Tobold's Blog
Monday, February 27, 2012
 
The games of 2012

A reader sent me a request to write about what games I am looking forward to in 2012. He asked particularly for Diablo3, World of Warplanes, Mass Effect 3 and Guild Wars 2, so let's start with the one game I am *not* looking forward to: Mass Effect 3, coming out in March. Sorry, I never really go hooked on ME1, didn't even start ME2, and after having played SWTOR I feel no desire whatsoever to play another SciFi RPG with companions and dialogue wheels. Other than that my list looks like this:

Diablo 3 I plan on playing, although probably not months and months. I expect it for the second quarter of 2012, although with Blizzard you never know.

Also in the second quarter I'm waiting for Bioshock Infinite. While it might surprise you that there is a shooter on this list, Bioshock is "my kind of shooter": Not overly difficult, and heavy on story. So I'm looking forward to a new Bioshock outside Rapture.

In June the will be The Secret World from Funcom. I give Funcom credit for trying hard, even if their previous MMORPG attempts weren't unmitigated successes. I do like the idea of a MMORPG in a fresh setting, which has neither orcs & elves, nor space ships.

Somewhere in summer we should see Guild Wars 2, and I plan to play that. I would like to see whether all that hype is justified, or whether we will get just another coat of paint on a tired concept.

Second half of 2012 should bring us World of Warplanes. While instinctively planes interest me less than tanks or ships, I'll certainly check that one out. I love the idea of World of Tanks, Warplanes, and Battleships all sharing the same account, free xp, and virtual currency. And maybe the game is more fun than I imagine, even with a third dimension and clouds instead of terrain.

Somewhere towards the end of 2012, I expect Q4 rather than Q3, there will be World of Warcraft's Mists of Pandaria. Perfect opportunity to check into that game again after a long absence and see whether that expansion is any good.

Also towards the end of 2012 we might see both XCOM games, the "shooter" version of 2K, and the more classical turn-based version XCOM: Enemy Unknown from Firaxis. I'll play both.

And while it isn't confirmed, the end of 2012 might also bring Wildstar, another MMORPG I would like to have a look at, because it appears to be somewhat different.

So, that's it, my list of games for 2012. What games are you waiting for?
Comments:
Max Pain 3 :)
As for me I'm more waiting a population trends in WoW and SWTOR then any particular game.
 
I'm looking forward to The Secret World an Guild Wars 2.

Of the former we don't seem to have enough information yet to see if it is any good, but I give it credit for trying to be different. If the future information doesn't destroy the good outlook I might try it.

Guild Wars 2 looks really good, it seems to do quite some things differently, but the innovations aren't so huge that it is no longer realistic. My only fear is the GW1-Community. The few days I played that game (and read public channels) it seemed abysmal on a level that made the WoW-Community (on RP-Servers) look like a bunch of saints. Yes, GW2 doesn't seem to be like GW1 and therefore shouldn't attract the same crowd, but there are bound to be some people who buy it because its from the same producer. Still, I think I'll play that one.
 
I still haven't really put much time into Skyrim, so there is that (can I count it as a game of 2012 if I bought it last year but haven't played it yet?)

TSW sounds fascinating, I'm planning a blog post about it later this week. The only thing I don't know is whether I'll have much time available when it comes out.

GW2 is definitely on my list, as is MoP. The former more than the latter. I've had a preorder in for D3 from when it was first announced, and looking forwards to Torchlight 2 also.

I still am having a lot of fun with SWTOR so there is also that.

Other games I'm planning to check out when they get cheaper are FF13-2 (I keep hearing good things about it) and Dragon's Dogma.

The one I am most looking forwards to is Journey.
 
The Games I am waiting for are

Tera Online: I have already pre-ordered the CE and waiting for it although I don't have high hopes to keep me more than the summer.But it has cool graphics and the combat are 100% different from any other MMORPG I have played and I liked it

Guild Wars 2: I will try it for sure and I am waiting to see how the absence of trinity will work. Good graphics, action combat and the lack of trinity makes it so much different from what I have played, but not so much different from Tera :P the no subscription fee is also a plus

Mist of Pandaria/Diablo: I have signed the annual pass so I will play them both..I am not a fan of Diablo and generally hack n slash games but it will be cheap and I ll play it. I also hate the new concept of wow with pandas but it is wow and I am intersted to see how the new "scenarios" will be and how the devs will get the people out in the world again as they said that it is their top priority..I just hope they don't mean more dailies

Football manager 2013: as every year I buy this game cause I am fan of football and this is the closest manager simulation ever created. Although I am not happy of how it evolves through so many years..
 
