The Year Ahead – 2012

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During this season when everyone will be or has been announcing their games of the year for 2011, I like to stop and get ahead of the curve to announce game of the year for the coming year. And, if I may be so bold, on the years when I actually remember to do this I have a pretty decent track record. At this time last year I called it and announced Skyrim as 2011's game of the year, and damned if I wasn't basically right.

In 2008 I called Dragon Age: Origins for 2009's GotY, which I think is pretty dead on, as was calling Fallout 3 in 2007. As for the other years, I either forgot to go ahead and make the prediction or I made one and it was so bad that I surreptitiously deleted the post mid-year when no one was looking. I honestly can't recall.

2011 was a stellar year for video games, and frankly 2012 looks set to pick up right where '11 left off. As for game of the coming year, I admit I'm torn between three choices. First on that list is Mass Effect 3. BioWare has been on a roll with me of late, and ME2 is one of my favorite games of the past few years. Next up is Diablo 3, which just looks to be shaping up better and better every time I see it. And, let's not even talk about how many hours I put into D2 over the years. But, neither of those is my game of 2012.

No, the "honor" goes to Bioshock Infinite as my choice for Game of the Coming Year. Everything about this title excites me. The setting looks as unique and inventive as Rapture ever dreamt of being, and when it comes to making a game I'm going to give a damn about, I'm not sure there's a company in the business right now I trust more than Irrational Games. If I could pick only one new game I get to play this year, it's Infinite.

But, I don't have to pick just one game, which is why there is also room in my heart for Starcraft II Heart of the Swarm, The Last Guardian, Guild Wars 2, Torchlight 2, WoW Mists of Pandaria, Max Payne 3, The Last of Us, Borderlands 2, Syndicate and probably a half dozen other games I don't even know that I should be excited about yet.

What's your pick for Game of the Year: 2012?

Comments

Since most excluded SWTOR for this years choice, it might turn up as a potential candidate as well. It sure kept me from playing a lot of highly anticipated games so far.
Poor Uncharted, Batman, LBP and AC - I will get to you, eventually.
(don't tell them that i still have to do bounty hunter, imperial agent and at least one lightside class before)

In fact, guildmates (looking at you IPP) should be a lot more unfriendly from now on to encourage me to get back at that backlog. Until now, you all are doing a terrible job at keeping me away.

Prey 2 is probably my most anticipated. It's slipping under the radar right now.

I think Bioshock Infinite will be a fine game, I'm just not sure it's going to live up to the expectations being put upon it.

I'm also preparing for the worst from Mass Effect 3. I'm not following it very closely, but everything I've heard suggests that they're straying further and further from the series' hard sci-fi roots.

Lollipop Chainsaw.

Just kidding. Probably.

The official release of DOTA2. With Meepo.

Borderlands 2 is my most anticipated title for this year.

I'm hoping a SC2 expansion will rekindle my interest in my SC2 purchase.

If Torchlight 2 has splitscreen coop (I didnt do my homework to check)... I'll be all over that.

In the short-term, I'll probably happily gobble up the continuous trickle of Dungeon Defenders DLC for a while.

But besides that, 2011 has left me with so many great gaming experiences yet to finish that nothing else grabs me at this point. Realistically, I've never had trouble getting interested in games, so I'm sure the list will grow.

kazooka wrote:

Prey 2 is probably my most anticipated. It's slipping under the radar right now.

Oh yes. That's a bit of a sleeper, looking forward to see what comes out there.

Jayhawker wrote:

My personal GOTY will be The Witcher 2 for the 360.

Same.

Not sure if it will be my GOTY, but I'm hotly anticipating it. I hope it translates at least decently to consoles.

Aside from that I'm excited about BioShock: Infinite, Darksiders 2, and Trials 2 (what happened to this game?). Hoping Borderlands 2 is a winner too.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Paper Mario 3D. It looks like a return to the sharp writing and great turn-based gameplay of Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door.

*If* that is true, I may pick up a 3DS. I think I beat TYD...four? Four times. I couldn't be arsed to even get halfway through the Wii game.

Aaron D. wrote:
Jayhawker wrote:

My personal GOTY will be The Witcher 2 for the 360.

Same.

Not sure if it will be my GOTY, but I'm hotly anticipating it. I hope it translates at least decently to consoles.

It will. I played it through with a controller and it's nearly perfect. I'm very happy console gamers are getting to experience The Witcher 2.

I've got high hopes for Far Cry 3. Far Cry 2 is one of my favorite games to come out in the past 5 years or so, and I really want FC3 to carry on that same tradition.

That said, I'm really looking forward to Bioshock:Infinite as well.

There's a bunch of games I'm excited for, but I think everything I've seen for Bioshock: Infinite has grabbed my attention a lot more than the rest of the pack. Also, it gets a nice boost from releasing in an election year which I really hope is something they take advantage of, but not in a stupid/crass way that is bog-standard for the industry's PR wing.

Of course, I haven't played the original Bioshock yet, so I'll see if that scratches the same itches enough to damper my excitement.

bennard wrote:

I've got high hopes for Far Cry 3. Far Cry 2 is one of my favorite games to come out in the past 5 years or so, and I really want FC3 to carry on that same tradition.

i'm pretty anxious to find out what Clint Hocking is working on for LucasArts.

I'm a huge Guild Wars fan, and Guild Wars 2 looks like it will finally be a game that will completely revolutionize how people look at MMOs. (Honestly I thought The Old Republic would be the "next big thing," but while a great game it doesn't really innovate).

However, I do agree that Bioshock Infinite will also be revolutionary, and as a steampunk fan it may be my favorite game of 2012.

