AAA Season 2012

It's that time of the year again! The time when some of the biggest games come out pretty much every second week!

So, what games are you looking forward to? Which ones you going to get?

Darksiders 2
Xbox 360, PS3, PC

The first Darksiders was heavily influenced by Zelda, with the most obvious being the general layout of Go to Dungeon > Find new item/weapon > use new item/weapon to defeat the boss. It also took some cues from DMC for the games combat system. While the first one wasn't the most original game you'll ever play, it was still really good and had an interesting set-up and storyline to keep you playing through the game.2 looks to improve in pretty much every way with the addition of a random loot system and a bigger scope. I played through the first one twice and I thought it was great. I pre-ordered the game, but it only unlocked on steam today (Right as I was going to my eHealth class! raargh!) I'm gonna play the crap out of it tomorrow.

Sleeping Dogs
Xbox 360, PS3, PC

To say that Sleeping Dogs has had a hectic development cycle would be an understatement. It started out as Sleeping Dogs, before being picked up by Activision and rebranded as True Crime: Hong Kong. It was then dropped by activision and picked up by Square Enix, who renamed it back to Sleeping Dogs. Despite facing a lot of issues, it looks as though it's payed off. The early review buzz has been extremely positive, with quite a few saying it's better than the more veteran open world franchises like GTA and Saints Row. The game boasts melee combat in the style of Batman: Arkham Asylum, a driving system with the quality of a racing game, a really great story, and some solid TPS shooting mechanics. It unlocks on steam in approx 1 day.

Borderlands 2
Xbox 360, PS3, PC

The first borderlands was described as diablo with guns, and it wouldn't be too far from the truth. it wasn't a shooter that was really story heavy. The aim of the game was to play with your friends, kill heaps of enemies, level up, and find heaps of loot! And Borderlands randomized weapon creator made that a lot of fun. For instance, I got a 32 clip Shotgun that had a sniper rifle scope and set enemies on fire when a pellet hit them. like I alluded to earlier, the first game isn't meant to be played single player, it's meant to be player co-operatively, and I had a blast playing it with my friends. The first game wasn't perfect, it's story was meh, there was no central villain until the end, and the character customization left a lot to be desired. 2 seems to be rectifying that by having a bigger focus on story, a central villain throughout the game (handsome jack), and improvements to the loot and weapon systems. It comes out around september, but I've already got my copy pre-ordered. I can't wait.

Far Cry 3
Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Open world shooter set on a tropical island. Far Cry 2 had a lot of issues, and it looks like Ubisoft has learned from them (I hope the enemies don't respawn too quickly, that flat out ruined FC2). From what i've seen, there will be a lot of different ways to approach the missions, which I really like. I haven't seem too much else of it (more out of my own being lazy), but I'm certainly looking forward to it.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron
Xbox 360, PS3, PC

While Michael Bay was anally raping the Transformers franchise with his movies, High Moon Studios was off making Transformers: War for Cybertron. These guys were massive fans of the tv show, and it shows in their lovingly crafted game. While it plays like your typical third person shooter (but with transforming!), it was mainly the story and characters that won me over. The characters looked (and most importantly) acted like their character archetypes were supposed to. For instance, Starscream was the scheming leutenant who was looking to stab Megatron in the back whenever he could. Fall of Cyberton is the sequel to War for Cybertron, and it looks to be a much better TPS experience. I'm disappointed that the 3player co-op is gone (loved playing the WFC campaign with my buddies), but levels designed around the character your playing as seems to be an acceptable trade. It also adds more of my favourite G1 characters, like Grimlock and the Combaticons (Who do combine together into Bruticus, who you can play as! woo!)

Assassin's Creed 3
Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Assassinating english soldiers left and right. 'nuff said.

Resident Evil 6
Xbox 360, PS3, PC

Resident Evil 5 was a pretty mediocre Resident Evil game. It was far too bright, far too action heavy and had little in the way of survival horror. It looks like 6 is trying to strike a happy medium between the two. I'm glad the co-op is coming back, because despite RE5 not being a good RE game, I still had a lot of fun playing through the campaign co-cooperatively. I like that the game is going to have 4 different campaigns, with each having a different tone. Chris's looks to be the action one, Leon's the more classical survival horror, Ada's the puzzle, and I'm not sure what Whesker's kids one will be.

Probably not a AAA title, but the futuristic setting and art design is pulling me in... even though I probably won't even like the story as it seems quite generic (memory wiped clean).



From your list I'd definitely want Sleeping Dogs.

Oh wow, that looks really cool. I'm definitely going to keep my eye on it.

Sleeping Dogs is awesome. Easily the best open world game I've played. Easily destroys Saints Row/GTA.

The melee combat is a better version of Batman: AA's. It's better because the environment factors into it, so you can throw people over ledges, throw them into walls, beat their heads into the wall ,or use environmental objects to kill them i.e. Push them face first into a fan, and shred the fudge out of their face.

The shooting comes off as something out of a John Woo film. When you jump over cover, you can enter a slow-mo mode to pick everyone off. If a car is chasing you, you can shoot out the tires and the car will flip in the air, land on the ground and explode, killing everyone inside.

The driving is actually fun, unlike other open world games. It feels very arcadey, and like something out of an actual racing game (which is no surprise as united front has developed a racing game before). I don't dread doing the racing mini-events, which is a first for me.

The story is great, and it has a The Departed vibe where you, an undercover cop who is working to take down the triads from the inside, have to juggle your loyalty to the gang and to your duty as a cop.

The game is also really pretty, at least on PC:

(I nabbed this screenshot when playing, the lighting and stuff makes Hong Kong look really nice)

Spoiler:

Sleeping Dogs will certainly be, and excuse the pun, the sleeper hit of the year. Wonderful game

Ok, so I've finished two of the games on my list:

Sleeping Dogs: Best open world game out right now. Story, melee combat, shooting mechanics and driving are all excellent. If there's one ding against it, it's shorter than its competitors. It only took me about 18 hours to complete the game, however, it's paced a lot better than something like GTA, which had quite a few boring parts.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron: Oh my god, I loved this game. On it's own, it's a really solid third person shooter that has a really varied campaign. Some levels you're flying, some you play as the lumbering Bruticus and step on and squish autobots, some you're playing stealthily. There's also some really nice weapon customization. As a G1 Transformers fan, I also really loved the story and the characters. It's faithful to the feel of the original show, and contains a lot of nods to it. The nod to the Coronation scene from the first film was great.

Definitely recommend both games. Awesome stuff.

Finished Darksiders 2, was surprisingly meh.

Did a lot of things worse than Darksiders 1.