Kill your winter blues

Last fall we brought you a round-up on three would-be blockbuster games: Wii Music, Resistance 2 and Gears of War 2. All three managed to greatly reap the reward of the Christmas season following their release. Gears of War 2, especially as title, has sold over four million copies. This season three more AAA games are on the road to release: Resident Evil 5, Killzone 2, and Star Ocean 4.

Resident Evil 5
Like many AAA games of this generation, but unlike last, Resident Evil 5 is going multiplatform from the get-go. It's predecessor, Resident Evil 4, is one of the best reviewed games of all time. RE5 has the precarious job of succeeding that success and bringing Resident Evil to this generation of consoles with more than just a graphics overhaul while not being a copy cat of RE4.

RE5 follows Chris and Sheva in the African village of Kijuju where, you guessed it, everyone's basically become a zombie. Players control Chris, and if you play though the game on co-op with a buddy--online or in your living room--your friend plays as Sheva. The gameplay is very similar to RE4's refined over-the-shoulder shooter mechanics.

Co-op is the biggest difference between RE4 and RE5 and a central feature of the entire game. Even playing single player, you still guide Chris as the computer controls Sheva fights alongside you every step of the way, sharing ammo and covering your back. Previews of the game have been generally quite positive, but with a demo already out on Xbox Live and coming to Playstation Network on February 2, you can be the judge. Resident Evil 5 is set to release on March 13th in North America.

Killzone 2
As you may remember our preview in November, Killzone 2 is now confirmed to be hitting North American retail shelves on February 27. While we covered much of the history and outlook for KZ2 in that preview, since then review copies of the game have met the hands of major gaming publications.

The game takes place two years after the events of Killzone, players taking up the fight against the Helghast as Sev. So far reviewers have been blown away with the first-person shooter's graphics and gameplay, Playstation: The Official Magazine even going as far to say, “Without a doubt Killzone fans, action and shooter fans of any stripe will instantly tag this sequel as a powerful contender for best game of 2009.”

Killzone 2 is exclusive to Playstation 3 and may very well lift up the console after all. With years of doubt and largely negative speculation surrounding Killzone 2, it looks like Sony may just have vindicated themselves.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Like Tales of Vesperia and The Last Remnant before it, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is surprisingly debuting on the Xbox 360. As a hardcore Japanese RPG, games that have traditionally sold well in Japan, it's peculiar that the game is coming out on the worst selling console in Japan. Nonetheless, Star Ocean: The Last Hope is the fourth and latest installment in the 13-year-old series developed by tri-Ace and published by Square Enix.

The prologue of the story is that in 2064 humanity bit itself in the butt and played out World War III. Basically turned into the next closest thing to the end of the world, thus humanity set out for a new home in space. Players play the roll of Edge Maverick, a 20-year-old that leads your party of four through the fray of the game. Anticipation for the game is high as renowned Japanese gaming magazine, Famitsu, recently gave the game a 34/40 score.

Other heavy hitters landing this Winter are Skate 2, F.E.A.R. 2, Street Fighter 4, Sims 3 and Halo Wars.