It’s a perfect stage set for gamers around the globe. Sony’s PlayStation 3 recently went on a diet and not only presented and ample reduction in its bulky exterior but with almost a $100 slash in prices, the sales for the console have come back to life! Just in time we would say because Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has made a $100 drop of its own, Nintendo is counting on Wii’s brand momentum to carry it through the season, and Windows will be relying on the new Intel Core i7 and i5 processors for latter part of this year to carry through.

Now all we need is new games! The good news is that they’re on the way. The bad news is that you would still need to dish out any where between Rs. 4000 – 5000 for the PS 3 platform exclusive titles. Smiles or frowns, here’s presenting some of the most exciting games to look forward to for the rest of the months in 2009…

Halo 3: ODST

> Release Date: September 22
> Genre(s): First Person Shooter
> Platform(s): Xbox 360

ODST takes place in the 26th century, where humans under the command of the United Nations Space Command (UNSC) are locked in a war with a theocratic alliance of alien races known as the Covenant. During the events of the 2004 video game Halo 2, the Covenant discover the location of Earth and launch an assault on the city of New Mombasa in Africa. Though the UNSC manages to repel most of the fleet, a single ship lands above the city and eventually retreats via a slipspace jump, creating a shockwave that destroys much of the city. While the rest of Halo 2′s storyline follows the carrier to a ringworld called Halo, ODST focuses on the aftermath of the shockwave, where the Covenant still occupy the city.

Dead Space: Extraction

> Release Date: September 28
> Genre(s): Survival Horror / Rail Shooter
> Platform(s): Wii

Dead Space: Extraction takes place before the events of Dead Space and during the same time as the animated film Dead Space: Downfall. It revolves around a group of space colonists from the Aegis VII colony fighting against the infection of Necromorphs created when the Red Marker is removed. Necromorphs are the violent, alien race who are the major antagonists of the game. The game also introduces a new female protagonist to the series.

Gran Turismo PSP

Release Date: October 1
Genre(s): Racing
Platform(s): PlayStation Portable (PSP)

This will be the first installment of Grand Turismo for the PSP platform and promises to pack a punch.
The game will feature over 800 cars, although only 4 cars are present in a single race. The exotic car manufacturer Ferrari will feature, and for the first time in the Gran Turismo series, Lamborghini and Bugatti cars will be introduced. There will be no damage model in the game. All 35 tracks will be included, and most can be driven forward and reverse, for close to 70 layouts. The tracks featured in the game are directly sourced from Gran Turismo 4 and Tourist Trophy, while the game’s physics engine is based on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

> Release Date: October 6
> Genre(s): First Person Shooter, Tactical Shooter, Open World
> Platform(s): Xbox 360, MS Windows, PS 3

Dragon Rising takes place on a small, fictional island based on the island Kiska located off the north coast of Japan called Skira set in the near future. The island is a contested territory between Russia and China and becomes the centre of an armed conflict when a large untapped oil and gas reserve is discovered there. The Russians who own the island ask America (their allies) to intervene as they are busy dealing with a large Chinese force on their own Russian border. The game begins as the player arrives as part of the United States Marine Corps which is tasked with capturing the island, on behalf of the Russians, from the Chinese military.
Dragon Rising also features a multi-player mode. In storyline co-op mode, several human players can play through the single player campaign together, each human player replacing a computer-controlled character. There are also the pure multi-player modes Annihilation and Infiltration, with more multi-player modes promised for after the release of the main game.

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

> Release Date: October 13
> Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Third Person Shooter
> Platform(s): PS 3

Uncharted 2 picks up a couple of years after the events of Drake’s Fortune. Similar to the previous story, Nathan Drake’s (voiced by Nolan North) new adventure revolves around an unsolved historical mystery – this time surrounding Marco Polo and his doomed voyage home from China in 1292. After spending almost 20 years in the court of the emperor Kublai Khan, Marco Polo departed with 14 ships and over 600 passengers and crew – but when he arrived at his destination a year and a half later, only one ship remained, and only 18 of the passengers had survived. Although Marco Polo described almost every other aspect of his journeys in minute detail, he never revealed what happened to the ships that were lost.
The game will feature new gameplay mechanics, such as stealth action segments, and will change the climbing mechanic to allow free movement over walls.

