Most Anticipated Games of 2012 Part 2 (Listed Alphabetically)

(Hitman: Absolution)- Agent 47 is back again for yet another string of contracts that are hopefully just as or more fun than the ones of the past games in the series. Not much has been released on this game except for a plot that does sound enticing. The supposed plot includes Agent 47 assassinating his former contract handler from the previous games and chasing after a new antagonist named Blake Dexter. As for gameplay, it will run on the Glacier 2 engine and will be similar to other games with awesome ways to take out your target stealthily. I'm sure there will also be a lot of cute costumes that Agent 47 will be able to slip in and out of like the previous games as well. Be on the lookout for this game because it has been confirmed to be released in 2012 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

(I Am Alive) - I didn't know much about this game until December 2011, but after I got a taste, I couldn't help but be excited for it. The story revolves around a man in a city that has been hit by a cataclysmic disaster that wiped out just about everyone. He is trying to find his family and will fight his way through whatever he has to in order to reach them. The game will be a third person action/adventure game and will revolve around third person combat. Cool things about the game is that players don't just have to get in a shooting battle. They can pull a bluff and point an empty gun at an enemy to scare them, and using stealth to take enemies out with a machete or bow. The game has an emphasis with platforming (something I am a sucker for) and hopefully it has a good climbing system like Assassins Creed since it is made by Ubisoft. Survival is also key in this game as you will have to scavenge for supplies like food, water, gas, ammo, and even cigarettes in order to stay alive. The game is being developed with the LEAD engine, just like Splinter Cell Conviction which was very fun. This game is set to release on March 7th 2012 and will be available on Xbox 360 an PS3.

(Mass Effect 3)- If there was a game that should be on everyone's list this year, this is it. It's the 3rd installment in the Mass Effect series, and it will be a douzey. Like Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 will let gamers import their characters and continue their storyline in the world of Mass Effect. As an attempt to reach a larger audience, there will be 3 types of game modes, Action mode, Story mode, and RPG mode. Action mode will be highly combat based with no dialogue choices, Story mode will have a lower combat difficulty and dialogue choices will be available, and RPG mode will be like classic mass effect gameplay with a mixture of combat and story based gameplay with many choices for the players to make. RPG elements have been improved with more modifications to weapons and more skills to improve on. Weapon mods will include being able to add new scopes, barrels and ammo types. This game will be usable with Kinect so players can voice their dialogue choices and even voice command companions in battle. Developers of the game say that not a lot has changed with the combat. They say that they have improved the cover system and that it will be the hardest installment in the series because of the increased enemy AI. There will also be multiplayer in Mass Effect 3 called Galaxy at War which has been compared to horde mode from Gears of War. This game is a must buy, especially for fans of the series, and will be released on March 6th for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

(Max Payne 3)- Finally! Another Max Payne game is coming to a game store near you this year and man does it look fabulous. Rockstar games has never let me down and I doubt they will with this title which is being developed on their very own RAGE engine. The game will be set in São Paulo, Brazil where Max is now working private security for a family 8 years after the events of Max Payne 2. Max is now older and balder and also extremely depressed based on what I've seen so far. A street gang kidnaps the wife of the family Max is protecting, and it leads him into yet another dark, shadowy, twisted series of events. The gameplay in this game looks extremely fun and will be third person just like the other two. It will still be a run and gun game and of course there will be a return of bullet-time. In bullet-time, you will be able to see every bullet hole that you have shot into your foes. There is also great physics which shows as in the movement of the characters. As Max strafes, he puts his weight on his stopping foot and shifts his weight to his other foot. There will also be a mechanism that allows Max to stay grounded after a dive and rotate his body 360 degrees while lacing his enemies with bullets. There will also be interactive cutscenes and melee combat that allows Max to kick enemies asses if they get too close. A "last man standing" mechanic has also been added allowing Max to be revived from death if he has a painkiller handy on him. This game will released on May 29th 2012 and will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

