Another added advantage of The Don's View is the ability to send your hired gunmen out to various locations to do your bidding while you accompany your own handpicked crew on various misdeeds. The trick is making sure you have assembled the right crew to carry out the crime at hand. Breaking into that high security building is going to be much easier if you have someone who knows how to disarm alarms on your team.

The Godfather II has a ways to go before it is completed and hopefully will play to its strengths. The strategy element is an interesting addition and is really where the game shines. If EA can get the rest of the title to live up to the Don's View, this could turn out to be an interesting title for Grand Theft Auto fans. Check out our full preview and screenshots for The Godfather II here.

Halo 3: ODST

Halo 3: ODST will put players in the boots of a UNSC recon soldier for the first time in the series. The unnamed recon agent will serve as a "new hero" for an all-new story line and single-player campaign. The game has been described as both an "expansion" and a "prequel," but players won't need to own the original Halo 3 in order to play ODST. In fact, ODST will share several elements with the original Halo 3, including the full multiplayer and Forge editing modes.

A New Fight
The teaser trailer, debuted at the Tokyo Game Show, shows a catastrophic explosion in a human city that is the result of the Covenant's invasion of Earth following the events in Halo 2. The camera then pans to show a group of heavily armored Brutes-the ape-like Covenant aggressors featured prominently in Halo 3's story line. Judging by the footage, the new lead character appears to have a high-tech visor that highlights nearby enemies in bright colors. We've received word that Halo 3: ODST will play much like Halo 3, so we're expecting to see a first-person camera view, familiar weapons, and similar gameplay.

Halo 3: ODST Official Trailer

Description: Watch the ENTIRE trailer for the upcoming Halo 3 expansion
which has been renamed from Halo3: Recon to Halo 3: ODST. Enjoy!

Rate This Video:

Bungie Jumps
The Halo 3: ODST is being developed by Bungie, the now-independent studio responsible for the original Halo trilogy. Microsoft confirmed a Fall 2009 release date, and the game will ship on a physical DVD-no word yet on a possible downloadable version, but it seems logical.

I Am Alive

Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder once famously asserted "Hey, I, oh, I'm still alive." That's a sentiment that could be echoed by the central character of I Am Alive, Ubisoft's upcoming disaster-survival title that may just jump-start a new subgenre of survival horror.

From what we've seen, water seems to be in scarce supply after a natural disaster strikes Adam's home city of Chicago, toppling buildings, collapsing streets, and leaving little in the way of H2O in its wake. Only eight days after the catastrophe, the city is in ruins, and citizens have turned violent in trying to survive. More than one Sports Legends editor subscribes to the theory that the calamity is actually a majority of the world's water supply instantly evaporating, as supported by the want for water, the streets imploding where water pipes would be, and the fact that Adam's coffee cup falls to the ground empty. We still can't quite explain the ominous beeping cell-phone call Adam received right before the event.

I Am Alive Trailer

Description: Watch the new trailer for the upcoming game I Am Alive.

Rate This Video:

We're not the only ones obsessed with this game already. Eagle-eyed trailer watchers have latched onto I Am Alive the ways fans have scoured shows and movies like Lost and Cloverfield, hoping to find clues in the patchwork. One such Easter egg was a URL referencing Ruaumoko, the Maori god of earthquakes. We're really hoping Ubisoft can hit its tentative Spring 2009 goal for this game, and we also have our fingers crossed that I Am Alive will succeed where games like Disaster Report and Raw Danger have failed. Give us more action and less survival simulation, Ubisoft, and understand that sometimes an unpredictable environment is scarier than zombies or vampires could ever be.

Ninja Blade

After many years as the king of ninja mountain, Ryu Hayabusa's reign is being seriously challenged. His latest adventure, Ninja Gaiden II was merely kinda awesome. And his modern-day director of choice, former Team Ninja leader Tomonburu Itagaki, has left Tecmo, with the future of his helmed franchises in the unsure hands of newer employees. Thus, the opportunity has presented itself for another ninja to sneak behind Ryu and slit his famed franchise's throat.

Ninja Blade Teaser Trailer

Description: Watch the brand new Xbox 360 exclusive Ninja Blade teaser
trailer

Rate This Video:

Microsoft is making a pretty big gamble with Ninja Blade. By publishing a game that's eerily close in concept to Tecmo's bread and butter, it risks alienating one of the system's most staunch Japanese supporters. This time around, the ninja action is being created by From Software, who has history with Japan's most dangerous profession. While the company's previous ninja series, Tenchu, trended towards stealth, what we've seen of Ninja Blade suggests this game will be everything but. The teaser trailer showed a steampunk-style ninja leaping down the side of a skyscraper, running across the side of the building as he sliced and diced demons on his downward path. If that's indicative of the final project, Ninja Blade could make the brutal battles of Ninja Gaiden look like an episode of Hello Kitty.

