TSA’s Top 100 of 2013: 65-61 Soul Sacrifice, Hitman HD & Trials Evolution Gold Edition

Another day and another entry in our Top 100 of the most anticipated games to (hopefully) release in 2013. We’ve already covered a third of the titles we’re looking forward to seeing release, which means we’re quickly approaching the Top Ten. However, for now you’ll have to content your self with these five entries.

65. Broken Sword: The Serpent’s Curse

The Broken Sword series is one that I haven’t had much experience with personally, but it’s certainly piqued enough interest to get quite high on the list. The games are adventure games traditionally using the point and click mechanic to advance through them. Broken Sword: The Serpent’s Curse is the fifth entry to the franchise, with developers Revolution Software turning to Kickstarter, raising a total of $823,232 through the course of the fundraising.

The game will retain the 2D art style of the series, though there will be certain elements of 3D involved. Plot wise, it will follow protagonists George Stobbart and Nicole Collard as they go after a murderer who also steals an apparently worthless piece of art. The murderer was also dressed as a pizza delivery man at the time, but I’m not sure how relevant that is to the overall motivation of the suspect.

Broken Sword: The Serpent’s Curse is releasing on PC, Mac, iOS and Android devices, so it’ll be quite cool to see a full point and click adventure working on tablets. The game will be releasing at some point in Q1 2013.

64. Soul Sacrifice

Keiji Inafune’s Soul Sacrifice seems like it could be quite the interesting title. A dark fantasy RPG for the PS Vita, which will include co-op play, Soul Sacrifice could be a title the Vita has been needing since the console’s release. In fact in Japan, where it releases on March 7th 2013, the game will be part of a special bundle pack which includes a red Vita with a Soul Sacrifice design on it and red earphones, so Sony are definitely backing the game.

The gameplay in Soul Sacrifice will allow players to create a character, with the core of the creation being the Sacrifice abilities. These abilities allow players to sacrifice body parts or items to enhance attacks, and the sacrifices will have long term effects on the player’s character, meaning sacrifices have to be carefully considered. Story wise your character is a slave of a sorcerer who encounters a demon, who allows the character to relive past battles, which increases the character’s present stats.

Multiplayer wise, Soul Sacrifice will allow up to 4 players to cooperate to take down foes. Groups can also choose to sacrifice party members to help in a battle. However, the sacrificed’s game doesn’t end there. Instead they’ll enter Ghost Mode, where the can view stats of ally and foe alike, allowing them to give feedback to their still living allies.

Unfortunately, although a Western release has been confirmed there is no solid release date.

63. Hitman HD Collection

This year Agent 47 returned to the gaming world in Hitman: Absolution, which was met with generally positive reviews, though some critics did say that the game wasn’t as open as previous titles. The franchise was also surrounded by quite the amount of controversy involving nuns and cyber bullying.

However fans of the series, new & old alike, will be happy to learn that the Hitman HD Collection will feature three of Agent 47’s past titles; Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money. Originally the Collection was leaked by Italian retailer 16Games who put a release date up for October 2012. Of course that date passed, though speculation on the internet suggests you’ll be able to relive killing Crows while dressed like one in January 2013.

62. Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs

Frictional Games launched what could be considered one of the most frightening game series with Amnesia: The Dark Descent back in 2010. That title was praised due to the atmosphere of the game, and its ability to scare players. Frictional already had some experience in this department with the Penumbra series.

With such a strong reception it was unsurprising that fans wanted a sequel. Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs is that next entry, and an indirect sequel to The Dark Descent.

The story is set in 1889 and follows new protagonist Oswald Mandus, a rich industrialist who is hit by a fever following a disastrous trip to Mexico. The fever puts him into a long sleep where he has feverish dreams about a machine. When he wakes up the first thing he hears is the sound of an engine starting up. If Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs is anything like its predecessor then it’ll be one of the best games I’m too scared to play.

61. Trials Evolution: Gold Edition

Trials Evolution released earlier this year on XBLA and Peter gave it an excellent 9/10 in his review, describing RedLynx’s title as “one of the best games on any platform so far this year.” But the Trials series first found major success on PC with Trials 2 SE, with PC gamers waiting for the later titles to appear on the platform.

Announced in September 2012, Trials Evolution: Gold Edition will bring both Trials HD and Trials Evolution to the PC. The games themselves will be optimised for the platform and will include features like the Track Editor with the ability to share tracks online, global leaderboards and multiplayer. However, it won’t include the Origin Of Pain DLC.

The game is due to release in early 2013.

That’s it for the second of today’s entries into our top hundred games. We’ll return tomorrow as we crash towards the half way point.