So we all know what 2011 has in store for us, there are some great titles up there. Elder Scrolls Skyrim; Portal 2 and Star Wars the Old Republic are just some of the titles waiting to be unleashed upon gamers this year. But since we know what 2011 has to offer, we can look ahead to 2012, and if you’re not too worried about the impeding Mayan doom we can start to dig a little deeper and see what we can find.
10. Warhammer 40k Dark Millennium
The new MMORPG from developer Vigil games which is a shooter based on the Warhammer 40k universe which promised huge fire-fights as well as player formed squads and flanking and cover mechanics. MMO shooters have not been faring well over the past year – with games like APB going offline within the first 3 months and is now coming back as a free to play MMO.
But Vigil does have some RPG experience behind them with games like Darksiders. And if it fairs better than its predecessor Warhammer Online it could even be a Wow beater.
9. Fallout Online
A few years back the company Interplay which was behind the Fallout 1 and 2 titles licensed Fallout from its current owner Bethesda Softworks to create an MMO on the series. Speaking to Edge Magazine, Interplay president Eric Caen said, “We have 90 people working on it. Even in January 2009, you were already able to move across the world.” The game is scheduled to begin beta testing in 2012.
An MMOG must be a lot deeper than a standalone game. It’s not a shooting game we’re making. You can shoot, but it’s a very small portion of the game. The game itself is about reconstructing the world. What is unique about our project is how we’re trying to get it into many communication systems.This is a big problem for World Of Warcraft, because the fantasy universe is not compatible with modern communication systems. It would be odd to receive an SMS from a troll. But in a post-apocalyptic world…
But would the desolate apocalyptic world like the one in Fallout feel the same if it was crawling with another 30,000 or so people.
8. Saints Row 3
THQ recently announced that they would be putting out a brand new chapter into the series with a release date due in Fiscal 2012 and is being developed by Volition Inc.
Danny Bilson of THQ stated, “When you see Saints Row 3, it’s the visual quality of the GTA IV universe. It goes up there. It still has the wacky, insane stuff. It’s going to get really big and really loud in December. And as soon as you see the assets, the gamers will go: ‘Oh, I know what they invested in. The technology.’
7. Modern Warfare 3
This will surely be a game that millions will buy even though it may turn out to be a little bit disappointing just like the last instalment has been for me. Activision seems to try too hard to rush to get the games out every year and don’t really seem to take into consideration the quality of their games. They seem in too much of a hurry to milk the money out of millions of fans.
However, I may be wrong. The online gameplay is certainly addictive. And if developed right it could be the best of the CoD series yet.
6. StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm
Blizzard has recently announced that they plan to release at least two games by the end of 2012. There’s is still some speculation to what the games may be but the biggest contenders are Diablo III and the StarCraft 2 expansion Heart of the Swarm.
5. Diablo III
“We’re developing Diablo III to be the definitive action role-playing game, and a true continuation of the Diablo series.” – Blizzard
The next instalment of the series features exiting new classes like the witch doctor and returning classes like the barbarian have been completely revamped. A new graphics engine also promises to display characters in a beautiful, fully 3D environment.
4. Battlefield 3
EA and Dice’s latest ‘trailer’ of the game has to be a little bit of a disappointment to me due to the fact it didn’t reveal much at all about the game. However that’s not to say that that the game won’t be great, the series really has produced some excellent games and I am a much bigger fan of the series than I am of the CoD franchise.
Dice have been busy over the past year providing us with Bad Company 2, BFBC2: Vietnam and the new medal of honour so hopefully now they have turned their full attention to BF3.
3. BioShock: Infinite
The third game in the BioShock series breaks away from its underwater environment and takes the player to a floating city held up by dirigibles called Columbia.
The game is set in 1912 and players play as Booker DeWitt who is a former private detective. Strange things start to happen as the city disappears into the clouds. Be prepared for some spooky encounters just like those in the first two BioShocks.
2. Deus Ex: Human Revolution
One of the best games ever is back and looks better than ever with its stunning new graphics. The game takes place in the year 2027 which is 25 years before Deus Ex. Gameplay will feature mechanical augmentations instead of nanotech augmentations. The Mechanical augmentations will be divided into 4 types: Combat, Technology, Stealth and Social. So a player who specialises in both stealth and Social can play through the whole game killing bosses.
And that’s what we love about Deus Ex – the fact that we can play it over and over and have a different outcome every time.
1. Half-Life 2: Episode 3
First announced in 2006….I’ll just let that sink in a moment and provide enough time for you to ask, “why the hell has it taken them over 6 years to get this game out!” And let me remind you, this is no entirely new game, it’s a sequel which usually only take about 2 or 3 years.
However, if they have put 6 years into this game, I think it’s pretty much of a given that this will be a game which will be remembered.
