CHICAGO – Last week, we gave you a list of the top ten video games of 2011. With a list that included “Arkham City,” “Dead Space 2,” “Portal 2,” “Skyrim,” and “Uncarted 3” 2011 definitely had some highlights, but, as mentioned in the previous article, 2011 will not go down as one of the greatest years in game history. There were some very fine games, but overall, games seemed to be lacking a bit…at least compared to 2010.
But now we turn the calendar over and start up a new year. With tons of new releases coming our way, there are definitely a great series of games to look forward to. “Halo” fans are sure to be excited about a new game in the series, there is the possibility that “Grand Theft Auto: V” could be released this year, and if the trend stays consistent, there will be a new “Call of Duty” release come November. But I’m looking past all of these releases (“GTA V” because I can’t be sure it will be out in 2012) and giving you my list for the video games I am the most excited for in the year 2012. Of course, narrowing down to ten is pretty difficult, so let me give five honorable mentions before the list. Make sure to keep an eye out for “Borderlands II,” “Darkness II,” “Dragon’s Dogma,” “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning,” and “Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance.” Alright, let’s check out what games you should be looking to pick up in the coming 12 months.
Almost all release dates are EXTREMELY tentative.
10. “Prototype 2”
Release Date: April 24, 2012
Console(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Company: Activision
The first “Prototype” game had a lot of hype, but a rush in the development process led to a less-than-stellar final product. A great deal of the first game was cut to meet deadlines and release dates, and the game suffered. The second one looks to be a fine-tuned, improved game. Judging by early trailers, looks at gameplay, and articles about the release, “Prototype 2” looks like what the first game was supposed to be. This time around, gamers will play as Sergeant James Heller, who is on the mission to exterminate the Blacklight Virus as well as seeking revenge for his dead family by killing the first game’s protagonist, Alex Mercer. A revenge game packed in an open-world environment with tons of special abilities. It is hard not to be excited for a game with the tagline “Murder your Maker.”
9. “Syndicate”
Release Date: February 21, 2012
Console(s): PS3, Xbox 360
Company: Electronic Arts
A remake of a famous franchise that started in 1993 (originally as a tactical isometric game), the 2012 version of “Syndicate” comes from Starbreeze, the same company that made the “Chronicles of Riddick” games and the first “Darkness” release. This game will play as a first-person shooter (appearing to be a game much like the “Deus Ex” series), and it is easy to say that it looks incredible. Playing as an agent for a mega-corporation called a syndicate, you fight against other syndicate groups trying to reign supreme in the market of chip technology. The game will be packed with tons of abilities and very interesting ones at that. The game trailer and early play-through shows some cool mechanics, incredible futuristic weapons, and some major violence. Also, a chip implanted into your characters head allows for the ability to slow down time, take down enemies, and even invade the mind of your foes using a series of upgradable hacking mechanics. Should be an exciting first-person shooter coming from a great studio.
8. “Dishonored”
Release Date: TBA
Console(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Company: Bethesda
Arkane Studios, which also did level design assistance on “Bioshock 2,” has created an open-world game that blends the past, future, and everything in-between. “Dishonored” plays as a stealth combat game where you are a supernatural assassin with a variety of abilities and equipment to choose from, playing in an industrial retro city world. Buying combinable powers through the economy established by the game, the game developers say it will create what seems to be a unique and self-created experience through what you decide to buy, what powers you select or combine together, and what paths you choose to take. Every player has their own experience as there are extreme amounts of variation and tons of decisions in every aspect of the game. The game features brutal combat, but sneaking around in stealth modes will be a priority as well. With a wide arrangement of outcomes and ways to go about playing this open world game, “Dishonored” looks to be an exciting title that will allow for a unique gaming experience.
