Batman: Arkham City
After defying the odds and building the best licensed game in recent history, Rocksteady is taking Batman to new heights and giving him a whole chunk of Gotham city to investigate. Expect more stupefyingly slick combat, more predatory stealth, and hopefully an abandonment of that stupid mutating serum that made The Joker into a crap monster.
L.A. Noire
Rockstar is making the spring release window its own, after extraordinary success with GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, and this year’s epic looks to raise the bar once again. The real magic here is MotionScan, a face-mapping technology that can pick up the tiniest muscular inflection in an actor’s mug, and translate them to the screen. It’s vital to the game as well, which is as much about reading suspects and interrogation as it is driving around a lovingly recreated 1940′s Los Angeles.
Deus Ex 3
It seems a bit slicker and more arrogant than the original game, but without losing its essence. This is still about tackling problems with brain as much as brawn, choosing what type of operative you want to be and carrying out your missions with precision. Selfishly, the main character is no longer called Denton, making me upset. But that probably won’t really affect the rest of the world. They’ll be too busy cutting people up with telescoping blade arms.
Portal 2
It’s almost a shame that Portal is being sequelised, only because the original is so small and perfectly formed. Almost a shame, but not a shame, as Valve is going to bring all of its design savvy to create a world of wit and wonder that’ll tax you as much as it makes you smile. And you are going to be able to play it with a mate.
Gears Of War III
It’s big, it’s dumb, but it’s pretty brilliant. Epic’s juggernaut is still the finest cover-shooter out there, and the third iteration should marry the cooperative violence and trigger-finger tension that has defined the series with even more stunning visuals. Gears Of War is often the poster boy for gaming’s ‘dumbing-down’, but taken with the required pinch of salt, it’s just big, daft fun.
Shadows Of The Damned
If Shinji Mikami and SUDA 51 are making a game together, then I’m interested. This third-person actioner looks to bring the surreal humour of Grasshoppers games to a tight, well-designed blaster; somewhere between No More Heroes and Resident Evil 4. If that doesn’t sound exciting, then what is? Oh, throwing in the sound guy from Silent Hill too? Consider it done.
Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
The promise of a new engine is enough to get people excited about traversing another epic Bethesda open-world. Hopefully Elder Scrolls V will be bug-free, as ambitious in scope as ever, and filled with interesting and compelling characters.
Mass Effect 3
Earth. It had to happen, and it’s going to happen with a bang. Bioware is turning off the Mass Effect trilogy by bringing the action back home, as the Reavers wreak all sorts of havoc across London and create an even more spectacular assault on our capital than Harry Potter.
SSX Deadly Descents
The trailer might be rubbish, but the premise and the heritage are not. It might not be all orange trousers and Run DMC, but SSX Deadly Descents is shaping up to be thrilling in the extreme. Edge-of-your-seat trips down the world’s deadliest mountains at breakneck speeds? Sign us up.
Halo CE HD
If this doesn’t happened next year, we’ll eat our own avatar’s hats. Nothing has been confirmed of course, but the world is crying out for a Halo CE remake with the Reach engine. Make it happen 343 Industries. Make it happen.
Tags: Gears of War 3
Crysis 3, Medal of Honor: Warfighter, Borderlands 2 and Far Cry 3 previews plus reviews for Prototype 2, Sniper Elite V2 and The Witcher 2.
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