Total Screens: 10

Red Faction: Guerilla

It has been 50 years since the events of the original Red Faction, and the Earth Defense Force, who liberated the oppressed miners from the grip of Ultor, has become the very corrupt organization they freed the Martian planet from. Now, Alec Mason must lead a new rebellion alongside his fellow miners utilizing their strongest advantage: guerilla warfare.

From the moment you take up arms in Red Faction: Guerilla, you'll be able to tackle missions in any of the game's six major areas at your leisure. As you press onward, leaving a string of collateral damage in your wake, keep in mind that any environmental damage you inflict will persist until you come back for more or build the rubble back up again utilizing the new Reconstructor backpack.

Guerilla's multiplayer, whose beta ended back in August, also plans to utilize this completely physics-based destruction while also including an experience point-based system. Of particular interest is Damage Control (capture and hold) which has players blowing apart the pre-existing fortifications of one point and rebuilding them with their own fortifications using the aforementioned Reconstructor backpacks. A variety of 10 power-up backpacks -including a jet pack-coupled with the constant environmental damage should help to shape this multiplayer experience into a wild one.

Splatterhouse

For those of you who've seen too many B-movie horror flicks, this one's for you. Released for the arcade back in 1988, Splatterhouse was originally a side scrolling beat-em-up with a heavy emphasis on blood, gore, and a protagonist modeled after Friday the 13th star Jason Voorhees. Now, Namco Bandai has decided to throw this bloody IP to the wolves at Bottlerocket Entertainment (The Mark of Kri) to see what sort of twisted reimagining they could conjure up.

The tale of Splatterhouse, whose modern update is being penned by Gordon Rennie (Judge Dredd), revolves around Rick Taylor, a student who discovers a cursed mask which grants him supernatural abilities after his girlfriend, Jennifer Wills, is kidnapped by the sinister scientist Dr. West. Rick could easily be likened to a person-shaped sack of meat, bones, and miracle grow. Instead of having the typical health bar on screen, whenever Rick takes damage a chunk of body is just ripped right out of him. Naturally the more damage you take the closer you become to being a walking skeleton. And it gets better: in order to heal, you call upon the magical, restorative properties of your hockey mask and your hole-filled body grows back like crab grass.

As a gore filled, third-person action title, following in the vein of God of War, Splatterhouse is certainly an out-of-nowhere revival that should warrant one's morbid curiosity.

Total Screens: 8

Star Ocean: The Last Hope

The Star Ocean franchise is a long-running series originally published by Enix-before merging into Square Enix-for the Super Famicom, with iterations and sequels leading up to the Xbox 360. These science fiction space operas have always been known for their real time battle system and heavy emphasis on item creation.

With this latest iteration, Star Ocean: The Last Hope, Square Enix has once again recruited the talent behind the original Star Ocean, Tri-Ace, in the hope of bringing the series' status to Final Fantasy/Dragon Quest level here in the U.S.

Set before the events of the original Star Ocean (this game was almost titled Star Ocean 0), Last Hope weaves a tale of mankind venturing into the great void of space for the first time after World War III ravages the Earth. Channeling a bit of Mass Effect, Last Hope aims to focus more on space and planetary exploration as humanity struggles to find its place in the universe.

As of this writing, Square Enix still remains ambiguous as to the possibility of a PS3 release, stating that "no plans" are currently in the works. However, given the strong relationship between Sony and Square Enix, and the fact that the original trailer was on the PSP, the idea that this title is merely a timed exclusive is a strong one.

Street Fighter IV

You remember it, don't you? The days before boob physics and identical engines, when fighting games were still original and every sequel had brand new features? Sure, we suffered from gamerclaw and had to hide Mortal Kombat from our parents, but fatalities were fresh and the genre was taking its first steps into 3D. Where has all that innovation gone?

Say hello to Street Fighter IV. It doesn't just have gorgeous graphics, mid-battle specials, and the return of some of the most iconic characters in gaming. It's got the originality that's been missing from versus games for a console generation.

Street Fighter II Times Two
At SFIV's core are the essential components of the series' best title, Super Street Fighter II Turbo. It has a 2D playing field, a hand-drawn art style, and all 12 classic characters, from Ryu to M. Bison. All the classic playing fields are back, too: Guile still makes his home at a military airfield and Chun Li still propeller-kicks through Chinatown. But while the stages are limited to 2D movement, they're all rendered in 3D. If you manage to pull off a Super Combo or Ultra Combo (SFIV's mid-match, finisher-style moves), the camera goes crazy, zooming in and panning around for perfect angles on the action.

