Summer is fast approaching here in Australia and it brings with it the holiday season and a wealth of quality triple AAA video game releases. Whilst many analysts have been complaining about the amount of titles that have been either delayed or deliberately pushed back to 2010, see Starcraft II delayed to 2010, there is still an absolute abundance of great games that are going to be hitting the shelves for the Christmas period. Here's the run down of my most anticipated games of the summer period.

Batman Arkham Asylum- I was interested in this game instantly because it was based on Batman and had Mark Hammil as the voice of The Joker. To find out that the initial reviews say it is amazing, see Metacritic, with stunning visuals, a great story, The Joker takes over Arkham Aslyum, and a brilliant mixture of stealth, out right action and puzzle solving is just an added bonus. Released Spetember 3 2009.

Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2- Batman Arkham Aslyum got me excited because I get to play as one of my favourite super heroes, Ultimate Alliance 2 lets me play with teams of heroes through one of the coolest and most dramatic comic book storylines ever, Marvel Civil War. The game combines squad based combat relying on an intricate knowledge of your heroes abilities to create perfect strategies and it is all rendered brilliantly. Also Stan Lee makes his first ever video game appearance, nuff said. Released September 16, 2009.

Halo 3:ODST- Do I need to explain why I would want to buy this game? It's Halo, made by Bungie and adds a new element to the already amazing multiplayer combat from the original Halo games, instant win. I do have high expectations though like a story where the Flood isn't a cop-out to actually being inventive with the story and some vastly improved visuals in the cutscenes after seeing games like Halo Wars which looked amazing. Released September 22, 2009.

Avatar: The Game- With all the hype surrounding the movie it's hard to be a little excited about the game as well. A third persoon action game you get to create your own character and thrust them into the vast universe James Cameron has created. The game can be played in 3D much the same as how the movie will be viewed and takes place before the events of the film. It has been likened to a more polished Lost Planet due to the third person presentation and usable mech suits, which is a good starting point for a movie adaptation game. Release Q3 2009, Decemberish.

Section 8- SouthPeak Games are attracting a lot of interest lately with their games Raven Squad and Section 8. Trying to break into the lucrative First Person Shooter market Section 8 combines futuristic FPS combat with strategy and tactics. Players wear power armour reminiscent of Crysis and players are able to choose and customise their weapon layout from the start, so no more preset Sniper or Engineer. Players respawn from a dropship 15,000 feet in the air so respawning becomes a vital tactic and an awesome kill style. I really want to see a new player in the genre and hopefully SouthPeaks's Section 8 and the soon to be released Raven Squad can do that. Released Q3 2009.

FIFA Soccer 10- I've always supported the FIFA series, I never really caught on to Konami's Pro Evo brand of football. I'm now pleased to see that FIFA is taking it's place at the top of the soccer gaming world with 09 but there are huge expectations for 10. Pro Evo has finally stepped up to the next gen plate offering slick visuals and a more fun style of play so FIFA 10 will need to nail it's improvements to player animations and it's new features like more intuitive defending and 360 degree dribbling control. I'm pleased to see that Manager Mode has finally been improved making it more realistic and enjoyable to play whilst the Be A Pro mode makes a successful return. Probably one of the only sports games I'll buy. Released October 1 2009.

Borderlands- The final game looked at in this preview is Borderlands. A game that has snuck up on me with it's amazing cell shaded visual style it combines First Person Combat with the RPG genre in a sci fi setting. Offering unlimited content generation you literally have hundreds of thousands of weapons to choose from and customise. Built for team based online multiplayer the missions are also effected by the cotnent generating software meaning there are endless missions to perform and upgrade your character. Through in some insane vehicle to vehicle combat with kick ass explosions and this game could be a summer hit. Release October 23 2009.

So that's the first installment of the Summer Games Preview. I'll be back later with game slike Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, Assassin's Creed 2, Modern Warfare 2, Max Payne II, Mafia II and other M named games.