Hot Properties: The Best New Games of 2012 (part four)

Over the last few weeks we’ve been looking at the best original games coming our way in 2012, covering everything from Anarchy Reigns and Inversion to Dishonored and Asura’s Wrath in our bid to quash rumblings that this year is all about reboots and sequels. Read on for the lowdown on six more potential stunners, in the final part of Hot Properties.

READ PART ONE OF THE FEATURE HERE

READ PART TWO OF THE FEATURE HERE

AND FINALLY READ PART THREE HERE

OVERSTRIKE
Formats: PS3, Xbox 360
Publisher: EA
Developer: Insomniac Games
ETA: Q2, 2012

What We Know: So far, very little beyond what’s been drip-fed to us in the press releases, but we can say for certaint that Overstrike follows four unpredictable-yet-lethal special agents who make up the mercenary squad known as Overstrike 9. The storyline seems to centre around infiltrating the hideout of a terrorist organisation some time in the near future, and using each agent’s unique abilities to complete objectives. With a thief, a scientist, a soldier and a detective making up the quirky quartet, there’s a lot of potential for tactical depth. Judging by the screenshots we’ve seen so far, the graphics have a colourful, almost cartoonish art-style, somewhat reminiscent of a last-gen title called Brute Force (Anyone remember that one? No? Just us then).

What We Want: A four-player co-op experience that not only encourages but necessitates clever use of the protagonists’ individual skills and abilities. Oh, and some brutal, fast-paced shooting action.

What We Expect: Hard to say given Insomniac Games’ pedigree. A four-player shooter with a cartoonish sheen might uncomfortably straddle whichever brightly-painted, bullet-riddled fence stands directly between Ratchet & Clank and Resistance, or it might be something completely new. What we can confidently expect from Insomniac is a degree of quality, at least.

 

THE SECRET WORLD
Formats: PC
Publisher: Funcom / EA
Developer: Funcom
ETA: April 2012

What We Know: The Secret World has been in development since about 1947, but finally Funcom’s demon-slaying, part-MMO-part-social experiment is expected to see the light of day in Spring of this year. Set in modern times, The Secret World charts the battle between good and evil – the good being superhuman men and women, and the evil being the otherworldly demons that they hunt and kill. Funcom’s lead designer, Ragnar Tornquist, has stated that the game will feature no levelling system and that, although the player character will be highly customisable, all progress will be skill-based to avoid the level grinding associated with other MMOs. He also confirmed that The Secret World will be just as playable for soloists as for team players.

What We Want: To play it. The Secret World has been on the radar for almost ten years, and we’ve been sporadically fed information and (admittedly-awesome) CG trailers since 2002 – now we just want to see if all the waiting has been worth it.

What We Expect: The unexpected. The Secret World is a unique MMO in that it doesn’t take place in a fictional setting and the central quest-line can be completed by a single player – if you don’t want to team up, you don’t have to. Featuring a huge variety of weapons from axes and swords to shotguns and rifles, fully customisable characters, a vast array of abilities and real world locations like London and Seoul [and Wiltshire. FACT! - Ed] as well as fictional realms taken from various world mythologies, The Secret World has the potential for greatness. If they ever actually finish it, of course.

 

RYSE
Formats: Xbox 360
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Crytek
ETA: Q4, 2012

What We Know: So far, Microsoft’s controller-less controller, Kinect, has been a little bit hit and miss. Actually, putting a “hit and” in there is pretty generous. From shatto-fests like Fighters Uncaged and Rise of Nightmares to the usual big-selling yet ultimately quite generic Just Dance series, there’s not been a great deal to really test the technology yet. In all fairness, Crytek’s Roman-slaying slice-em-up, Ryse, is unlikely to really change that – but it certainly looks shiny.

What We Want: A decent Kinect action game. One that lets us do what the tech promised we could do in the first place, that can do what we do, attack where we attack, block where we want to block and, for God’s sake, do it when we do it.

What We Expect: A good-looking, Roman-flavoured Rise of Nightmares. It’s not that we don’t have absolute faith in Kinect... it’s just that we don’t.

