By Jim Rossignol on January 4th, 2012 at 7:37 am.
A new year of PC gaming is upon us. But what dark delights await? Wonder not, for we’ve sent our tobacco-powered robot down into the game-mines to report on what is being hauled to the surface by the terrified ponies of development. Onwards for elucidation!
PLEASE NOTE: THIS LIST IS ORDERED BY APPROXIMATE EXCITINGNESS DIVIDED BY LIKELIHOOD OF ACTUALLY BEING RELEASED IN 2012. EXCITINGNESS IS MEASURED INDEPENDENTLY BY SWISS SCIENTISTS.
And at the top of the list is…
Dishonored
Arkane Studios’ weird fiction of an alternate universe and an assassin with strange (and occasionally rat-based) powers promises to land squarely in the sort of territory we like to explore. With Deus Ex lead Harvey Smith plus Dark Messiah brain Raphael Colantonio at the controls, and a mandate to make things stealthy and sneaky, this could well be the most interesting game to appear in 2012. Find out what we know about the game by reading more here.
There’s not a whole lot of faith out there that SOE will get the MMOFPS thing right with Planetside 2, but they came so close with the original, and delivered such epic combat, that we can’t wait to see what they achieve here. The mix of territory war across infantry and vehicular action kept us engrossed for several months back in 2003, and if they can keep the server populations up for the remake, we’ll probably be counting this as one of the great games of 2012. Read our most recent interview about Planetside 2 right here.
Still sitting on the list from last year, our interest in zombie RPG Dead State is nevertheless undiminished. It’s a full-blown survival RPG, being developed by some veterans from Troika (Bloodlines) in their own indie outfit. We hear that there’s to be big news about the game in 2012, but until that comes along you can catch up with why we’re so excited about this game by reading this interview with Brian Mitsoda, in which he sets out his ambitions for the title.
There’s no point denying that we’re lusting for more of this, despite the diabolical always-on setup. The beta gave us a taste of the most beautifully hyper-violent dungeon-crawler and we want to sink our stubby little teeth into the rest of it. Entertaining solo and genuinely brilliant co-op, the beta was just a hint of what is probably going to be the most popular PC game of 2012, even if it is not the most interesting. For some impressions of what we thought you can take a read of this article about the beta access.
That’s right, the Mass Effect arc comes to its Earth-invading conclusion in 2012. Bioware’s space-based guns & conversation game looking like the most spectacular game of the series, but we’ve yet to really get to grips with the changes that the single player is introducing. Interesting, perhaps, that the only bit of it RPS has been able to see first hand has been the co-op play? You can read about that just here.
Starcraft II: Heart Of The Swarm
The Zerg-led second single-player campaign for Starcraft II will arrive in 2012, and that will excite some, but it’s really the changes to the highly-competitive multiplayer (eight new units and three removed) that will be wrought by this, which will earn the most attention. Blizzard haven’t let an RPS agent look at the game, yet, but our Eurogamer chums have a campaign-focused preview just here.
NCSoft and ArenaNet can’t afford to get this one wrong, and we doubt they will, either. The sequel to no-subscription MMO Guild Wars is one of the most promising multiplayer titles we’ve ever seen, with a vast and beautiful MMO world, an astonishing array of characters and potential customisation, and more of an open-world focus, while still sustaining the individual storyline stuff that made the original game so interesting. We went hands on with the game over here.
Reckoning has impressed us. Not as much as it might have done, but enough that we’re now definitely paying attention. A really big budget RPG with a new IP (and an old trad fantasy theme) and an action focus means this wants to be all things to all players (as long as they like swords & conversation) and it’s looking ludicrously slick to seal the deal. Alec had some time alone with it over here and it seems to be improving with each glimpse we get of it.
Another big name that we expected to land in 2011 but that has crept in 2012, Monaco is probably the indie title we are most keen to see go live. It’s a ludicrous lo-fi multiplayer heist brimming with ideas and smart design. There’s even online multiplayer for launch, which means the hivemind will be all over this like tar and feathers. Read more about why and how to excited about Andy Schatz’ project here.
The original Borderlands’ cell-shaded FPS Diablo ‘em up wasn’t to everyone’s tastes, but to those who enjoyed getting a posse together and roaring out into the wastelands, it was a minor classic. Returning to Pandora with a squad of new characters, the sequel promises more of the same, only bigger and better. Which is what sequels do, right? We’ve already had a chance to talk to Gearbox about the game and see a little bit of it in action, and you can read the account of that just here.
Kim Swift, one of the key brains behind Portal, did not stay at Valve. Instead she moved over to Airtight Games, where she’s the creative lead on a new puzzler called Quantum Conundrum. It throws the player into the mansion of mad scientist, in which everything is a loopy science experiment. Needless to say, we’ll have to puzzle our way through. The first glimpses of the game can be see here.
The other MMO we’re getting excited about is Funcom’s The Secret World. If nothing else, it deals with subject matter that MMOs haven’t tackled before: the contemporary supernatural and global conspiracy. In The Secret World everything is true, and you’re just as likely to be tangling with Great Old Ones as you are sorting the vampires from the werewolves. With guns and hip contemporary clothing, it’s bound to gather a sizeable audience. We’re written loads about it, as you can see here.
Following a hiatus of eight years, Max is to return. It’s being developed by Rockstar this time, with Remedy having moved on to Alan Wake, and it’s dripping with spectacular gun action. It’s looking like an appropriate update to the series, too, despite the surprising move from New York ghetto to Sao Paulo slum. We’ve already had a look at the game in motion, and you can read those impressions here.
And while we’re on the subject of Remedy, they’ve announced that their 360 spooky action ‘em up, Alan Wake, is going to arrive on PC. Will it be polished for PC or impractically ported? Only time will tell. We had a bit of a chat with them here.
Runic’s dungeon-crawling sequel has been delayed and delayed, missing the expected 2011 release, and that can only be a good thing. It means they’ve got more time and money to spend on making it even better. The original was such a quick development, and still a minor gem, that we’re hoping the extra time given to this will bring it to a wondrous shine! Dan had a play of an early build of the game and you can read about that here.
Few games due for a 2012 release are as intriguing as Human Head’s Prey 2. It bares little resemblance to the original offbeat linear shooter, and instead is pitched as an open-ended alien-stalking bounty-hunter game set in a sci-fi space city. Yes, that DOES sound like the kind of game we’d like to take a look at. Fortunately we got to chat with the devs about it just here.
The flying city of Columbia pretty much ensures that the big Bioshock sequel has an even more impressive backdrop than its predecessor, but can it also build on the FPS mechanics? With a companion character and some critical choices to be made about the action, it looks a lot less “would you kindly” than the first game, but it’s hard to know whether Irrational can really pull off something that will wow the sceptics. But then when was the last time those guys were wowed? Exactly. RPS Agent Gillen had a chat with Ken Levine about the game over here.
Arma 3 will continue the heavily simulatory trend in the Arma games, but it also has a new twist: it leaps forward into the near future. This means that while it’s going to feature some contemporary hardware it’s also going to feature a lot of what might be in the hands of soldiers in a couple of decades time. It’s going to be a weird, wired war. I had a quick chat with Bohemia boss Marek Spanel last year.
Hawken
There’s a real danger that this amazing-looking multiplayer mech game will be snapped up for exclusivity on the consoles, but right now the developers Adhesive say they want to bring it to PC as well as the TV boxes. It certainly deserves to be on the format of ultimate deathmatch, because the fast-paced play and stupendous visuals do basically ask for a PC setup. At least in my brain. A bunch more videos can be seen here.
In what was basically a reaction to EA announcing that Syndicate would be a co-op FPS, Paradox announced they’d be developing a cyberpunk world-conquest game (with attending tactical mode) called Cartel. We talked to them about their plans just here, and laughed the sad laugh of journalists who have seen too much.
Nothing can contain our excitement over Grim Dawn – look! there goes a bit of it now, whizzing off into space. Crate Entertainment spoke to us about their plans for the hardcore ARPG, and said: “I think we’re probably unique just in the sense that, while most studios are redesigning their games to be more casual-player friendly, we’re busy making Grim Dawn more complex and probably casual-player hostile.” I could have hugged them. We hoped this would appear in 2011, actually, but we’ll settle for 2012.
Few men can truly say that they wouldn’t want to have conquered Europe in Medieval times, but the truth is that most of us would be too lazy and weak to actually get on with doing so. Not to worry, because there’s a game for that – Crusader Kings II should appear in a few short weeks and sort the men from the benevolent dictators. A simulation that is as much about people as it is armies, this will is one of the more fascinating wargames out there. We have studied it at length.
Carbine’s beautiful-looking intergalactic pseudo-Wild West seems the perfect locale for a traditional MMO romp. With exploration skills and giant alien yetis, we can’t see any way that this can fail to be entertaining. That is, of course, if you like to do a bit of questing. And we know you do, you filthy beast. You can read lots about what to expect from the thing just here.