7. “Darksiders II”
Release Date: TBA
Console(s): PS3, Xbox 360
Company: THQ
The first “Darksiders” game was great, but this sequel has the chance to be something very special. Set to be a full open-world game, an incredibly ambitious world at that, “Darksiders II” has gamers playing as death of the four horseman of the apocalypse (instead of his brother War like the first game). The game looks unique compared to other open world games by the methods of traversal, the way the land is allocated, the dominions over certain areas, and the fact that the game doesn’t follow normal archetypes of quest giving. Rather, it is a big open world where everything you do is story critical, with entire story-arches within the individual locations. The mythology of the game is awesome, and the first looks show some incredible fighting styles and gameplay. And when is it not fun to play as one of the four horseman of the apocalypse?
6. “The Last Guardian”
Release Date: TBA
Console(s): PS3
Company: Sony
Team Ico, makers of the “Ico” games and “Shadow of the Colossus,” simply makes gorgeous games, and ones that are always critically acclaimed. Announced three years ago and highly anticipated since, their new game, “The Last Guardian,” revolves around a boy trying to escape the ruins of an old castle, and his relationship with a giant, griffin-like creature that is escaping bondage as well. The game has a great reputation behind it coming from Team Ico and the first looks are absolutely brilliant. While it appears attack abilities mostly come from your pet, the game focuses on the action/adventure elements, puzzle mastering, and building a relationship with your giant, flying friend. The game is not based on fighting, but, rather, companionship, with the boy having to lead his pet away from instincts and towards their overall goal. There will be a challenge to not only playing as a small boy without a ton of fighting abilities, but also in trying to get the griffin to obey your commands. Above all, the game looks absolutely breathtaking visually, and should offer some very exciting gameplay.
5. “Metro: Last Light”
Release Date: TBA
Console(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Company: THQ
Set in post-apocalyptic Russia, the game preview displays the following title card: “2034. Beneath the ruins of post-apocalyptic Moscow in the tunnels of the Metro, the remnants of mankind are besieged by deadly threats from the outside… and within…” A sequel to “Metro 2033,” “Metro: Last Light” is a survival-horror/first person shooter game that looks to have a very unique style to it. The dark, post-apocalyptic world that is the setting for the game is being expanded from the first game, and looks to have a bigger, yet finely polished scope. “Metro 2033” had some broken mechanics, but it also had a ton of potential, and “Last Light” looks like it will capitalize on spots that the first game had problems with. Gameplay is extremely action packed from early trailers and play-throughs, showing stealth movement, tons of enemies, and some awesome weapons that don’t stretch reality. Set inside a dark and apocalyptic world where you must find the mysterious “Prisoner” character, “Metro: Last Light” looks like an intense and haunting first-person shooter.
4. “Journey”
Release Date: TBA
Console(s): PS3
Company: Thatgamecompany
“Thatgamecompany,” the makers of the games “Flow” and “Flower” for PS3, have designed a new adventure called “Journey.” Beginning as a robed figure in a vast desert, you begin your quest with no map or explanation of what you must do. The only thing that makes sense is to travel through this desert to a tall mountain in the distance. The game features a series of floating cloths that you can collect for brief flying periods, and the games movement and traversing is graceful and elegant by the look of the trailers. There is also a seamless blending of online and single player campaign, where you can walk with other players during your campaign. The catch, however, is you cannot speak to the players and receiver no gamertag or information about them. You simply know that it is another human playing the game, and you can choose to help them and walk alongside them, or continue on your own journey. With a very ambiguous story, all I can really say is the art-style from early play-throughs is amazing and the game is incredibly ambitious. A very interesting concept in an extremely vast setting, the creators of “Journey” have said they wanted to create a game that looks past the typical defeat/kill/win mentality and focuses on how small you are, the vastness of your surroundings, and the options to build a community amongst strangers. I am definitely excited for this one.
