Looking ahead to 2012 - Part One

2011 was an awesome year for video games. We had Batman: Arkham City and a whole heap of other games which weren't quite as good as B:AC (regardless of how you voted!).

Still, 2012 is going to be bigger. We've got two brand new consoles dropping and a metric load of great looking games - and to keep you in-the-know we've decided to run down the ones you should be looking out for, quarter by quarter and date by date (if a date is known). Remember though - dates for games can slip at any time (as Andy Wells found out...), so don't book holiday time based on the dates listed below!

Not appearing in this article - BioShock Infinite

Gotham City Imposters - January 10 February, XBLM and PSN
This Team Fortress-esque game spits in the face of Batman canon, but it makes up for it by being extremely fun. Remember the start of The Dark Knight, where Christian Bale ties up a bunch of bad guys and costumed vigilantes before telling a fat guy the difference between the two of them is that he's not wearing hockey pants? Imagine you're the fat guy! Despite the silly premise, it's actually quite fun.

Soulcalibur V - February 3, Xbox 360 and PS3
I was a fan of the SC series until SC3 - I felt 3 was too derivative, which is saying something when you look at the Street Fighter series. Soulcalibur V actually seems quite different compared to the other games, however, with some significant changes to the way fights play out. When I played it briefly last year I was surprised to find I couldn't easily find my feet again playing Mitsurugi - I have high hopes that Soulcalibur V will reinvigorate my interest in the series. Also - Ezio Auditore is a playable character.

The Darkness 2 - February 10, Xbox 360, PC and PS3
Cautious optimism is my plan with The Darkness 2. I don't have a lot of faith in Digital Extremes (the developer) when it comes to creating a title from scratch (or thereabouts) as their track record isn't stellar. Still, each viewing I've had of the game has looked better than the last and I was a huge fan of the first game.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - February 10, Xbox 360, PC and PS3
Here it is - the first game for 2012 that I hope breaks street date. I've played some of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning - I've even talked to one of the masterminds behind it - and I will happily admit that I'm excited to play the full game.

Fus Roh Dah!

UFC Undisputed 3 - February 14, Xbox 360 and PS3
I'm unabashedly a giant MMA fan. I've played this, and I already know it will once again be the best combat sports game anywhere. Pride mode means you can soccer kick a person in the head or stomp their face in, sufficiently satiating my bloodlust. It's going to be fantastic.

PS Vita - February 23
The first of 2012's brand new consoles is the PlayStation Vita - a handheld follow up to Sony's PlayStation Portable. This little device promises cross platform play against the PS3, fantastic graphics and a stack of games - including a new Wipeout title, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, UMVC3 and a heap more. The Wifi only variant will only set you back $350!


I really, really want one.

Asura's Wrath - February 24, Xbox 360 and PS3
I'm not even optimistic about this game - it looks like God of War had a child with some anime and from what I've seen it has a birth defect by way of many, many QTEs. Still, some people go in for the whole 'Anime' thing so I'll make Limimi or Kozeeii review it.

SSX - February 28, Xbox 360 and PS3
Cross your fingers ladies and gents - this SSX reboot could swing either way. One of the main features is a music remixing technology which dynamically alters a song while you play - a cool addition to a game like Rez, but not necessarily a highlight for a snowboarding game. If I were EA (yes, if I were the thousands of people who work at EA) I'd give SSX to the Skate team. Actually, I'd just remove the wheels from the Skate skateboard and blanket San Vanelona in white.

FIFA Street - March 7, Xbox 360, PS3
Maybe we get an arcade style soccer game where the focus is trick moves and it's balanced as finely as the fifth release of a Street Fighter game. Maybe we get just another soccer game to tide us over until FIFA 13. Either way it's got Lionel Messi on the cover so I'll probably get it.

Mass Effect 3 - March 8, Xbox 360, PC and PS3
You've still got your old save games, right? Because the Reapers are coming en masse, and only you - Commander Joaby Shepard - can save the universe. I could almost feel bad for Mass Effect 3 - the expectations for it are so damn high - except for the fact that I know it's going to kick mega arse. As a side note for future game developer reference - I don't care at all about co-op in my Space Opera RPGs.

Where's Wrex? Where's Shepard? Wrex? Shepard? Wrex? Shepard?

Street Fighter X Tekken - March 8, Xbox 360, PC and PS3
It's the first half of the X series - Tekken characters in a Street Fighter style fighting world. The story explaining the cross over is hilarious and pointless - all you need to know is that you can pit Kazuya and Ryu against Ken and King, the graphics are fantastic and the fighting mechanics are wonderfully realised.

