Most Anticipated Games of 2009: 30-21

The games to keep an eye on during 2009.

And in the blink of an eye 2009 is upon us, and games like Gears of War 2, Metal Gear Solid 4 and Animal Crossing: Let's go to the City seem like a distant memory. Now, as is the way with the world, we turn to the future without having given the past the time it deserves. Fable 2 creator Peter Molyneux says nothing in 2009 excites him. Well that's not how we feel. And in an attempt to get all that excitement off of our chest, allow us to present our week-long Most Anticipated Games of 2009 feature, where we compile the 40 games that make us wet with excitement just at the thought of playing them. Here, in the second instalment, we run down from 30 to 21. Read on, and let the hype begin, or check out 40-31 here first.

30. Halo Wars, Microsoft - Xbox 360 - February 27

Yes, we wish it was coming out on PC. Yes, we wish we could shove a keyboard and mouse into our 360 and play the game with that instead of the controller. But it's not, and we can't, and we have to get over that fact. And, now that we have, we're actually rather excited by the prospect of exploring more of the wonderful Halo universe and eking out juicy info on the origins of those mysterious Forerunners. That, and sending a squad of Spartans off to make a mockery of an entire Covenant army. While PC gamers will baulk at the suggestion it'll be as good as StarCraft II or Dawn of War II, as far as console RTSs go, Halo Wars has got the potential to top them all. We'll know soon enough. The game's due out on February 27.

29. Empire: Total War, SEGA - PC - March

While we've always loved the Total War series here at VideoGamer.com, there's always been something missing: 3D naval combat. Lucky for you, developer The Creative Assembly has read our mind. We played around with some ships out on the ocean late last year and had a great time, not only because it was so much fun but also because it looks so damn good. If you've been teetering on the edge of that PC upgrade, Empire: Total War might be the game to make you take the plunge. We can't wait and, if you're an RTS fan, we suspect you can't either.