Ooh, a remake 80s super-classic Carrier Command? One that’s actually faithful to the original game? Why, it can only be from a European studio. Yes, that’s right, it’s by Bohemia, the Arma chaps. Odd choice, perhaps, but this is actually a new studio that the Czech company have purchased, and it will be cross platform. That might limit things a bit, but my hands on time with the game was promising indeed. Haha, I used the tagline “carrier bagged”. I am clever.
Germanic RPG Risen did a great deal to impress us, and we’re expecting far more from its pirate-themed sequel, Dark Waters. With a huge archipelago to explore and a mix of 18th century swashbuckle and magic, this could well be the pirate-RPG treasure we’ve been searching for all these years. Some more coverage can be found here.
Almost everyone I’ve spoken to who played the original Metro 2033 talked about what a great game it nearly was, and then about how they hoped the team would fix its problems the next time around. That’s precisely what 4A are aiming to do with Last Light, and that means it could be a classic if they’re successful. John had a first glimpse of the game back during E3.
UPDATE: This one is for 2013, actually. Sorry. We don’t know too much about this yet, other than that it is definitely happening on the Bioware label (with a studio formed from the ashes of old C&C teams), and that it is following on from Generals rather than the other C&C fictions. The game will also be using a variant of DICE’s Frostbite engine, which means it could have the same level of fidelity as Battlefield 3, as well as lots of exploding scenery.
The game of Mr Martin’s fantasy feudalism is being made by Cyanide, which means there’s some scepticism about how good it’s going to be, which is something that will dampen the excitement we might otherwise feel about this enormously popular book-to-TV series becoming a game. If they can get the backstabbing and the undiplomatic power-mongering right, then this really could be a classic. We wait and hope. Here’s what we know so far.
Red Five Studios’ attempt at making an open world shooter look fabulous in their Borderlands-style sci-fi cell-shadings, but it should play well, too, with the lead designers from World Of Warcraft and the original Tribes games both being involved in the genesis of this free-to-play beast. Jetpacks and aliens and so forth make us quite excited about getting our hands on this. We talked to the team back when the game was announced.
When we’re talking about multiplayer jetpack games, however, there’s another name on the block: Tribes Ascend. Hi-Rez (of Global Agenda and more jetpacks) bought the Tribes licence and are now making their own game in the series. The free-to-play shooter is in beta right now and we’re hearing some positive noises from in there. Our own Mr Cobbett even had a cautious look at how it’s getting on.
It’ll be worth playing End Of Nations if just for the sheer amount of stuff you can get on screen. With huge maps full of strategically-manic players, this could be one of busiest multiplayer RTS games of all time, and it’ll be free to play, too. Behold the prior coverage.
2011 might have been brimming with open-world games, but few of them were straight up shooters. That should hopefully be remedied in 2012 by the arrival of the third Far Cry game. The second game received a mixed reception and so Ubi are claiming to have read the signs, understood the feedback, and put it together to create a jungle-island shooter to please everyone. Here’s what Dan saw of the game at E3 last year.
The big publishers might have decided that the age of turn-based games is at an end, but that doesn’t mean they’re right to do so. Xenonauts is one game aiming to prove them wrong by making a game that resides firmly with the spirit of the incredible X-Com games. Will it take over the world in 2012? Perhaps. Take a look at what Alec thought when he previewed the game.
The chances that the PC version of GTA V will fall in 2012 do seem slim, but it’s hard not to be intrigued by what the Rockstar chums will come up with for the fifth game in the series. We’ve already seen that trailer, of course, but it will be the details which really make the gangster pudding… so to speak. Mmm, pudding. Anyway, a big game, however you look at it.
Thi4f (No, really, that is their logo. I’m sorry.)
Whether the ludicrous Thi4f nomenclature will survive into release, or whether the game will arrive in 2012, these things are unclear. What is clear is this: We are so excited about the studio that made Deus Ex: Human Revolution making a new Thief game, that we might have some kind of frantic episode. What we know about the mystery game so far is compiled here.
Look, we’re all disappointed that it’s not actually called “Hitman: Subtitle”, but that’s just the way life is: unfair, po-faced, taking itself too seriously. Hopefully though the game will be more Blood Money and less… we’ll less Hitman movie with Tim Olyphant. What we know about the new killing game is here.
Gosh, this is a long list. Am I half way through writing it yet? Must be close. Anyway, Hecker’s Spy Party – and one of the most exciting indie games ever, in my opinion – is one of those ludicrously ambitious game ideas: you attend a party and some of the people in there are spies. Can you figure out which ones? There’s actually a beta sign-up going on, so you can express your interest in discovering the spy just here.
While we’re on the topic of enormously ambitious and clever indie games we should probably mention that Jon Blow is making a PC-exclusive, The Witness. It’s an open-world first-person puzzle game. That might sound a bit like something Cryo would have a go at if they were still around today, but there’s every reason to expect that Blow’s impressive brain will create something rewardingly complex and cerebrally tickling. Reasons for this line of thinking can be found in this.
I know. I’m sorry. But I still want to play it, I think it’s going to be a blast. The team making it are good at what they do, which is make shooty FPS games with lovely art, and that’s exactly what’s going on here, only with additional squad management and a sprinkling of alien-technology metagame. I can’t wait to get my hands on it, frankly. Here’s an interview.
There’s every reason why this could be a splendid co-op shooter in a cyberpunk world. It’s looking absurdly violent, too, so there’s lots of scope for this to entertain us with exploding heads and evisceration. A tactical world-conquering isometric shooter it isn’t, but there’s scope for that elsewhere on this list. Everything we know about the new Syndicate can be found here.
Crystal Dynamics seem to know what they’re doing with Tomb Raider, so it’s encouraging to see them being given some freedom to remake the lady adventurer for a 2012 reboot. Lara looks more realistic, younger, and for some reason much dirtier. We had a chat with Squeenix’s Karl Stewart about what this all meant just here.
Civ with Wizards, or something like that. It looks right up our street, anyway, with a fantasy world draped across a big turn-based (and multiplayer) world of conquest. Paradox are hitting a lot of the right notes with their games for 2012 and this looks to be one of the most promising.
We don’t know too much about Piranha’s Mechwarrior Online, but we do know it’ll be using “real” time against the Battletech universe’s timeline from launch, and that it will be using CryEngine 3 to power its robot battles. The idea of a huge online war of the stompy robots – and free to play, too – is almost too thrilling for us to contemplate. Here’s hoping it’s actually good!
Mixing Larian’s familiar RPG stuff with strategy and aerial dragon combat, Dragon Commander is one of the more unusual games due to hit in 2012, and we’re enormously interested to see how it will play out. Alec had a good look at it last year, and was intrigued. You can read what he had to say about it here.
I got a kick out of the original King Arthur game, thanks to its blending an RPG with something like a fantasy version of the Total War games. If the sequel can offer a bit more polish then it could be one of the strongest strategy games in 2012.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
The Counter-Strike games have been one of the most popular PC games since their inception in the mod scene 567 years ago. Valve are updating it in 2012 with the release of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, in which the terrorists finally win. (Half of the time.)
I can think of a couple of games that ask us to save a little girl from horrors, but Amy’s particular take on getting the girl out a zombie apocalypse looks wilfully unusual. Hugging the little girl herself will be one of the ways your character can stave off becoming a zombie herself, and it looks like there might be some grisly ends to not managing to stay human… What we know about Amy is collected here.
The new Monday Night Combat game, prefixed with what we hope is an indicative “Super”, is going to be a PC-only free-to-play sort of thing, and it looks like it’ll be just as wacky as the original game. Apparently it will be slower and more strategic than the first game, making things a little easier on players who aren’t so comfortable with fast-paced combat stuff.
It wasn’t long ago that I had a chat with Wargaming.net to see what their plans for the sky-variant of their multiplayer combat game would be like. It sounds pretty bold, to be honest, and I will be fascinated to see if it’s as popular as the tank-based incarnation.
This is going to be the best game about rabbits beating the living crap out of each other, EVER! I mean it. It’s also one of the indie games we’re expect to go a bit massive in 2012. I also found out a bit more about what the Wolfire were doing with their playable work-in-progress title in this here interview. They said some words.
To me it feels like Natural Selection 2 has been in development for about ten thousand years (and I really thought it would land in 2011), but it will finally arrive in 2012. The commercial sequel to the mod that really put multiplayer RTS/FPS hybrid on the regular gaming agenda, Natural Selection 2 should be a big deal for everyone who likes space marines, aliens, and meticulous FPS combat.
The Shadowrun world, which blends standard fantasy tropes with cyberpunk, has always been a pet favourite of mine. I couldn’t help being interested, then, when Cliffhangar dropped us a line to say they were developing a version of it, multiplayer and online. I had a chat with them about what that will entail just here.
