Looking ahead to 2008

With the surprising 2007 behind us this year should hold some tasty new treats and plenty of revisits to franchises, for better or for worse.
Amongst the Fifa Streets there are some long awaited sequels on the way - Fable 2 attempts to introduce emotional ties through man's best friend, Advance Wars: Days of Ruin controversially replaces cute characters with gritty visuals and GTA IV attempts to reinvent the genre it created.
Each console has exclusives to tempt gamers to its cause - with Final Fantasy XIII (PS3), Ninja Gaiden 2 (360) and No More Heroes (Wii), the choice is difficult but multiplatform titles like Fallout 3 and Devil May Cry 4 help ease the pain.
Those awaiting the recently announced Street Fighter IV can take respite in the hand drawn HD reworking of Super Street Fighter II while Soul Calibur IV will be back with exaggerated cleavers and cleavage.
I've still to play recent delights like The Orange Box due to the Christmas glut and with so many great games still to come i'm starting to panic! Sheesh, it's a hard life as a reviewer, especially with this five on the way -

Too Human - Xbox 360
Melding Geometry Wars style twin stick controls with a full blown multiplayer RPG, this sci-fi take on Norse mythology might just be the best thing for friends since Gauntlet.

Halo Wars - Xbox 360
Real time strategy games have had a checkered history on consoles yet this attempts to trump all previous attempts with intuitive controls. Prequel to Master Chief's trilogy, this is Halo as it was originally envisioned.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl - Nintendo Wii
Nintendo's chaotic 4 player beat em up comes with online play and a whole host of guest characters - now those Sega vs Nintendo playground arguments can finally be settled as Sonic faces off against Mario.

Metal Gear Solid 4 - PS3
With an aging and disillusioned Snake up against an army of nano augmented soldiers it looks like his last stand might be his best. Stealth action to the power of ten.

Alan Wake - Xbox 360
The makers of Max Payne deliver the long awaited, gorgeous looking, psychological thriller about a horror novelist with insomnia trapped in a nightmarish town of his imagination. Just don't look under the bed.