The best game coming out (and a couple that already have) this year on the Xbox 360 (before it becomes the 720) are all sequels or reboots, with GTA V, Tomb Raider, Bioshock and Dead Space offering the most intriguing new titles.
Army of Two: The Devil’s Cartel
The third game in the Army of Two series, following 2008’s Army of Two and 2010’s Army of Two: The 40th Day. The game takes place in Mexico and pits T.W.O. against a ruthless, drug cartel known as La Guadaña. It’s will run on the powerful Frostbite 2 engine. The game comes out in March.
Bioshock Infinite
Set in 1912 during the growth of American Exceptionalism, the game’s protagonist, former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt, is sent to the floating air-city of Columbia to find a young woman, Elizabeth, who has been held captive there for the last twelve years. The primary setting of BioShock Infinite is a city suspended in the air by giant blimps and balloons, called “Columbia”, named in homage to the female personification of the United States. Unlike the secret development of the underwater city of Rapture used as the settings for BioShock and BioShock 2, Columbia was built and launched in 1900 by the American government under President William McKinley’s directive, to much fanfare and publicity. The game comes out March 26.
Dead Space 3
Primarily set on a frozen planet called Tau Volantis, the game will follow protagonists Isaac Clarke and John Carver as they attempt to end the Necromorph threat, in a direct sequel to Dead Space 2. Dead Space 3 has a drop-in/drop-out co-op mode for its campaign, which was announced at EA’s E3 2012 press conference, stating that it will unlock “additional story details and gameplay mechanics only found when playing as the co-op character. The game was released on February 5.
DmC: Devil May Cry
The reboot in the DmC series, but actually the fifth game. The reimagination of the Devil May Cry series was requested by Capcom resulting in the game being made from a Western perspective rather in contrast to previous games.. It is set in Limbo City, a city which appears relatively normal at first, until it’s twisted into a nightmare when demons and other otherworldly monstrosities attempt to kill Dante, who soon discovers his true heritage as a Nephilim—an offspring of a demon and an angel. The game came out on January 17.
Gears Of War: Judgment
The fourth game in the Gears of War series, set before the first of the first trilogy, and serves as the first game in a brand new trilogy of Gears titles starring the likes of Cole and Baird, instead of Marcus and Dom. Together with Kilo Squad, Cole and Baird must survive through the events of Emergence Day and deal with the Locust as they threaten the extinction of humanity on the planet Sera. It comes out on March 19.
Grand Theft Auto V
The return to Los Santos, nine years after GTA: San Andreas, destined to be Rockstar’s biggest open world game to date. The narrative of the game follows three characters with interconnected stories. Michael is a retired former bank robber in his early forties; Trevor Phillips, his former partner, lives alone in a trailer in the desert of Blaine County; Franklin makes a living in Vespucci Beach — based on Venice Beach — as a repo man for an unscrupulous Armenian car dealership. It comes out on September 17.
Injustice: Gods Among Us
An upcoming DC Universe fighting game; one-on-one matches within a two-dimensional plane, although characters and backgrounds are rendered in a three-dimensional fashion. Each of the characters within Injustice will be defined by their superpowers and the gadgets they use defeat to one another in mortal combat. The stages of the game are based on iconic locations within the DC Comics universe, such as the Batcave and the Fortress of Solitude. It comes out on April 16.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
The ninth game in the Metal Gear series, with a plot set four years after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. The story will focus on the cyborg ninja, Raiden, in a fight against a private military company known as Desperado Enterprises. The game comes out on February 19.
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist
The sixth installment in the long-running series and takes its protagonist, Sam Fisher, back to his roots, as he’s recalled into active duty within the newly formed Fourth Echelon, an elite team drawn from different agencies to operate in a mobile environment and travel the globe to perform missions assigned by the President. Blacklist introduces a new gameplay mechanic called killing in motion, allowing the player to highlight targets and take them out in quick succession, with a new fluidity while on the run. It comes out on August 20.
Tomb Raider Reboot
Tomb Raider explores the origin story of Lara Croft and her ascent from a frightened young woman to a hardened survivor; young woman who survives a plane wreck on a remote and uncharted island somewhere in the Pacific. It’ll be an open-world game with an option to dive into side missions, while the main campaign should take between 12 to 15 hours to complete. It comes out on March 5.
