The 25 Most Anticipated Games of 2012

If 2011 was a big year for games, 2012 is going to be off the charts. Don't think of this list as comprehensive; it would have to be a top 100 to cover every game we think is going to be worth playing this year.

That's the problem, though, isn't it? There are so many games coming out these days that it can seem impossible to decide what to play with your precious time. That's why we kept it to 25—the 25 games that we know are going to kick ass this year. Read on!

UFC Undisputed 3 will improve on its predecessor, Undisputed 2010, in a number of ways—most notably, you can kick downed opponents in the face in its brand new PRIDE mode. Sounds like Mario could learn a thing or two.

With Obsidian developing and South Park creators (and avid gamers) Trey Parker and Matt Stone at the helm, the newly announced RPG has the potential to become one of the best licensed games ever. And one of the five playable classes is "Jew." Brilliant, as always.

The original Prototype gave players deadly and over-the-top powers and set us loose on Manhattan to destroy everything with almost total impunity—a modern-day Rampage with a plot. The sequel tasks players with hunting down the first game's protagonist as a soldier undergoing a similar transformation. Awesome.

Say what you want about Dante's new look, but with Heavenly Sword and Enslaved developers Ninja Theory in charge of this Devil May Cry reboot, we're excited. Honestly, wasn't the series getting a little stale anyway?

Reckoning is slated to be a hybrid of Elder Scrolls (Skyrim) and Fable gameplay, with action-based combat and a huge open world to explore. With industry veterans and Bethesda alums working on it, we have a feeling it's destined for greatness.

It's not often Nintendo revives a classic franchise. That was a joke. Still, we're excited to have a new Kid Icarus game in our hands, since the Pit has skipped the last four consoles generations entirely. Yeah, it's been a while.

The Darkness may have been a bit of a flop, but The Darkness 2 looks like it may correct many of that game's flaws. If it does, its blend of mobsters and demonic action will definitely win us over.

In the tradition of the Batman: Arkham series and, well, Zelda, Darksiders riffs on Zelda like it's going out of style (which it most certainly is not). Still, its blend of dungeon exploration with God of War-inspired combat and epic Biblical storytelling had us sold on the first game, and the second can hardly disappoint with freaking Death as the main character.

Just because Bungie's no longer in charge doesn't mean Halo is dead; far from it, in fact (did you really believe Microsoft would let their biggest cash cow fall by the wayside?). 343 Industries is set to revive the Master Chief from his long nap to take on unknown foes in the fourth proper installment in the series, beginning what will no doubt be a new trilogy. Here's hoping it turns out excellent, as we'd hate to see the series fall from greatness even with Bungie gone.

If you considered Alan Wake perfect besides the repetitive combat, American Nightmare will probably be the game for you. As a downloadable title, it may not be a sequel, per se, but it will be bigger than your average Xbox Live Arcade release. Either way, if the atmosphere from the first game persists, we'll be playing it.

Golden Abyss will be one of the games that makes or breaks the PS Vita upon its launch in the US in February. Luckily for Sony's latest handheld, the game looks every bit as engrossing as its big brothers on PS3. We can't remember the last time a system launched with a game we actually wanted this badly.

Metro 2033 is one of the most atmospheric and thematically rich games we've ever played, and its mix of action and stealth first-person gameplay was varied and exciting. It'll once again be set in post-apocalyptic Moscow, one of the most interesting settings we've ever experienced in a game. In short, we loved the first game, and we can't wait for the sequel.

The latest game from Flower developers thatgamecompany is carrying a lot of baggage—Flower was divisive, praised or maligned often depending on players' stance on the "games as art" debate. Regardless, Journey's visual style alone will make this a must-play for us, so hopefully the off- and online gameplay will live up to our expectations as well.

The behemoth known as Grand Theft Auto returns in 2012 for what will no doubt be another stellar outing, as Rockstar's penchant for quality has yet to fail. We don't know much besides that it'll be set in Los Santos, one of settings from classic GTA: San Andreas, but the engine is thought to be a heavily improved version of GTA IV's—so expect bigger, better and prettier.

If Far Cry 3 improves on Far Cry 2 as much as that game improved on the first Far Cry, we may have a game of the year contender on our hands. While the second entry's combat and AI could have used more polish, the world—a dense African jungle—was second to none in its class. 3's island setting may be just what this series needs to continue evolving.

If you weren't excited about Absolution before the VGAs this year, then the newest trailer must have surely got your blood pumping. Either that or you're a Splinter Cell fanboy/girl, in which case, well, to each their own.

This collaboration marks the first time characters from Tekken and Street Fighter, two of the most legendary fighting series out there, will be pitted against one another. With new combatants revealed seemingly every week, the roster's enormous, and it'll likely keep fighting fans occupied for years to come. If you don't hear from us for a while come March, this is why.

With No More Heroes and Shadows of the Damned creator Goichi "Suda 51" Suda behind it, Lollipop Chainsaw is destined to be crazy—and tons of fun. Suda's unique stylistic leanings are this time lent to a zombie-slaying high school cheerleader with a glowing chainsaw and a penchant for upskirts. If it sounds to good to be true, you're obviously a Suda fan already.

It's been ages since we got to sink our teeth into a Max Payne title, but the series that invented bullet-time for games is finally returning in just a couple months. Unsurprisingly, Payne will still be down on his luck. We didn't say it would be a happy game.

A year ago if you had asked us whether it was still possible to get excited about a Tomb Raider game we would have laughed in your face and never called you again. If Sonic's any example, a franchise that's long since gone to crap can be sustained for decades on star power alone. Instead, though, the new Tomb Raider appears to be a true reboot, as different from the old games as possible while still maintaining Laura Croft's great rack. We're definitely excited.

The trailer revealed upon the The Last of US's unveiling at this years Spike VGAs was one of the best we've seen in recent years. With Naughty Dog's considerable prowess driving this game's development and an Ellen Page look-a-like as one of two main protagonists, there's little chance this game will be bad.

Team ICO head Fumito Ueda's departure from Sony late last year had us worried for a while, but once the dry heaves let up and we realized he'd be finishing the game on contract we felt better. you'd think a studio with only two prior games wouldn't cause so much of a hubbub, but when those games are masterpieces ICO and Shadow of the Colossus, people are going to get excited.

The most epic space saga since Space Balls will wrap up the current story arc in its third entry, Mass Effect 3, and we've no doubt it'll be the best game in the series. Given how much Mass Effect 2 improved upon the first game, it's difficult to see how this game could fall flat—unless it goes all Dragon Age 2-ey, in which case just kill us, please.

Borderlands is one of the best online co-op shooters we've ever played, and its integration of dungeon crawling mechanics—looting, for all intents and purposes—kept us coming back long after another game would have lost our interest. Borderlands 2 is set to have more of everything we loved about the first one, and with the right improvements, it could keep us coming back a second time.

Bioshock revolutionized gaming with its seamless integration of RPG mechanics with shooter gameplay and, more importantly, its unique setting and literary themes. Bioshock 2 may have failed to recapture the mystery of the first due to its lack of surprises, but the third will likely avoid that particular pitfall with its new setting high in the sky and 50-odd years prior. And the new antagonist, the terrifying mechanical Songbird, will certainly rival Big Daddies.

If you only play one game next year—on second thought, no, we're not going to fall back on that tired trope. But, well, you know what we were going to say.

We know there are plenty of other games that deserved to be on this list, so go ahead and tell us all the reasons we're wrong in the comments or on Twitter.