2012: The Gaming Year So Far | Video Game Blog, Video Games ...

With 2012 nearly upon it?s completion, let?s have a look at what this particular year has produced for the gaming community. Filled with some great games and sometimes huge disappointments, 2012 has definitely been a year where the gaming industry has seen huge peeks and deep low?s. So like any good game, there have been hits and there have been misses as well. So to sum all the game happenings will be a Herculean task but let?s give it a try anyway.

2012 had a lot of games coming out, some good and some down right horrible. So let?s make this recap short and stick to games which made a difference, good or bad whichever it may be.

Let?s start from the start, we had a great game coming out only for multiplayer action called, Gotham City?Imposters. With a focus only on multiplayer with a Team Fortress style of gameplay, it had two opposing teams take on each other in Gotham city. Later on we had the first successful first person shooter in The Darkness 2. Darkness 2 gave players a chance to harness dark powers and provided for some vicious kills.

We had a massive release for the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3?in March, 2012. Mass Effect 3 was seen as potential game of the year even before it?s release. A host of changes were introduced into the third installment of the game. Barring the ending the game was a success in all terms, critics and gamers alike. Mass Effect 3 provided for some solid gameplay and an interesting story which seemed to be rushed in places but over all portrayed a defiant picture. Mass Effect 3 was one of the best games of 2012 and is a?formidable?title obviously barring the ending.

With one great offering there was another offering in Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City which came out for the Xbox 360 and PS3. With flawed gameplay and patchy mechanics, the game fell flat and was a huge disappointment for all the gamers out there. Much was expected of this shooter horror game but expectations were not fulfilled on any level.

Diablo 3?came out for the PC in May, 2012 and it was one of the most addictive games out there. With visually stunning graphics and a very extensive Role Playing gameplay, Diablo 3 was a very satisfying game. Learning from the previous installments Blizzard made the game to be a tad bit more user friendly, action again makes for the core gameplay and like before the world of Diablo 3 is very engaging and gratifying to say the least.

Rockstar delivered us the very same day a series that was unseen for quite a while, Max Payne 3. Bullet time was back and better than before in Max Payne 3. One great feature of Max Payne 3 was the absolute absence of loading screens, gameplay flowing from the cutscenes which made the story have no regressive impact on the gameplay. With great multiplayer action and an exciting single player campaign, Max Payne 3 was the best third person shooter of 2012.

With such great games there were also some disappointments in the form of ?Inversion. It showed how a great idea with lackluster finishing can lead to total collapse. The idea behind Inversion was a very exciting prospect but the implementation of it was not?properly?worked?out which lead to a mediocre game which seemed rushed and unfinished.

There were also games which did not seem to make any impact on the gaming community but brought to the table a great set of ideas. One such game that came out in June was Tom Clancy?s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.? The game had some unique features such as the?invisibility?cloak and some?great?stealth features. The game was neither a hit nor a miss but was well appreciated. Having played the game personally, I have to add that it was a very different experience and left me wanting for more of it.

Borderlands 2?saw a September release and it was a hit the moment it started to sell. With some amazing co-op gameplay and the unique comics style of animation, Borderlands 2 made for a very unique game. The humor quotient was again high and with quirky characters to add to the mix, it made for some plain old ?fun? gameplay. Although not having the best of story to support the characters, the?ambiance?and style of execution more than made up for that.

Dishonored released in the month of October. Developed by Bethesda and Arkane studios, Dishonored came from nowhere and now is the top?contender?for the game of the year. Dishonored is stealth game which offers various paths for the players to complete a mission. With a very different style of artwork and very addictive gameplay, Dishonored quickly caught the eyes of gamers and became an instant hit. The game also provides for some great magical powers which are projected using some RPG elements of gaining experience(runes) and leveling up based upon different?skill sets.

In the same lines we had Assassins Creed 3 release in October, 2012. With huge hype and a brand new central character Assassins Creed 3 was all set to change the series and it?s path and achieve?greater?heights of success. With Assassins Creed 3, there has been nothing new that was offered, except a new world. With same old gameplay and a very long time before the central character is playable, Assassins Creed 3 did not meet expectations of a lot of people.

After 6 years of waiting, Square Enix and not Eidos brought to us the next installment to the Hitman Series, Hitman Absolution. Hitman Absolution was a tad bit askew from it?s predecessors. With new game elements introduces like instinct, which can be a great tool in all the stealth situations, it tried to revamp the game series but it lacked the finesse of the previous Hitman games. Overall with a predictable yet good story, solid stealth gameplay, missions with great replay value, unique challenges, unlockable abilities, Hitman Absolution is a great game but maybe not a ?Hitman? Game.

They say we save the best for the last. Well here it is, with Halo 4 and Call Of Duty Black Ops 2. These two titles released quite close to each other and there have been endless comparisons as to which one is better. Both as individuals are mammoths and looking at the sheer magnitude of numbers that these games have produced, the success or failure of these two titles can very well the industry?s conditions. Both are different games with unique pros and cons to each of them. With the titles not too old, let the battle continue and let us just leave the debate to be decided by the future.

With so many good and so many not so good games in 2012, it has truly been a year of hits and misses. But with some great titles that came out this year it sure made a very memorable year for all gamers.

*This was just a quick recap with not motives to include or exclude any titles. This was just a take of what 2012 offered us and only a personal opinion.

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Article from Gamersyndrome.com

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Source: http://gamersyndrome.com/2012/video-games/2012-the-gaming-year-so-far/

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