Top 10 Most Awaited Games of 2012

2012 is shaping up to be another incredible year in gaming, maybe even better than 2011. It is coming with many exciting games. Some of the games are eagerly awaited by game lovers.

Every year new games are released and there is no end to the reign of gaming. With so many games to release in 2012 it is hard to make a list of most awaited games. Here are the top 10 most awaited games of 2012.

1. Final Fantasy XIII-2 

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a console role-playing video game developed and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. It is being produced by Square Enix's 1st Production Department. It is a direct follow-up to the 2009 role playing game Final Fantasy XIII and set for release in January 2012.

As in the earlier version, the game will use a variation of the Active Time Battle system and the Paradigm Shift system. The game allows the player to control the difficulty of battles. During battles, players will be put through quick time events called Cinematic Action which will allow them to deal higher damage to foes and gain the upper hand in certain battles.

The player can tame monsters and use them as members in battles. This also leads to a new Feral Link feature being in the game, as the player attacks an enemy while a tamed monster is in their party, the Feral Link bar fills up and when it is full the player can make their current tamed monster do a special attack on the enemy via a quick time event.

2. Twisted Metal

Twisted Metal is a vehicle combat video game developed by Eat Sleep Play and published by Sony Computer Entertainment exclusively for the PlayStation 3 video games console. It is the eighth installment in the series of the same name. The game was planned to be released in October 2011, but was delayed to February, 2012.

The game focuses heavily on multiplayer combat, including various online game modes with up to 4 player split-screen and 16-players online. The Nuke Mode is a new online game mode where you choose a faction to play against an opposing faction. In this mode, each faction has a giant metal statue that is being held in the air by a helicopter, which the opposing team must try to destroy. In order to destroy these statues, the player must abduct the enemy team's leader and then sacrifice the leader to a missile launcher that will, in turn, launch a nuclear missile.The person who sacrifices the leader and launches the missile has to control it to hit the opposing team's statue in the air.

There are other game modes include Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, Team Hunted, and Last Man Standing, in which each player has a specific number of lives and the last remaining player wins.

3. Syndicate 

Syndicate by Starbreeze Studios set for release in February 2012 for Windows, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 platforms. It is a reboot of the Syndicate series, changing completely the genre from a tactical shooter to a First Person Shooter game.

Players are not limited to the weapons in their hands. Through the DART 6 bio-chip technology implanted in their head, players can slow down time and breach the digital world around them to take down their foes using a variety of upgradable hacking mechanics. The game has been described as a kind of mix between Crysis-style first-person shooter action and the clean science-fiction world of Mass Effect. A four-player co-operation mode has been confirmed, with a separate campaign based on missions from the original game.

4. Uncharted: Golden Abyss

Uncharted: Golden Abyss is the title of an upcoming entry in the Uncharted series scheduled to be released on the PlayStation Vita. It is currently being developed by SCE Bend Studio, with development overseen by Naughty Dog. The game will be a launch title in Japan however the Europe and North American versions will be released on February 2012.

The game was officially unveiled with a brief gameplay demo. It has been shown to have a touch-screen control feature with motion sensitive controls. In addition, it is shown that aiming can be motion controlled.

Prior to the announcement though in May 2011, it was rumored that the game's title would be Uncharted: Golden Abyss, before any official announcement from Sony. The game will feature touch and motion based controls for navigation and aiming, though these are optional control schemes.

5. XCOM

XCOM is a first-person shooter video game in development by 2K Marin for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platform. The game is a reboot of the X-COM video game series originally created by Microprose.

It was officially revealed and is expected to be released on March 2012. Many fans of the original games were outraged when the game was revealed to be a first-person shooter. However, 2K Marin assured them that the developers would try to keep elements from the original game.

Very little detail about the gameplay has been revealed. However, the game follows Special Agent William Carter and his elite team of special agents as they battle an unknown outer space threat against humanity. Carter and his team must systematically battle the alien force while using the opportunity to capture and research alien technology, and equipping these technologies in the fight against the troublemaker.

6. Mass Effect 3

Mass Effect 3 is an action role-playing game developed by BioWare and published by Electronic Arts for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 platform. The game is scheduled to release on March 2012.

Mass Effect 3 will be influenced by decisions from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 and have settings throughout the galaxy, including Earth and Mars. Combat has been changed and refined, there will be more options for moving around the battlefield, instant fight kills and more conventional grenades will be introduced as well as improved artificial intelligence. There is also a multiplayer co-operation mode available in this version.

Players with saved files from Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 will be given the option of importing them into Mass Effect 3. If a saved file is imported, over 1,000 variables will be pulled that will help shape how the final chapter is experienced. If there are no saved files available, there will be no origin-story comic for new players to help them make quick decisions like there was in Mass Effect 2.

7. Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm

StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm is a continuation and expansion pack to the military science-fiction real-time strategy game StarCraft II series. The expansion will include additional units and multiplayer changes from Wings of Liberty, as well as a continuing campaign focusing on the Zerg species. It will span approximately 20 missions and it is likely to be released around April 2012.

Designed to be the ultimate competitive real-time strategy game, StarCraft II features the return of the Protoss, Terran, and Zerg races, overhauled and re-imagined with Blizzard's signature approach to game balance. Each race will be further distinguished with several new units and new gameplay mechanics, as well as new abilities for some of the classic StarCraft units that will be making reappearance in the game.

StarCraft II also features custom 3D-graphics engine with realistic physics and the ability to render several large, highly detailed units and massive armies on-screen simultaneously.

8. Metal Gear Solid: Rising

Metal Gear Solid: Rising is an action video game under development by Kojima Productions as part of the Metal Gear series. It is in development for Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and expected to be released in 2012.

The player will be in the role of Raiden, protagonist of Metal Gear series and will focus on two key elements sword fighting, and a style of stealth that is more fast-paced and action-oriented than in previous titles, which were Tactical Espionage Action games.

A key feature for the game is titled zan-datsu, which involves cutting through enemies and taking parts from the bodies of dismembered robots. The player can take include life, energy, parts, ammunition, and many more.

9. BioShock Infinite

BioShock Infinite is a first-person shooter video game, and the third game in the BioShock series. It is being developed by Irrational Games for a 2012 release on the Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 platforms. BioShock Infinite is not a direct sequel to previous BioShock games, taking place in an earlier period and different setting, though it features similar gameplay concepts and themes.

BioShock Infinite breaks away from the underwater setting of the first two games to take players into a floating city held aloft by airship. The player controls a former Pinkerton agent, Booker DeWitt, as he attempts to rescue a woman named Elizabeth trapped aboard the collapsing air-city Columbia in 1912.

10. Max Payne 3

Max Payne 3 is a third person shooter video game and the third edition in the Max Payne series, published by Rockstar Games for Windows, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 platform. This is the first game in the series not to be developed by Finnish game developer Remedy Entertainment and not being written by series creator Sam Lake. The game is still in development and Rockstar announced a March 2012 release date for the game.

Rockstar is starting a new chapter of Max Payne's life with the game. This is Max as never before, a few years older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. Since the last game, Max has left New York City behind and has drifted from bad to worse. Max has been double-crossed in this new city and he is searching for the truth and a way out.

Posted in: Top 10