Stuff I'm looking Forward To In 2013

While I'm certain most people who visit this blog are far more interested in the Crysis 2 app, I still do like to use it for non-programming related posts about video games in general. I haven't worked much on that app recently, but when Crysis 3 comes out you can be sure I'll have one cooked up for that.

I wanted to take some time to look forward to 2013. PC Gamer recently published a comprehensive list of a lot of promising looking games expected out before the year ends (you can find that article here) and it got me quite excited for 2013. After the launch of Guild Wars 2 and Planetside 2, there wasn't much I was looking forward to. In fact, I wasn't sure of many of the titles that were launching in 2013. I knew about a few, like Company of Heroes 2 and the new Starcraft 2 expansion, but I haven't really paid much attention to them. 

Browsing through PC Gamer's list has definitely gotten me excited. There are a lot of very interesting titles there, a lot of which I'm going to keep my eye on. However the list is quite long so I'm going to just focus on a few titles that I'm very excited for. Keep in mind these are not all of the games I'm looking forward to, but here we go anyways...

Grand Theft Auto V

In 2007 GTA 4 was the sole reason I picked up an Xbox 360. All of my gaming buddies through GUFU (a Gamespot union) were playing the free roam in GTA 4 and were constantly spamming up the IRC with stories from the latest chaos they created. I needed to get in on that. I wasn't disappointed at all. GTA 4 improved nearly ever aspect of the GTA series with much more intuitive shooting, much more robust vehicle handling which allowed for a lot of great chases, chaotic multiplayer, and an extremely detailed world. Even if the game lacked the content of previous titles, it still did not disappoint. 

GTA 5 excites me because it's everything I love about GTA 4 but bigger. More content, new locations, yet the same old chaos that made GTA 4 so damn addictive. 

Bioshock Infinite

It's almost impossible  for me to not be excited about this one. Just like its predecessors, Bishock Infinite has a crazy setting that the game looks to use to its advantage whenever possible. The setting alone is enough for me to play this game, but the developers have decided to throw in some of the most kick-ass looking FPS gameplay I've seen in quite some time. The whole riding the rails and jumping from platform to platform dynamically during combat seems to be both intense and memorable.

Crysis 3

While Crysis 2 was an overall disappointment, there was still a lot to like about the game. Aside from the excellent graphics (especially with some mods), the shooting was rock solid and the overall feel of the game was extremely polished, AI blunders aside. Of course the extremely linear levels, broken AI, and virtually nonexistent ties with the original were extremely disappointing and made the experience less than stellar. Don't even get me started on the lack of graphics options, that was inexcusable for the series. Crysis 3 seems to be fixing all of those as well as taking video game graphics to another level. Every screenshot and preview of Crysis 3 gives me hope that Crytek has learned from Crysis 2, finished the tech off, and are really doing some wonderful things with Crysis 3. The new tall grass physics alone may be worth playing Crysis 3. I will be checking it out and I should have another version of the Advanced Graphics Options program soon after launch (still a lot of work to do to make it more mod friendly).

Total War: Rome 2

Words cannot express how excited I am for this game. In order for Rome 2 to be a proper sequel, it would have to be the most epic strategy game ever made. I believe Creative Assembly has waited for just the right amount of time to let game tech catch up with what they would need to do Rome 2 properly. I'm happy they waited because the results of their hard work over the past several years of have paid off and Rome 2 does look to be the proper sequel to what I consider one of the finest strategy games of all time.

South Park: The Stick of Truth

South Park games have a habit of sucking. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have acknowledged this and have decided to fix this with Stick of Truth. Unlike previous games, Trey and Matt have said they are putting real effort into this game. Paired with Obsidian, it seems they've made all of the right decisions to make Stick of Truth really stand sound. It's impossible to tell when you're watching gameplay or a cutscene because the graphics perfectly emulate the show, and their choice of using oldschool, JRPG mechanics really helps showcase this and I believe fits perfectly to allow the gameplay to not get in the way of any narration that is guaranteed to be hilarious. The trailers leave me grinning and nodding my head. This one will be a winner.

Planetary Annihilation

When I heard that the creators of Total Annihilation and Supreme Commander were Kickstarting their way to make a spiritual successor to those famous games, I had to be apart of it. I instantly helped them on their way to one of the highest Kickstarter funded games ever. Planetary Annihilation has all of the right ideas and is putting them all together in a very clean-looking package. I'm expecting hundreds of hours of galaxy conquering mayhem when this game is launched later this year. If you don't know, it's basically Supreme Commander in space, utilizing the setting to its fullest. Massive battles spanning the cosmos including hurling asteroids into enemy's planets. They raised 2.2 million dollars and the game should be out in 2013.

X Rebirth

Last but not least is the series that tries to be EVE Online without the Online part. The X-Series has always been an incredibly deep space sim/strategy game/economic sim that has you traversing the galaxy fighting pirates, buying property, setting up trade routes, and building battle fleets. However all of this awesomeness came at a high price of learning curve and time requirements. Luckily developer Deep Silver recognizes this issue and has decided to put serious effort forth to streamline the expeirance without losing the depth. X Rebirth looks to be the X Game for people who prefer not having to fire up Microsoft Excel on the second monitor.

Of course these aren't the only games I'm looking forward to this year. Games like Company of Heroes 2, Fortnite , Starforge, The Elder Scrolls: Online (seriously, it looks fun), Firefall, SimCity, Command & Conquer, Godus, and so many more. 2013 is absolutely packed with games especially on the PC. It promises to be a very good year for gaming.