5 Most Dangerous Games of 2009

The 5 Most Dangerous Games of 2009

You'll never forget the first time you ducked behind cover in Gears of War or swung a bat in Wii Sports. Innovative features tend to create the most memorable gameplay experiences (and the biggest game sales). Sadly, true innovation doesn't come easy or often. Fortunately, the editors of GamePro have identified five games that balance risk with reward.

Halo 3: ODST

Key Innovations In Halo 3: ODST

  • 1. An Open World Shooter: Unlike previous Halo titles and most FPS titles in general, Halo 3: ODST allows you to explore and tackle missions in the order you want to. Considering one of the biggest complaints lobbied against the previous games was the repetitive nature of the levels, this could be the game's greatest blessing or its biggest fault.
  • 2. Flashback to Go Forward: Since Master Chief is nowhere to be seen during the events of ODST, the story is presented through the eyes of a group of soldiers. Interacting with items will trigger the flashbacks, which should allow ODST to become a much more narrative-based mystery, like BioShock.

The UNSC calls them Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. They pack themselves into insertion pods with all the glamour of space sardines and ride the atmosphere like balloons in a thunderstorm. They might make landfall, but then again, they might not. Some think they're all crazy. As far as they're concerned, they need to be. After all, they do call themselves Helljumpers.

For all you skeptics who think Master Chief is the only UNSC soldier that can bring the awesome, we politely point to these falling angels and suggest you think again. No, they don't have an AI snapped into their brains or a suit of armor that can face off with tanks. But they do have the guts to step into the fray, the means to ratchet up the kill count, and that sliver of insanity that can turn soldiers into heroes.



Halo 3 Squared

Halo 3: ODST is a standalone expansion for Halo 3 that includes all the multiplayer maps of the original, all the downloadable content that's been released on Xbox Live, and a handful of new arenas for good measure. It'll even give players a guaranteed way to unlock Bungie's infamous Recon helmet: a fantastically rare multiplayer armor option that's only been granted to a lucky, envied few.

For much of Halo Nation, those maps and that helmet would be worth the price of the box, but the rest of us are craving more. In service to those single player die-hards, Bungie's whipped up something special. Long have Halo games sent us on missions beyond the outermost reaches of our galaxy; it's only fitting that the series' last hurrah will push its own boundaries in ways we've never seen before.



It's a grand promise, but it starts simply, with a new protagonist taking the reins of gaming's dynasty. Remember in Halo 2, when Miranda Keyes followed the Prophet of Regret through a jump that sent shockwaves tearing across New Mombasa? Well, with the Master Chief gallivanting off on Delta Halo, the city's bones were left for the Covenant to pick clean. The forces defending Earth weren't about to just sit back and watch, though. They sent a vanguard of Helljumpers to beat the Covenant's beachhead to a pulp.

Chiefly Master Your Surroundings

And yes, that's where you come in. As "The Rookie," the newest member of a five-man ODST squad, your job is pretty simple: to learn how not to get killed. Simple, that is, until you get separated from the squad and find yourself stranded amidst the city's smoldering husks. In Halo 3: ODST, you can walk in any direction, take any path across this open world, but therein lies the problem: You have no idea how to get back in touch with friendlies.

The fact that Bungie is making an open-world game seems a bit odd, but they're not following the same blueprint Rockstar pumps through its GTA games. ODST won't have side quests you can use to dally away your time or missions to track down wayward assassination targets. There's a story here, but it comes out through flashbacks from the perspectives of the Rookie's squadmates: Buck, Dutch, Mickey, and Romeo. As you move through the world, you'll interact with objects and locations that will trigger those flashbacks.



Connecting it all together is the Superintendant, and it has to be the most lovable makeshift tour guide we've ever seen. An A.I. put in place to oversee the city's maintenance, the Superintendant will provide the Rookie with guidance from place to place and help you avoid Brute patrols (the Prophet of Truth is already phasing Elites out of combat, so you won't see them in New Mombasa). In fact, stealthy movement will play a big role in ODST, to the point that the Rookie won't even be armed with a flashlight. Instead, you'll be able to engage a low-light vision mode via your helmet, and get tactical updates of wandering enemies on your HUD.

If it all sounds a bit heavy on the covert tactics and a bit light on the Halo, well, that was our first thought, too. Then we remembered: This is Bungie we're talking about. When have they ever given us reason to doubt?


Comments [21]

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Mr_ChickenWings

These all seem pretty great especially want to play M.A.G. and Dark Void. Well i want to play all of them. I hope i hear more about these games and can't wait for them to come out.

autarch_77

um...where is bioshock 2? and what is Bakugon again?
"The most...dangerous...games..." yeah that's what it says alright.

BlackMidget8

Dark Void looks great. But lets not pretend this kind of combat hasnt been done before. I hate to break this to everybody. But Tribes has been doing the kind of similar combat for like ten years now.

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