Gamer’s Breed

Lately it seems that Microsoft has taken some heat because their exclusives for 2009 seem elusive at best, compared to the seemingly strong exclusive line up that Sony is preparing. However this could not be further from the truth; we have searched the net and, leaving aside many rumored titles, there is a decent number of exclusives coming to the Xbox 360 this year. The old bill does have some aces under his sleeve and this is what I found out about them.

Well some of the exclusives for this year have already been released, such as Halo Wars and Star Ocean The Last Hope;  however there are still many good exclusive titles on the works for the Xbox 360. All indicates that this will be a busy year, in regards of the many exclusives coming up for the platform, for any Xbox 360 owner. This is the list I came up with, it includes all the confirmed and relevant titles for this year is was able to get info on:

Alan Wake

This is THE game for the box on 2009! From everything i have seen on it, the game will simply rock.Yeah for some time it seemed the game was dead, with little to no update on it’s progress, but last time we checked it was alive and thriving at Remedy. It seems it has been ages already but Remedy Entertainment seems ready to confirm the title for this year. Alan Wake it’s being pitched as a psychological action thriller; by the mess up story and gameplay, we know so far rightfully so. Keep an eye out for this one, it sure seems like a winner.

Velvet Assasin

We are going back to WW2 with this game in order to relive the life of Her Magesty’s agent Violette Szabo. In the role of Violette Summer, players will have to use stealth to get behind enemy lines and blast nazi plans resistance style. Some graphics to die for and the promise of some stealth gameplay hardly seen before, seem to be the strengths for this game; at least that’s what Replay Studios would like us to think.

Lode Runner

A platform game with a level editor, far from what Little Big Planet’s Media Molecule would like you to believe, is nothing new; specially knowing that this game was released on 1983! The XBLA will be getting lots of coins and stairs this year around April.This may seem yet another remake ala Bionic Comando Rearmed, but I for one love this game getting new life on the XBLA.

Ninja Blade

After the success of ‘Ninja Gaiden’ and Itagaki refusal to continue the saga, it seemed the Xbox 360 would be ninja free this year. Thanksfully From Software is far from giving up on the genre, they got to work and produced a game with several similarities to Tecmo’s franchise. ‘Ninja Blade’ is packing up some heavy dose of blood, guts and quick time events. Not a recipe to success per se, but close to it. This one is out March 7, keep an eye out for it.

Dead Island

What better way is there to start your honey moon than crashing on a pacific island and getting attacked by the local… zombies! Is it me or zombies are more hip than ever? Well everyone knows that if there are zombies involved, it deserves at least a try. Plus the whole shortage on ammo( ala Resident Evil) will make sure that your FPS experience doesn’t seem so deja vu at least.

Halo 3 ODST

Halo is practically a synonym of Xbox, so there is no surprise that Bungie is cooking up another entry for the IP. Masterchief is on vacation this time, so you’ll take the role of a Orbital Drop Schick Trooper (ODST). Due to the insistence of Bungie on the fact that it will be a “short title”, one can do nothing but wonder if this latest entry on the franchise is merely an attempt to get on the halo train money and little more. We’ll see if Halo 3 ODST is measures up to previous entries on the Halo story and if Bungie will keep on milking the cow!

Champions Online

Super heroes in a MMORPG? Not very original if you ask us or any MMO follower, but the truth to the mater is that Champions Online does seem to have what it takes to get ahead of the rest. With an improvement on the City of Heroes Tech Engine, specially produced for this title, Cryptic Studios will let us enjoy super powered shenanigans on an open multiplayer world. User created content and the ability to play from either an Xbox 360 or a Pc, are the strong points for this gem from Cryptic.

Forza 3

So many vehicles and tracks have been included in Forza 3, that 2 discs will be needed to bring this game to your Xbox 360. To sum up, something like 400 cars and 100 tracks have been produced by Turn 10 Studios for your enjoyment. It definitely is shaping up to be one of the best and complete driving simulators to date. You will have to keep an eye out for the limited edition on Forza 3, which will include lots of goodies. Check back on Forza 3 for it’s launch on the third quarter this year.

Theseis

Theseis is a third person adventure destined for PC and Xbox 360, based on the greek mythology. One would think that after Rise of the Argonauts and before God of War III we would have a breather, but it seems that’s not in Track 7’s plans; these greek guys are determined to tell the story of 2 brother, one devoted to science and the other to mysticism, whom will have to put their differences aside in order to locate their missing father. We’ll see if this new greek studio are able to deliver on the game arena, after their success in music, artistic and cinematic productions.

Age of Conan

From developers FunCom and after it’s debut in PC,  ‘Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures’ arrives on the Xbox 360. The game is a MMO which tries to differentiate itself from the big bad winner, yeah you guessed it; World of Warcraft. How do you ask? Well it had a story more real, with heavy dose of violence and what some may call maturity. All indicated that it would be better than what if finally was on Pc, let’s hope that Conan can get the throne he deserves on the Xbox 360.

Venetica

A hybrid action and role play game, this one will have you as the death’s daughter on demon devastated Venice. Yeah, i know; wacky premise right. Well one thing is for sure, if the screenshots so far are any indication, the game graphics will not be it’s strong point. Overall it seems to recreated some of the things that have made the ‘Fable’ games so good. We’ll see what the creator of ‘Jack Keane’ have in store for us with this new IP.

Metal Slug 7

After it’s debut on the DS, with a less than stellar apearance, the trigger hapy franchise is coming to the XBLA. It seems the tactil screen of the DS didn’t deliver the graphical quality the game deserved. Nevertheless if the sales of previous installements of the franchise on XBLA are any indicattion, we can pretty much bet it all on this one’s success as well.

If you are wondering where are Mass Effect 2 and Bioshock 2, two of the heavy titles that MIGHT show up in 2009; on top of having no expected release dates, at least Bioshock 2 is multiplatform. So what do you think? Did i miss any big one? Or maybe some obscure project that promises to deliver?