Shoot your way to next year! Half-Life 2: The Lost Coast
Admit it, you love shooters (if you don't, why the heck not ?). First person shooters, in particular. Whether it was with DOOM 3, Far Cry, Painkiller, Half-Life 2 or a combination of these, you had a blast last year. Because afterall, what is more rewarding than a headshot with your last bullet, or pistol whipping an enemy two seconds before you run out of health? What gives greater joy than running into a room guns blazing, only to see the enemy team covered in their own blood once the (de_)dust settles, or timing that one jump perfectly so that you snag the powerup right in front of your opponent's face?
Okay, okay, you got me, there are more rewarding things in life, and approximately half of those are probably related to this thing called World of Warcraft. But the point is we love playing first person shooters and we always want more. So far this year DOOM 3: Resurrection of Evil, Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 and Battlefield 2 proved themselves worthy of being installed, but with the holiday seasons creeping closer and closer, it may be wise to arm yourself to the teeth yet again. For there is much, much more to come, and it'll all be here before you can say "Happy New Year".
So... All puns, jokes and witty comments aside, here's a short overview of the ten most interesting (at least according to us) first person shooters that are still scheduled for release in 2005. Some may slip to next year, but hey - such is the life of a gamer, we'll weep about that later. Until then, enjoy patiently awaiting these upcoming games.
F.E.A.R.
Release date: late October 
Monolith has always been known for making quality shooters, having been responsible for titles such as Blood, Alien versus Predator 2, and No-one lives forever. With FEAR (First Encounter Assault Recon, go figure ) Monolith is once again proving how adept they are at the genre. The recently released single player demo had us in awe with its fantastic graphics, spooky atmosphere, and good AI to boot making for some of the coolest action scenes this summer. Although the idea of a little girl running around may be a bit cliche, that's no excuse to miss out on what could be the best shooter of 2005.
Release date: whenever ATi's next-gen cards hit, probably 
Originally intended as part of Half-Life 2 itself, The Lost Coast was found again and will soon be released through Steam, free of charge for all Half-Life 2 owners. The Lost Coast is not exactly a full game or even an expansion pack - it is instead a graphical showcase for the latest nVidia and ATi video cards, sporting features such as HDR lighting and extremely high texture resolutions. Only the richest gamers need apply as this free benchmark / extra level will require quite a hefty computer to run. Nonetheless, for those of us with such hardware the single level should be a very nice sight to see, and who are we to say no to something that's free anyway?
Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood
Release date: October 
Earlier this year Gearbox Software's Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30 managed to do the unthinkable: it was a World War II shooter unlike any before it. Mixing the better parts of Full Spectrum Warrior and Call of Duty the game managed to bring actual tactics to the WW2 FPS genre, making for some innovative and fresh gameplay. Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood sets out to continue the franchise by offering you Sgt. Heartsock's side of the story, pushing on from Carentan and freeing Normandy from the Nazi reign. A co-operative multiplayer mode, new single player campaign and vastly improved artificial intelligence should bring Brothers in Arms' gameplay to the next level.
SiN Episodes: Emergence
Release date: October 
Episodic content! A few years ago no-one'd heard of the idea, but now Ritual Entertainment is the first to take the big step towards it by releasing short bits of a game every few months, rather than one whole game per three years. Emergence is the first part of the SiN Episodes, the continuation of the 1998 shooter SiN. Powered by the Source engine and available through Valve's Steam only, SiN Episodes: Emergence is expected to last some six hours for a price tag of $15, with new episodes coming only a few months later. Besides its success as a game itself, which should be quite nice with revamped AI and plain cool combat, it'll be interesting to see how the gaming community reacts to this episodic content.