(Metal Gear Rising: Revengence)- A hack and slash action game that's a part of the Metal Gear series? Mind fucking blown! A lot of people I have talked to are not nearly as excited for this game, but they also aren't as big of Metal Gear fans as I am and aren't as big of hack and slash action games as I am. The game is being produced by Platinum games, the same Platinum games that made the fantastic action game Bayonetta, so this game should be a real treat. The protagonist of the game is the MGS4 version of Raiden, the ninja cyborg that kicks a ton of ass. The game will be centered around hack and slash combat, with Raiden slicing through his foes and leaving them limbless. There will be a bullet-time feature in the game as well that will allow Raiden to slow down time and slice the fuck out of enemies until they are diced up like a can of diced tomatoes. Raiden will also be able to slice through robotic enemies and take their core parts and electrolytes in order to power himself. There has been nothing released on the story for this game as of yet, but seeing that Raiden fights a Metal Gear in the preview so it's bound to be crazy and badass. This game will be released this year and will be available for Xbox 360 and PS3.

(Ninja Gaiden III)- Since we're on the topic of action games, let's talk about one of the greatest and most difficult action game series of all time. Ninja Gaiden has been a staple in the action game genre and Ninja Gaiden III should reinforce that. Instead of being draped in his normal black leather outfit, Ryu is draped in a metallic armor like outfit which makes him look a little robotic but still badass nonetheless. The story picks up with Ryu getting a request from the Ministry of External Affairs (Japanese Self Defense Force) to be sent to London to fight terrorist. He sees a mysterious hooded man murder the prime minister of England and later on he sees the same hooded man broadcast to the world that every country must surrender to him within seven days of face immediate destruction. Gameplay will have new mechanics and changes. It'll still be hack and slash, but now Ryu can use a mechanic called the Kunai climb.This allows Ryu to climb on to certain walls and use it to his strategic advantage. One thing that really makes me a little sad is that enemies are not decapitated or dismembered anymore, they just bleed out and scream in pain. Gore in games never was important to me, but I feel like that was a foot hole in the Ninja Gaiden series, so I'm interested to see what the game is like without it. There will be an improved slide technique for sliding thorough tight spaces and there will also be a special ability called the grip of murder. When absorbing enough energy from dead bodies, Ryu's arm will glow red which means he can use it for a devastating power attack. There will be upgradable weapons but no more store. Instead, items will be found on dead bodies. Ninpo will also be handled differently than the last game because it'll be in bar for instead of slots and the bar will be charged based on how many enemies Ryu kills. This game is scheduled to be released on March 20th 2012 for Xbox 360 and PS3, and will be compatible with the PS Move for sword combat I assume. The game is also scheduled to be a launch title for the Wii U and will take advantage of the tough screen controller.

(Resident Evil 6)- After being fairly disappointed with RE5, I am hoping to have my world rocked by RE6 just like it was with most other RE titles in the past. I probably would've liked RE5 more  if I hadn't played Dead Space, because the games were far too similar, almost as if Capcom had borrowed ideas from EA. Not much has been released on this game except for a pretty awesome trailer that has revived my interest in the series. The trailer begins with my favorite RE protagonist, Leon Kennedy, aiming a gun at his boss, the President. The president has seen better days though, as he has turned into a zombie, and as the trailer transitions to the next sequence, a gun shot can be heard which leads us a viewers to assume that Leon shot him. The game will take place in a news setting, the town of Tall Oaks, and there will be three playable characters, Leon Kennedy, Chris Redfield, and a new male character that we don't know much about yet, except for the fact that he used to be a mercenary. We also find out that his blood may be the cure to the virus, but he refuses to give it out without being paid (what a douche). The gameplay scenes that I saw in the trailer look awesome. There will be the same over the shoulder camera view from RE 4 and RE 5, and there looks like there will be new features like an improved sprinting feature as well as a sliding feature. Combat also looks improved, the aiming looks more fluid and quick, and the hand to hand looks like it will play a bigger role and cause more damage. Each character will play differently and have a different role in the story. I can't wait to play this game, and it actually has a release date of 11/20/2012. It will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.