There’s definitely not enough in the way of brutal medieval melee combat on the PC. Two of the melee games that came out in 2011 were rubbish, so Paradox are trying to fix it all with War Of The Roses, a saga that will have both a single player campaign and a major multiplayer component. Dudes are going to get sliced, I suspect. Paradox Dan had a chat with the devs just here.
Ah, while we are on the subject of Paradox trying to address niche audiences, Salem is their sandbox MMO set in colonial north America. Yes, a bit of an unusual one, but the boldness of the idea has us interested. There’s going to be permadeath and other things that MMOs rarely broach. It could be a fascinating escapade.
The existence of this big sci-fi shooter from Gearbox looked unclear for a while there, but it’s now due to hit in 2012 and the glimpses we’ve seen so far make it look pretty impressive. You can catch up with the current story on Colonial Marines just here.
It’s fair to say that in the competitive world of games that are a bit like DOTA, Valve’s DOTA 2 is going to be a big deal. Currently in beta, it’s already a hot topic for the MOBA crowd, and drawing lots of pro-gaming interest. It’ll be even more interesting to see what kind of impact the official launch makes. Everything we have on DOTA 2 is just here.
Radical’s grotesque open-world eviscerate ‘em up has a sequel intended for 2012 that is bound to be even more spectacularly violent and silly than the original. The complaint that the city was a little bit spartan last time is being met by dividing the city up into three sections and then making up for lost space with more goings on. It’s bound to be bloody fun.
Speaking of ultraviolence, we’re expecting The Darkness sequel to arrive on PC in 2012, too. We’re not totally convinced about the quality of this one, but the first game was surprisingly solid, so it’ll be interesting to see how this one turns out.
The one series that is keeping the Elite-style space trader/fighter game idea alive expects a new member in 2012. Like Elite it will be focusing on a single ship, too. Interesting.
Cliff takes his Gratuitous series away from the space fleet management line of business and into a territory that looks a lot more like tower defence. It’s World War I with mechs, and I spoke to him about it when I saw the game in 2011.
300AD are having a crack at the MMOFPS lark with Line Of Defense and promise a truly huge theatre of action, with vast maps and citys many kilometres across. Can they take on the other big scale FPS contenders?
And lo, another game from the same studio that is doing The Darkness II. The action game based on the recent reboot of the Star Trek franchise! That is not a pleasant sentence to have been responsible for, but it could still turn out to be a decent action game. Let us not dismiss an egg before it is revealed to be a holodeck trick.
Man, I got pretty pissed off with DarkSiders, but it was still a well put together sort of game. The next one has Death as the main character, too, so where can it go wrong? We actually got an early look at the game, to see where it might go wrong, and you can read that here.
Calling itself “a garden in four dimensions”, Miegakure promises to be the puzzle game which curdles our brain milk in 2012. Well, there had to be at least one, didn’t there?
Last year’s list had Subversion on it, but that game might now never come to be. Instead Introversion are working on a game about successfully imprisoning people. I played a bit of an early build of Prison Architect and wrote about it here.
The Cold War becomes hot, Hot, HOT war in Eugen Systems’ next game. Yes, they were the chaps who made RUSE, which we were rather fond of. Doesn’t look like Ubisoft were too fond of it, because they aren’t the publishers for this next game…
Will Vince D Weller bring us his RPG in 2012? Only time will tell. Whatever happens, we’ll always have that interview.
Looks like Lucius didn’t quite make the Q4 2011 release date, but I trust it will land in 2012 because I do rather what to see demon-child vs household in a game that looks a bit like The Omen crossed with Hitman.
John made me put this in the list. These are his reasons.
There’s a certain wistfulness in the eye of anyone who takes time out to recall the cartoon violence of Carmageddon. It really was something special. It’s with that glee that the original dev team, Stainless Games, have returned to the franchise. They’re raising money for the remake now, and they had a chat with Alec about their plans for the game itself, which you can read here.
Double Fine’s brilliant puzzle adventure based on nesting dolls is coming to PC. Funny and clever, it’s an ideal game for the one true platform.
Monolith seem to be doing something genuinely ludicrous with Gotham City Imposters, a multiplayer game about everyone pretending to be the Gotham heroes and villains. It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, but you can examine the clues we’ve gathered here.
The boldest attempt at user-generated content we’ve seen in the racing world, with a crowd-sourced model. Yep, they’re basically trying to get the community to build the content while relying on the enormous tech expertise of race game veterans Slightly Mad Studios. A bold idea, and I will be fascinated to see how it pans out in 2012.
Well, it’ll be interesting to see what Gearbox do with this four-player co-op reboot of the Brothers In Arms series. It’s always interesting when an FPS studio tries to do funny, isn’t it?
With the layoffs at CCP priotising bizarre PS3-only crossover shooter DUST 514, I have no expectation of World Of Darkness making a showing in 2012, let alone being released, but I add it here for the sake of optimism. It remains the one MMO I think could truly change things for the genre, and I live in hope.
At the time of writing it’s not entirely clear whether there is even going to be a Stalker 2, let alone whether it will appear in 2012, and that is the ONLY reason it appears at the bottom of this list. If it were definitely happening then it would be at the top, and I would be doing a dance while singing: “Yeah, yeah, apocalyptic dys-topi-aaaaAAAAaaa!”
There are loads more games coming out in 2012, of course, but this is where this list ends. Good luck to everyone trying to get their games done! We’ll be having a nice cup of tea. And waiting.
04/01/2012 at 07:49 Metonymy says:
Now that is a series of images. Hawken, Warlock, GW2, TL2, BL2. A good series of solid hopes and guilty pleasures.
BTW Katawa Shoujo was released, you too can romance cartoon crippled girls. There is no cost, other than that lingering sensation of trifling away your life. But you’re already accustomed to that, aren’t you.
04/01/2012 at 16:01 Lev Astov says:
Yes, 2012 is looking up! If Hawken doesn’t come out on PC, though, I’ll cry and pound my fists on the floor (then go out and buy a XIM3).
04/01/2012 at 16:42 Wulf says:
Huh, I somehow missed Hawken when I made my little list. But that’s definitely something I’m curious about as well. Though I’m worried it’s more to go stomping off over the city rather than to fight other robots.
“Hey, we’re supposed to be having a deathmatch, here!“
04/01/2012 at 16:48 Sic says:
Hawken is currently PC exclusive, so there’s nothing to worry about.
04/01/2012 at 07:51 Chaddicus says:
My wallet just filed for witness protection.
04/01/2012 at 08:11 bfandreas says:
I do want a couple of those games like I want my next breath. I’m mildly interested in a few more. Trouble is that “mildly interested” directly translated to a Steam purchase when I got a good deal.
By my estimation I will be finished playing what I bought during the holiday sales about midJuly.
2015.
2011 shall be henceforth be remembered as THE best year for computer games since ever.
Also judging by that list there won’t be any EA Sports sequels this year? It is truly wonderous!
04/01/2012 at 12:10 ynamite says:
And you thought 2011 was a good year for gaming. 2012 is going to be the pinnacle, the king, the all your base are belong to us year of gaming.
I don’t know when and how I’ll find the time and money to play all this stuff … I guess I’m going to have to resort to just getting the real gems … no wait, fuck that, I wanna play ‘em all.
04/01/2012 at 15:34 Bob says:
Good Lord! My wallet is suing me for damages already. There’s at least 6 must haves for me there, and like bfandreas, the others I’m interested in will probably be a purchase at some stage.
04/01/2012 at 07:51 loinbread says:
You left out the Star Wars: The Old Republic F2P release which is going to come out Q1 2012.
04/01/2012 at 10:19 jezcentral says:
How much would you like to bet that that would happen? Because I will gladly take that bet.
04/01/2012 at 13:05 iniudan says:
It not going F2P at least before Guild Wars 2 get release. Since it the only MMO with a high enough profile to really put a real dent into it subscription.
04/01/2012 at 16:44 Wulf says:
You talk like SWTOR has a massive enough subscriber base for GW2 to put a dent into rather than ‘eat whole.’ >_> I mean, really. The way Bioware are banning people rather than spending money, it’s making me think that SWTOR is really not performing anywhere near what they’d hoped.
04/01/2012 at 19:02 InternetBatman says:
Really? There are frequent hour long waits just to get in and story reasons to roll six characters and you think it’s not doing that well? TOR is gunning for WoW, Guild Wars is just going to do its own thing.
04/01/2012 at 22:46 Alceste007 says:
Lol, I still have dam queues on my server. The Old Republic has been a blast so far.
04/01/2012 at 07:54 Zyper says:
After just looking over this post, I’m eager to see some of these games in action, namely Thief 4 and Dishonored, both titles I’ve been looking at since around November ’11… But this is a great list, and really gets me pumped for the new year.. Thanks guys! :D
04/01/2012 at 07:55 lanster27 says:
Regarding Generals 2, the trailer on the official website ends with a ‘coming in 2013′, so I guess we can take that out of this list.
