Upcoming HD Remakes of 2011

Last week I spoke about how I was totally for HD remakes of older games as long as they’re done right. Today, I’m going to list five HD remakes worth checking out in 2011.

Master Chief doing his thing

To commemorate Master Chief’s 10th birthday, Microsoft have a special gift in store for fans in the form of a Halo: Combat Evolved remake. The new crop of gamers who’ve only begun with the Xbox360 can now replay Master Chief’s very first adventure with a coat of HD polish. Veterans however can preserve the game’s 10 year old visuals if they choose to do so with the simple press of a button. Think of it as developer 343 Industries’ way of allowing people to authentically relive their Halo experience. Besides a coat of HD polish, players can also expect seven of the most popular Halo maps fully remastered under one roof.

Kratos kicks ass on all platforms

Ever since I played Kratos’ handheld outings via Ghost of Sparta and Chains of Olympus, I couldn’t help but fantasizing about playing these epic games on the big screen. Now it seems my prayers have been heard and at E32011 Sony announced an HD remake of both these games. Best of all, you don’t have to struggle with the controls like you did on your PSP. The game will be fully compatible with the PlayStation 3’s Dulashock 3 controller and will feature upscaled 1080p support in addition to trophy and 3D support.

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The bigger they are...

ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are some of the few games out there that qualify as art. While I personally haven’t played ICO, I can totally vouch for Shadow of the Colossus which even on the PS2 blew gamers away with its epic scale, haunting musical score and desolate setting. The story was simple; you need to slay a bunch of big colossi to save your love and while that sounds totally boring on paper, the way each boss played out was insane. You see each boss, due to its size doubled up as an interactive level where you had to run all over its body, figuring its weak spots and stabbing it where it hurt the most. The HD remakes of both games besides sporting a crisp 1080p resolution will feature both trophy and 3D support.

Wolverine?

Resident Evil 4 was considered by many, (yours truly included) to be the finest survival horror game for the new age before Dead Space came along. But even that was heavily inspired by RE4 so yeah, this game did set the benchmark for games everywhere. For those who missed out on this game due to the lack of a PlayStation 2 or a Gamecube can now do so as Capcom are prepping this game along with Resident Evil: Codename Veronica X for an HD release. Unfortunately the game won’t be bundled as a disc but will be available only as a digital download via Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

1,2, Snake is coming for you

When you hear the word stealth, one of two characters pop up in your mind, Solid Snake or if you’re from the new crop of gamers, Sam Fisher. If you’ve missed out on some of Snake’s earlier adventures, you can now do so with the Metal Gear Solid HD Collection. This collection will pack three MGS games under one HD roof – MGS2: Sons of Liberty, MGS3: Snake Eater and Peace Walker. Now Peace Walker is considered some of Kojima’s best work till date so if you missed out on this game when it hit the PSP last year, you can now do so this November. And besides a coat of HD paint, all titles will benefit by the dual analogue sticks on both the Xbox360 as well as the PS3 controller.