Most Wanted Games of 2007

6: GTA IV

Who makes it: Rockstar

When is it out: October 19th

Why is it good: When GTA 3 was released on the Playstation 2 all those years ago, gamer's jaws hit the floor worldwide. Rockstar had succeeded in creating a massive world in which you could play as gangster, cause chaos on an incredible scale and generally have more fun in a game than you probably ever had. When the company followed that up with the increasingly brilliant Vice City and San Andreas the world began to wonder: "What would GTA be like on next-gen?"

We're still wondering.

Despite being announced for both 360 and PS3 (it'll almost certainly come to the PC as well) details about Rockstar's next gangster-em-up are thin on the ground. Even so, the very prospect of GTA IV on next-gen is enough to arouse our interest. Running on the beautiful looking RAGE engine, used in Rockstar's Table Tennis, GTA IV will no doubt be an absolute stunner. The curiosity of how nice it will actually look has even led to some coming up with faked images of the game (see below).

The lack of details about the game is only fuelling anticipation. Where will it be set? Could we see a GTA set in Tokyo? Will it, as many predict, end up in Europe? Will it be the biggest game ever? What is certain is that brilliant Lazlow (the talk show radio host) will be making a return, probably as one of the in-game characters. That alone should convince most fans that this game deserves its place on the list.

What could go wrong: Some gambling types believe that a good thing can't go on forever and there has to be a question mark over how long they can keep churning these games out whilst maintaining the high standards. GTA IV, however, is about as safe a bet as you'll get in the industry that it will be good. A massive team of around 150 is putting it together and providing they continue to deliver what they already have then surely it will be fine? Surely?

Well, actually, there is one thing that could leave gamers a bit miffed. Rockstar will be releasing the game simultaneously for both 360 and PS3, no bad thing if you ask us as we'll finally be able to truly see the difference in power between the consoles. No, the problem some gamers will have with GTA IV is the additional content. See, Rockstar is promising exclusive content to both platforms, which means if you only buy the game on your 360 you won't get to play the exclusive content for the PS3. Unless this issue is addressed you might end up with a few angry GTAians.

5: Halo 3

Who makes it: Bungie Studios

When is it out: Probably October

Why is it good: Halo is probably joint top with Goldeneye as best FPS game to ever be released for a console. If being compared with Goldeneye isn't praise enough then we'll go further, and say Halo 1 and 2 were probably the most fun multiplayer games on a console, ever. It's fair to say that Halo 3 has a lot to live up to, then.

That's okay though, as Bungie is almost certainly going to deliver. Halo 3 is being billed as the end of this story arc, not the end of the franchise as there are other Halo based games planned. We'll finally to get to see what happens to Master Chief, will he win the day?

There's little else to say about Halo 3 - Bungie is promising to deliver more of the same with obvious improvements to graphics. What's probably most exciting about the game will be the way it utilises Microsoft's far more effective online service. What was the best console multiplayer game will almost certainly continue being the best console multiplayer game. They're even running betas with players to iron out bugs and tweak gameplay to the max - an unprecedented move in the world of the console.

Early indications suggest that Halo 3 is going to be an absolute belter - we're inclined to agree and can't wait to get our hands on it.

What could go wrong: Halo 2 received some mild criticism for the short length of the game. One would hope that Bungie keeps that in mind when making Halo 3 so as not to give the critics a chance to pounce. The other problem could be that of expectation. Halo 3 will be the Xbox 360's biggest game in 2007 and as such, a lot of weight is on Master Chief's bulky shoulders. Whenever there are such high hopes there's bound to be disappointment, hopefully though it'll be be kept to a minimum and Halo 3 will deliver as we all expect it to.