The 2009 Summer Games Preview

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Publisher: Codemasters
Release Date: Autumn 2009

Centred on a small and totally fictional island off the coast of Japan, the next Operation Flashpoint game may have been the source of some dispute and controversy, but that hasn’t stopped us from wanting to get hands-on with the final version of this tactical military shooter.

The main and most impressive feature about Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is that it’s a completely open world and the island of Skira, which becomes the site of an America / Russian / Chinese conflict, is totally open to you. You can go across any terrain, over any mountain and into any building.

This isn’t exactly a small island either – it’ll take more than four hours walking in-game to travel from coast to coast, or about 20 minutes in a helicopter, provided you don’t run out of fuel and fall into the volcano (naturally). Even more amazing though is the fact that you’ll be able to see nearly all the island at once, as the draw distance lets you view more than 35KM of terrain.


As well as the solid singleplayer campaign in which you play an American soldier trying to reclaim the island, there’s a huge multiplayer game too. Codemasters have been keeping very, very quiet on what sorts of modes players can expect in multiplayer, but we do know that all 30 or so vehicles will be accessible online too. Oh, and that you’ll be able to dismember your enemies, too.

Brütal Legend

Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Release Date: October 16th

Thanks to the on-going legal troubles surrounding Tim Schafer’s latest game it’s still a little unclear whether Brütal Legend will actually release on time – but we’re hoping it will. Judging from our last look at Brütal Legend it looks like there's a lot to look forward to here.

With the vocal and instrumental talents of everyone from Ozzy Osbourne to Tim Curry, Brütal Legend tells the story of metal-head roadie Eddie Riggs, who gets accidentally sucked into an alternate dimension when he spills blood on his belt buckle. Stranded in a world where rock music was never invented and where demons rule over the land, Eddie does the one thing he knows how to do – becomes a roadie, this time for the human resistance.

Setting the largely clueless rebellion up with everything they’ll need for their tour of destruction is only half the story though, as Eddie also finds the time to get romantically entwined with the sexiest rock minx to ever grace a screen. Oh, and he probably has to find a way home too – but that’s a bit of an afterthought really.

With all the riotous humour and wit that you’d expect from the designer of Psychonauts and Day of the Tentacle, Brütal Legend may look like just another 3D open-world brawler, but it’s actually a whole lot more than that and from even the small glimpse we’ve seen behind closed doors it’s clear that the team behind the title have put a whole lotta passion into the game.

Have we missed something important? What games are you most excited about getting your hands on this year? Let us know your thoughts and expectations for the rest of 2009 by dropping your comments in the forums.