Originally Published: January, 6, 2009, on 1050ESPN.com (now ESPNNewYork.com)

A new year means a whole new heaping helping of games to help whittle away the hours. There are so many that have been announced this year already that look so good. So which ones are the MUST HAVES? Which are the ones that no boy or girl should be without and should start saving their pennies for now? That’s simple. Just look at this list:

1. GHOSTBUSTERS – After being pushed back several times and threats that it would never be made, the closest thing to us ever seeing a third Ghostbusters movie is coming straight to your XBOX360, PS3, Wii, or PC in June. Set just a couple of years after the end of Ghostbusters II, the game sees our heroes as just that, heroes. Still “savin’ the day” on a regular basis, the boys are finally getting the just rewards they were denied in the beginning of the second film. An abnormal amount of activity from the other side, though begins to take its toll on the fabulous foursome and so they decide to add a fifth.

The fifth is your character. You get trained in all the Ghostbusters’ patented gadgets as you go around the city trying to unravel a ghoulish mystery worthy of the Ghostbusters name. Screens and demos have this being more fun than both movies combined. With the original cast coming back to voice over all their characters and with a tremendous amount of input from Harold Ramis and Dan Aykroyd, ‘bustin’ will make you feel good, all over again.



2. BATMAN: ARKHAM ASYLUM – Based on one of the greatest graphic novels of all time, DC made up for not coming out with a movie-based game for The Dark Knight when they announced this game. Batman must once again hunt down his arch-nemesis, the Joker, but this time it is completely on the Joker’s terms as he is causing havoc from inside the walls of Arkham Asylum. Early screens show a gritty, well-detailed Batman looking like he leapt straight from a Jim Lee drawing as he fights his way through inmates turned Joker henchmen in what looks to be the sub-levels of the asylum. This one is due out closer to Halloween and we are all holding our breath that it does not get pushed back farther than that. It will be released on PS3 and XBOX360.

3. RESIDENT EVIL 5 – After Resident Evil 4 saved the series by giving it a new 3rd person shooting perspective to FINALLY fix those pain in the neck controls that plagued the series for far too long, Resident Evil 5 takes a look at another character from the famous Raccoon City incident. Whereas RE4 followed Leon Kennedy in Europe, RE5 follows Chris Redfield through Africa as he seems to have stumbled on a similar plot to the parasitic zombie virus that Leon found while chasing the president’s daughter in Spain.

Capcom realized that to top RE4, they were going to have to do more than change the camera angle again. This time Chris has a partner that can actually defend herself and the co-op play will be critical to beating the main story mode. Add in that you can expect enemies to be anywhere now due to current-gen graphics, no shadow is safe. If you jumped at the surprises in RE4, you just might need to keep an extra few pairs of pants around while playing RE5. It’ll be out on, of course, Friday, March 13th, 2009 for XBOX360 and PS3.

4. MADWORLD – It is rare to see any Wii-exclusive, Sega made game push the envelope, but that is exactly what Madworld seems to do. Imagine Sin City meets The Running Man and you have Madworld, a black, white, and red cartoon romp with enough violence to satiate Charles Manson in the form of a game show. With rewards being given for more and more inventive ways of killing your enemies beyond the use of your chainsaw, which you start the game with, (and we all know how much I loved that in Gears of War 2) and the comic book-esqe onomatopoeia for explosions and crashes, this has a chance to be a big underground hit along the lines of No More Heroes. The only question is the plotline that is still unrevealed beyond the game show aspects, but is promised to be enthralling by the higher-ups at Sega. Sega and Nintendo coming together again, what is the world coming to? It will be a mad, mad, mad, Madworld on March 10th. At least it has nothing to do with a little blue hedgehog this time.

5. DANTE’S INFERNO – Part of one of the all time great works of literature, it painted an amazingly detailed picture of what one man believed hell to be. The idea of layers or levels of hell was still a relatively new concept, and by the amazing looking trailer, this game will have you fighting through every single one of them. Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and Treachery (try saying that five times fast)…I always knew I was going to go to hell, just never like this. How the plot of the epic poem will actually work into the game is still a mystery, but it looks like if you know what’s good for you, it’ll be a warm winter in hell when this is released just in time for the holidays on PS3, XBOX360, and PC.

