Hitman: Absolution – Being an Assassin has Never Looked this Fun!
The Hitman series is looking to return back to its roots with Absolution. Sporting a new graphical engine that supports hundreds of NPCs on screen at the same time, Absolution has got to be one of the best looking games to be coming out this year.
Back are the days when you can get in, kill your target, and leave without raising any alarms. Hunters of the “Silent Assassin” rating rejoice!
Examples of gameplay given include using the environment as a weapon, poisoning food, and setting off an alarm to attract your targets attention (and then detonating a planted explosive when your target is close by).
If you, like me, have been waiting for a true modern day assassin game, then this is the title to keep a look out for. Release date has been pinned for the 20th of November!
Tomb Raider – To the beginning
Lara Craft has always been tougher than life. The one girl who could stand up to men and trade blows with them, and the men would come off second best.
The Tomb Raider series, however, dwindled in quality over the years. Some of the worst adventure games ever are graced with the Tomb Raider title (Angel of Darkness anybody?). Crystal Dynamics have been tasked with the job of rebirthing the Tomb Raider series and taking it back to its former glory.
The rebirth sees the series going back to before the start. Borrowing many concepts from the exceptional Uncharted Games, the new Tomb Raider takes a more cinematic approach. Huge set pieces set in an intense story filled with treachery and emotion featuring a fragile Lara Craft sounds like a recipe to success!
The new trailer shows us a shivering Lara Craft starting a fire to try and get warm, hunting a deer for food, and trembling with fear when captured. Tomb Raider is set to take us on the adventure that made Lara Craft into the strong woman we now know. Will this be enough to pull the Tomb Raider name out of the pit it has put itself in? The game is set to come out on the 5th of March, 2013.
Dishonored – The New Bioshock?
Dishonored, the new game by Arkane Studios (the makers of Bioshock2) looks to be borrowing many elements from Bioshock. Have a look at the trailer from GameTrailers and see if it looks like your cup of tea (or late night gaming session). Dishonored sees release October 9th.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance with Precision!
Abandoning the stealth roots of the MGS series for a more action orientated version, Metal Gear Rising sees players taking control of Raiden. It isn’t new for players to control someone other than Snake in a MGS game, but what sets this game apart from the others is the completely different gameplay mechanics. Think Devil May Cry in the MGS universe.
Metal Gear Rising is the first MGS series game from PlatinumGames. They have worked very closely with Kojima Productions to keep what they were doing alive. Don’t approach this game thinking its a MGS sequal, as you will be disappointed. Rather think of it as the first game in its own series, MGR, and it starts looking very good!
The developers are punting the new “Slice anything in any direction” gimmick which seems interesting. Watch the trailer to see robots bleed blood just like soldiers do, as they are sliced apart in any and every direction.
Keep your eyes out for MGR, coming out early 2013 (hopefully).
Injustice: Gods Among Us Reveal Trailer
From the makers of Mortal Kombat and with the characters of the DC Universe, Injustice is a new fighting game set to grace our consoles in 2013. There isn’t much to go by, but from the trailer it looks like a new Mortal Kombat with different skins. I’ll keep my eye out on this one, being a huge comic geek myself, and will let you know the moment more information surfaces!
LEGO Ring to Rule Them All
Its no secret that I am a huge fan of the Lego games. They’re the perfect games to play with girlfriends (or non-gamer boyfriends for girl gamers), kids or parents. With simple jump in-jump out co-op, I’ve always enjoyed the adventures the Lego games have supplied.
Lego Lord of the Rings has been requested repeatedly by fans over the last few years, and it has finally been officially announced! Following in the footsteps of Lego Batman 2 (which has yet to come out), the little lego characters all talk. The voices have been taken directly from the movies to keep the authenticity of the series in tact.
The game will cover the entire trilogy, going across all of Middle Earth. As in previous games, the good and bad characters will all be playable. Once again, 2 player co-op is available.
Lego Lord of the Rings will be available on pretty much every platform known to man some time in the future. My guess is between June and August 2013.
Guardians of Middle Earth – A MOBA for Consoles?
There isn’t any gameplay in this trailer, but from the look of things, this is another DotA inspired game. It’ll be interesting to see how this turns out. I’m a huge fan of MOBA (Games like DotA, HoN or LoL), but can’t imagine playing them without a mouse.
I can think of many ways to make this work, but who knows how Monolith are planning to do it. Monolith are best known for F.E.A.R. and Condemned, neither of which are MOBAs, so we’ll just have to wait and see how this one turns out. The wait won’t be long, however, as the game is planned for release in the next 4 months.
Check out the trailer for some excellent CG.