Ugh so many games. Mass effect 3, D3, Borderlands 2, Starcraft (if it comes. I like the solo-parts of the games, and love the lore).
MoP, for the same reasons you mentioned.
The double fine adventure (since i've helped kickstart it). Kingdom of amalur - I know it is out already, but I've just not logged in yet :)

As a side note, i'm surprised to see (or rather not see) Tera on your to try list. Despite its gross view on female toons, the beta-testers claim that combat feels new (where GW2 feels like wow).
Im not giving either of em a try, since ToR fits my mmo-needs. But you talking about trying mmo's out that try new things so I'd have thought that game would fit in too :)
 
Here's a good source for inspiration; a blog with titles and one screenshot for each game. It's probably not complete for 2012 but it's quite extensive.

http://adrianwerner.wordpress.com/2012-2/
 
Really excited about The Secret World. I'll be playing GW2, but TSW is so unique that even if it's not perfect as launch I'm going to give it some time to mature.
 
Borderlands 2, MechWarrior online and Xenonauts are on my wish list. :-)
 
What you said about ME3 is just sacriligious.
 
GW2 just has to deliver, it MUST not fail, lalalala!!!...(*hands on ears*)

otherwise this year is already ruined MMO-wise.
 
What no Mechwarrior Online...shame on you
 
“Ready are you?
What know you of ready?

For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.

This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away... to the future, to the horizon.

Never his mind on where he was. Hmm? What he was doing. Hmph.


Adventure. Heh. Excitement. Heh. A Jedi craves not these things. You are reckless.”
 
I'm thinking missing from the list:

Firefall - looks like it'll hit the spot Tabula Rasa left un-filled. What some might argue it SHOULD have been. Capturing and defending towns was easily the best part of that game. Dynamic invasions before RIFT/PQs in WAR.

Planetside 2/Next - Finally, a way to make that persistent stats/world-battling actually mean something. Mind you, they need to be wary of all the traps MAG fell into on that front.

FFXIV (re-launched with all the broken things fixed? MAYBE) - I've said it before, I'll say it again. FFXIV is in alpha/beta. It is not a release title, it was not last year. And as far as I can tell, the project was haemorrhaging money and they didn't consider it released either, so they 'released' it on PC to try make a quick buck and support the real development focus (PS3)... which backfired catastrophically.

Dust 514 - IF and only if CCP comes to their fucking senses, swallow their pride, and release it on PC. It was an interesting idea and I'm all in favour of lateral thinking, but you also have to be able to temper that imagination with some common fucking sense.

Max Payne 3 - Call me crazy, but I think the best thing about the Die Hard movies was that by the end of them, Bruce Willis looked like he'd been dragged through a meat-grinder. I think I see much Bruce Willis in Max this time around, and it's not just the hair.

Far Cry 3 - I can't justify this one. I liked the first two.

Mass Effect 3 - Tobes, just as a thought exercise, at least spend say... half an hour with the multiplayer beta. There's another game hiding under there, one which isn't related to the prior games at all. And it's good. It's very good.
 
I am really looking forward to going back to the battletech universe, so MechWarrior online is what I am looking most forward to :)
 
I'm not sure about Mechwarrior Online. For me the interest will depend on how tactical the game still is, e.g. heat management and all that. I had the impression that it would be very much a shooter, and very unlike the turn-based Mechwarrior game I played on the Amiga.
 
I used to look forward to ME3 and then I read the spoilers. still looking forward to Torchlight 2 very much. Borderlands... I'm on the fence about. on one hand, I loved the original. on the other hand.. well, we'll see. probably won't be a preorder for me in any case. I was originally interested in secret world a lot, but then the news kinda completely died down, and now I'm more curious about it then anything else.
 
I'm most looking forward to prerelease 5 of Eloraam's RedPower 2 mod for Minecraft.

It will include Frames, which will allow the creation of tunnel boring machines, elevators, and countless other systems with moving parts.

Also included will be Control, a 6502-like emulator for the sophisticated control that designs using frames will require. Using Control to drive RedPower Machines mounted on Frames will make it possible to build things like 3D constructors.

And since Mojang just hired the devs of the Bukkit team to deliver its new modding API, in a few months it should be possible to easily install and try out new mods, something which is currently a tedious error-prone process.

Oh yeah, I may play some GW2, but I didn't even bother to sign up for the beta.

Basically, I'm still looking forward to Minecraft.
 
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