6. BIOSHOCK 2: SEA OF DREAMS – This has been one of the most tightly kept secrets in games since it was announced that BioShock would be a trilogy. All that we have to go on is a teaser trailer that shows almost nothing (here’s a screen from it), a title, and a release date around August. I mean, what is that? A little sister all grown up? No one knows ANYTHING.

Easily one of the best games I have ever played, the original BioShock was a masterpiece. I cannot praise it enough. So the fact that we still have so little to go on but the reputation of the first one keeps this from being at the top of my list. The mystery is part of the beauty though and if they let me, I’ll camp out for this one and take a week off of work if it is anywhere near the first one. The very thought though that we are only seven months away from another BioShock, though, makes me want to run screaming through the halls here at ESPN with tears of joy streaming down my face for this XBOX360, PS3, and PC release.

7. BRUTAL LEGEND – What happens when you take Rob Halford of Judas Priest and Jack Black and throw them into a video game? You simply get the MOST ROCKING VIDEO GAME OF ALL TIME! At least according to them you do. Their biased opinions aside, this does look like an amazing game as you control Eddie Riggs (voiced by Jack Black) as he takes part on an epic quest during the “dark days of metal” and attempts to work his way up from meager roadie to rock god.

I don’t know how good this game is going to be, but I know I am going to have a good time playing it. It just looks absolutely hysterical. Riggs is obviously modeled after Jack Black and his one-liners along with what looks like a lot of carnage and I am sure you will enjoy this game. If you hate metal, humor, or all things good in the world, this game might not be for you, though. It just looks like a fun action-adventure game that will make you laugh and bang your head as you trek through the metal-inspired universe. Prepare to rock out in August on XBOX360 and PS3.

8. PUNCH-OUT!! – Another Wii-exclusive, the long dormant Punch-Out series has been revamped, retooled, and will be released for the Wii in April. Bringing back all your favorites like King Hippo and Glass Joe to take on the ultimate underdog in Little Mac, this will be instant nostalgia heaven for anyone who played the original Mike Tyson’s Punch-Out for the NES. For obvious reasons, Iron Mike is no longer associated with the game since Nintendo, after all, is a family company. Although the graphics look a little on the cartoony side, if the controls are anywhere near accurate in terms of sensitivity, this is going to be a great throwback for old fans of the game and a great new boxing game for the Wii for the newcomers. (In the screenshot, what’s up with that pineapple in front of King Hippo though?)

9. GOD OF WAR III – Before I continue with anything, the God of War series takes place in Greece, centered on Greek mythology. So why have they been using ROMAN numerals for the game? Never mind; moving on. It is the conclusion to one of the most popular trilogies in history and has more riding on it than just doing the series justice. God of War III is the ace in the hole for a struggling Sony company. One on a short list of exclusives this year for the PS3, Sony needs this game to have gone platinum a month ago.

In terms of the game itself, it looks just as good as the first two so if you enjoyed the first two, then you need to get the third to know how everything finishes and see if Kratos finally gets the mythological Prozac he is so desperately in need of. There are new weapons, more mythological creatures, and the climax to a tale that Homer himself wishes he crafted. God of War III will keep the PS3’s heart pumping for a little while longer as it is released just in time for the holiday push.

So that’s it. If a game you are looking forward to didn’t make the list, don’t worry. There are a lot of GREAT games coming out this year. These are just, in my opinion, the top ones. Trust me, I will still be looking at Halo Wars, Godfather II, House of the Dead 4, DC Universe Online, Watchmen: The End is Nigh, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion, Damnation, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Onechanbara: Bikini Samurai Squad (you cannot tell me you aren’t the least bit curious about that one), and Street Fighter 4. It is going to be a great year for games and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I will.

–Ray Carsillo