The following will surprise no one: the bulk of the 2008 PC line-up falls under the large umbrella of "Action Shooter". From melee FPSs to third-person tactical simulations to stealth action games, the shooter genre cuts a wide swath across the PC gaming landscape. Despite seemingly simple gameplay mechanics, not all shooters are created equal. It's just as easy to churn out an unplayable FPS as it is to unleash a broken RTS, and the relatively plentiful shooter market receives its fair share of stinkers every year. So as you parse the list of upcoming shooters, do so with this in mind: few will be great, many will be playable, and some will be utter crap. But it's worth wading through the jungle for a few gems, so let's get this expedition underway.
Hei$t, Codemasters' bank-robbing action shooter, has a distinct 1970's feel
Oh the wrong end of the barrel in Hei$t
Codemasters is banking on a couple of games to corner the early-2008 shooter market. Due in "Winter 2008", Hei$t and Turning Point: Fall of Liberty are both new properties, never an easy sell in a market where fans gravitate toward familiar franchises. As its name suggests, Hei$t (developed by InXile Entertainment) is a bank-robbing action shooter set in the San Francisco of 1969. Knocking off banks is no easy gig, particularly when the cops are always on your tail. Gameplay leads up to the ultimate score - the San Francisco Mint - and the presentation is said to resemble an action movie, complete with witty action-movie dialogue.
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty takes a more serious tone, which is no surprise given that the developer, Spark Unlimited, was founded by former developers of the Medal of Honor series. Turning Point rewinds time to World War II and takes history on a tangent: Winston Churchill meets an untimely demise before the start of the great conflict, and the powerful Axis forces invade the Easter U.S. in 1953. It's an interesting premise, and could turn out to be a fresh take on the World War II genre - even history had to be altered to accommodate the plot.
Developer Spark Unlimited is aiming for a 2008 release in Turning Point: Fall of Liberty
Frontlines: Fuel of War pits two global alliances against each other in a bid for resource supremacy
Late winter and early spring will bring a handful of promising shooters. THQ's Frontlines: Fuel of War, developed by Kaos Studios, is currently in closed beta in the weeks before its scheduled February 15 release date. With a theme that will be echoed in a number of games in 2008, Frontlines is set in the not-too-distant future as the world is pitched into conflict on the heels of an energy crisis. As the game's name suggests, the action is centered on the frontline of the international conflict. Class-based combat plays out between two world factions, the Western Coalition and the Red Star Alliance. While a single-player campaign is fully fleshed out, the game seems designed with multiplayer in mind. With support for up to 32 players, the team-based online component may end up being the game's strongest suit.
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