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Some of the best games are yet to come

The second half of 2009 holds the promise of getting to play highly anticipated games

By Seth Schiesel New York Times News Service

LOS ANGELES — The recent Electronic Entertainment Expo offered an up-close look at many of the most-anticipated releases remaining for 2009.

Here are some:

'Bioshock 2'

Release date: Nov. 3.

Consoles: X360, PS3, PC.

The sequel to one of the most important games of recent years, BioShock, returns players to Rapture, the ruined Art Deco city under the Atlantic Ocean. In the first game, players uncovered the story of the twisted civil war in Rapture's supposedly utopian society. With its pointed, mature critique of the notion of free will, BioShock set the bar for interactive storytelling. BioShock 2 hopes to continue the adventure.

'New Super Mario Bros. Wii'

Release date: TBA.

Consoles: Wii.

For more than two decades, Mario's side-scrolling, two-dimensional journey to rescue Princess Peach in Super Mario Bros. has stood as one of the seminally entertaining interactive adventures. At E3, Nintendo announced that it was developing the first multiplayer version, allowing as many as four players to jump and bounce over one another at once.

'Bayonetta'

Release date: TBA.

Consoles: X360, PS3.

The Mario games might epitomize the cute, family-friendly end of the spectrum in Japanese game design, but Bayonetta represents the other end: stylized, flashy and spectacularly violent. Bayonetta, a statuesque, impossibly-proportioned witch, is capable of wielding an entire arsenal at once, including multiple guns and swords, not to mention magical attacks unleashed by her pulsing mane.

'Halo 3: ODST'

Release date: Sept. 22.

Consoles: X360.

There is plenty of hectic front-line combat in ODST, a stand-alone prequel to Halo 3, but much of the new game places the player in the role of a stealthy special-operations trooper picking his way through the vast ruins of New Mombasa.

'DJ Hero'

Release date: Oct. 27.

Consoles: X360, PS3, Wii, PS2.

Activision hosted the party of E3 with Jay-Z, Eminem, DJ AM, Travis Barker and Warren G performing for a private crowd. But DJ Hero would have made this list even without the party (no, really). For all of the millions of copies the Guitar Hero series has sold, there are millions of people who prefer hip-hop, electronica, trance and dance music to guitar anthems.

'MAG'

Release date: TBA.

Consoles: PS3.

MAG — for massive action game — promises to allow 256 players to blast away at one another simultaneously on one uninterrupted, virtually seamless near-future battlefield, a prodigious technical feat. MAG could represent a watershed for online gaming. If it works, that is.

'Modern Warfare 2'

Release date: Nov. 10.

Consoles: X360, PS3, PC.

No line of games has yet provided a more consistently compelling rendition of the battlefield than the Call of Duty series. Modern Warfare 2 continues the story with the player taking the role of various Western commandos on the hunt for international terrorists.

'Dragon Age: Origins'

Release date: Oct. 20.

Consoles: X360, PS3, PC.

My sentimental favorite of E3, Dragon Age is a throwback to the old-school single-player fantasy role-playing game. Of course, it helps (a lot) that it is being made by the team behind the Baldur's Gate series — some of the best old-school single-player fantasy role-playing games. Like Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age appears to mix deep story lines and personal interactions, including the inevitable love triangles, with its sword-and-sorcery action.