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Most Anticipated Games of 2013

2012 is now done and dusted. It was a great year for gaming and on the first day of 2013, it’s only fitting that we take a look ahead on whats coming up. Here’s our list of most anticipated games of 2013.

The Last of Us

Format: PS3
When: 7 May 2013
Publisher: Sony

 

 

Naughty Dog has been naughty and coming off the lines of ‘I Am Legend’; a zombie outbreak with a difference sees an airborne fungus transforming 99% of humanity into flesh-craving monsters. The survivors subsequently dividing into factions that  might not always sport the best intentions towards their fellow-man. The Last of Us follows the bid for existence of Joel and Ellie as they pick their way through the ruins of the American East Coast in Naughty Dog’s first all-original franchise since Uncharted. The game promises everything, here’s hoping the developer can pull-off what’s already looking like one of 2013′s finest.

Aliens: Colonial Marines

Format: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, PC
When: 12 February 2013
Publisher: Sega

 

 

The  officially licensed shooter-sequel to James Cameron’s Aliens will have you screaming like never before. The Game amps the tension and gameplay into one hell of a ride. What’s interesting is the Wii U version promises to use the console’s GamePad as a surrogate for the film’s famous motion-tracker…goose bumps already? It’s enough to make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.

Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Format: PS3, Xbox 360
When: 22 February 2013
Publisher: Konami

 

 

Platinum Games (Bayonetta) and Kojima Productions (Metal Gear Solid) combine their considerable talents in an all-action take on the usually espionage-centric Metal Gear series. Revengeance seems set to not only prove there’s plenty of surprises left in the series yet, but also resurrect the ailing career of Raiden, as the much criticised character returns as a sword-wielding cyborg ninja. Expect both blood and hydraulic fluid to fly as he cuts a swathe through enemy cyborgs via a control system that’s just as tight as in previous Platinum Games titles and with the added twist of ‘Blade mode’ which allows for precision slicing-and-dicing.

BioShock Infinite

Format: PS3, Xbox 360, PC
When: 26 February 2013
Publisher: 2K Games

 

Ken Levine is a genius…we know that…and when he applies his considerable creative flair to a project you have to stop and smell the coffee, because you know it’s an experience you’ll not want to miss. Thus with BioShock infinite, it not only ranks amongst our top favourites of 2013, but probably everyone out there can’t wait for it. Infinite takes place upon the floating city of Columbia, an impossible metropolis built upon a corrupted notion of the all-American dream. Expect to have your moral compass compromised and your mind warped by the vertigo-inducing heights. Don’t fall off!!

Grand Theft Auto V


Format: PS3, Xbox 360
When: Q2 2013
Publisher: Rockstar

 

5 years since GTA 4 and we can’t get any more hyper about this. What would 2013 be without a Rockstar game.  Three protagonists, the huge sandbox of Los Santos to play in and the series’ usual trademark black humour mean that this will sell like the proverbial hotcakes next spring. Based on all the screenshots and videos we’ve seen, it’s sure set to push the bar higher and farther than ever before.

Gears of War: Judgement

Format:  Xbox 360
When: 19 March 2013
Publisher: Microsoft

 

 

This game will take you back to where it all began. Documenting the events before the Gears of War series, this one for sure is not to be missed. Going by the trailers and screens we’ve seen, it’s not only stunning, but has brought in some interesting gameplay mechanics and increased production value to make this one of the best looking games of 2013 already.

Tomb Raider

Format:  PS3, Xbox 360, PC
When: 19 March 2013
Publisher: Square Enix

 

 

Tomb Raider explores the origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor. It’s a re-boot for all practical purposes and it looks amazing! We’re really hoping that it brings in a new dimension to the way 3rd person games should be played.

 

God of War: Ascension

Format:  PS3
When: 12 March 2013
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

Do we really need to talk more about this? The God of War franchise has certainly reached cult status and defined an iconic place in video gaming history. With God of War Ascension, we can only wait to see how it pushes the franchise further!

DmC: Devil May Cry

Format:  PS3, Xbox 360, PC
When: 15 January 2013
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment

 

A reboot, a new attitude and new gameplay mechanics make this game to die for in 2013. We’ve already played the demo and we’ve loved it! Can’t wait for the full exprience…and that’s just 15 days away!!

Dead Space 3

Format:  PS3, Xbox 360, PC
When: 5 February 2013
Publisher: Electronic Arts

 

 

Dead Space 3 makes our list because it brings in new horror elements and a new co-op mode. While it all sounds rather dry, one look at the trailer and your goosebumps will have goosebumps. Stunning visuals, immersive gameplay and a new co-op mode make this on to our most anticipated list. Not to mention the new weapons upgrade bench. Wicked!

Injustice: Gods Among Us

Format:  PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U
When: April 2013
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment

 

 

What’s left to be said about this upcoming DC-Mortal Kombat-esque brawler. You get to play as your favourite DC Super Heroes and villains in a 1 on 1 style combat game. Features pretty much everything from Mortal Kombat we’ve known to love and then some.