 

AWESOMENAUTS
Formats: PS3 (Playstation Network), Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade)
Publisher: DTP Entertainment
Developer: Ronimo Games
ETA: February, 2012

What We Know: That there aren’t enough Multiplayer Online Battle Arenas out there, that’s what. We first heard about Awesomenauts a while back, and we’ve been intrigued ever since by its mix of humour, colour, adaptable characters and multiplayer mayhem. A match will consist of two teams of 3 (with a drop-in, drop-out function that allows players to replace AI characters and erases the need for boring lobby-lurking) who must attempt to destroy their opponent’s base while beating each other senseless with a variety of crazy moves and abilities. It will feature six characters at launch, with more to be added in the form of DLC at later dates. Although MOBAs are in short supply at present, Awesomenauts will face tough competition later in the year from Platinum Games’ own multiplayer battler Anarchy Reigns.

What We Want: Balanced, varied characters and a decent array of upgradeable abilities to add depth to all the brawling.

What We Expect: Awesomenauts looks quirky, charming and unique, and judging by the screens and trailers, we’re expecting bottled mayhem in a variety of flavours. [Also,Romino's Swords & Soldiers is the best WiiWare game out there. FACT - Ed]

 

SINE MORA
Formats: Xbox 360 (Xbox Live Arcade)
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Grasshopper Manufacture / Digital Reality
ETA: Q3, 2012

What We Know: Once upon a time the side-scrolling shooter was the pinnacle of gaming excellence. Although the genre has largely faded away in recent years, there’s still a lot of fun to be had with the classically-simple bullet hell set-up of blowing the living crap out of anything that moves. Aiming to reinvigorate the genre by building a brand new shoot-em-up marrying that simple concept with decent production values, Grasshopper Manufacture and Digital Reality have produced Sine Mora, a time-bending, story-heavy, futuristic shooter being released exclusively on Xbox Live this year. The ability to control time during the action sounds intriguing, though we’ve yet to see exactly how such a mechanic will be integrated.

What We Want: The official site promises “no repetition”, which is a tall order for a game of this ilk. As long as there are enough fresh ideas to keep us blasting away, we’re sold. Music composed by Akira Yamaoka (of Silent Hill and Shadows of the Damned fame) strums our happy strings, too.

What We Expect: Anything by Grasshopper Manufacture is enough to get our attention here at Made2Game, and the idea of an age-old genre given a new lease of life by one of today’s weirdest and most daring development houses is one that gets our eyebrows waggling.

 

RUIN
Formats: PS3, PS Vita
Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Idol Minds / Sony Computer Entertainment San Diego
ETA: Q3 2012

What We Know: Isometric dungeon-crawlers are more or less ten-a-penny. From Diablo through Torchlight, Dungeon Siege through Crimson Alliance, we’ve looted thousands of chests, hurled millions of fireballs and made a gazillion giant spiders flip onto their backs and shake til they’re dead, so the idea of another one isn’t generally enough to get us hot and sweaty. Thankfully, Sony-exclusive hack-n-slasher Ruin has a few tricks up its chainmail sleeves, such as the option to create your own dungeons filled with your most precious loot, called Lairs, which other players can then attempt to pillage. Social-networking is also on the list, allowing co-op or competitive play, chatting and item-trading all via a cloud service. Even more interesting is that by utilising said cloud service, you’ll be able to play your saved game on your PS3 or Vita whenever you choose.

What We Want: A little originality where the world and characters are concerned. The idea of the Lairs sounds pretty cool, but we don’t want to be restricted to the standard warrior, ranger, mage set up that seems to be a prerequisite in isometric RPGs nowadays.

What We Expect: Games of this genre usually do fairly well despite being inundated with me-tooisms, but at least Ruin has some new ideas. Being able to play it on the PS3 or switch to the Vita to go portable will allow players to become suitably addicted, so as long as the gameplay is solid Idol Minds could have a potential hit on their hands.

 

Upon which note our 2012 preview blow out comes to an end. Hopefully you’ll agree that there’s a lot more to this year than rebooting old franchises and keeping existing ones alive, and there are still developers willing to take risks and introduce new IPs to the market. Please do comment and tell us which of the 24 titles we’ve covered catch your eye – or let us know if there’re any we’ve omitted. We hope you enjoyed our feature and wish you happy gaming throughout 2012.

Have a great New Year from all of us at Made2Game!

Words by Mick Fraser (Twitter: @Jedi_Beats_Tank)

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