Nikolai 'Niko' Bellic | Grand Theft Auto IV | Feb-April 2008
What's his story?
As the main man in this year's BIGGEST game, it's no surprise that Niko is still something of a mystery. We know he leaves behind the potatoes and crime of some hard-faced Eastern European country and travels to Liberty City, tempted by his cousin's promises of loose women, fast cars and hot, er, hot tubs. On his arrival, however, Niko finds that things aren't quite so rosy as his bullshitting relative has led him to believe.
And then... well, it's GTA, so you can probably guess that Niko doesn't head to the hills for a quiet life of goat herding. Expect things to be a bit more explosive. A bit like this, in fact.
What can Niko bring to gaming?
Hmmm. Let us think. When was the last time we got to play as a Neanderthal-faced-Eastern-European-people-trafficking-Cold-War-fashion-wearing-immigrant-bad-ass-mofo ripping through a make-believe America like a flamethrower through a haystack? Oh yeah. Never. When so many on-screen personas are seemingly typecast from the same bland cookie cutter mould, Niko promises to be a breath of fresh, sociopathic air. We can't wait to sniff it up.
Niko is the new face of 2008 most likely to...
...be the only Neanderthal-faced-Eastern-European-people-trafficking-Cold-War-fashion-wearing-immigrant-bad-ass-mofo gaming protagonist for the foreseeable future.
Travis Touchdown | No More Heroes | Jan (US) Feb (UK)
What's his story?
Golden State slacker Touchdown acquires a lightsaber-styled Beam Katana weapon and promptly becomes a professional assassin. Why? Well, he could really do with the money and it sounds way more appealing than getting a real job. In Travis' own words, being an assassin "Could kick ass". So, he pulls on his sneakers and pink t-shirt (real men wear pink) and sets off to become the numero uno killer of the UAA - an organisation of ranked hitmen.
What can Travis bring to gaming?
As we've said before, this guy is punk through and through. And with his unhealthy obsession for all things anime, manga, gaming and every other kind of geeky pursuit that makes women-beings philosophise about the tragedy of men that never grow up, he's surely the one persona in our Class of 2008 that most overgrown boys would like to hijack for themselves. He might not be able to rip torsos in half with his bare hands or bitch slap demons with a possessed limb, but the boy parades with more style than Paris Fashion Week. Playing as Travis is going to be ubercool.
Travis is the new face of 2008 most likely to...
...convince gamers that wearing pink isn't gay.