04/01/2012 at 07:56 Alexander Norris says:
I am sillilililily looking forward to Max Payne 3, because it looks incredibly Max Payne.
I hope Syndicate turns out to be good rather than sort of alright, since both the Riddick games had a great first half to two thirds before abandoning everything that made them cool and turning into rubbish FPSes.
Other than that, roll on Metro: Last Light, Prey 2, Dishonored (squeeeee Harvey Smith), Dead State (squeeeeeeee Brian Mitsoda), PlanetSide 2 (I am hoping it’s better or at least as good as PlanetSide, which to my eternal shame I missed) and Colonial Marines.
Also vaguely curious about MechWarrior Online, Borderlands 2, BioShock Infinite, The Secret World, Super Monday Night Combat, Dark Siders 2, the Tomb Raider reboot and I really, really hope Thifourth turns out to be amazing but I’m not holding much hope.
04/01/2012 at 07:57 Cryo says:
@Darksiders 2 screenshot: OH HI RAZIEL.
04/01/2012 at 08:26 pupsikaso says:
Yeah, I was quickly scrolling by and caught myself on that image, thinking “wait, they are making a new soul reaver? what?”
Too bad they aren’t. Would be a good time for one, I think.
04/01/2012 at 08:49 ShrikeMalakim says:
Well, the series has already starred WARthas Menethil, so why not?
04/01/2012 at 16:45 Wulf says:
…I had exactly the same reaction.
“SOULREA–oh, no… wait… no… disappointment.”
I really, really want a new Soul Reaver game, now. :|
04/01/2012 at 07:57 LionsPhil says:
Almost enough to make me slightly interested in yet another chuffing zombie game!
04/01/2012 at 08:00 Teronfel says:
I will play all of them cuz i have nothng better to do before the world ends.
04/01/2012 at 08:00 arrjayjee says:
Fuck the haters, I’m pumped for a new Counter Strike.
04/01/2012 at 13:34 rayne117 says:
Liking Counter Strike, what a rebel.
61,797 99,700 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
49,546 73,687 Counter-Strike
43,276 63,315 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 – Multiplayer
40,812 61,550 Counter-Strike: Source
04/01/2012 at 13:55 Wang Tang says:
Speaking of Counter-Strike, seeing that XCOM picture absurdly reminded me of cs_estate.
04/01/2012 at 18:52 LionsPhil says:
Well, Rayne, he did say “new”, and those stats you posted put the old CS on top.
04/01/2012 at 19:16 Text_Fish says:
Me too arrjayjee. I feel a bit boring admitting it, but I would probably put it at the top of my 2012 “must have” list.
As Rayne very admirably and necessarily points out we’re probably not in a minority, but it does often seem like the haters are much more outspoken around here so kudos for speaking up.
04/01/2012 at 08:02 mrjackspade says:
King Arthur 2 :)?
04/01/2012 at 08:05 LordHuggington says:
Prey 2, Bioshock Infinite, Firefall, and ME3 are looking interesting. Also keeping an eye on Kingdom of Amalur. I’m really hoping that Sega decides to go ahead with a western release for Phantasy Star Online 2.
04/01/2012 at 16:52 Wulf says:
“[...] Sega decides to go ahead with a western release for Phantasy Star Online 2.”
Frankly?
That would make my day, whatever day that news was released on, and likely probably many days after that would be made by the knowledge, and then later, the playing. I never fell out of love with Phantasy Star, it’s a brilliant Universe, and it has a sort of… innocence which other MMO Universes eschew, that I like.
It may just be a typically Japanese thing, I suppose. But there was no fantastic racism (TROEP!) in Phantasy Star, or any of the Phantasy Star games. Hell, in Phantasy Star Portable 2 you had a beast race bloke in a pink trenchcoat whom everyone thought of as a badass. I approve of things like this, I approve of them hard.
Why can’t we have more heroes in pink trenchcoats? And more beastmen in pink trenchcoats.
I love you, Phantasy Star.
But yes, even back when it was just Phantasy Star Online, I was able to make a purple, midget mech with a gigantic gun that couldn’t possibly have been held up by his size. He looked like a walking crate carrying a bazooka. I loved that little guy. I could certainly do with rerolling him in PSO2.
04/01/2012 at 08:07 Gira says:
Some interesting stuff there, but it’s really all about Dead State. If there’s any game that’s going to save the RPG from the current Cinematic Emotional Visceral quagmire, it’s Mitsoda’s baby. From everything he’s said – that is, gauging his philosophy behind the game, without being aware of whether he’s actually able to pull it off – it might even outclass the original Fallout.
04/01/2012 at 08:12 volkanongun says:
HAIL TO THIEF 4!
04/01/2012 at 09:02 Zunt says:
You mean: H41L T0 TH1(4-1)F F0UR 1!1
04/01/2012 at 16:54 Wulf says:
ALL HEIL THE THIAF.
…no, wait. Sorry.
ALL HAIL THE THIEF.
No, scratch that.
HAIL MECHANON.
04/01/2012 at 08:12 acenck says:
Another year of RPS. I’m looking forward to it.
04/01/2012 at 17:13 Captchist says:
Agree, yay RPS.
Now if people could just let me know which items on this list I’m allowed to be excited by Vs which I have to sadly set aside because they are tenuously linked to EA despite the fact they are good games, and supporting good studios?
04/01/2012 at 08:14 Tomhai says:
Thanks for the list.
In 2011 you have also kindly informed us about the following cantwaittogetmyhandson games
Cardhunter
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/08/02/card-hunter-preview/
Legend of Grimrock
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/11/28/beauty-beheld-legend-of-grimrock/
Fray
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011/07/01/fever-fray-first-fray-screens-interview/
And with some divine interventiuon maybe JA:Back in Action will be aweseome as well… I mean you do have Syndicate and XCom on the list:)
04/01/2012 at 08:17 Cerius says:
“Some” veterans of Troika is pretty much wrong. Brian is the only Troika Veteran.
04/01/2012 at 14:37 Wizardry says:
Yeah, and he only worked on their final game, Bloodlines, which was by far their worst game.
04/01/2012 at 17:00 Wulf says:
It be Wizardry, and he be hatin’ the games that put stories over numbers.
S’okay though, I’m finally beginning to understand him. Though it is a shame that he didn’t like Bloodlines that much.
04/01/2012 at 17:41 Wizardry says:
It’s nothing to do with that. My name suggests that I like RPGs and therefore it’s only natural that I’ll rate Troika’s two RPGs (ToEE and Arcanum) ahead of their action game (Bloodlines).
04/01/2012 at 22:30 FunkyBadger3 says:
Arcanum was an excellent, if messily broken, gem.
Bloodlines was a good, if horribly broken, gem.
TOEE was a hideous broken god-awful mess.
04/01/2012 at 08:22 Forceflow says:
Now that is one big list.
Personally looking forward to Bioshock: Infinite, Metro: Whatever Light and (crossing my fingers it won’t reek of consolitis) Max Payne 3.
04/01/2012 at 08:24 Patches the Hyena says:
I hope Risen 2 will scratch the itch I got by playing the old Bethesda Pirates of the Carribean (which was also called Sea Dogs II I think?).
04/01/2012 at 08:30 Avish says:
I promise myself to finish Skyrim and Arkham city before buying anything new. Since there only about 5 games from this list that I am actually waiting for, it might be possible to achieve.
Metro: last light and Torchlight 2, are probably the only games I’ll buy for full price.
Also, it’s a good thing I’m not much into MMOs although I’ll probably get guildwars 2 and The ‘Old republic’ when it turns F2P (and it will at some point, I believe).
04/01/2012 at 08:32 Pidesco says:
Isn’t the South Park RPG coming out in 2012?
04/01/2012 at 17:02 Wulf says:
My mind is still experiencing all sorts of confusion at that. I wonder how many of their stable of writers (and such a stable it is, and they’re damn near all studs) are actually working on this?
Mild interest, anyway.
04/01/2012 at 08:34 Froibo says:
Spelunky was mentioned in a list of games that were reviewed for appropriate age ratings.
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/12/31/a-fresh-batch-of-xbla-titles-rated-around-the-world/
Although they originally announced it would be Xbox exclusive, that was a couple years ago before PC indie sales skyrocketed. So I bet they will be changing their minds assuming they like money.
04/01/2012 at 08:37 ado says:
No arbitrary Half-Life 3 joke? Are the times really so dire?
04/01/2012 at 13:41 Fierce says:
Yes.
I love what Valve does with game concepts, evolving game tech (they’re practically the new id Software at places like GDC) and providing loyalty-inspiring entertainment for their customers, but at this point either HL3 is a super secret project known only to 9 people being developed under Supermax strength security by devs whos deaths were faked and memories of their families brainwashed from their psyche… or its going to become the new Duke Nukem Forever… time-wise.
