PC's Most Wanted Games

**hpming** on Mon May 31, 2010 8:14 am

Bring back the big PC-only franchises...

This year's Electronic Entertainment Expo should hopefully reveal a few surprises for PC gamers. Please, no more Sims expansion packs. Give us the news we really want... the return of a BIG PC license. In anticipation, we're putting three of our most wanted PC sequels up for scrutiny, in the vein hope that we'll hear more about at least one of them in Los Angeles this June...

System Shock 3
Will we ever see a third instalment in this eerie, sci-fi shooter/RPG hybrid? The rumour mill is always muttering about a System Shock 3, but there's never been any concrete proof that a third game has even been seriously considered. More than ten years have now passed since the sensational System Shock 2 set itself as a bonfide PC classic.
Ken Levine, lead designer on the second game, has been quoted as saying he would be interested in working on a third game in the series - "I love Shodan, I love the world" - but the license is currently held by Electronic Arts, and Levine is under the watchful eye of Irrational's publisher Take Two Interactive. Irrational is currently working on a new, unannounced game.

Doom 4
Doom 4 is in development, so this one is more of a waiting game. However, will it be the sort of Doom game that we want? Doom 3 had elements of the first two games, but it felt like a distinctly different shooter experience; id Software's third was going more for suspense and surprise, rather than the sheer horror of overwhelming odds - it was the terror of those hordes of demons closing in for the kill which the first two games captured so well. id Software has cryptically informed its fanbase that Doom 4 is neither a sequel nor a reboot. So what is it? Yet another new style of experience for the franchise? Just bring back Cyberdemons and double shotguns please.

Thief 4
Thief 4 is another sequel that has been announced, with almost nothing more than the announcement itself to prove it exists. The game is currently in development over at Eidos Montreal who are making the game simultaneously alongside a third Deus Ex instalment, subtitled Human Revolution. Only handling one of these huge PC game franchises would be enough responsibility, but somehow the Canadian studio is attempting both. The success of Deus Ex 3 may prove telling as to the fate of master thief Garrett's fourth adventure.