It gets better. Despite being 3D models, all 21 characters are rendered and animated to mimic the classic, hand-drawn feel of early Street Fighter. That rendering technology allows a character's "ink" to spray and streak across the canvas of your TV screen. If you land an especially punishing hit, you won't see blood fly; you'll see streaks of ink flash away in homage to Japanese calligraphy and sumi-e art.

You Lack Focus!
All that said, the real crown jewel of SFIV is its combat, thanks to a new mechanic called the Focus attack. It lets you absorb a single hit from your opponent by holding down the medium punch and kick buttons. You still take damage from the hit, but it gives you the chance to counterattack. As you charge up the counter, the focus shifts from being a simple reversal, to a knock back, to being completely unblockable. Hit with it, and you gain back whatever health you lost while charging.

It sounds simple, but there's a kicker: You can dash out of a focus charge at any time, or dash into one from a special move. The result, according to the developers, is a gameplay style akin to the tactical move-reading of boxing. With such a system in place, Street Fighter IV could leap from ancient classic to modern blockbuster in a single Shoryuken.

Total Screens: 14

Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion

It's coming, and it's about time. Soul Calibur IV was fun to fiddle with for a while, but customizing armor can only distract you from dull arenas and wonky balance for so long. Taking its cue from Dead or Alive 4's battlegrounds, Tekken 6 sports several tiered arenas. Landing bone-crushing hits will splinter the ground beneath you, sending both players plummeting to another section of the stage. Likewise, Soul Calibur's character customization will make an appearance, but with a twist: Each of the game's 41 characters will sport signature items that can be used in combat to brilliant-or hilarious-effect.

But the real change to Tekken 6 is in its gameplay. A new bounce mechanic will let you juggle your friends until they want to break their controllers, and the Rage system will increase your damage if your vitality drops too far. The end result is a heck of a lot more damage getting spread around the stage, so everyone will be given a significant boost to their health bars to compensate.

The biggest shocker is that Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion will debut on both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Whichever system you own, the fight begins this fall.

Wolfenstein

Every first-person shooter can trace its lineage back to Wolfenstein 3D, the great-granddaddy of FPS games. Before Doom conquered the PC and paved the way for Quake, Unreal, and Halo, Wolf 3D was there. It didn't pioneer the genre, but it sure helped make it what we know and love today. In 2001, Return to Castle Wolfenstein did for multiplayer what Wolf 3D did for shooters, blending objective- and class-based gameplay into a single experience, well before Battlefield 1942 came along.

Now, nearly seven years later, Raven Software's new Wolfenstein is looking just as sweet as its forebears. The sequel to RTCW, Wolf is built on the id Tech 4 engine. These days, those visuals aren't really anything to write home about, but the gameplay is exactly why FPS games win: Nazis, demons, inter-dimensional travel, and an arsenal of weaponry that can only be described as ?ber.

Wolf's story goes something like this: "BJ" Blazkowicz, OSS field agent and star of the first two games, has once again stumbled upon a Nazi plot. Hitler's occult-chasers have discovered an extra-dimensional energy source called Black Sun. Predictably, they think such power could make for some awesome weapons, so they've devised a way to bridge the gap between our dimension and Black Sun's. They've built devices that can shift you in and out of the Veil-a limbo world that shimmers between the two dimensions. And though actions in the Veil can affect our world, they rarely work as expected.

The result? You'll basically be fighting off hordes of demons with superpowers. Some enemies will have shields that can only be penetrated through the Veil; others will succumb to your "mire" ability, which slows them down and gives you the chance to pick them off one by one. There will even be puzzles that involve hopping in and out of the Veil, getting around obstacles that only exist in one of the two dimensions.

It wouldn't be Wolfenstein without the quintessential Enemy Territory gameplay, and Raven Software's Wolf shouldn't disappoint. This time around, though, you won't just be reaching for objectives as part of a team; you'll be tearing through the Veil with paranormal weapons along the way. Should Wolf be on your radar? You bet your shiny behind.

Total Screens: 18

UFC 2009 Undisputed

UFC 2009 looks spectacular for a game that's still in training. In particular, we're wowed by the photo-realistic character models. In the game's demo, UFC favorites Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Forrest Griffin look uncannily similar to their real-life counterparts. Everything from facial stubble to the ever-present sweat hints at a deep level of finely-tuned textures. With over 30,000 polygons being used for the game's roster of 80-plus fighters, THQ and Yuke's seem to be pushing the graphics as far as they can go. Aside from the huge cast, UFC 2009 will also support a full-fledged character creation system.