Brutal Legend

> Release Date: October 13
> Genre(s): Action-Adventure
> Platform(s): PS 3, Xbox 360

Brütal Legend follows the story of Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black and named after Eddie the Head, the mascot of Iron Maiden, and Derek Riggs, the artist who created Eddie), who is the world’s best roadie for the world’s worst “heavy metal” band, Kabbage Boy.[5][14] The game begins one night during a gig. When the lead guitarist falls from a part of the set, constructed by Riggs, Eddie catches him, but the piece of scenery breaks off and lands on top of Eddie. His blood drips onto his cursed belt buckle, which is really an amulet for Ormagöden, “The Fire Beast, Cremator of the Sky, and Destroyer of the Ancient World”.[5] Ormagöden awakens, kills the members of Kabbage Boy, and transports Eddie into a heavy metal and Nordic fantasy inspired alternate history where demons have enslaved humanity.
The game will have a multiplayer mode, which is your typical head-to-head, battle of the bands scenario. But with axes. The multiplayer modes are team-based and play out as a simplified real-time strategy game, including a four-on-four “skirmish” mode as well as single-player campaigns.

Borderlands

> Release Date: October 20
> Genre(s): First Person Shooter, Action Role Playing
> Platform(s): Xbox 360, MS Windows, PS 3

In the distant future, several colonization ships head to Pandora, a planet on the edge of the galaxy. The colonists are drawn there in search of a better life as well as vast mineral resources said to be on the planet, free for anyone’s taking, akin to a futuristic gold rush. Some time after settling the colonists discover that there is little the planet offers, aside from some decrepit alien ruins. Those who have money leave, the remaining population devolves into chaos and lawlessness. Some of the settlers seek to get rich quick by discovering alien technology. Most others are just trying to survive. After seven earth years, the planet’s slow orbit brings a transition from winter to spring, and many horrifying creatures emerge from hibernation. All of the creatures are randomly generated as you play the game so no two play throughs will ever be the same.
You will be able to choose from 4 different playable characters, who each have their own unique abilities and skill trees It is inspired by the Mad Max film series and Diablo by Blizzard. With over 160 quests of varying length and complexity, 30 of these being part of the story and the other 130 as side quests, this should be an interesting game to watch out for.

Alpha Protocol

> Release Date: October 27
> Genre(s): Action RPG
> Platform(s): Xbox 360, MS Windows, PS 3

After a mission goes awry, rookie CIA Field Agent, Agent Michael Thorton is cut off from all of his contacts and betrayed by his superiors and is being hunted by the United States government. In response, Michael uses the “Alpha Protocol”, though it is normally reserved for more senior agents, and begins to operate undercover, to uncover the conspiracy.
Alpha Protocol is played from a third-person perspective, allowing the player to see Thorton and his surroundings at all times. As Thorton is a trained CIA operative, the tools at the player’s disposal include numerous firearms, hand to hand combat using Kenpo, and spy gadgets.

Forza Motorsport 3

> Release Date: October 27
> Genre(s): Racing
> Platform(s): Xbox 360

Forza Motorsport 3 is a realistic racing simulator on the Xbox 360, the sequel to Forza Motorsport (Xbox) and Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360). The game will include over 400 fully customizable cars from 50 manufacturers and over 100 tracks. Every car in the game has been built with more than 10 times the amount of polygons as Forza Motorsport 2.
New additions to the game include an in-car driving view, one button assisted driving, vehicle rollover, and for the first time in the series, trucks and SUVs, as well as the ability to paint your race cars (the previous game in the series allowed only production and tuner cars to be painted). Also included will be the ability to create in-game videos and upload them to the Forza Motorsport website.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

> Release Date: October 27
> Genre(s): Action-adventure, Platformer, Sandbox
> Platform(s): PS 3

The story of the game continues from where Quest for Booty left off, and will follow Ratchet continuing his search for Clank, who was kidnapped by the mysterious Zoni at the end of Tools of Destruction. Ratchet discovers that Clank’s kidnapping was engineered by Doctor Nefarious, the main antagonist of Up Your Arsenal, and sets out to rescue him.