Call of Duty 2
Release date: November 
After Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Call of Duty developer Infinity Ward, formerly known as 2015 Inc, is hard at work on their latest World War II shooter, Call of Duty 2. No longer using the Quake Arena engine Call of Duty 2 has become an experience of graphical splendor while also having innovated on the action-packed gameplay of the franchise. It's as if everything has changed, except for the war itself. Once again you'll be fighting Nazi Germany through Europe and Africa through British, American and Soviet campaigns. Also making a grand comeback is D-Day: in Call of Duty 2 there is another beachlanding in Normandy! Sounds exciting? I thought so too.
Quake IV
Release date: November 
The Strogg home world is in chaos after having lost its leader, the Makron, and Earth's forces continue attacking their armies in a desperate attempt to defeat the Strogg once and for all. Picking up where Quake II left off, Quake IV sets you in the elite Rhino Squad and sends you to the planet to fight the battle on the ground. Raven Software, developing the title on behalf of id Software, is using the DOOM 3 engine and plans on delivering one excellent shooter this fall. Fast-paced multiplayer in the form of Free for All and Capture the Flag reminds of Quake III Arena, the pinnacle of death match, making Quake IV the ultimate sequel for any Quake gamer.
Armed Assault
Release date: Q4 2005 
Developed by Bohemia Interactive, the same people behind Operation Flashpoint, Armed Assault gives a shot at being the "ultimate realistic combat simulation experience". In that sense it almost shouldn't be in this list, but since the likes of Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon are giving realism a bit of a break it'd be a shame to not mention the game at all. With a new engine, storyline and setting Armed Assault should be an interesting title to keep track of, if only because for the die-hards Operation Flashpoint was so enjoyable a couple years ago. A word of warning though, the lack of buzz surrounding this game suggests it may not see a release in 2005.
Battlefield 2: Special Forces
Release date: November 
Battlefield 2 is easily the hottest multiplayer first person shooter right now. Its release this summer was followed by huge outbursts of modern war all over the internet servers with infantry and vehicular combat in the large, graphically appealing battlefields of Digital Illusions CE and Electronic Arts. Now the expansion pack Special Forces will add to that classes such as Navy SEALs, British SAS, Russian Spetznas and more, giving the whole game that elite edge. High tech vehicles, weapons and gadgets are the norm, so you'd better get your skills up to scratch.
Half-Life 2: The Aftermath
Release date: November 
While The Lost Coast isn't an expansion pack for Half-Life 2, The Aftermath is. For sale either through Valve's online delivery platform Steam or Electronic Arts' retail boxed copies, Half-Life 2: The Aftermath continues where Half-Life 2 left off last year. Gordon Freeman and his rebel companions find themselves
in the ruined City 17 with the Combine scrambling beneath their crumbling Citadel, with aliens crawling all over the place and the human citizens running for their lives. Needless to say, female sidekick and pretty face Alyx Vance is back too, and her stronger presence in the expansion pack should drive the Half-Life storyline further onward. Strap on your HEV suit, Gordon, you're not done yet.
Serious Sam 2
Release date: November 
SAM I AM!!! Not everyone may like the Serious Sam games, it must be said CroTeam has done an excellent job at bringing back all sorts of memories to the glorydays of DOOM and Duke Nukem. Forget AI and storyline, bring on the humor and endless streams of enemies to blast at! Serious Sam II, not to be confused with Serious Sam: Second Encounter, features immense graphical updates while still retaining the same frantic gameplay gamers have come to embrace once again. New big guns, new hordes of alien scum, huge levels and explosions, more multiplayer and vehicular combat make Serious Sam II one of the most fun-looking games of the end year. And that's saying a lot, considering I didn't even like the first two games.
Warning: Hold your fire!
As much as we may love this hobby of ours, it is an undeniable fact that there are some games out there that just aren't worth your time. And so, we should advise you not to get yourself all hyped up just yet. While it's fun getting all excited about a game, finding out as much information about it as you can, in this industry expectations are a hard thing to keep up with. We wouldn't want to see anyone disappointed, so hold your fire for now and await our verdicts in the final reviews. That's where the frags are seperated from the cheats.
(Oh who am I kidding, with games like these the holiday seasons are gonna rock. Game on!)