An interesting style choice in UFC 2009 is the lack of superfluous material in the heads-up display. Nixing health bars and battle text, THQ wants to maintain an air of authenticity in UFC 2009 so that playing the game feels exactly like watching a match. A fighter's level of damage or fatigue is apparent from the way the character models change during a match. Bruises, cuts, and other injuries not only hint at damage, and alter fighting styles, but also provide a focal point for attacks. In the demo we saw ribs turned purple after a barrage of punches, while a flurry of knee strikes transformed faces into a meat pizza.

UFC 2009 also pushes the idea of "contextual strikes," a feature where your fighter's position in relation to an opponent will affect your attacks. For example, a long-distance left hook will animate and land differently from a close-range attack with the same button. Also, when simultaneous punches occur, limbs collide realistically instead of clattering together like sticks of wood. This means that when you kick someone in the leg, you will actually see your foot sink into the muscle of the other fighter. UFC 2009's grappling system is impressive too-there's equally as much detail in ground grappling as there is in standing combat, which is important for the in-game fighting styles that will be used, like Brazilian jujitsu and wrestling. Forget the forgettable PS2-era UFC games...this game looks like a champion.

Total Screens: 5

WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania

Of all of life's guilty pleasures, pro wrestling probably takes the cake. It's rife with painfully bad acting, blatantly stupid story lines, and crazy crosses between the real world and the wrestling world. It's an industry of heels and faces, of pouting breasts and gigantic thighs, where punches never actually land and men in tights dive through gimmicked tables. Yet despite it all, every monthly WWE event is sold out. Pay-per-view orders cost three times as much as movie tickets, and wrestlers are rightly identified as superstars. You might tell your friends or you might not, but watching a wrestling match can be shamefully entertaining.

Wrestling Soap Opera
It's been like that for years. The history of the WWE is deep and scandalous, and much of it wraps around a set of iconic figures recognized openly as industry legends. From Hulk Hogan and Andre the Giant to The Rock and Stone Cold Steve Austin, many pro wrestlers have become household names. Some have even made the transition from the ring to the film screen, but never have the earliest and most influential been brought together like this.

WWE: Legends of Wrestlemania has been a long time coming. Unlike the WWE SmackDown! game series, Legends will focus solely on those early contenders in the company's history, the ones that made it what it is today. Historic matches comprise the game's core, supplemented with a host of authentic video and audio. It all adds up to a simple premise: introduce the matches with real intros, score them with classic commentary, and then step back and let the players rewrite wrestling history.

Out with the Old...
Every animation in the game was built from the ground up, and the controls have been radically simplified. Instead of relying on luck and a stamina bar, moves in Legends are built on a combo system. When you start a grapple with your opponent, you can begin chaining moves together, with each move a link in the chain that connects to new and different options. Go far enough down the chain, and you'll temporarily unlock your wrestler's finisher, but it all relies on following on-screen cues that anyone can see. You'll have to be careful to not let your buddy smash a cue button before you do, lest he breaks the combo and steals the initiative in a match.

Anticipated as Legends may be, it's already received a lot of backlash from fans for not including certain wrestlers. Mick Foley, for instance, has long been a fixture in the WWE, but his place in the game was stripped after he left the company for industry competitor TNA. In a game that relies so heavily on its fan base, such moves could spell disaster. Legends will just have to make up for it by blowing everyone away.

Wheelman

We can sense your disappointment. After a year with stellar sequels in the GTA and Saint's Row franchises, how could 2009 even begin to compare in the sandbox genre? Well, Vin Diesel is hoping the relative lack of open-world crime sims will provide an opportunity for Wheelman to pull ahead of the competition.

Developed by the Hollywood celeb's own Tigon Studios, Vin Diesel will also have the starring role in Wheelman as Milo Burik, an undercover agent seeking to infiltrate an underground crime syndicate in Barcelona. While we've been told that the game will indeed feature on-foot action, the emphasis of the early footage has been the insane driving action. True to the game's title, Burik is an expert driver, deftly dodging bullets and potential pile-ups.

The game seems to be channeling the Driver series of old before it went down the tubes. For example, the chases we saw seemed to encourage inventive route finding, like plowing through a middle floor of an office building during a chase. That's not to say you'll always be on the run, as the game offers up many opportunities to fire back at the other car-bound baddies. We've heard that the game will allow through-windshield gunfire, which makes sense. After all, if your character is willing to bash other cars to oblivion, why does he have to shoot out through the side window? It's a cool little addition of realism, and hopefully it'll have some gameplay ramifications, too.

The Wheelman was originally set to release alongside a movie adaptation, but it seems like Diesel's moved onto other movie projects, including the fourth chapter of The Fast and the Furious (4 Fast 4 Furious?). Hopefully, Midway will give the game a head start on the movie. Check out our entire preview including over 25 screenshots for Wheelman here.