Time-wise. It can’t possibly be Duke Nukem Forever quality-wise.
04/01/2012 at 15:11 Balobam says:
Oh I dunno about that, I can picture it now.
“Half-Life 3 brings Gordon Freeman back onto the playing field, armed with a machine gun and a pistol and his usual snappy one-liners, he takes on the Combine in this decades most anticipated shooter!”
“Explore long, long corridors with enemies at regular intervals”
“See the world through the eyes of the worlds most badass physicist gone thug, as he leads a gang of hardened criminals to the Combine HQ to rescue the love of his life, Dog, the battlehound with a past”
05/01/2012 at 03:13 sassy says:
At this point it just seems Valve are scared to do another Half-Life. Sure it would sell massively but Valve have many highly profitable IP’s and not to mention steam, so they are able to pay the bills. Creating the next HL however must be a hugely daunting task, how can they possibly live up to the hype? I’d suggest it isn’t possible, whatever they release (no matter how fine) will probably be a disappointment to a huge amount of people.
Sure I hope they do one soon but I can understand the hesitation.
05/01/2012 at 21:25 Werthead says:
So what was up with Valve people showing up at a convention or something a couple of months ago wearing HALF-LIFE 3 T-shirts? A hoax, or genuine Valve employees taking the mickey out of fans?
I remember back in the day that supposedly Valve had teams simultaneously working on Episode 1 and 2, and after finishing Ep 1 that team went on to start work on Ep 3. Whilst all of Valve’s teams have pulled together to finish off various products and get them out the door (the L4Ds and Portals), that means that Ep 3 – which has presumably transformed into HL3 – could have been at least in partial development for five years. So seeing it in the near future (translated through Valve time, so that’s within the next three years) is not necessarily impossible.
04/01/2012 at 08:39 felisc says:
euah after playing so much skyrim I doubt I’m ready to see any sword or piece of medieval armor in a game before at least a couple of years.
04/01/2012 at 08:39 terry says:
A pleasing list! I’m particularly interested in Prison Architect and Monaco, being on a 2D kick since the Steam sales, although Metro Last Night and Bioshock Infinite look impressive too.
04/01/2012 at 17:06 Wulf says:
Speaking of 2D-ish things. If you haven’t tried Rochard yet then I implore you to please try it. There is a demo! It’s been one of the sleeper hits for me. I hadn’t heard of it until TotalBiscuit (bless ‘im) WTF’d it, and due to the mere merits of it having an interesting main character (an overweight everyman, which is actually more interesting than the perfect, average hero that we get in most things), I tried the demo.
It’s Ravencroft from HL2, it’s Portal, it’s all of this as a side-scroller, and I loved it. Try the demo though, first, since it might not appeal to you outright. But if you’re going for 2D-ish things at the moment, then I’m certain that Rochard won’t disappoint.
If you’ve played Rochard then disregard, but for those that haven’t…
04/01/2012 at 08:48 AMonkey says:
A lot of new IPs here. Will be fun to see how many of them are worthwhile.
04/01/2012 at 08:58 gazit says:
No X-Rebirth? I think RPS has just dissapointed me for the first time :(
04/01/2012 at 09:25 Jim Rossignol says:
It’s on there.
04/01/2012 at 14:09 alexheretic says:
..and so the disappointed becomes the disappointerer
04/01/2012 at 09:03 atticus says:
I really need to find some time… to calculate how I’m going to divide my free hours in 2012 to be able able to play all the games I’m looking forward to. And the huge list already screaming for my attention on my Steam-list.
I need to lose my job.
Also, miss Cardhunter on that list. That’s one game I’m really looking forward to in 2012.
And how ’bout the old flame Project Zomboid? Is the project dead now, or don’t we believe in them anymore?
05/01/2012 at 05:24 MrEvilGuy says:
I’m guessing that RPS assumes that Project Zomboid will not have a final release until 2013.
04/01/2012 at 09:03 olemars says:
Also, Dwarf Fortress is poised for a new release in a few weeks time.
04/01/2012 at 12:38 Strange_guy says:
Not sure it’s a big enough milestone in the games release to be counted as a big thing of 2012, but I’m still looking forward to it, despite giving up on fortress mode and modding since we left 40d. Lots of adventure mode related stuff, and I can see vampirism and werecreatures creating some great stories.
04/01/2012 at 09:07 Tachikoma says:
Missed my most anticipated, Port Royale 3.
(Q2 2012 is expected release)
04/01/2012 at 09:14 kert says:
There are maybe only two games on the list that are worth bringing out my trusty old SideWinder, MechWarrior and Warplanes.
Whats up with that ?
04/01/2012 at 09:16 Vegard Pompey says:
What about Scrolls?
04/01/2012 at 14:50 Unaco says:
What about Scrolls?
04/01/2012 at 09:27 GeForceFX says:
I know I’m probably in the minority, but THE game for me for this year is Skullgirls!
04/01/2012 at 09:42 Llewyn says:
I wonder if there’s something wrong with me (other than return-to-work depression) as that list really doesn’t excite me much at all.
Also, is it really wise to use Swiss scientists to measure excitingness? Have you never been to Switzerland? For every Cresta Run Scientist that you might stumble across there are a dozen Cuckoo Clock Scientists fighting for your attention.
04/01/2012 at 10:43 unimural says:
Since the list was ordered by excitingness/likelyhood_of_relase, the less likely the game is realeased in 2012, the higher it should be in the list. Since C&C Generals 2 is slated to come out in 2013, it’s likelyhood of coming out in 2012 is pretty close to zero. Thus any game above it in the list (that are rather likely to come out in 2012) must be pretty much infinitely exciting, according to Swiss scientists.
Most games being there are quite understandable, but Alan Wake being there does sort of make one wonder over the exact methodology the said scientists used. This might of course merely be a statistical insignificant outlier, and merely be a reflection of the self-righteous feeling of justification for stuff being released on PC, instead of any actual excitement over the game itself.
04/01/2012 at 17:51 Dances to Podcasts says:
They are the only ones who truly understand the Cowbell system of rating games.
04/01/2012 at 09:54 TheApologist says:
The Witness is the one that really grabs me – it reminds me of Lost in that I fully expect to be simultaneously completely addicted and utterly furious with it at all times.
04/01/2012 at 09:57 roryok says:
Are you really more eager to see game X than game Y?
Sweet Zombie Jesus that’s a long post.
04/01/2012 at 10:01 PearlChoco says:
Nice list, some of those games are totally new for me.
Although I think Elemental: Fallen Enchantress would deserve a place in the list.
http://forums.elementalgame.com/414567
04/01/2012 at 10:08 Namos says:
Beat me to it.
After Stardock’s acquisition of a lot of 4x talents, this one should turn out better than War of Magic did.
04/01/2012 at 10:07 Dariune says:
Well after a disapointing 2011 (for me) i actually think 2012 will be quite a good year.
A lot of those games look like they stand a chance of doing what they say on the box.
Of those mentioned Im looking forward to:
Crusader Kings 2 (A lot!)
DeadState
Cartel
Grim Dawn (possibly)
Risen 2
Game of Thrones RPG (possibly)
Xenonauts
Warlock
King Authur 2
X-Rebirth
Prototype 2 (Possibly)
Age of Decadence (Though i dont believe it will be out this year)
Lots to look forward to :)
04/01/2012 at 10:52 Cheese says:
Crusader kings 2 is looking pretty awesome, and I’ve only heard good things from the beta players.
04/01/2012 at 10:31 B0GiE-uk- says:
Not too inspiring for me either.
My pics would be ARMA 3, Firefall, GTA 5, X-Rebirth and World of Warplanes is looking interesting!
I hope X-Rebirth is more Elite like than the rest of the X series and a bit faster too.
04/01/2012 at 10:34 Joe Duck says:
Go Monaco!
I miss Project Zomboid in this list…
04/01/2012 at 10:36 Ridnarhtim says:
Wow, what a list. And yet, the only confirmed 2012 game I am excited for is Bioshock Infinite.
Have been dying for a new Thief (that will hopefully be MUCH better than Deadly Shadows) for ages, so hopefully that will be great when it is, eventually, released.
And am looking forward to Darksiders 2, but to me, that is a PS3 game.
Apart from that, a few that I may end up playing, but nothing that’s got me jumping up and down in anticipation.
04/01/2012 at 10:49 Shinryoma says:
My plan for 2012 is the same as 2011. Wait till the RPS Winter Sale at the end of the year then buy all of the articles on sale. You won’t get all of my money. I win by waiting!
04/01/2012 at 11:06 Robbeasy says:
No Legend of Grimrock???
I is disappoint.
04/01/2012 at 11:20 Snack says:
You are failing us RPS, why? oh WHY?!1
04/01/2012 at 11:10 Maldomel says:
Time to play the the lottery then. It’s the only thing that could get me enough free time and money to play all of those games.
