Hollywood usually takes most of the slack when it comes to criticism for lack of originality, but in fact, the video game industry is even worse at creating original content, it’s a world dominated by franchises of every kind, from sports to action games, publishers and developers are usually taking the easy and safe way: sequels. And spin offs. And remakes. Etc.

We’ve compiled a list of top 10 original games that are scheduled for release for 2010 — and it was quite a challenge: out of the 130 games confirmed for 2010 by major publishers and developers, we found 19 that were original. Just 19.

10: Brink (Spring 2010)

Brink, an FPS developed by Splash Damage and published by Bethesda, centers around a two sides: Resistance and Security, and is a team based multiplayer shooter much like Quake Wars, which was also developed by Splash Damage. It looks promising as a multiplayer game, as it’s story based, much like Quake Wars, where one battle takes place over several maps, with a story connecting everything together.

9: Alpha Protocol (Spring 2010)

Alpha Protocol, developed by Obsidian Entertainment — developers of Star Wars: KOTOR 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2 — is a third person action RPG where the player assumes the role of Michael Thorton, a CIA agent who’s been betrayed and must not only fight his way through enemies, but also uncover the conspiracy that set him up.

8: Singularity (Q2 2010)

While time travel is a known concept in games, albeit underused, it’s still something that is difficult to fit in wiht the overall storyline, and the time feature never seems to be used properly. In Singularity, the player will have control over a TMD (Time Manipulation Device), a “weapon” which will be used to solve puzzles, for instance, if a door is locked, instead of looking for the key, you use the TMD and speed up time for the lock only, which will rust, and voila, door opened! Or use it on an enemy and watch him turn into a skeleton. The concept certainly seems intriguing, and offers some truly original puzzles.

7: Dante’s Inferno (February 9, 2010)

Dante’s Inferno has already caused a lot of controversy, from the fake E3 2009 protest, to gameplay elements where players can slay children. The gritty, hell based game is loosely based on the actual Inferno by Dante in The Divine Comedy, and the player assumes the role of Dante, who has to fight his way though monsters and demons in the 9 circles of hell, and decide whether he’ll be good and spare some (like children) or go reckless. It definitely looks as one of the darkest games of 2010.

6: MAG (January 26, 2010)

MAG (Massive Action Game) is a PS3 online FPS multiplayer who’s main feature is a massive 256 player online matches, with 128 players per team, divided into 8-player squads, 4 squads into a platoon, and 4 platoons into a company. With 256 players on the map, MAG is set to deliver some of the most intense and frantic combat yet, and will offer detailed stats and rankings, where higher ranked players will be able to command the battle and give orders to individual squads and platoons.

5: LA Noire (Q3 2010)

LA Noire, an open ended adventure game set in a recreated 1940s Los Angeles, which players can freely roam around, and chose to solve a number of murders around the city. The game has a great feeling of classic noir films based in LA, like LA Confidential, The Maltese Falcon and Chinatown, and draws inspiration from such works as well.

4: Rage (Q4 2010)

It’s been a while since Id Software has made an original game — actually, the last original game Id Software made was Quake, back in 1996. Id finally shows something new with Rage, a fusion between a first person shooter and a racing game set in a post-apocalyptic Mad Max styled world. It’s built with the all new Id Tech 5 engine, and shows very promising visuals, to say the least.

3: Heavy Rain (Q2 2010)

Heavy Rain has been on the radar since it was originally showcased at E3 2006, and will be released almost four years later, in Q2 2010. The gorgeous looking game centers around a serial killer known as “The Origami Killer”, and players assume roles of different characters who try and solve the murders. It’s one of the most stylish and atmospheric games to come out in 2010.

2: Alan Wake (Q2 2010)

What Heavy Rain is for the PS3, Alan Wake is for the Xbox 360. Developed by Remedy, Alan Wake is a psychological thriller inspired by the likes of Twin Peaks and Stephen King novels, where players assume the role of Alan Wake, a writer who seeks refuge at a quiet place where he can write his next novel (much like Stephen Kings “Misery“). However, when his wife vanishes, it’s up to him to get her back.

1: APB (March 2010)

APB is not only the most original MMO game to his the stores in 2010, it’s also the most original game overall. It’s the classic cops vs. robbers gameplay, but on a massive scale, with endless customizations and options, tons of missions and weapons. Created by David Jones, the original creator for GTA, APB is hailed as everything he wanted to do wince he made GTA, and while originally trying to pitch and sell APB to Rockstar as GTA Online, it’s good that APB is on its own now, we need a great, original game. And an MMO that’s not fantasy based.

Naughty Dog has recently announced that that public multiplayer beta for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will be made available on the PlayStation Network at some point today.

According to the PlayStation blog, 4 maps, 4 competitive modes and 2 co-operative modes in addition to Cinema for replay viewing and a Stage map for machinima making  will be included with the 1.3GB multiplayer demo.

Not planning on downloading it? You crazy.

