PC Retail

Spore
Despite the rise to prominence currently being enjoyed by the console sector, there are some areas in which the under the – TV machines simply can’t compete.

Spore is a great example of this – if it delivers on everything (or even just a fraction of) that it has promised it will succeed in being unlike anything the gaming world has ever seen.

The game is being developed by Will Wright, the man behind not only the most successful PC game ever known – The Sims – but also the original sim title, SimCity. That game focused on creating and managing the fortunes of a single city.

Later titles such as Sim Earth expanded the scope of the franchise – and Spore looks to incorporate it all in a game that sees players start as a single microbe and guide the evolution of their species all the way through to civilisation and eventually galactic domination. The word ‘scope’ is barely sufficient.

Last month saw £5 taster title Spore Creature Creator hit shelves, and within seven days gamers across the globe had crafted over a million creations – such is the appetite for EA’s game.

Publisher: EA; Release Date: September 5th


Crysis Warhead
THE RELEASE last year of Crytek’s Crysis proved that no matter how many cores or megabyte’s of power are crammed into modern consoles, the PC will always be at the cutting edge of gaming graphics and gameplay.

Developed by the team behind seminal PC shooter Far Cry, Crysis not only pushed the graphical envelope but also boasted a physics engine the likes of which had never been seen before.

The upcoming expansion, Warhead, offers gamers the chance to play out a parallel story to that found in the first title, this time seen through the eyes of memorable Crysis character Sergeant 'Psycho' Sykes.

A refined version of the CryENGINE 2 offers an even richer level of visual lushness and real-world physics japery.

Publisher: EA; Release Date: TBC


Far Cry 2
Whilst the developers of the original PC FPS Far Cry are now busying themselves with the Crysis series (see above), the current owner of the Far Cry franchise, Ubisoft, is slaving away on the second full outing for the free-roaming shooter.

Recent Far Cry outings have been for home consoles, and this sequel is also currently in development for Xbox 360 and PS3. Whilst this has lead some PC gamers to fear that it might suffer from a little mainstream-friendly ‘dumbing down’, there’s still lots to be excited about in Far Cry 2.

Shunning the jungle in favour of an African setting, the game promises a genuinely open-ended sandbox gameworld for the player to navigate.

Publisher: Ubisoft; Release Date: TBC


WoW: Rise of the Lich King, StarCraft II, Diablo III
There are few developers who do as much to champion the cause of PC gaming as Blizzard.

Though some of these releases may slip to next year, Blizzard currently has three absolute corkers in the works, chief of which is the second expansion to World of Warcraft, dubbed Wrath of the Lich King (right), which is absolutely guaranteed to be a critical and commercial success.

However, Blizzard is currently out to prove that there’s more to the firm than WoW alone. The upcoming RTS Starcraft II (Bottom) looks to build on the popularity of the first outing by offering more races, more units and broader gameplay. There’s also the recently announced Diablo III (Top).

Though unlikely to make it out before the end of the year, the latest update the to firm’s dungeon crawling series is already making lots of noise.

Publisher: Blizzard; Release Date: "When they're done"


Fallout 3
In much the same way that Blizzard is reinvigorating its classic franchises for a new audience, Bethesda is putting the finishing touches on what is looking like a top quality action RPG.

Set in a post-apocalyptic future, Fallout 3 will follow in Elder Scrolls 3: Oblivion’s footsteps by utilising a very similar game engine and mechanic – but instead of knights, elves and castles players can now expect cityscapes, mutant and lots of radioactivity.

Also due out on next-gen consoles, Fallout 3 is going to be huge in terms of both scale and success.

Publisher: Bethesda; Release Date: Autumn


Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning
YET ANOTHER entry for EA – evidence that whilst some publishers may be shifting their attention away from the PC format, EA most certainly is not.

Age of Reckoning faces a tough task in taking on the rest of the MMORPG market. Many have tried to tackle World of Warcraft, and many have done so using licenses, too. Most, with a few notable exceptions (such as Codemasters’ celebrated Lord of the Rings: Shadows of Angmar), have failed quite dramatically.

But with the talent of developer Mythic behind it and the huge Games Workshop fanbase, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning stands to do very well – particularly when the success of the recent Warhammer 40,000 outings are taken into account.

Publisher: EA; Release Date: Autumn


Best of the rest
There are far too many top-quality PC offerings on the way in the coming months to list here.

Retailers should be making a note of the likes of EA’s sci-fi survival horror Dead Space, NCsoft MMO AION – Tower of Eternity, Deep Silver RPG Sacred 2 and Sega’s shooter Space Siege.

There’s also an expansion to Firaxis’ phenomenally popular Civilization IV, entitled Colonization, Atari’s FPS Legendary: The Box, Vivendi’s retrolicensed Ghostbusters, Codemasters’ RPG Rise of the Argonauts, the latest outing for Eidos’ Lara Croft, Tomb Raider: Underworld, Deep Silver’s FPS expansion pack S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

Clear Sky and Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy-themed flight sim HAWX. Oh, and there’s also the little matter of EA’s The Sims 3 to keep in mind for 2009, too.