Minarchist wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Paper Mario 3D. It looks like a return to the sharp writing and great turn-based gameplay of Paper Mario and the Thousand-Year Door.

*If* that is true, I may pick up a 3DS. I think I beat TYD...four? Four times. I couldn't be arsed to even get halfway through the Wii game.

Based on the videos they've posted in the eShop, I can say that it definitely has turn-based combat and overworld exploration likst The Thousand-Year Door. Obviously can't say yet whether it's the same quality, but it looks like they've backed-off the side-scrolling gameplay of Super Paper Mario.

I'm going to predict that Mass Effect 3 will be my actual favorite, but by the time the end of the year comes, I'll be so exhausted with the backlash and grousing I'll end up saying it's Bioshock or Last of Us. This assumes GTA doesn't happen.

I hope it's ME3.

I just want ME2's improved gameplay with ME1's more complete story. Hope all this multiplayer mess doesn't get in the way.

I'm looking forward to like 6 games, but none so much that I'm really anticipating them.
Bioshock Infinite
X-COM
Borderlands 2
Darksiders 2
The Last Guardian
Firefall

I guess Bioshock and The Last Guardian top that list, but I know too little about TLG to really get excited.

So... when's the bold predictions thread going live?

I am really looking forward to ME3 and Infinite, but mostly I am really looking forward to playing the games on my pile. Malor was spot on up thread - the last year was an embarrassment of riches. There were too many great game to play them all last year.

SallyNasty wrote:

I am really looking forward to ME3 and Infinite, but mostly I am really looking forward to playing the games on my pile. Malor was spot on up thread - the last year was an embarrassment of riches. There were too many great game to play them all last year.

Speaking of piles, I just cranked up Red Dead Redemption last night. It wasn't really part of my pile, as I just picked up on sale from Best Buy, but I'm astounded by how dumb I was to wait for this game. So far, my take is that this game is brilliant.

Jayhawker wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

I am really looking forward to ME3 and Infinite, but mostly I am really looking forward to playing the games on my pile. Malor was spot on up thread - the last year was an embarrassment of riches. There were too many great game to play them all last year.

Speaking of piles, I just cranked up Red Dead Redemption last night. It wasn't really part of my pile, as I just picked up on sale from Best Buy, but I'm astounded by how dumb I was to wait for this game. So far, my take is that this game is brilliant.

Yah, it was really something special. Let me know if you are interested in the MP at all - we could get a group going (I need some MP achievements:)).

Also I forgot to add that I will day one purchase The Witcher 2 as well. I can't wait to see what all the hype was about!

The surprising thing for me is how many F2P games I'm looking forward to in 2012.

Firefall
Tribes: Ascend
Dota 2 (will probably be F2P)
Super Monday Night Combat
and Mechwarrior Online could be good stuff.

It's crazy how high the quality bar for F2P is rising in 2012. If Diablo III gets released this year it will probably be the game I play the most probably followed by Dota 2. Looking at the list of games coming out it's going to be really hard to not go nuts and spend a ton of money of games this year. Vita and WiiU are launching and the possibility of Xbox 720 is still there. Could be a scary spending year.

I don't think it has a release date or even year attached to it but hopefully this is the year for Thief 4.

McChuck wrote:

I don't think it has a release date or even year attached to it but hopefully this is the year for Thief 4.

Good call, although I think it'll just be properly revealed this year for 2013 release. That's a game they can really screw up if they want to, I'll maintain that the original games are still awesome and with lots of tweaks could be easily released today.

I'm still working through my 2009 pile, for crying out loud! Having said that, I'm sure ME3 will rather impolitely "jump the queue".

Oh, and I'd be as excited about any Half-Life announcement as I would be about playing any of 2012's upcoming AAA's. Well, that's an exaggeration, but only just.

Since 2011 was a rich year, I will boldly say that in 2012 I will do the unthinkable and wait for a sub $30 price on any game I want (I looked at 2011 trends and that means about 3-4 months on average, especially used from GF).

Except Bioshock: Infinite.

MothBeHe wrote:

I'm still working through my 2009 pile, for crying out loud! Having said that, I'm sure ME3 will rather impolitely "jump the queue".

Oh, and I'd be as excited about any Half-Life announcement as I would be about playing any of 2012's upcoming AAA's. Well, that's an exaggeration, but only just.

Anything that's got HL in it is on my list. Even an announcement about an announcement would be nice at this point. I just finished Mass Effect 2 myself, but I'm not feeling the bug for #3 quite yet. It took me 4 months from finishing the first before I felt ready to tackle ME 2. Of course, if ME3 takes till summer, it may be just the right time for me.

Twisted Metal
Zone of the Enders HD Collection?
Wipeout 2048
Dragon's Crown
Planetside 2
Dust 514
Binary Domain
South Park RPG

Perhaps a possibility that I Am Alive may surprise with enough originality, interesting plot, characters, environments and graphics to have a shot at 2012 GotY? Other than that, I think ME3, Bioshock Infinite, Borderlands 2 and Diablo 3 will all be good but not great, with Bioshock having the best chance of breaking out of the pack. Inevitably, something at least somewhat indie and original will come out of nowhere and be in the running as well...

Cant believe noone's mentioned Hitman yet, unless i missed it.

Probably the only game I'll stop playing skyrim for

bennard wrote:

I've got high hopes for Far Cry 3. Far Cry 2 is one of my favorite games to come out in the past 5 years or so, and I really want FC3 to carry on that same tradition.

That said, I'm really looking forward to Bioshock:Infinite as well.

Far Cry 3. Fingers crossed (I daren't get my hopes up for Mass Effect 3.... but it'll probably be great.)