Expect this patch to be pushed out in the coming days making GTA 4’s multiplayer ready for the influx of players that are sure to hop online after purchasing the game’s newest expansion, The Ballad of Gay Tony.

via joystiq

The King of Fighters XII

Well, it looks like the developers have taken note and are planning on releasing a patch to address such issues:

“While not all players experienced these issues, an update for the game will be available tomorrow, Tuesday, July 28th for the PlayStation 3 which should help improve the overall quality and stability of online play for everyone.”

Kotaku reports that the Xbox 360 version will be getting a similar patch at an unannounced date.

We’ve been hinted at these for some time now but finally Bungie has taken the veil off of the 3 all new multiplayer maps that will be included with Halo 3: ODST.

Halo 2 players will recognize the above map as it is a remake of the extremely popular Midship and is now entitled Heretic. The two other maps to be included are Citadel and Longshore and are sure to renew your Halo 3 vibes.

Halo 3: ODST will be on store shelves on September 22nd of this year.

To peep picks of both Citadel and Longshore, head here.

There was somwhat of an uproar from the community when Blizzard announced that they would not be featuring LAN support in their forthcoming RTS, Starcraft II.

Below is their reasoning for removing LAN, mentioning Battle.net and piracy:

“We don’t currently plan to support LAN play with StarCraft II, as we are building Battle.net to be the ideal destination for multiplayer gaming with StarCraft II and future Blizzard Entertainment games,” confirms a Blizzard rep. “While this was a difficult decision for us, we felt that moving away from LAN play and directing players to our upgraded Battle.net service was the best option to ensure a quality multiplayer experience with StarCraft II and safeguard against piracy.

“Several Battle.net features like advanced communication options, achievements, stat-tracking, and more, require players to be connected to the service, so we’re encouraging everyone to use Battle.net as much as possible to get the most out of StarCraft II. We’re looking forward to sharing more details about Battle.net and online functionality for StarCraft II in the near future.”

Regardless if its the best idea or not, Starccraft II is sure to be a highly competitve game which means a lot of tournaments. Without LAN tournament organizers are going to have 1 more problem to deal with, bummer.

Read (Destructoid)

With the release of iPhone OS 3.0, games downloaded from the App Store now have the ability to recieve downloadable content released by the developers.

In leui of this, id Software’s John Carmack has confirmed that there will be a DLC pack released for Doom Ressurection at some point in the near future. He also told Joystiq that in the coming weeks multiplayer add-ons will be released for the game.

Will id Software’s intuitive utilization of the iPhone platform have other big game developers doing the same? Perhaps an iPhone version of Halo? Hey, I can’t dream, can’t I?

Despite being based on a movie of the same name, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is definitly shaping up to be a great game. Included above is a video walkthrough showcasing the multiplayer component featured in the game.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will apparently feature 5 different multiplayer modes: Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Team Leader, Control Points and Battle for the Shards. Featured in the video is Control Points which looks to be a King of the Hill, Territories type game mode.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen will be out for the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, PC, Wii and Nintendo DS on June 23rd.

Though the single player campaign is set ten years after the first game, the multiplayer mode is a prequel. Players assume the role of a plasmid test subject and wreak havoc in the civil war that reduced the idealistic city to an undersea wasteland. The gameplay will utilize the experience mechanic that’s been seen more and more recently with players unlocking additional weapons, plasmids and tonics with which to further customize their playing style. As you might expect, since it’s a prequel the city of Rapture will be in much better shape for the multiplayer levels with existing sites being rebuilt to show their former glory.

To take some of the pressure off 2K Marin and to ensure that the multiplayer component is as strong as possible, FPS developer veterans Digital Extremes are bringing their significant talents to bear on this aspect of BioShock 2.

Just as we promised, more Crackdown 2 details for you to sink your teeth into — Microsoft and Ruffian Games have recently announced that Crackdown’s sequel will in fact include both cooperative and competitive multiplayer, a feature that was absent from the first title.

They also say that “you and your friends with the complete freedom to explore, destroy and play as you return to restore justice and peace to Pacific City – by any means necessary.” Soun

Expect Crackdown 2 to hit store shelves sometime in 2010.

Read (Kotaku)

Now, ever since Ghostbusters: The Video Game was announced I’ve been anxiously awaiting its release however, the above trailer effectively hightened that desire a good amount.

Featured in said trailer is none other than multiplayer Ghostbusting goodness and damn does it look fun. Players will be able to bust ghosts with a number of friends but it hasn’t been confirmed if this feature is over Xbox Live even though it probably is.

Anyways, check out the video and mark your calenders because Ghostbusters: The Video Game is hitting store shelves for all of the major consoles on June 16th.

If you’ve found yourself ready to throw your controller at the screen due to time limit enforced on the demo of Bionic Commando, you’re in luck.

Destructoid recently got their hands on a work around that lets you create a private match, play with friends, and change the time limit. Below is how you go about doing it:

1. Go to the main screen and hit start. Stay in that screen.
2. Get a friend to send you a game invite, any game will do
3. Accept that invite, and when it asks you to exit your game, say NO
4. You can now select private matches and invite friends

We haven’t tried this work around yet but what harm can it do? It is only a demo.

However, it is noted that selecting Game Mode or Frag Limit will crash the demo, be warned.