(Sly Cooper: Thieves in  Time)- The Sly Cooper series has brought me so much joy in my life as a gamer, and I expect the fourth installment in the series to do the same. The game follows after the events of  Sly Cooper III and Sly brings his elite gang of thieves together to locate and recover the Thievius Raccoonus, a book that chronicles the Cooper family line that has been lost in time. The gameplay will bring back old features like the impeccable platforming and the use of Sly's cane for melee attacks and thieving. A new feature of the game will be collectable outfits. The outfits will have different abilities. For example, in the demo shown at E3, Sly is draped in a suit of armor with a shield that can reflect projectiles back at his foes. There has also been a confirmed gypsy outfit that allows Sly to slow down time. Each of the outfits will be able to be used when going back to previous levels, in order to unlock secret areas or complete the level in a different manner. Bentley and Murray will also be playable again and will come stacked with their own unique abilities. The structure of the game will be similar to the ones of the past with open world like levels with missions that can be activated from certain points, but the worlds are said to be three times as big as the ones in the past games. New enemies have been announced which include El Jefe, an ego-centric tiger that destroys countries and sells them off,. An announced playable character from Sly's family line is Rioichi Cooper, a ninja from feudal Japan that has an ability called "Leaping Dragon" which allows him to scale great distances. This game has no release date, and will be exclusively on PS3.

(Soul Caliber V)- Though this is set to be released in a few days, I am still adding it to the list because I am that excited for it. As a long time fan of the series, I have been salivating over this title since I first heard about it. The game is set 17 years after Soul Caliber V and will incorporate new ideals to the series. For instance, critical finishes have been taken out as well as the soul gauge. Armor is still stripped off after blows, but there will be no meter indicating when it will happen. A new meter has been added, similar to super meters in other fighting games, and it will be used to pull off "Brave Edge" and "Critical Edge" attacks. These attacks are more powerful than others and will require more meter to execute. The Guard Impact feature has also been changed and will repel any blockable attack regardless of height. Guard Impact requires a bit of the Critical Meter to be performed and parries have been removed from the engine entirely. A new defense maneuver called "Just Guard" will allow the player to retaliate quicker with a better timed block. Ring outs will now add an extra layer of depth to arenas as they will result in the characters falling down into a new segment of the area. All of the characters will be returning, including a Ezio Auditore from the Assassins Creed series as a guest character. The character creation feature will be back and will be improved on by letting players choose the height of their character, as well as have more options for facial expressions, clothing and weaponry. Soul Caliber V will be released this upcoming Tuesday which is January 31st and will be available on Xbox 360 and PS3.


(Street Fighter x Tekken)- I admit it, I'm a sucker for fighting games. Not just fighting games... but fighting games that combine two worlds like Marvel vs Capcom, or the less impressive Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe. The plot revolves around some cube crashing into earth and giving power to the fighters or something... I'm not very interested in that. What I am interested in is the gameplay, which seems like it will be a ton of fun. Characters from both games will be controlled by a 6 button system, but it has been revealed that Tekken characters will be able to pull of combos with the classic Tekken 4 button system. Also, instead of eliminating all of the opponents like in MvC, Capcom decided to go the Tekken Tag Tournament route and have a side lose when one of their fighters health is depleted. The player will be able to switch characters mid combo and have the swapped in character continue the combo. The player will also have the ability to launch their opponent into the air and have their tag team partner finish a combo in mid air. There will be three bars at the bottom of the screen, and one of them is a Cross Gauge meter. Cross Gauge can be filled by performing combos and kicking the crap out of opponents. Once full, Cross Gauge can be used to perform special attacks and abilities. These include cancels which allow players to break up a combo by tagging a partner in, cross arts which allow all of the players on a team to unite and use their super combos, and cross assault which allows the player to simultaneously control two characters at once until the meter runs out. New mechanics will include the gem system and pandora mode. The gem system will incorporate the player equipping their character with up to three gems that will provide different boosts. Six varieties of gems exist: attack, defense, speed, vitality, assist, and Cross Gauge. Pandora mode is a game mode that gives the remaining fighter increased strength and infinite Cross Gauge. The player will have to defeat the opponents in a time limit or the effects of the pandora will wear off and the player will lose. Street Fighter x Tekken is scheduled to be released on March 8th and will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, PS Vita, and PC.

