Back in November, I attended the annual EA Winter Showcase – a big, shiny expo for the biggest of the giant publisher’s upcoming titles.

Like a mini-E3 just for EA stuff, the showcase offered time with a load of exciting new games, as well as some not-so-exciting ones. But we’ll graciously avoid discussing them (*cough* Rango “cough*).

Off the back of the whole shindig I did a few previews and rather than put them in separate posts, I’m collating them all here. Links and preview excerpts for Bulletstorm, Dead Space 2, Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam, Battlefield Play4Free, Crysis 2 and Fight Night Champion can be found after the jump.

BULLETSTORM

“Who knew that shooting bad guys up the bumhole was exactly what the FPS genre needed? Other than People Can Fly, I’m not sure. As the rest of the industry scrambles to follow in the dusty combat boots of Call of Duty, the Poland-based developers have been plotting an altogether different route. Seemingly inconsequential when announced at E3 2009, the results have been wowing preview audiences ever since.”

DEAD SPACE 2

“Part of the dreadful joy of Dead Space was the constant sense of vulnerable solitude. Wandering the organic metal halls of the USG Ishimura, much of the atmosphere was built around shadows, metallic groans and the things you didn’t see. You never knew where the next twisted abomination was going to spring from.

“Forgive me then for going into my hands-on with Dead Space 2′s multiplayer a little sceptical. Up close and personal four versus four running battles just don’t seem in keeping with the original’s charms.”

BFBC2: VIETNAM AND BATTLEFIELD: PLAY4FREE

“My hands-on was with a horrifically beautiful map called Hill 37. Throwing you into a recently napalmed Vietcong encampment, it’s alive with fire. The ground itself smolders and trees and huts are ablaze across the skyline. Riddled with makeshift tunnels it also forces you beneath ground for close quarters combat.”

CRISIS 2

“A crumbling city ripped apart by an Alien invasion? We’ve been here before. In the hands of a less proficient developer you could be forgiven for mistaking Crysis 2′s over-familiar setting for a lack of creative ambition. But this is Crytek we’re talking about. If nothing else you know it’s going to be damn pretty.”

FIGHT NIGHT CHAMPION

“From De Niro spitting monochrome blood all over the canvas in Raging Bull, to the Italian Stallion drawling a victorious ‘Adriannnnn!’ in Rocky – boxing has thrown up plenty of classic cinematic moments. The movies know exactly how to draw on the metaphorical possibilities of the sport.”

“My name is Desmond Miles, and this is my story.”

Forget Altair and Ezio for a minute, Assassin’s Creed has always been about Desmond. With the secrets of a centuries old war locked within his genetic memory, the cocky bartender is at the very epicenter of it all. Without Desmond Miles, Assassin’s Creed simply wouldn’t exist.

It’s fitting then that as the series has progressed, Desmond has played a bigger and bigger role in the gameplay itself. Little more than a participant of interactive cut-scenes in the first game, in Brotherhood he’s taking centre stage for entire levels.

Based on the opening couple of hours we sampled recently, we’re gonna be seeing a lot more of the hoodied secret assassin. But before that, Brotherhood has to reacquaint us with a whole bunch of mechanics, a load of backstory, and a certain florally-accented Italian chap.

(Read more at Play.tm)

We all know how it works by now. Successful sports titles settle on a blueprint, then eke out teeny-tiny changes year after year while trying to convince you they’ve re-invented the wheel. It’s just the way the world works.

As such, it’s usually pretty difficult for the champion of a particular virtual sport to fall from grace. For every incremental improvement the underdog makes, the title-holder is always one step ahead. Unless something dramatic happens, the status quo remains.

In the case of football games, Pro Evolution Soccer was that champion. For around a decade, the Konami-developed title trumped arch-rival FIFA in the gameplay stakes. Always the more sophisticated choice, PES’ substance continually outgunned FIFA’s style.

Then something dramatic happened. In 2008 FIFA stormed to the top of the league, leaving PES to stagnate in mid-table respectability. Indeed, the reversal of fates has been so profound you wonder if PES can ever regain its crown.

By now all this is a familiar story. But it bears repeating. The two series have long been defined in relation to each other, and PES’ fall from grace is remarkable. With such a rich heritage, and such expectation, Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 arrives with a lot of baggage.

(Read more at Play.tm)

And that’s exactly what Codemasters have set about doing. With the license safely snaffled up in their leather driving-gloved hands, the makers of GRID and DiRT locked themselves away in the garage to bring about F1′s gaming resurgence. They’ve just about nailed it.

F1 2010 emerges from the pits a powerful beast, its bodywork glistening and its engine growling menacingly. Put simply, it’s a good game. But just as with any new constructor emerging into the sport, there’s room for improvement.

Thankfully, Codemasters have got the most important thing absolutely right. F1 2010 wonderfully conveys the sensation of being strapped in to the seat of a snarling, super-powered F1 car.

By their very nature, F1 cars are an entirely different kettle of horses to the machines featured in other racers. They’re lighter than a packet of 10 Marlboroughs, for a start, with some of the twitchiest, most sensitive handling you’re likely to encounter. Zipping through corners and chicanes you’ll feel as if you’re barely taming the brute force beneath you, with a spin-out or a visit to the gravel traps just a inelegant thumb-flick away.

(Read more at Play.tm)