The demo will offer one map that supports deathmatch for up to eight players. There is currently no plan to release the demo for PC and PS3 versions of the game.

The modern take on the classic action-swinging franchise is set to hit PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 19. PC gamers will have to wait patiently at the corner of the room, forgotten and left alone.

As the inFamous pre-order box suggested, UNCHARTED 2 will in fact feature multiplayer — This information was recently announced by Sony over at their Playstation Blog where they state the game will feature both multiplayer and co-op game modes.

And to top it all off, that beta voucher you’ll get when you pre-order inFamous will be put to use on June 3rd when UNCHARTED 2’s multiplayer beta goes live.

Check out the above trailer showcasing the game’s multiplayer effectively confirming that this game will kick major ass.

The above picture of an inFamous pre-order box, taken at Best Buy, has been circulating the internet — As you can see, when you pre-order the game you will get access to now one, but two downloadable demos.

Sure it’s cool that you get access to an inFamous demo but the real treat is the fact that you get a voucher good for access to the Uncharted 2 multiplayer beta.

And yes, this is the first we’ve heard of Uncharted 2 having a multiplayer mode, too.

Read (Kotaku)

Capcom has recently announced that a demo for their upcoming title Bionic Commando is set to hit Xbox Live later this month.

The demo will be exclusively multiplayer and will feature 8-player deatchmatches on a map entitled Vertigo. When the final game hits shelves on May 19th players will be able to duke it out in team deathmatch and capture the flag modes to go along with the deathmach mode featured in the demo.

Unfortunately for PS3 owners, there is no mention of a demo. But keep your eyes open, there is still time for an announcement.

Read (Joystiq)

But this review isn’t JUST for them.  Because the recent release of Monopoly on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, among others, has new and interesting features that bear discussing.  First, you may well be amazed to learn that there have been over a DOZEN different releases of Monopoly to home game systems.  The game features multiple boards, including futuristic properties, the original classic, a board devoted entirely to sugary treats and another exclusively comprised of types of cheese.  You’d never believe that you could build a hotel on Roquefort and charge a hundred bucks to take possession of it.  I guess that’s just the kind of thing Monopoly’s always been—whether you were out to buy Baltic Avenue, Times Square, or the Death Star, it was always about the possibilities.  Certain “house rules” variants are also in play, allowing you to somewhat tailor your Monopoly experience.

Oh, and even more interesting, this version of Monopoly includes a version called The Richest.  The Richest is actually a fairly complex game played without cash.  Instead, players engage in a series of minigames that allows them to determine how many of their tokens are placed on the Monopoly board.  If the property you land on is unclaimed, you take possession.  If the property is owned, you must hand over one of your properties in exchange, or possibly more if the property is part of a monopoly or if it’s been developed.  The winner is the person with the highest value land portfolio at the end of a set number of rounds.

Monopoly is always fun for a few minutes, and the addition of this new mode adds to the replay value.  This is probably even more fun as a party game, but it’s not without its flaws.  Yes, it’s just Monopoly.  That’s it.  New versions aside, you’re not going to get much in the way of innovation here.  And worse yet, unless I missed it, there aren’t any online capabilities with this game.  How on earth can you NOT be able to play Monopoly online?  Isn’t that part of why we invented the Internet in the first place?  So we can play obscure board games with people in other lands?

Someone get Al Gore on the phone!

Anyway…it’s true.  This is Monopoly in all its glory.  New versions add to the fun, but the original is still the best.  There’s absolutely no reason why you wouldn’t enjoy five or ten minutes with this virtually any time you loaded it into your system of choice.  Chances are this won’t keep you up all night or playing for hours or desperate for another Red Bull to keep you sufficiently jacked up to play, but still—there’s plenty of fun to be had here.  Sure, it would’ve been better if I could’ve made it a party game any time I wanted by hooking up the broadband…but you can’t have everything, I guess.

The patch is also said to add support for third-party campaigns, as well as tweaks to the skill-based matchmaking system.

The post also notes that the SDK for the game will be released shortly after the April 21 debut of the Survival Pack update.

The free pack adds the new Survival game mode where players have to fend hordes of increasing zombies in an attempt to survive as long as possible. There will be 12 new maps, with 11 being sections of existing levels and one created especially for Survival mode – Lighthouse.

It also adds Versus mode to the final two co-op campaigns – Dead Air and Death Toll.

Capcom has recently issued a statement regarding the fact that they will be charging for the Resident Evil 5 Versus mode that we learned about earlier today:

Although Versus mode makes use of the assets that exist in the game, the functionality is not currently in the game and is above and beyond the initial scope of Resident Evil 5,” the publisher said. “We have never included a versus mode in Resident Evil before, and as well as the costs of development of the feature, there’s also additional bandwidth costs associated with it.

So basically they are saying that since it’d never been in the game before, and it wasn’t originally on the drawing board it’s ok to charge for it. I guess it makes sense…

But, if Resident Evil 5’s matchmaking is going to be anything like Street Fighter IV’s, I’ll save my 5 bucks.

Read (MSXbox-World)