(The Darkness II- I was a huge fan of the first installment of this series and was in shock when a second was announced. In the second installment, Jackie has used his power of the darkness to make his way to the top of the Franchetti crime family. Now that he is Don, people want his head, and that is how the game begins. Jackie is at a restaurant when all of the sudden, two of his companions are shot in the head. Then a van crashes through the window, and a mob war ensues. After the battle, the darkness pressures Jackie to investigate the origin of the attack which leads him on the beginning of yet another dark, twisted journey. The gameplay in the Darkness II is similar to the first game, but a few new abilities have been added. Now Jackie will be able to "quad wield" which means he can have a weapon in each hand and also use the darkness at the same time. Darkling will be more important in the second game as Jackie can send him off to find objects and waypoints. Darkling will also be able to use guns and even find items around the environment that he can use to torture/kill Jackie's enemies (frightening isn't it?). Jackie can also use his environment and he does by using items like car doors for shields, and even parking meters as weapons to impale his enemies. Jackie will have more special abilities, one of them being demon arms that can be charged up in order to do damaging finishing blows like ripping an enemy in half. Darkling will also have special attacks like urinating acid on enemies, gouging out eyes, and ripping out throats. The game looks different than the first one. Digital Extremes wanted to give the game a more comic book like look, so they used a cel-shading technique that is similar to the one used in the Sly Cooper games. That Darkness II is scheduled to be released on February 7th so thankfully there isn't much more waiting to do. It will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

(The Last Guardian)- This game I didn't know much about until recently. Once I found out that it was being developed by Team Ico, I was sold. If you haven't noticed the background to this blog, it is from the game Shadow of the Colossus which was developed by Team Ico, and is one of my all time favorite games. The game is about a boy who has yet to be named who is trying to escape from a castle by reassembling the ruins. The game revolves around a developing friendship between the young boy and a giant feathered creature named Trico (Ico with a Tr in front of it?). The gameplay is focused around platforming, puzzles, and stealth. There will be a lot of climbing, and a lot of sneaking at the beginning of the game because the boy will be unarmed. Trico will also be a part of the gameplay as the boy will have to care for it once it becomes his ally. The player will have to do things like pull spears out of Trico and feed it. At first Trico will not be so obedient and will do what it wishes like sleep whenever it wants, but with some training it will become a faithful companion. The game will use a full physics engine that was not included in Ico or Shadow of the Colossus, and it will do cool things like show Trico's feathers as they blow in the wind and how they are manipulated by the wind. There are still some questions that have been unanswered by Ueda like if there will be an HUD. We will have to wait for Ueda and Team Ico to release more information on The Last Guardian, and that includes a release date. It is supposed to come out sometime this year and I am crossing my fingers in hopes that it does. It will be exclusively available on PS3.

(The Last of Us)- Why does Naughty Dog rule so much? They have given us the Uncharted series, The Jak and Daxter series, and the legendary Crash Bandicoot series... that's why. The Last of Us looks like it will do nothing but strengthen the name of this fantastic studio. The game takes place in various cities in the United States that have been overtaken by a fungal epidemic. The game will revolve around a man named Joel and a 14 year old girl named Ellie. Joel is a ruthless survivor and Ellie has no memory of her past. Together they will move through the United States fighting off humans taken over by the fungus, surviving, and developing an emotional father-daughter like relationship. It is rumored that the relationship between Joel and Ellie has been influenced by the relationship between Nathan Drake and his Tibet guide, Tenzin, from Uncharted 2. The game will be a third person action/adventure game like Uncharted, and will also be very cinematic which can be assumed since Oscar winner Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain and Bable) is composing for the title. The Last of Us is rumored to be coming out at the end of this year or the beginning or 2013 and will be available exclusively on PS3. Hopefully it delivers like Naughty Dog titles of the past have.

There you have it! That is my list of games that I am most excited for an I'm sticking to it. Though there are games that slightly tickle my interest like Super Mario Bros Mii, X-com, and Prey 2, they just don't have me excited enough to make the list. There are also game that that I am hoping for like Assassins Creed 3 and some Skyrim DLC, so I'll have to keep an ear out for those. The list is large and that means one thing and one thing only... I'm going to have to work a lot in order to buy most of them, and make sure that I can manage to not fail all of my classes as a result of playing too much instead of doing homework and studying. Thanks for reading and don't be afraid to leave comments of games that you feel that I've left off the list.

