We’re now into the top 20 of our recap of our most anticipated games this year. There’s quite the mix of genres today, so let’s take a gander at what we were looking forward to during the cold winter of 2012.
20. Call of Duty: Ghosts
It’s no surprise that Activision’s flagship franchise has made an appearance in the list, though at the time of our choosing there was no information at all on what direction the next entry would go. Now, however, we do know where it’s going and that entails ghosts and fish.
Call of Duty Ghosts will be entry number ten in the main series and was revealed accidentally by Tesco of all places, before being confirmed by Activision. The story depicts the United States as a former superpower with a yet unknown group as the new controlling power. The Ghosts are a group of mercenaries who are trying to counter any threats to the U.S.
Oh, and the fish have intelligent AI so they’ll move out of your way, and the star of the reveal was Riley the dog. You just know that dog is going to die or suffer a serious wound in a final act of bravery. I salute you for your future bravery, Riley.
It’ll be releasing on November 5th on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC. The game is also transitioning to the PS4 and Xbox One, releasing alongside the next-gen consoles.
19. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist
I haven’t actually played a Splinter Cell title since Chaos Theory on the PS2, so I have no idea how they’ve handled the series this generation. What I do know about Blacklist is that it will be a sequel to Conviction, and that it’s the sixth title in the stealth action franchise.
There’s a new organisation in town called Fourth Echelon, who act as the replacement of Third Echelon, with Sam Fisher leading the group. Once again America is in danger, so Sam and co. must neutralise the threats that are inflicting significant damage upon the country. The game will also feature a new mechanic called Killing In Motion, where you can highlight enemies before taking them out while moving; it sounds a bit like the dead eye mechanic from Red Dead Redemption.
You won’t have long to wait for Blacklist as it releases next Friday, the 23rd of August in the UK, though our North American cousins get it on the 20th. The game is coming to PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U and PC.
18. Grid 2
Race Driver: Grid is my favourite racing game of this generation; it was exactly what I was looking for in an arcade racer and it completely delivered. So, when Grid 2 was announced I was understandably excited about it. Alas, I still haven’t bought it yet and I don’t really want to add more games to my backlog.
Alex gave us a run down on Grid 2 when it released in May with an article highlighting seven things about the racer. There were some criticisms relating to some visual and UI problems but overall it seemed pretty solid. At the minute Grid 2 is sitting on a Metacritic score of 82, 80 and 78 on PS3, PC and Xbox 360 respectively.
By the way the £125,000 edition of the game, featuring a BAC Mono supercar, is still available if you fancy it.
17. Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch
Another game that I was looking forward to when it was announced, and yet another game I’m still to play. Ni No Kuni was originally released on the DS back in 2010, with the PS3 version releasing in Japan in 2011. The game finally hit Western shores during the end of January this year, and was met with quite the positive reception, with a ranking of 85 on Metacritic.
Studio Ghibli and Level 5 appear to have managed to capture a very good atmosphere with the game, and the animation style was definitely a main positive in the reviews I read. Even though I’ve not played it yet I do hope Studio Ghibli have more game plans.
You guys seemed to have loved Ni No Kuni too, with the Ni No Kuni’s WeView receiving 11 Buy It votes out of a total of 14 votes cast.
16. Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee New N’ Tasty!
Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee was one of my favourite games on the original PlayStation. I was 10 years old when I received it, and I loved it purely because of the farting. I was not a mature child. As well as that mechanic, I enjoyed the game’s puzzles and challenges it presented, with the abilities to possess enemies and to interact with other Mudokons.
The development of Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee New N’ Tasty has been taken up by Just Add Water, with the game using the Unity3D engine to create the game. This is an entirely new build of the original, with new features slated to appear in the game.
There is no set release date except for Q4 2013, which means early 2014. Abe’s Odysee New N’ Tasty will be releasing on the PS3, PC and, as confirmed last month, the PS4.
Join us tomorrow for games 15-11. It shall be a good one.
KeRaSh
Ni No Kuni was nothing shor of a JRPG masterpiece. Loved every second of it!
The Oddworld franchise is one of my all time favorite franchises and it all started with Abe’s Oddysee on the PS1 so I’m very much looking forward to New n’ Tasty and everything else that’s coming from Oddworld Inhabitants / Just Add Water. I’m so glad they are revitalizing the franchise in such a glory manner. They did ace jobs on the HR remakes.
rSp8
In my opinion Grid 2 was a diappointment. Drifting muscle cars and japanese sports cars around streets? Looks like they accidentally made a Need For Speed game. By the time you get to proper circuit racing you’re so used to this that you have to totally change your driving style. On the other hand Ni No Kuni is superb, and would easily go into my top 10 of this year.