As Baird takes on his own tale in this week's "Gears of War: Judgment' and Nintendo leads its way through the "Year of Luigi," we take a look at who else might deserve their own spot in a leading role.
'God of War: The Tale of Zeus'
Greek mythology is ripe with violence, conflict and sexual indiscretions. That's at least part of the reason the "God of War" games worked out so well. Kratos was mean, angry and endlessly brutal until somebody served him up a dose of anti-depression pills in "God of War: Ascension." We need that anger back, we need that spark, so who better to go to for the first PS4 installment of "God of War" than the king himself? After all, if you're the leader of the gods, as Zeus so rightfully is, and one of those gods is in fact the god of war, doesn't make that you pretty much the God of War as well? No? Semantics.... Zeus can throw lightning bolts and has fathered more children than any reality-TV mom we have today - 'nuff said.
'NBA Jam: Obama Edition'
The most recent "NBA Jam" reboot saw unlockable political characters like Joe Biden, George W. Bush and, of course, Barak Obama, the only person in that group who ever had a chance at dunking, given his love of playing the game. We need to up the ante and take Obama to the court against teams of world leaders. We can live out fantasies of seeing the Queen of England try to throw a ball, or we can attempt to predict the eventual outcome of World War 3 with China's Premier, Li Keqiang, and the delightfully maniacal North Korean Dictator Kim Jong-un taking on Obama and Biden in a friendly match of two v. two.
'Metroid: Ridley'
Despite never speaking a word in the "Metroid" games, Samus's purple dragon nemesis Ridley is known to be as fiercely intelligent as he is violent against Samus and her people, We even got a hint at what he looked like as a baby in "Metroid: Other M," and finding out how that the little "Furby" impersonator becomes a giant purple screaming dragon sounds mighty interesting to me. This story begs to be fleshed out, as Ridley is a one-of-a-kind foe with motives worth trying to understand. Maybe he's not the bad guy, maybe Samus is.
'Lego City Undercover: The Riveting Adventures of Frank Honey'
Critics have taken moderately well to Lego's unofficial version of "Grand Theft Auto" The non-violent gameplay was surprisingly well-suited to the game's open world, with much entertainment arising from the game's slapstick humor and cop-movie characterizations. While protagonist Chase McCain has his share of one-liners, his sidekick, Frank Honey, is an entire treasure trove's worth of comedy gold. His constant swooning over Chase, his never-ending gullibility and naivety and his desire to do great things and consistent failure to do so are all elements that play into the Frank Honey character. He at least deserves his own redeeming DLC mission pack.
'Mass Effect: Liara the Shadow Broker'
Liara in "Mass Effect," also known as the blue alien Shepherd can have sex with, is an interesting character in that she sort of represents her race, the Asari, but she also plays far out of bounds when it comes to the way the Asari conduct their business. She's a rogue, and this character trait came to a head in the "Mass Effect 2" DLC "Lair of the Shadow Broker." After helping her defeat the trader in secrets, instead of letting his empire fall she becomes the Shadow Broker instead. How Liara uses this to her advantage and how she manipulates events in the "Mass Effect" universe could make for a very interesting game. Don't worry, she's got biotic abilities as well, so she can kick ass when she wants.