My Most Anticipated Games of 2012 Part 1 (Listed Alphabetically)

Hello readers!

My name is Adam Dawson and I am currently a junior at Indiana University. I am pursuing a degree in journalism and hope to be all finished up by spring 2013 (fingers crossed). I am originally from the suburbs of Chicago and have had a passion for video games my entire life. I hope to one day professionally write about video games for a living, but for now I will start small and blog about them.

Since the year is new and there are a ton of exciting titles to look forward to in the year 2012, I took it upon myself to begin my blog with a list of games releasing this year that I will potentially be putting hours upon hours of gameplay into

(Bioshock Infinite)- I remember seeing a demo for this game about a year or year and a half ago and my reaction was having my jaw drop to the floor. I have never seen a game look so unbelievably beautiful without being even close to finished. Though I do find it lazy that the setting is pretty much the opposite of rapture, I am extremely excited to see how that plays into the game, especially with the transportation system that looks like some kind of sky based railroad system in which the protagonist zips across with a cool mechanism that connects him to the rails and takes him on a ride through Colombia (the chosen name for the setting). As gameplay, it looks similar to the classic Bioshock formula with use of weapons and plasmids. Though the formula is the same, the weapons and plasmids are not. In the demo, the protagonist uses a scoped rifle that I haven't seen in either Bioshock or Bioshock 2. Also, the plasmid used in the demo calls in a murder of crows to well... murder your enemies. They aren't called plasmids in Infinite though, instead they are called vigors. The vigor may sound similar to the bee plasmid from the other Bioshock titles, but it looks a lot more brutal. One thing that I found impressive was the mass hordes of enemies that attack the protagonist as he fights his way through the bar and out onto the streets. At the end of the demo, the protagonist is united with a girl who seems to have some sort of telekinetic abilities amongst other powers. I am excited to see how that will be applied to the gameplay. I am also excited for the boss fights in the game because the humongous monsters they show in the demo look incredibly badass. Another demo was released at E3 2011 showcasing the combat, and it looks insane, so check it out if you haven't already. The game is scheduled to be released sometime during the 4th quarter of this year and will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

(Borderlands 2)- Most people who have played Borderlands would say that it is a damn near perfect FPS RPG. Naysayers that I spoke with about the game complained about it's cell shaded graphics and the overwhelming amount of things to do. These people aren't hardcore gamers and just don't appreciate this series for what it is. The visual style of the game fits so well with the style of the game that reminds me so much of a cartoon... a very gruesome cartoon. The game doesn't take itself all that seriously and the cell shaded graphics add to that atmosphere of the game. As far as the vast amount of quest in the game, no hardcore RPG player would ever dislike a game for that. There is a bunch of quest to be done in Borderlands and I expect the same from the second. Though there aren't many details that have been released about this game, players have all new characters, weapons, skills, environments, equipment, and enemies. Hopefully there is awesome DLC to accessorize Borderlands 2 like there is with the first. This game should be in stores by the 2nd quarter of this year and will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.


(Counter Strike: Global Offensive)- Do I even have to say anything about this game... it's fucking Counter Strike. I'd play this game just on the sole fact that it is a Counter Strike game. In this new addition to the Counter Strike series Valve teams up with Hidden Path Entertainment to once again make a tactical online shooter that plays just like Counter Strike Source with improved graphics, new character models, new weapons, and new maps. Of course Valve will include remakes of old CS maps in the game to please long time fans of the series. A closed beta was released on November 30th 2011 and the game is scheduled to be released in the first quarter of this year. Valve will not release the game until the fans are satisfied with it, and that is exactly why most Valve releases are phenomenal. It will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