There you have it folks, our top most anticipated games of 2013. Yeah, sure there are several games that you probably don’t see here – Crysis 3, Metro, Watch Dogs, MGS – etc. etc; not to undermine any of these games, but honestly, those are games we probably want to review first before getting our hopes up too high :)

To see how the previous year ended read our Game of the Year 2012 review

Anna Moleva featured on Game Cover of BioShock Infinite

Who is Anna Moleva?

Here’s what Irrational Games Insider had to say:

Anna Moleva, who often goes by “Ormeli“, is a cosplayer from Moscow who has personified other video game characters before. But her uncanny portrayal of Elizabeth from BioShock Infinite really brought her to our attention.

We were so amazed by her dedication and her resemblance to Elizabeth that we decided to ask her if she’d like to be involved in helping bring Elizabeth to life in our box, our key art and our upcoming television ad.

Well, Anna got back to us; along with some recent headshots that we used to align with Elizabeth’s character model and garnered some remarkable results.

Today we are very pleased and delighted to announce that Anna is the official face of Elizabeth!  We also hope to have her make special appearances at select events as well so keep a look out!

Anna and Liz

 

Dead Space 3 Demo Dated

EA is planning a demo for Dead Space 3 which is set to arrive next month. Gamers can grab the download starting on January 22, while Xbox 360 fans can get involved one week earlier by signing up here.

According to EA, the demo will offer the following:

“In the demo, players will be thrust into deep space terror when unwilling hero – Isaac Clarke – and all-new co-op companion – Sergeant John Carver – crash land on Tau Volantis, an unforgiving ice planet teeming with Necromorphs. Dead Space 3 takes the franchise’s core elements of suspense, horror, action and sound and introduces them to all-new elements – including co-op play – that allows players to work together to take down the most ambitious Dead Space experience yet.”

The full game will be available in North America on February 5 and on February 8 in Europe.

Now Access Sony Entertainment Network via PC!

The new Sony Entertainment Network store allows users to make purchases for their PlayStation 3 and Vita from a desktop web browser.

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has revealed a new online store that allows PC users to purchase PSN content for their PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Vita.

The new web interface is now available in 15 European countries, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and follows on from the recent redesign of the PlayStation Store for the PS3 in what Sony described as an “on-going process.”

PlayStation users who conduct a purchase on PC will have it added to their downloads list within the PS Store, which can then be downloaded directly to the PS3 and/or PS Vita. Videos purchased on the online store can also be watched on Windows PCs via Sony’s Media Go application. Video content is currently only accessible in Great Britain, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Australia.

The online store has been launched in the following countries:

  • United Kingdom
  • Ireland
  • France
  • Spain
  • Italy
  • Australia
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Sweden
  • Netherlands
  • Russia
  • Germany
  • Luxembourg
  • Belgium
  • Switzerland
  • Denmark
  • Finland.

No mentions of a launch window for North America has been made. Sony has stated that the store will be brought to other regions “in future.”

The Man of Steel Game Could be an RPG

Based on the upcoming Man of Steel movie, you know there’s going to be a Man of Steel Video Game. If you go by history – There’s never been a decent Superman game till date. The one that came really close was Superman Returns.

Superman Returns, was in all aspects still a below average game – but unlike its predecessors, it made time your biggest enemy, which in a true sense, is what Supes would always fight against. He literally cannot be everywhere at every time.

That got us thinking. Why not make a Superman RPG game? Hear me out before the flaming starts. Firstly – let’s break down the elements of an RPG game.

1. Settings and the Story

With a franchise like Superman – it’s not very hard to visualize what the setting should be like. Here the setting is not your artwork and graphics – but more in relation to the time, the era, technology, people, etc. As for the story – there are numerous story lines one could adapt to without breaking a sweat. Stories from the NEW 52 or even iconic stories like ‘Death and Return of Superman’, ‘The Red Son’, ‘For the man who has everything’ etc.  – but if it’s a movie tie in, then it probably can be a mix of that with other story lines.

2. Character Building and Abilities

Everyone knows that Superman, didn’t get all his abilities in a single go. They evolved over time, his ability to control them at one point was almost nil and but he grew and so did his capacity for greater things. This is exactly why Superman would fit so well into the RPG genre. The stories can cut back to the past where he builds those powers up and then cut into the present where he gets to use those powers – that way, keeping the action flowing and the game’s RPG elements at the same time.

I can only imagine – A young Clark Kent learning that what it’s to focus his heat vision, and you go through a few quests that helps one control them. Once you’ve hit a certain level, the game cuts to a scene underwater – where he’s Superman today and is on a mission that will put heavy emphasis on making use of heat vision. Similarly for flight, super speed, etc. The realization of one’s journey from boy to man – is what this will explore.

