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TOP GAMES OF 2012


Q2 2012: BRINGING THE PAYNE


MAY has always been a time for blockbuster titles, dominated in the past few years by Rockstar Games offerings such as L.A. Noireand Red Dead Redemptionand THQ’s UFC Undisputed. Rockstar hopes to maintain its reputation for May blockbusters with Max Payne 3, the long awaited homecoming for gaming’s original Bullet Time action hero. But the GTAfirm faces competition this year from Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Q2 will also host the battle of the snipers. City Interactive aims to follow up its 2010 surprise hit with Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2but 505 Games has the title in its sights as it mobilises Sniper Elite V2.


Publisher Release Dates


Game/Platform Kinect Star Wars 360 Prototype 2 360, PS3, PC


Dirt Showdown 360, PS3, PC Sniper Elite V2 360, PS3


Microsoft Activision


Risen 2: Dark Waters 360, PS3, PC Deep Silver Battleship 360, PS3


Activision


Codemasters 505 Games


Ghost Recon: Future Soldier 360, PS3, PC Ubisoft Q3 2012: THE SUMMER DROUGHT


IT’S looking like another quiet summer again this year. That’s not to say there are no potential hits heading to shelves. Far from it.


Instead, retailers can look forward to the arrival of Warner Bros’ LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes. Not only is this the sequel to the


biggest-selling LEGO


game of all time, it also coincides rather conveniently with the silver screen debut of hotly anticipated Caped Crusader flick The Dark Knight Rises. Speaking of which, there is a stellar line- up of summer movie blockbusters that will


almost certainly have video game adaptations, including Marvel’s The Avengers, Pixar’s Brave and Dreamworks’ Madagascar 3. Expect these to tempt movie buffs into stores throughout the summer. Plus, there’s the not insignificant event of the London 2012 Olympics. As well as a new Olympicstitle from Sega, last year’s Mario & Sonictitle stands to benefit from a second wave of sales.


As September arrives, the High


Street can depend on unannounced but inevitable follow-ups to some of the industry’s annual surefire hits, such as EA’s FIFA 13. Other safe bets include


Codemasters’ F1 2012– until then racing fans can enjoy next week’s F1 2011on Vita.


Publisher Release Dates


Game/Platform LEGO Batman 2 Various


London 2012 Olympics 360, PS3, PC FIFA 13 Various


Sleeping Dogs 360, PS3, PC 26 February 17th 2012


Warner Bros Sega


Square Enix


Summer Summer


EA September Q3


Publisher


Game/Platform Anarchy Reins 360, PS3


End of Nations PC F1 2012 Various


Release Dates Sega


Trion Worlds Codemasters


Q3 Q3 Q3


www.mcvuk.com


ACTIVISION BLOCKBUSTERS MOVIE licences will be a big part of Activision’s line-up this year. The publisher is releasing official tie-in games for The Amazing Spider- Man, Battleshipand Men In Black 3. Activision will continue to branch away from the Michael Bay movies with Transformers: Fall of Cybertron this autumn and you can bet your Aston Martin that Bond will appear on games retail shelves around the release of 007: Skyfallin October.


April 3rd April 24th April 27th April May


May 4th May 25th


Game/Platform Max Payne 3 360, PS3, PC


Pandora’s Tower Wii Akai Katana 360 Diablo III PC


Publisher Release Dates Rockstar May 25th


Nintendo Q2 Rising Star Blizzard


Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 360, PS3, PC City Interactive The Amazing Spider-Man Various


Activision


Q2 Q2 Q2 Q2


ROLE WITH IT


FOR those who prefer swords to shotguns, there are plenty of RPGs. Deep Silver’s Risen 2: Dark Waters follows the 2009 original, and is one of the publisher’s most ambitious titles to date. It will be the first entry in the series to release on PS3. The long-awaited Diablo IIIfinally arrives on shelves in Q2, taking the hugely popular Blizzard series to new heights. Meanwhile, Nintendo caters to Japanese RPG fans with Pandora’s Tower, following similar titles Xenobladeand The Last Story.


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