Resident Evil: Operation Racoon City - March 23, Xbox 360, PC and PS3
It's a Resident Evil game where you can move and shoot at the same time. What sorcery is this!? The surprises keep coming though - RE:ORC is an epic combo of team-based multiplayer and the classic zombie shooter horror which has etched Resident Evil a place in video gaming history.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier - March 30, Xbox 360 and PS3
Look we're all disappointed that the Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six series' are less about careful planning and more about killing everything. Still, the console focused Ghost Recon games have been pretty fun and they're good for showing off sci-fi-esque military technology - so this one is worth keeping an eye out for.

Max Payne 3 - March(ish) Xbox 360, PC and PS3
RAGE based bullet-dodging, outlaw-style multiplayer, City of God themes and more of that Max Payne goodness you've always loved means Max Payne 3 is going to be amazing. The only disappointing thing I can see coming out of Max Payne 3 is that it might miss its release date.

Now he has a machine gun. Ho-ho-ho.

XCOM - March(ish) Xbox 360, PC and PS3
With last week's announcement that Firaxis is releasing a strategy based X-Com game, you no longer need strength in your convictions! If you refuse to play a First Person based X-Com game, simply wait for XCOM: Enemy Unknown. The rest of us can see what 2K have come up with.

Star Wars: The Old Republic - March(ish) PC
We're already playing this one - you can see our 1 - 10 Levelling Diary and 10 - 20 Levelling Diary right now - and EB Games is already selling imported copies of it... If you're hanging out for the official launch though, you need only wait until March(ish).

Lollipop Chainsaw - March(ish) Xbox 360, PC and PS3
You are a cheerleader with a chainsaw fighting zombies. It's this generation's Buffy, I guess, if Buffy were written by a lunatic and not just the guy who ruined an already decimated Alien franchise.

Diablo 3 - Q1(ish) PC
Stock up on replacement mice, chumps and chumpettes! Diablo 3 may or may not make it by Quarter 1 - and believe me, you should get excited for it. We've played it a fair bit and we've been quite impressed. Pray with me that it makes the Q1 release window so we can all click, click, click, click, click, click, click together.


I'm always doing this.

Alan Wake: American Nightmare - March(ish) XBLA
The sequel to Alan Wake pits our self-narrating protagonist against his own shadow, like some sort of Sammy Davis Jr/Frank Sinatra duet. As long as it's scary I don't know that I care that the premise seems a bit silly.

That's it for Quarter One of 2012 - well, roughly speaking. From Quarter Two onwards the dates of games get even fuzzier - some of these games don't even have dates yet!

Prototype 2 - April(ish), Xbox 360, PC and PS3
Remember how the first Prototype basically answered the question of 'What if Symbiote wasn't held back by 50 years of Spider-Man being a terrible superhero and was allowed to be an epic supervillain?" Prototype 2 looks to continue the story in the vein of "F**k it. Kill. Everything."

The Secret World - April, PC
Funcom's new project - a skill based, story focused 'modern times' MMORPG - looks like it will rely pretty heavily on a solid ping. It's also being published by EA, so I wouldn't be surprised if we wind up getting a delayed release in Australia. Still, if it means we get a better experience, I'll wait - and it has an Aussie filling a key role, so I'm sure we won't get left out.

Dragon's Dogma - May(ish), Xbox 360, PC and PS3
It's hard to believe it's been nearly a full year since I last saw this game - and it's been quite the year for fantasy games. Skyrim and Dark Souls have both dropped, and Shadow of the Colossus has returned... in HD! If I saw any three games inspiring Dragon's Dogma it was these three - so it definitely has some big shoes to fill.

Darksiders 2 - June(ish), Xbox 360, PC and PS3
That moment at the end of Darksiders, when Uriel asks 'You would wage this war alone?' and War replies 'No, not alone.' is one of my top 10 video game moments of all time. Darksiders 2 is way up my 'anticipated' list.

Death becomes him.

Aliens: Colonial Marines - Q2(ish), Xbox 360, PC and PS3
It's a Gearbox created, four player co-op, Borderlands-esque first person shooter set between the events of Aliens and Aliens 3. If you weren't excited about this it's because you didn't know it existed. Now you have no excuse.

Luigi's Mansion 2 - Q2(ish), Nintendo 3DS
I feel like I'm being tricked or something. Has anyone anywhere ever said "You know what I'd really like to play more of? Luigi's Mansion."? Apart from everyone who bought the game, because it was really short. Still, it was a game highlighting all the fun of vacuuming with all the atmosphere of a cartoon-style haunted house and hopefully(?) the second game will live up to the first.

Silent Hill: Downpour - Q2(ish), Xbox 360, PS3
I don't actually think the R18+ rating will be implemented by the time this game goes to the classification board, so I don't think we'll actually see this released in our country anyway. It will be fun to import though.

There you have it - the first half of 2012, roughly summed up from my perspective. Instead of doing the second half next we'll just list the other games we're watching out for across the entire rest of the year, without guessing at a release date - and we'll talk about the Wii-U.

Also not appearing in this article - Prey 2. Stay tuned for the next piece though!

Looking ahead to 2012 - Part Two