3. Exploration and Gameplay Variety.

This is a given in any RPG, and for a man who travels the universe – exploration should have HUGE emphasis. For all the Superman man games in the past, it’s always about saving the city – diffusing some bomb, so the city is safe, etc. etc. I say up the ante! and take it across galaxies and new worlds! Worlds where elements like gravity, proximity to the yellow sun etc. will have an effect on Superman’s powers – making quests more challenging and giving users a real change of pace.

Superman is not always about the brawn, he’s also got a brain – he’s a reporter for God’s sake! Puzzles, timed quests, crafting elements, solving crimes, finding clues – etc. Get players immersed.

4. Character Progression and Consequences

This may overlap with what I’ve said earlier – but given that users will have the choice to build out Superman – the way they want. At the end, it will all be the same – but the paths that one takes to develop that, will determine how Superman as a character plays. Success at quests will allow Kal-El to be more positive, the manner in which you decide to skew his characteristics, could turn him into someone who does good, but is mean and abusive, not the direction that the man of steel would go. It’s just a thought.

Having Superman, make those choices will be a tough one. Unfortunately, consequence is one of the hardest things to get right. Too much consequence and players won’t enjoy their experience: they’ll hesitate to play because they’ll be afraid of cutting themselves off from rewarding experiences. Too little consequence and the players will wonder why they’re bothering to help anyone at all. Additionally, it is important to mention that consequence only applies when you have a choice. In a linear game where your only ‘choice’ is to pass or fail a level, there really isn’t any consequence. Whether you pass or fail doesn’t shape the world, it just brings it (and your game) to an end. (Until you reload it, anyway.) Consequence is special in RPGs because you have to live with the consequences of your actions, they will continue to affect you to one degree or another for as long as you play the game.

There you have it folks, our take on Why the Man of Steel game could be an RPG.Let us know your thoughts!!

 

 

GTA V release date revealed by Amazon

Although Rockstar Games has not yet officially revealed the date, Amazon has let it slip. GTA V will hit the PS3 and the Xbox 360 on June 19th, on the very edge of the publisher’s promised “Spring” release date.

Rockstar has said they are “considering” other platforms like PC and Wii U, but has to judge the potential profitability of the platforms.

The game which follows the story line of three main protagonists, is said to have a world two times bigger than Liberty City and San Andreas combined.

‘Resident Evil 6’ new modes this month

Yesterday, video game publisher Capcom USA announced that their zombie survival game “Resident Evil 6” would be getting some new game modes for players to enjoy via DLC add-ons this month.

“Resident Evil 6” takes place ten years after the events in Raccoon City and the President of the United States is planning to reveal the truth about what really took place in the city. Unfortunately for Leon S. Kennedy a bioterrorist attack occurs at the venue and he must fight his way out and get to the bottom of the terrorist plot. At the same time Chris Redfield arrives in China as the country is in the middle of its own attack.

The three new game modes:

  • Predator – Available for two to six players, in Predator one player takes on the role of the Ustanak, the fearsome B.O.W. that stalks Jake Muller throughout his campaign, and tries to eliminate the human players. The humans’ task: stop the deadly B.O.W. in its tracks, or at least survive until the end of the session.

 

  • Survivors – Survivors takes the classic solo and team-based versus mode and adds a twist. Get killed and respawn as an enemy character with the ability to attack the human characters. Take down one human character to resurrect in human form. Last man or team standing wins. Survivors can be played by two to six players.

  • Onslaught – Onslaught sees two players go head-to-head in an attempt to clear waves of oncoming enemies. Chaining combos provides the key to success in Onslaught as this will send enemies over to the opponent’s screen, the more that are sent over, the quicker the victory will be.

 

These modes expand on the multiplayer and will be available exclusively first on the Xbox 360 Dec. 18, 2012 running gamers 320 Microsoft points each or for 720 points in a bundle (sorry PS3 peeps).

 

Hitman: Absolution Patch Coming On 12/10

A few days after release, many players reported a glitch for Hitman: Absolution. Reportedly which caused the following issues:

  • Random freezing during the game, forcing players to reboot their systems.
  • Save files were also getting corrupted, without a way to recover these files.

Now it looks like developer IO Interactive has pinpointed the cause of the crashes and a patch is coming to address this issue on the console versions.

The patch should be available from December 10th: a post from an official rep on the Eidos forums confirms patch and states that they have worked on and fixed all the problems causing both the random freezes and the save file corruption bug. The developer’s work won’t be over once the patch is released: they’ll be monitoring the situation closely if any new problem arise after the patch release.

A patch for the PC version was released last week featuring a lot of fixes for the game, including one for the game crashing glitch: as of now there haven’t been any report on new problems so we can be sure that it will be the same for the console versions. No more loosing save files multiple times, like a player reported last week.

Hitman: Absolution was released on November 20 for Pc, Xbox 360 and Ps3 to commercial and critical acclaim: the patch will be available starting December 10th.

Game Druid (2013)