3. “Prey 2”
Release Date: TBA
Console(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Company: Bethesda
A game about a Native American named Tommy who gets abducted (along with his reservation) aboard an alien ship known as The Sphere, the original “Prey” was a game that revolved around portals and environment/gravity manipulation. Six years later, the second game will premiere with an all new character set in the alien-world of Exodus. After landing on The Sphere when his plane was abducted, the new character (U.S. Marshal Killian Samuels) is knocked out and the plot jumps forward several years where Samuels is now a Bounty Hunter on Exodus. He has many powers, abilities, and skills, but struggles in remembering what happened in-between The Sphere and Exodus. The game is an open world environment that involves using tons of abilities and awesome weaponry to hunt down bounties to capture, both alive and dead (often, your choice). Samuels thinks he is the only human on Exodus, but meets up with Tommy (the protagonist of “Prey”) who he apparently has met before in the period of time Samuels can’t recall. The game is full of mystery (as to what happened in the time Samuels can’t remember), as well as action and suspense in chases and fights to catch the bounties you are assigned to as a free agent for various factions in the Exodus world. The choice to make “Prey 2” an open world game was ridiculed by many when the news first came out, but after playing the demo of the game, critics and gamers have been giving tons of praise to the mechanics, gameplay, and environment of “Prey 2.” Six years in the making, this looks like it could be a monster hit.
2. “Mass Effect 3”
Release Date: March 6, 2012
Console(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Company: Electronic Arts
The final chapter in the “Mass Effect” trilogy and the finish of the story of Commander Shepard, “Mass Effect 3” will be the final battle against the Reapers, as well as Cerberus, which has turned against Shepard. Early reports about the game say that the combat has been altered and refined (the cover system getting major improvements), there are more movement options in the battlefield, instant melee kills and conventional grenades have been added, and the AI has improved dramatically. It has also been said that the game will feature a four person multiplayer co-op mode. The trailer for the game features a battle on the planet earth with a soldier in the tower of Big Ben in London, narrating that if Shepard doesn’t arrive with reinforcements, there may be no world left to save. A sequel to “Mass Effect 2,” which won Best Xbox 360 Game at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards, as well as AIAS, BAFTA, and IGN best overall game in 2010, how could you not be excited for the sequel and final chapter in the Mass Effect trilogy?
1. “Bioshock Infinite”
Release Date: August 1, 2012
Console(s): PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Company: Take 2
Ken Levine may be the most creative guy currently in the video game industry. After writing and creating one of the most successful and award winning games in history, “Bioshock,” Levine and Irrational Games decided not to take up the task of creating “Bioshock 2.” Levine said in an interview that he had already done everything he wanted to with the city of Rapture, and was looking on to a newer world. That world is Columbia; a collapsing air-city in the sky that is the setting for the new game “Bioshock: Infinite.” While “Bioshock 2” was not by any means a bad game, I am extremely excited to see Levine’s name back on the Bioshock series. Out from the depths of Rapture and into the sky, “Bioshock Infinite” has you playing as Pinkerton Agent Booker DeWitt, and his quest to find and rescue a woman named Elizabeth who is aboard the collapsing city. Not a direct prequel or sequel to the first two Bioshock games, “Infinite” will have similar controls, gameplay, and themes, while also adding aspects like a grappling hook and series of railways to travel through the city that looks incredibly thrilling. And this Elizabeth girl you are rescuing ain’t no damsel in distress either. She has the ability to open tears in the world which allow for weaponry, objects to take cover behind, and doorways to different areas to appear. Of course, rescuing her will be no easy task as the city is in chaos, different factions want to use her abilities to turn the conflict in their favor, and she has a protector/warden called Songbird (a robotic bird along the lines of the Big Daddys in “Bioshock”) chasing after her. With tons of weapons to get throughout the game, incredible abilities to use in combat, and a story that is sure to be full of intriguing characters and brilliant development, “Bioshock: Infinite” is definitely the game I cannot wait to get my hands on the most.
 [16] | By TIM MARTENS [17] |
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[2] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/bioshock-infinite-0
[3] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/darksiders-ii
[4] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/dishonored
[5] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/hollywoodchicagodotcom-content
[6] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/journey
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[8] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/mass-effect-3
[9] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/metro-last-light
[10] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/prey-2
[11] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/prototype-2
[12] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/syndicate
[13] http://www.hollywoodchicago.com/news/the-last-guardian
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