Dota 2

Dota 2

Our readers are divided into two groups for this entry: Those who get it and are excited, and those who don’t and thus do not care. Dota stands for Defense of the Ancients, a highly popular and insanely competitive online action game.

The first Dota was sort of low budget, but still had great gameplay. Game developer Valve is giving the game a makeover without changing anything important. That way fans can get the same hyper-competitive gameplay they love with better community support.

The Last Guardian

The Last Guardian

The Last Guardian is another game that’s best compared to indie film. The game is about a giant creature that protects a young child. Don’t expect much exposition, but do expect quite a lot of symbolic imagery.

A lot of gamers will lose patience with The Last Guardian. Those who are willing to play it in order to find a deeper message, though, will be in for something uniquely rewarding.

As we said, there are a lot of great games coming out in 2012. What are you going to play? Let us know in the comments.

Lollipop Chainsaw

 Lollipop Chainsaw

Yes, this is a real game. Lollipop Chainsaw is a game perfectly summarized by its title. A cheerleader, Juliet, has to fend off hordes of undead zombies invading her high school. Her tool of destruction is, you guessed it, a chainsaw.

The game looks funny in a bizarre sort of way. Juliet is a preppy, cheerful, shallow person. Of course that makes it funnier when she cuts a zombie in half and sprays gore everywhere. If that’s your brand of humor, check it out sometime in 2012.

Fable: The Journey

Fable: The Journey

Microsoft’s Kinect doesn’t get too many “hardcore” games, but Fable: The Journey is aiming to break that. Fable is a popular fantasy series for Xbox, but The Journey is the first entry to use entirely Kinect controls.

To be honest, there’s a very good chance that this game will be awful. Kinect controls are sketchy at best. However, if Fable can make Kinect work for hardcore games, then the result would be absolutely amazing. Either way, read a review before getting this game.

Aliens: Colonial Marines

 Aliens: Colonial Marines

Man, it has been a while since we’ve heard anything about Aliens: Colonial Marines. Originally announced in 2008, this Gearbox title has players desperately trying to survive on a ship infested with aliens from the James Cameron film.

There’s no release date on this one, and we would caution you to take any news about that with a huge grain of salt. Colonial Marines has been delayed since 2008, so there’s a decent chance it won’t even show up in 2012. On the off chance it does, it looks fairly entertaining.

Assassin’s Creed III

 Assassin’s Creed III 

Assassin’s Creed finally stops the side adventures for a genuine numbered adventure with the release of AC III. We won’t pretend to understand the complex saga of the Templars and the Assassins, but something important to that story will probably happen in the new game.

Regardless of the confusing story, Assassin’s Creed is all about putting you in the shoes of a stealthy killer. If you play right, nobody will ever notice that epidemic of stab wounds going through important targets until it’s too late.

Halo 4

Halo 4 

Halo may be only for people with an Xbox, but it is still a good series. After concluding the fight with the Covenant menace in Halo 3, the saga is starting all over with a new trilogy. That’s where Halo 4 comes in.

So far details are fairly scarce, but what we do know is that series protagonist Master Chief is returning. Many Halo fans disliked his exclusion for Halo: Reach, so it’s good to see him back. Whatever the new Halo game does have, it will undoubtedly be wrapped up in fun shooting and a sweeping story