(Diablo III)- Oh Blizzard, you are so good at making us wait and wait for your titles to be released. Sometimes I think you get some kind of sick pleasure from watching us squirm in anticipation for one of your incredible releases. Just like Starcraft 2, Diablo III has had a lot of hype and a long wait behind it. Diablo III will use a custom 3D engine so there can be a similar overhead camera angle as there was in it's predecessors, and it will also be using a custom in house physics engine instead of teaming with Havok.. Diablo III will also have multiplayer supported by Blizzards very own Battle.net service and there will be a feature in which players will be able to drop in and out of co-op games. There will be a brand new and enhanced quest simulator as well as a random level generator and a random encounter generator in order to keep the game fresh and exciting. A new feature to the game will be Skill runes, which are skill building and modifying items that are dropped from dead enemies. Hardcore characters will make a return to the game, there will also be two types of Artisans, a blacksmith and a jeweler. One thing that I found really awesome is the real world auction house that they will incorporate in the game. Here players will be able to sell items in their inventory for real world money instead of gold, and even gold can be traded for real world money. The five classes will be Barbarian, Witch Doctor, Wizard, Monk, and Demon Hunter, and they will all come with certain perks and abilities exclusive to their class. Of course there will be a PvP mode in Diablo III and I expect it to be awesome just like PvP in any other game created by Blizzard. Diablo III will be a PC exclusive and is hoped to be released sometime in the first quarter of this year.

(DOTA 2)- If you are a DOTA fan, then you know that it originally was just an online game mod from Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos and Frozen Throne. DOTA 2 will actually be a full out game, and it is being developed by the good people at Valve. Instead of just being created on the Warcraft III World Editor, DOTA 2 is being developed using the source engine allowing for better texture design, lighting effects and sharper character models. As for the actual gameplay, not much will really be changed. The objective is still the same; beat the hell out of your opponents until you and devastate and demolish their ancient fortresses while protecting you own as well. The two sides battling are the Radiant and the Dire. The Radiant are based on the southwest corner of the map and the Dire are based on the northwest corner of the map. Each side will be assigned a hero and the heroes will be able to reach a maximum level of 25 based on experienced gained from combat. DOTA will  also come equipped with it's own musical soundtrack created by Warcraft III composer Jason Hayes and Academy Award winning sound designer, Tim Larkin, so it is bound to be epic. DOTA 2 has no official release date, but it is scheduled to be released at some point in 2012. It will be exclusive to the PC.


(Ghost Recon: Future Soldier)- The future is an unknown scary time. Apparently Ubisoft's prediction of the future includes a war between the United States and of course Russia. As cliche as video game wars between the United States and Russia have become, this game still looks like loads of fun. The game will play a lot like the G.R.A.W series (a personal favorite of mine) with a third person camera angle except for when using aiming sights or scopes, or firing from cover, then the game will switch to first person. Cover will be big in the game, and it will be destroyable, causing players to moves to different areas of cover instead of camping in the same spot. A nifty new feature of the game will be the ability to use optical camouflage; an ability in which the player will be able to go invisible to the naked eye for a short period of time. After seeing this during the demo at E3 2011, I was practically already sold being a fan of the Ghost Recon series. There will also be a weapon customization feature that can be controlled by Kinect. The Kinect hasn't impressed me much so far, so I am excited to see it be incorporated in a lot of big titles coming this year, especially this one. The game will be released on Xbox 360 and PS3. The PC version was cancelled in December and will be replaced by a project called Ghost Recon Online. Be on the lookout for Future Soldier when it releases on  May 22nd 2012.

(GTA V)- There hasn't been much information released on this game except for a minute long trailer with what seems to be the main character narrating over it. First and foremost, the game looks incredible, even better than GTA IV. I know it's kind of weak that Rockstar went with the whole recreating an old setting thing again, but I am still shaking with anticipation to get my hands on this game. From the trailer, you notice a lot of landmarks of Las Angeles recreated in the city of Los Santos. You also may recognize the main character as an older Tommy Vercetti... it's a bold assumption, but I would love to play through another fantastic GTA story line as Tommy Vercetti. There is no set release date, but this game is rumored to be released this year. If not this year, really early next year, so there won't be too long of a wait. This game will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.



(Halo 4)- It's another Halo game... what else needs to be said? I wish there was more for me to say actually, but there is so little known about this game that it is impossible for me to write an in depth summary about this game. All that has been released is a teaser trailer and a few concept drawings. Other than that, gamers are just going to have to draw excitement from the fact that it's fucking Halo! That's what I'm doing. The game is allegedly supposed to release on December 30th 2012 and it will be available exclusively on Xbox 360.

Part two will be coming in another post.