Dragon Age: Origins

> Release Date: November 3
> Genre(s): Role Playing
> Platform(s): Xbox 360, MS Windows, PS 3

Dragon Age: Origins has been described as a ‘dark heroic fantasy’ story that will be told on an epic scale with mature themes. The player will begin his or her journey in one of the six Origin stories which serve as an introductory point for the players and present the world from their personal point of view. The Origin chosen determines who the character is and by the same measure how NPCs (party and non-party) will react to the player. Elves for example are often viewed as second rate citizenry.

Modern Warfare 2

> Release Date: November 10
> Genre(s): First Person Shooter
> Platform(s): Xbox 360, MS Windows, PS 3

Modern Warfare 2 is set several years after the conclusion of Call of Duty 4. The radical Russian Ultranationalist organization has returned to prominence under the leadership of Vladimir Makarov, a former associate of Imran Zakhaev with his own ambitions. Makarov has publicized Zakhaev’s death as an act of martyrdom to garner support for his cause, enabling him to build a strong power base in Russia over the years. Fearful of Makarov’s growing influence, the global community established Task Force 141 to counter the threat posed by the resurgent Ultranationalists.
Modern Warfare 2 will feature a cooperative mode entitled Special Ops, which consists of independent missions similar in design to the “Mile High Club” epilogue mission from Call of Duty 4. These missions will take place in a variety of locations from the campaign mode, but are not related to story of the campaign itself. Special Ops supports cooperative play for up to two players, and can be played alone, in split-screen locally with another player, or online with another player. It includes such scenarios as a snowmobile race, a battle alongside U.S. Navy SEALs, and fending off a wave of 50 enemies at once.

Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines

> Release Date: November 10
> Genre(s): Third-person, Action-adventure, Sandbox, Stealth
> Platform(s): PlayStation Portable (PSP)

Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines takes place before the events of Assassin’s Creed II (see below) but after the events of the original Assassin’s Creed. The game is set on the island of Cyprus where players would take on the role of Altaïr, the original main character in Assassin’s Creed. Altaïr has travelled to Cyprus from the Holy Land which was the setting of the first game in order to assassinate the last remnants of the templars which would be the premise of the game. The game will be used to explain the link between the three main characters in the Assassin’s Creed series: Altaïr Ibn La-Ahad, Desmond Miles(Descendant of Altaïr) and Ezio Auditore di Firenze(Main character of Assassin’s Creed II, descendant of Altaïr). Bloodlines also Includes more face time with the female templar that was spared by Altair in the first game, Assassin’s Creed.

Left 4 Dead 2

> Release Date: November 17
> Genre(s): First-person shooter, Survival horror
> Platform(s): MS Windows, Xbox 360

Treading similar paths as the original Left 4 Dead game, the second serving is set during the aftermath of an apocalyptic pandemic and focuses on four survivors fighting against hordes of the infected. The survivors must fight their way through levels, interspersed with safehouses that act as checkpoints, with the goal of reaching a rescue vehicle at the campaign’s finale. The gameplay is procedurally altered by an artificial intelligence engine dubbed the “Director” that monitors the players’ performance and alters the scenario to provide a dynamic challenge for the players as they progress. Several new features will be introduced, such as new types of infected, melee weapons, and a story-arc that connects each of the games’ five campaigns together.

Assassin’s Creed 2

> Release Date: November 17
> Genre(s): Third-person, Action-Adventure
> Platform(s): iPhone OS, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360

The much awaited sequel to Assassin’s Creed will take place in an open world and feature a nonlinear gameplay, allowing the player to free-roam the city at will. Assassin’s Creed II will grant the player the ability to swim and use the canals of Venice as hiding spots and will allow the player to drag city guards into the water as a means of assassination. At E3 2009, it was also confirmed by the creative director that Ezio (the character that the player assumes control of during gameplay) will be able to scull gondolas. Historical figure Leonardo da Vinci is recreated within the game, as an aid to the player who provides a host of weapons and contraptions available for use including Leonardo’s flying machine which he actually built. The game will also feature a host of new mission types for the players to complete.