Looking Ahead to 2013 - Part One

Some will remember 2012 for its high points - Borderlands 2, XCOM Enemy Unknown, Dishonored, Far Cry 3, Trials Evolution... but I'll never forgive it for its low point. Still, nothing as bad as Postal 3 has released this year yet which means we're already off to a much better start - and in this two-part feature we'll take a quick look at just how good that run can continue by running through the titles coming out. For Part One we'll look just at the first quarter of the year - January, February and March.


Sir Not Appearing In This Article

January
DmC: Devil May Cry
This one is out this week, and GameArena's review will be up tomorrow. What you need to know - Ninja Theory's version of Dante is not as far removed from the original version as his emo hair implies. Also, Pizza Crotch.

February
Fire Emblem: Awakening
Fire Emblem is Nintendo's flagship turn-based strategy series and Awakening will be the first in the series available on the 3DS. Fire Emblem has always been known best for two things - its intricate character development and relationships - and its difficult (sometimes convoluted) optional sub-plots and secrets throughout each map. Awakening appears to be no different and will also be Nintendo's first title to include paid DLC - in Japan these took the form of additional characters to add to your roster, and it will be interesting to see how Nintendo treats the DLC characters within the framework of Awakening's 'Classic' perma-death.



Dead Space 3
Can co-op gameplay be scary? I don't think so, but Visceral Games - the masters of horror behind the Dead Space franchise - think it can be. All I know is that next week there will be a demo available for you to play - and maybe some sort of preview from GameArena. If you can't wait that long, read our first Hands-On now!

Aliens: Colonial Marines
Sega's Aliens: Colonial Marines has had more delays than a Tiger Airways flight, but come this February we're actually pretty like to see it get off the ground. We guessed its delays might hurt it back in February last year - 12 months later we'll finally see if we were right.

Crysis 3
Crysis was awesome. It wasn't "open world", but compared to the skyscraper corridors of Crysis 2 it sure as **** seemed like it might have been. If it isn't obvious, Crysis 2 was a bit of a let down for me. It pushed you down its narrative path so forcefully it might as well have been a linear experience, leaning heavily on the story and universe of Crysis - which ultimately didn't hold up very well. Crysis 3 looks like it will create a more open version of the Crysis 2 New York - and the multiplayer Hunted mode is really pretty awesome.



Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
Raiden wasn't popular when he was first introduced in Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty - mostly because he was deliberately created to troll the ever-loving **** out of every gamer everywhere. Still, if you didn't love the Cyborg Ninja vibe he was dropping when he came onto the scene in Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots you are deader on the inside than The Sorrow. Now he has his own game, made by the masters of the Action Beat-Em-Up Platinum Games, and it looks freaking gorgeous.

Rayman Legends
It still blows my mind that a non-Nintendo company might be doing the Mario-style platformer better than the masters, but Rayman Legends takes the familiar New Super Mario Bros. formula and smacks it out of the park with phenomenal looking humour, art and gameplay. It's a WiiU exclusive title, which might put some off - but it still looks awesome. I know I'm pumped for it.

March
SimCity
I think I might be in a pickle with SimCity, friends. Everything I've seen of the Maxis reboot has gotten me so damn excited I might be overhyping it for myself. Worldwide economies, regionally affected city-states, curved roads... it's got it all. I'm going to recreate Sydney to see if I can solve the traffic problem once and for all, because let's face the facts - Sydney's population is tiny compared to other cities, and yet the traffic here is awful. It's crazy.

Tomb Raider
Some people are extremely pumped for the new Tomb Raider. They want to know the why of Lara, which is admirable, I guess. Me, I still remember when Lara fought a freaking T-Rex and I'm just not sure any game will ever top that. Still, the world she exists in looks gorgeous and the story should be a thriller.



God of War: Ascension
Have you ever wondered what Kratos was up to before he fought Ares to become the God of War? No, because the story in God of War has always been pretty freaking dumb and really just a nice excuse for a bit of the ol' ultra-violence perpetrated against some uppity greek gods? Yeah, me too. Still, God of War Ascension is a nice excuse for killing some Greek deities, so I guess it fits the bill!

Sniper Ghost Warrior 2
This one is a bit of a long shot, but the second game in the Ghost Warrior series is being built on CryEngine 3 and it features things like bullet drop, wind effects and multiplayer sniper duels. If playing a modern day jungle themed Enemy at the Gates isn't your idea of a good time you make me sad on the inside.

StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm
It's more StarCraft 2. Those of you that are excited need to know only that. Those of you who are not won't be swayed no matter what I say.

Gears of War: Judgment
On one hand they're finally giving the Cole train the attention he deserves. On the other hand they're spelling 'judgement' with just one 'e', and I'm not at all happy with that arrangment. Gears of War fans will be happy - here's something to consider though - this series has never existed on any other console. Four games. One console.



BioShock Infinite
One of the strongest early contenders for Game of the Year might be BioShock Infinite - a game we've seen twice now, and had hands-on with once and I've gotta be honest... I'm in love. It's definitely one to watch for on PC more than anything else - this console life cycle has reached a critical stagnation point.

That's it for Quarter One of 2013. That doesn't mean there aren't other games coming out in Q1 - it just means I had to stop writing at some point, and this seemed as good as any point to do it. Next week we'll look ahead to the rest of the year - the games, the hardware... that's about it. What do you think of the first quarter, anyway? Is there anything we left off the list that you feel deserves a mention? Tell us in the comments!