2012 brings with it a lot of exciting games for your everyday gamer. Obviously people will be asking themselves if it can live up to the standards of 2011, with huge games like ”Battlefield 3″, “Modern Warfare 3″,”Skyrim”, “Legend of Zelda”: “Skyward Sword”, and many others all cluttering up the end of the year season. However hopefully with this list we can take a glimpse into what’s ahead for the Playstation 3 and 2012, with a few big multiplatform releases highlighted as well. And let us not forget the PS Vita comes out in February, for the handheld gamers out there.
PS3 Exclusives:
- “Twisted Metal” – February 14th.
- “Jax & Daxter Trilogy” – Estimated for February.
- “MLB 12: The Show” – March 6th.
- “Tales of Grace F” – March 13th.
- “Yakuza: Dead Souls” – March 13th.
- “Ni No Kuni” – Estimated for April.
- “Malicious” – Estimated for April.
- “Journey” – Estimated for May.
- “Sorcery” – Estimated for June.
- “Sly 4: Thieves in Time” – Estimated for June/July.
- “Starhawk” – May 8th.
- “The Last of Us” – Estimated for November.
Long Shots:
- “The Last Guardian” – Estimated for September. (This is a wild guess, don’t hold out hope.)
- “Final Fantasy Versus XIII” – (Never will release without ritual sacrifice.)
- “Tales of Xillia”- Estimated for 2012
Big Multiplatform Games:
- “SoulCalibur V” – January 31st.
- “The Darkness 2″ – February 7th.
- “Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning” – February 7th.
- “SSX” – February 28th.
- “Syndicate” – February 21st.
- “Mass Effect 3″ - March 6th.
- “Max Payne 3″ – May 15th..
- A new ”Assassin’s Creed” – Estimated for November.
- “Prototype 2″ – April 24th.
- “Prey 2″ – Estimated for Summer.
- “Borderlands 2″ – June 30th..
- “Aliens: Colonel Marines” – Estimated for Spring.
I Wish:
- “Diablo III – It’s a long shot but Blizzard is known to be developing a console port of the game.
My Picks for 2012 (In No Particular Order):
- “Ni No Kuni” - Estimated for Spring - Oliver, a young boy, is about to set out on the adventure of a lifetime. This is the first game from Studio Ghibli, co-developed by Level-5, and is basically the 3D Pokemon game you’ve all been waiting for. Add on top of that an amazing storyline from the studio whose films, such as “Howl’s Moving Castle”, have achieved massive acclaim, and you have what is sure to be an amazing game.
- “Bioshock Infinite” - August 1st – Players who loved the atmosphere of the first Bioshock are in for a ride in this next installment which returns the franchise back into the very capable hands of Ken Levine and Irrational Games. Put into the shoes of Booker DeWitt, it’s time for you to go and explore the expansive city of Columbia divided in a messy civil war between the Founders and Vox Populi. It’s sure to be a treat for fans of engrossing stories in video games.
- “Borderlands 2” – June 30th - This is a sequel with a lot of potential with building on top of the original which despite its flaws was already deserving of a place in RPG glory. If the developers Gearbox Software can keep the humor of the original game, and expand the diversity of weapons available to the player, this could be a major contender with another huge grinder RPG coming out this year, Diablo III. Plus the cel-shaded graphics always manage to impress despite the frequent push for more realistic graphics with the modern generation of games.
- “The Last of Us” – Estimated for November - Not much I can say at the moment about this game, other than keep your eyes on it. The zombie genre has been played out a fair amount during the last few years, but if you have any faith in developers Naughty Dog this game will surely deliver something memorable in the story department.
- Inevitable new “Assassins Creed” (“Assassins Creed 3″?) – Estimated for November - I know it doesn’t belong on here because it hasn’t even been announced (though, I’m looking at you E3 2012). However, “Assassin’s Creed 3″ is bound to be a great entry in the series which continues to improve with each iteration. Plus since it is finally 2012, we may see the conclusion of Desmond’s storyline which has all been leading up to this fateful year.
I’m sure my fellow writers will cover any missing titles not listed here. But it definitely looks like 2012 is a year to reckon with for big releases, and an exciting time for gamers everywhere. So let’s get this year started and dig in to new year of entertainment. And stay tuned for more quality game news, reviews, and more, on Aztec Gaming.
You forgot about Darksiders 2. The first was sleeper all across the board. Darksiders 2 will be just as epic and can toe-to-toe with other triple A titles that are coming this year.
Good point Tam, I forgot to include Darksiders in my PC list as well. Great game that not many people really hard about/gave a try.
Thanks for the comment Tam.
I actually feel pretty bad about forgetting to have Darksiders 2 on my list, especially considering I played the first one quite a few times.
Hopefully I can remedy that some point in the future, since trust me, I definitely loved the first one. We’ll see how the devs do on getting it out there this year.
Is the inevitable new Call of Duty not worth mentioning?
Thanks for the comment Dunning.
I left CoD off the list mostly because many people who follow gaming can pretty much predict there will be a new Call of Duty each year. And there will be, from Treyarch mosty likely, as is the usual switch back and forth between the two studios.
Don’t worry though, we won’t be ignoring it since the series is one of the largest in the industry right now.