Games to Watch in 2010

Star Wars: The Old Republic

Platform: PC Exclusive
Publisher: Lucasarts
Release Date: 2010

You might think it a bit unusual, but there isn’t really anyone at bit-tech who’s into MMOs much these days (aside from Mark, and it's really only Eve that turns his head). Though most of us have dabbled in grind, we tend to look elsewhere for our gaming fixes now. If there’s one game which could turn that us back to the dark side though then it’s undoubtedly Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Developed by Bioware – one of the few game developers (including Lucasarts) who have ever really ‘got’ the Star Wars franchise – The Old Republic is an attempt to marry the addictive structure of an MMO with the story-led exposition of a traditional RPG. It’s a bold idea and potentially an incredibly awesome one.

The proposed marriage of storytelling and a massively multiplayer structure mainly seems to involve giving characters established origins and specific missions for them to complete based on their class, but it also makes use of non-player characters too. As in any other BioWare RPG you’ll be able to recruit people into your party and travel with them throughout the universe. They’ll have their own personalities and opinions, chiming in whenever the chance arises.


How neatly all of this is going to slot in to the MMO world is something that hasn’t been properly established yet though and there are still a lot of unanswered questions about The Old Republic.

One thing we do know for sure from our brief time with the game is that it’s shaping up to be one of the most engaging and immersive MMOs regardless of the storytelling element. There’s full audio for nearly all dialogues, an expansive and very rich world for players to explore and an interface that brings the action together beautifully whether you choose to play as a Jedi Consular, Sith Inquisitor or Bounty Hunter.

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Platform: PC, Xbox 360
Publisher: Ubisoft
Release Date: February 26th, 2010

Yet another game with a somewhat troubled development history, Conviction has been redesigned from the ground up since it was originally unveiled in 2007 and Ubisoft has completely ditched the hobo-Sam and crowd-cover systems that were originally big parts of the game. It’s a good thing too, as we were never really very big fans of Sam Fisher’s Nirvana period.

The new Conviction is much closer to the original Splinter Cell games, with a focus on linear set-pieces and short, sharp bursts of action rather than open areas and prolonged evasion. Rather than the hiding in plain sight mechanic that the game was originally set to explore it’s now much closer to a conventional sneaker, though with some interesting additions.


Last Known Position is probably the most interesting new feature and is a basic combat rule that means the enemies will focus their attention on where they think you might be – your last known position. The UI gives Sam an indication of where enemies believe him to be though, allowing you to adjust your tactics. If soldiers lose sight of you behind a crate then they’ll lace the area with cover fire and try to flank you, while you can use this prediction to escape through a sewer hatch. It’s a neat idea.

Plot-wise, Conviction follows on from the disappointing Double Agent and introduces fans to a yet more grizzled Sam than ever before. Rendered a wreck by the death of his daughter, Sam has gone AWOL from the Third Echelon spy group and is determined to find out who killed his daughter. On his way to unravelling that mystery he stumbles across a terrorist plot which may be linked to the now corrupt Third Echelon though – meaning he’s caught between a rock and a hard place with no friends to turn to.

There a bunch of nice new features which round-out Conviction and make it so enticing – remote cameras, new abilities and weapons for example – but really it’s the return to the old formula which has us most psyched. After the departures made in Double Agent and the proposed changes that almost made it into Conviction we’re glad to see that Sam finally seems to be finding a way back to his old form.