04/01/2012 at 11:18 Snack says:
“The Exciting List of PC Games for 2012″ doesn’t include Chivalry: Medieval Warfare? Blasphemy!
http://www.chivalrythegame.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/TeamChivalry?feature=watch
04/01/2012 at 11:19 Forgoroe says:
RPS, you haven’t missed a single one… At least of the titles I’m really excited about! Great work as always
04/01/2012 at 11:34 Museli says:
So, the two games I’m most interested in (Cartel and Xenonauts) are remakes of games I played around fifteen years ago. On the one hand, this makes me feel like an old man who’s scared to try anything new, but on the other, come on, it’s been fifteen years. That’s a long enough gap to give some classic titles a modern-day facelift.
04/01/2012 at 11:34 Carra says:
It should probably have the “PC gaming is dead” tag :)
Also, Mists of Pandaria!
04/01/2012 at 16:33 Wulf says:
WoW is seriously annoying me. First it’s “Look Wulf, werewolves!” and now it’s “Look Wulf, pandas!”
To be honest, if it wasn’t so dreadfully generic (and if they got some artists to work on those nasty washed out colours and low resolution textures) I’d probably take more of a look at WoW again. But I remember the horrible time I had with it the first time around and I don’t want to repeat that.
04/01/2012 at 11:40 Navagon says:
You saved the best ’til last. But bloody hell I’m hoping all that crap about not releasing it is just PR bollocks. WE NEED THAT GAME! Without the stupid always online DRM they were threatening us with that is.
04/01/2012 at 11:50 Hodge says:
Gunpoint, people!
04/01/2012 at 12:01 Jackablade says:
Well, one of these games is already banned here in Australia. Taking all bets as to how many of them will be refused classification before 2013 rolls around.
04/01/2012 at 12:15 Surgeon says:
Those Swiss scientists must have been smoking some crazy fondue, because they’ve placed PlanetSide 2 as second instead of first.
04/01/2012 at 15:21 bjorntju says:
Indeed. Planetside 2 is going to be awesome! I think it will really suprise people.
04/01/2012 at 12:17 JamesPatton says:
If I remember correctly, The Witness isn’t necessarily a PC-exclusive: Blow has said that it’ll be released “on PC and whatever else makes sense at the time”. But they are developing on PCs, and it looks like any console porting is secondary to the quality of the overall game and PC release.
04/01/2012 at 12:33 McDan says:
And I thought my wallet might not take much of a beating from games this year…oh well. Excellent list, probably going to end up getting at least half of them. On to another great year for pc gaming!
04/01/2012 at 12:42 Meat Circus says:
PC gaming is dying. :(
04/01/2012 at 12:47 amorpheous says:
Where are Half Life 3 and Black Mesa Source?
04/01/2012 at 12:47 yhancik says:
Ah, I really thought Diablo III was already released.
04/01/2012 at 15:29 Suits says:
;o within 11 years from Diablo 2? no way
04/01/2012 at 13:08 Hatsworth says:
One notable omission is Street Fighter X Tekken, especially so due to how few fighters we see.
04/01/2012 at 13:24 pakoito says:
I miss Vasal (fluid puzzles), Card Hunter and Desktop Dungeons Retail.
04/01/2012 at 16:30 Wulf says:
Oh, Vassal! Right you are! Yes, that’ll be interesting.
And Shadow Era has taught me how much I can love card games. (Which is apparently lots.) Will I love Card Hunter? Dunno, depends on whether they give me a non-human hero, I suppose. (Human hero cards are boring! I could simply drown in the verisimilitude and near nakedness.)
04/01/2012 at 13:42 Davee says:
A possible super-sleeper hit this year (and also one of my most anticipated games) would be http://www.blockaderunnergame.com/
Advanced Minecraft in space! It’s not so much of a game this early in development as it is the foundation of one but the scope of the final product and their ideas about how the game should work sounds like a sci-fi lover’s wet dream! The next update will also bring one of the “big five” features – the Editor suite for advanced construction. But it’s definitely not impossible to build large ships/objects by hand right now as you can see in the “Galactic Shipyard” video.
For more info on a few of those ideas, check out their devblog: http://www.zanmgt.com/
04/01/2012 at 14:06 Suits says:
Alan Wake, the GFWL ‘em up
04/01/2012 at 14:09 Advanced Assault Hippo says:
Really looking forward to Torchlight 2 and Grim Dawn for my ARPG fixes this year – Diablo 3 is unfortunately a complete non-starter due to the purchase-destroying decision for always-on gameplay. Shame because it was looking quite good.
Oh well, 2 out of those 3 aint bad I guess. :)
04/01/2012 at 14:15 Binho says:
I’m sad :( There is nothing I’m truly looking forward to this year! Nothing on that list excites me. :(
Mass Effect 3 i’ll probably buy, since I played the other two. Though the promotional material I’ve seen so far has failed to grab me. I might check out Natural Selection 2, as I loved the first one. It’s been in development for so long though, and information was trickling out so slowly that I’ve mostly lost interest in it.
There are a few games which I’m curious about in regards to gameplay mechanics, but which don’t really appeal to me (ie. Guild Wars 2, Wildstar, Kingdom of Amalur, Overgrowth). And a few games I don’t know enough about yet to know if I’ll be interested or not – GTA V, War of the Roses, Game of Thrones RPG and Tomb Raider. Though the latter feels a bit too ‘hollywood’ for my tastes so far. Like Uncharted with a female protagonist.
Ah well, looks like I’ll have time to catch up on my backlog a bit this year!
04/01/2012 at 14:18 JohnnyMaverik says:
O.O
That’s a lot of good looking games.
Shame reality tells me at least a fifth of them will end up not being all that to complete rubbish =/
The ones I don’t care less about not hitting expectations are (this list will be spiteful, cold and lacking seasonal good will):
Borderlands 2: I didn’t like the first game, felt it was a perpetual exercise in dullness despite everything seemingly gearing for the high-octane and the ridiculous. I like the idea though and know if they really followed through on the concept it’d be something immensely enjoyable, but seeing as something has got to give and it’s likely to be a 30+ hour game, part of me really hopes reports on it’s release will be that it’s miss-able
The Secret World: Because I will never play a subscription based MMO (I believe the Secret World is planned to be just that) and resent Funcom from moving into the MMO genre. So if it’s bad, no loss for me, and then pay back for canning the sequel to Dreamfall… not pretty I know but I’m being honest.
Crusader Kings II: No malice intended, I just couldn’t care whether it’s good or not.
Carrier Command: Gaea Mission: The 80′s were rubbish because I wasn’t born yet. Remake more 90′s games… I actually remember some of those.
Command & Conquer: Generals 2: Don’t want it to be bad, just want it to come out in 2013 as planned, cuz you know… that’s a big ass list.
Syndicate: Unlike X-Com, which at least seems to be a little unique with a few redeeming ideas, this looks wholly and completely meh. Don’t need another co-op shooter where bodies gib… I didn’t think much of L4D the first time around thanks. Hope the Cartel out sells it, that’d teach em.
Tomb Raider: Just couldn’t care less at this point. I liked 1 & 2, although they don’t hold up, but it’d probably be best for this series if they just lay it to bed and leave those of us that enjoyed them once with our memories. Also people keep banging on about how incredible it looks… WHERE DOES IT LOOK INCREDIBLE? Just looks like your average, entirely scripted, no skill requirements, po-faced pile of modern day console nonsense to me from the videos I’ve been shown. Bah I say.
Prototype 2: See Borderlands 2. If something has to be crap I’d rather it be the sequels to games I didn’t think much of, rather than ones I did, or new IP’s.
The Darkness 2: Simply because I didn’t play the first one and know it’ll probably never see a pc release.
Gotham City Imposters: I still don’t get the point and have far too many multiplayer shooters already, with far too many on their way this year.
Brothers in Arms: Furious 4: Just make it a new IP and maybe, just maybe I’ll take a look. But I can’t respect that, and I’m sick of companies doing it.
Nope still too many games on that list… it’s guna be a busy year with plenty of heart break and let downs. -_-
04/01/2012 at 14:24 bascule42 says:
/sigh…I’m getting to old for this sh*t.
04/01/2012 at 16:23 Wulf says:
That’s how I feel about most of it, honestly.
Still… show me something strange enough? I’m there. I don’t give a damn in that case. But I’m not the “I will play anything!” person that I was many, many years ago. These days I tend to be more discerning, and my time is a bit more limited, or there are just too many games. Not sure, really.
There are a few entries there however that likely seek to kindle my sense of wonder, and I appreciate that.
04/01/2012 at 14:28 InternetBatman says:
I’m most excited for Risen, Prey, Botanica, and Stacking.
Honestly though, indies are harder to preview and they usually come out of left field for me but they are generally my favorite games of the year. So that’s what I’m really excited about.
04/01/2012 at 14:34 westyfield says:
The list is backwards. Excitingness divided by probability of game being released in 2012 should have STALKER 2 at the top (large number divided by extremely small number equals extremely large number).
*Dives through windscreen of pendant-mobile and drives off, Saints Row style*
04/01/2012 at 14:36 D3xter says:
Bonus points for Dishonored and Dead State, as those, along with Risen 2 are also my most awaited games of this year, but Diablo 3 has no business being that high up, especially not in front of Torchlight II.
Also, bonus points for not missing anything I could be pedantic about :P
Nvm, I got something, you forgot the re-release of “Dear Esther” in the Indie department which is set to launch Feb 14th.
04/01/2012 at 14:37 Reikon says:
Technically, it should be excitedness multiplied by chance of coming out in 2012, not divided. Stalker 2 would be on top if it were divided.
04/01/2012 at 15:11 Freud says:
2011 was a good year to be a PC gamer.
2012 will be a good year to be a PC gamer.
04/01/2012 at 15:34 sokkur says:
Jim, I think you forgot Confrontation and Of-orcs-and-men both developed by Cyanide, the makers of Blood bowl. Also you have forgotten Port royale 3, Legends of pegasus and The dark eye – demonicon all pulished by Kalypso media. I think all those games have had their own RPS article(s). Well I guess there isn’t enough space for all the 2011 games out there.
04/01/2012 at 15:48 stealthfighterx says:
You forgot Pid!
04/01/2012 at 15:53 Darko Drako says:
I a most excited about Crusader Kings 2. I am a massive fan of the original, your dynastic plans can go so badly wrong in such an amusing way meaning it is a wonderful game for player created narrative. game That is the only game on the list that I can say for certain will be a day 1 purchase.
Paradox seem to have quite the line up for next year; Salem, War of the Roses and Warlock: Master of the Arcane and Cartel also tickle my fancy.
Aside from from them, Grim Dawn Thief 4 and Dishonered look interesting.
04/01/2012 at 15:55 DaBuddaDa says:
Dead State worries me. That article linked was from 2010, it made this same list last year, and their official website hasn’t been updated since early May of 2011; 8 months ago now. Maybe everything is fine, but they really need to get out there and start talking up their game some more and show more of it because it’s running disturbingly close to vaporware at this point.
04/01/2012 at 22:16 InternetBatman says:
The Dead State website has undergone a major rennovation very recently. As in, it now works and there aren’t broken links scrolling across the page. I too was worried, especially since Age of Decadence has taken so long between updates.
04/01/2012 at 16:00 Wulf says:
Somehow, Dragon Commander has moved to the very top of that list for me. Perhaps it’s reactionary, but I love dragons as creatures of wonder, and I genuinely appreciate seeing them in an ethical role for a change, doing the right thing. And between the abstract card game/air battles style of things, it’s a game I could become involved in without getting bothered by cold blooded murder. At least that is a war, rather than just beheading a bandit for stealing a loaf of bread, or whatever.
Ultimately though, dragons. I never did fall out of love with dragons as an aspect of wonder, to the contrary, I’ve fallen ever more in love with them. A world whose sky has dragons is a good world, a world I want to experience. It’s the sort of thing in which I could thrive. When you take away all the mystery, all the giant, intelligent skybeasts, all the impossibilities, all the varied peoples, races, cultures, and locales, I tend to lose more and more interest.
I just want to play this thing. I can see myself ignoring the war once or twice to just wander off and fly around a bit. This is one of the reasons I keep going back to Drakken. And I can do this without getting ridiculously depressed over the whole ‘last dragon’ angle that Dragon Knight Saga had, which filled me with sadness despite the flawless humour. And you were so, so cruel, Larian, in how you kept teasing me with potential other dragon knights, always keeping me hoping, but never giving me the future that I wanted. And then Dragon Commander, with lots of dragon knights. All is forgiven.
Guild Wars 2 I’m of course going to be playing. It’s done some things that have irritated me, but after watching a person run through the Black Citadel, it’s reinvigorated my interest. The charr really appeal to my xenophilia. And I know more than anyone else, despite however much they think they may know, that I am defined by my xenophilia. The Black Citadel is a truly bizarre place filled with strange creatures. It’s the sort of thing that you’d only find in animated or puppet films from the ’80s or ’90s. It’s just an odd, probably impossible place. I like it for that reason.
And I’ll say this: I underestimated how insectoid the charr are. Yes, I’ve mentioned this before, since I’ve seen chitinous elements in their weapons, their vehicles, and even their clothing. But holy crap, the Black Citadel itself is chitinous. You kind of have to see it to understand it, and I’m sure that some of the stuff in the Black Citadel will look like the stuff of nightmares because of that. (I’m betting that those metallic sphincter-camera-shutter-doors will raise a few eyebrows). But to me, it looks incredible, so many things I want to poke. It looks like home. And I’m sure it will be for the time I spend in Guild Wars 2.
I’ve always been drawn to impossible technology though and things built with it. I was the same with Uru, as every time I play Uru that feels like coming home, too. Strangest thing, but the setting makes me feel comfortable. I’m going to be tetchy if I have to wander around the Divinity’s Reach, I’m going to be screaming loudly inside if I have to walk through Rata Sum, I’m probably going to be bored if I end up walking through the norn’s hold city thing, I’m certain I’ll be pleased by the aesthetics of the Grove as I like that sort of thing and it’ll be a home away from home for my character, but the Black Citadel will be where my rump most frequently rests.
Mostly, as odd as it is, I want to play Guild Wars 2 just so I can go and wander around the charr areas as a charr, as they’re all so appreciably alien (like that whole scarred place, as well). It’s almost like they designed the charr with a xenophile like me in mind. Though at this point I’m half wondering if I have some deep-seated chitin fetish, which is entirely possible. Or maybe I’m overthinking this and I just happen to love the heck out of the chitinous aesthetic.
SO. Wildstar. I really didn’t like the look of where that was going, as it seemed to take WoW to heart. Still, the things they said about exploration were talking to me, specifically, and I heard them. So… you have my attention then, okay? Fine, you do. You have my attention. And your rock people look pretty awesome, too. Yes, I definitely like their rock people. I could see me playing one of those. Though their kemonomimi don’t really appeal to me at all, I will, however, be impressed if the kemonomimi people are a women-only race, and the rockfolk are a men-only race.
One of the things that impressed me the most about Lord of the Rings Online was how seemingly the dwarves had no gender. All the other races had a gender choice, but for dwarves there was just… dwarves. I loved that. I also appreciated the lumbering galka in Final Fantasy XI. (Whom the critters in the new Final Fantasy MMO are but an incredibly, horribly pale imitation of. The designers really didn’t understand what made the galka special, and that’s a crying shame.)
Still. I like exploring things and pushing buttons. That’s almost all of what I did in Uru!
Overgrowth? Well, I’m already playing with the Overgrowth alphas. To be honest, I can see me being less interested in the main game and more interested in the challenge levels people put out. The one level that one of their desginers put out, the one with the red platforms and the goal to reach at the end, was some of the most fun I’d had in the Overgrowth demo. I just like movement and discovery. If you’ve been reading my words in the thread I’m currently hogging far too much of on the forums, and what I’ve said here, then that’s probably visible. I love running and jumping and finding.
I’m like the Doctor, I’ll run away when given the chance, and I’ll find solutions by running and jumping. It’s what I like doing. But yes, those red hexagonal columns were so, so much fun to run and jump around. The controls are weird but once you’ve played with them for a half hour they begin to feel just right as you come to understand them. It’s sort of like a fantasy Mirror’s Edge, except to be honest I like the controls of Overgrowth better than I did those of Mirror’s Edge. They’re tighter and they make more sense, contextually.
Then again, you may want to ignore me as I don’t know what I’m talking about due to preferring the running and jumping of Prince of Persia ’08 and the first Assassin’s Creed to that of Mirror’s Edge. Take that as you will. I’m honest, eh?
Hrrrhmn. But yes, there have been a few races or jumping levels released for Overgrowth and they’ve all been really fun. I can just see me thinking “Okay, I’m tired of hitting people. I’m just going to go download more run and jump levels.” and really, that’s me satisfied. If the modding community can give me a good few hours worth of running and jumping like that, then I have no complaints. Running and jumping around those giant artifact things as a wolf has been very satisfying.
I love the difference in the feel between the animals as well. They all have their own soundscapes. The wolf, for example, sounds heavy, and because of that he feels heavy. You can do a lot of things with proper sound use, and apparently Wolfire understand this. In fact, sound can often be more important than graphics, and this is one of the reasons I frequently praise Morrowind over later ES games, because the soundscape of Morrowind was absolutely bloody marvellous, especially if you got the official and unofficial soundscape mods.
And I have no doubt in my mind that all of Monaco, Prison Architect, Megakure, and Botanicula will at least capture my attention and will most probably earn some praise from me. Botanicula especially.
Right, that’s my contribution done, then.
—
Oh, Torchlight II will get a look in if it lands in 2012, too.
04/01/2012 at 16:25 quincunx says:
That’s it?
04/01/2012 at 17:09 Wulf says:
That’s just what I’m excited about! I mean, I’ll try everything, I always do. This is something that most don’t expect from the way I go on, but mostly I just talk about the stuff I’m excited about, but I’m still going to poke at everything, regardless. I’ll give anything a go.
But the stuff I’ve mentioned is by far the stuff I’m most excited about. Also worth a mention: Hawken, Vassal, and Card Hunter. I’m sure that there’ll be things that RPS doesn’t even know of yet, things that will land as sleeper hits, just like Rochard did last year.
04/01/2012 at 17:13 Andthensobecause says:
“A world whose sky has dragons is a good world, a world I want to experience.”
(There are some Skyrim Spoilers in this next thing)
I will always agree with you on this. Except when the dragons are poorly realized. Seriously, the most incredibly moment of Skyrim was getting to the top of the highest mountain and getting to interact with a non-aggressive dragon. The voice acting there was terrible, but I spent a half hour just sitting with the dragon, climbing on its back, and looking at the auroras.
Fighting dragons is cool and they are powerful and yeah okay, but imagine just a Huge Creature Hang Out Simulator. Like Shadow of the Colossus, but where you aren’t trying to kill each other.
04/01/2012 at 16:21 Johnny Law says:
Fez!
04/01/2012 at 16:29 quincunx says:
Dear Esther, and it even has a release date of Valentines day 2012! If you don’t have someone to be with, you’ll still have a game to fall in love with. (Ooooooh yeeaaaaaaah)
I think we’re due for an official trailer and a Steam store entry very soon.
04/01/2012 at 16:34 Ninja Dodo says:
The Terrified Ponies of Development should be a studio name.
04/01/2012 at 18:05 DiamondDog says:
Crusader Kings II.
Can’t. Fucking. Wait.
04/01/2012 at 19:37 Jason Moyer says:
It looks like a good year for Looking Glass legacy games with the possibility of Thief 4, Dishonored, BioShock Infinite, X-COM (Jordan Thomas FTW), and possibly Syndicate (hard to tell how much emergent gameplay is there based on the trailers).
I want to be excited for CARS (and possibly rFactor 2) but after getting the greatest racing sim ever made (iRacing) and still finding it an immense disappointment I’m pretty much stuck racing Richard Burns Rally into infinity. I dunno why no one will do a proper rally sim with stages comparable to Rally Championship 2000 but with modern physics (even if they were arcade-sim like Codies Ego-engined games). I get the impression something like that would sell a ton.
04/01/2012 at 20:29 nimzy says:
Natural Selection 2 is the Duke Nukem Forever of mod-to-commercial release games. I hope they can deliver on even half of what they promised when they started working on it.
04/01/2012 at 22:34 wodin says:
That write uplist had too many MMO and Online Multiplayer words in it.
Only two or three games have me interested in that list.
I’m looking forward to CMBN Commonwealth module and hopfully any others battlefront manage to get out. I’m also hoping to see Squad Battles WW1 and Conflict of Heroes PC conversion. Finally the other release I’d like to see this year is Over Flanders Field Phase 4. They released a beta trailer around Xmas and though Rise of Flight might be shinier OFF P3 beat it into submission as far as immersion goes, and P4 is going to improve on it again.
04/01/2012 at 22:59 keithburgun says:
You know you said “ludicrous” 5 times in this piece?
04/01/2012 at 23:02 Nick says:
I really hope Dead State gets finished some day, it sounds amazing.
04/01/2012 at 23:05 Shooop says:
Overgrowth ready for prime time? Excellent.
04/01/2012 at 23:48 kud13 says:
this summer, my wallet shall cry
I have a new rig waiting at home, on which to play the many games of 2011 during the summer.
on top of that, the following games have caught my fancy for 2012
DIshonored–it’s supposed to be like DX….but steampunk, and more gameplay based.,
Dead state–I loved Bloodlines. one of my all-time favourite games. and this is like zombie–X-COM-from-the-makers-of-bloodlines. WANT
Risen 2–it looks intriguing. And I should maybe find enough time to play the first one before the summer.
Diablo 3 (possibly). The always on DRM may be a deal-breaker.
Heart of the Swarm (possibly). i’m still bitter about Wings of Liberty locking me out after I quit playing for 3 months when I went to law school.
Prey 2–the previews make this look amazing. Very intrigued, and easily best game of the 2011 E3 for me.
Bioshock: infinite. It’s finally trying somehting other than being a poor System Shock ripoff. I’m intrigued, and the setting looks pretty nifty.
Crusader Kings II–the original is another of my favourite games. it’s also the only Paradox game where I can lead my homeland to world domination from the start of the game.
Game of Thrones (if it’s any good). I like ASOIAF. if it pulls of the “Witcher wannabe” thing it seems to be going for, i’ll be happy.
Xenonauts–new X-COM! that’s not about the US! and set during Cold War! so, something actually original! HELL YES.
Thi4f–Human Revolution was good, I hope EM don’t screw up now.
mebbe syndicate. Never played the original, no emotional baggage attached (not ripping on the fans, i’m with you about the XCOM franchiserape, after all), but who knows?
Dragon Commander–it looks seriously different. and cool.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 (oh please, God, do not let GSC close down). One of my favourite series. Best atmosphere in a game by far. I’ve loved GSC since Cossacks. THis one must see the light of day, and it must be good (and that means none of that always- on DRM)
yep, that’s a bunch of interesting games coming up.
Edit: may add Torchligh II and Darksiders 2 to the list, once I get the chance to finally play the originals.
Also to play this summer: Witcher 2, Saints Row: the Third, RAGE, Chronicles of Riddick: Dark athena, Fallout 3+NV, Mass Effect, Portal 2……. I’ll need a time machine to find the time.
05/01/2012 at 02:01 Gasmask Hero says:
I like to see the ‘coppers on stilts’ tat that is Dishonored making it to number one in the list.
By the way boys, if you’re going to design a game based in a faux Victorian British city, you may at least want to use British English. ‘Dishonoured’ is a lot less glaring than it’s AE counterpart given the setting. Though that may be the least of your worries.
05/01/2012 at 03:43 scatterbrainless says:
Yeah, but what about… no, no it’s in there. Ok, but you forgot…. no, they got that too. It’s totally comprehensive, I have nothing to add. Except that I could actually hear Boy George in Jim’s hypothetical dancing to Stalker 2. And please keep up with Overgrowth. I love indie fighting games, and hate rabbits.
05/01/2012 at 09:10 Screenar says:
Huge list, but you’re talking about indie and no word about Fray ?!
05/01/2012 at 10:12 Burning Man says:
Wow… Just… wow.
And here I thought 2011 was kickass for gaming.
05/01/2012 at 12:54 Prime says:
I’ve been consistently, maliciously kicking the X-series since Terran Conflict came out, unable to sell my soul to that corporate-level soul-muncher one more time…
…then I bought Albion Prelude. Then I played Albion Prelude and found that not only did I not mind it I was actually having fun! 30 hours later, millions of credits earned, I’m now at a state of grace with the series once again. X: Rebirth cannot come soon enough!
05/01/2012 at 15:32 RegisteredUser says:
Oh look!
Games that look the same as the last 5 years, thanks to consoles.
But wait, there is more! To show that we are even more loved as PC users, we get either denied, crappy or belated ports!
Now there is an incentive to give all my spending money to the big names and not to the indies and indie bundles at all!
*trots off to get hugs from his HIBs and SPAZ purchases*
05/01/2012 at 18:33 scatterbrainless says:
heh, complaining about consoles. It’s gone from being funny to being sad, then back to being funny again. lolified.
05/01/2012 at 21:03 GreatGreyBeast says:
Some thoughts:
-Despite all Far Cry 2′s problems, the African setting was NOT one of them. Ubi’s retreat to the ‘ole tropical jungle is not making me confident that they really understand what needs fixing.
-Secret World looks cool, but it has one glaring flaw: it is not TLJ 3
-I need to play Prey 2 NOOOOOOWWWWW!!!!!
06/01/2012 at 21:22 Cirdain says:
All I want to say is
FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ FEZ
10/01/2012 at 22:21 Lusit says:
Borderlands is not cel-shaded.
03/02/2012 at 17:22 kud13 says:
one thing I remember now that’s not mentioned here is that Demonicon game Adam posted about last october.
better late than never in mentioning this.
14/04/2012 at 07:30 dutchglory says:
I’m playing RIFT now, Like it :)
http://www.geforce.com/games-applications/pc-games/rift
go to RIFT website and play for free..!!
14/04/2012 at 07:32 dutchglory says:
…or try out other games here..
http://www.geforce.com/games-applications