Feature: The Big Games of Spring 2012: Your wallet weeps

We’re all still reeling from 2011, which was a hell of a good year for gaming and a terrible year for my wallet but here we are in 2012 and if you think that just because the holidays are over your wallets safe, than think again! Q1 of 2012 is packed with some quality software; full of aliens, zombies and even some elves — the next three months are full of, as I eloquently put it, “Good sh*t!”.

Release Date: 1/31

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the first heavy hitter of 2012 and while the original FFXIII may have gotten some mixed reviews, you can still say it was a visually impressive game that really showed off some AAA production values. FFXIII-2 continues the story of Serah, Lightning and hopefully the rest of the FFXIII cast. This time around you won’t be hopping from character to character but spend of your time as Serah or new guy Noel. Square-Enix has made some pretty big changes to the series for XIII-2 and the biggest is multiple endings, nine of them to be exact. Fans of XIII are in for some great combat, puzzles and the addition of more open areas and side-quests.

Release Date: 2/7

Platforms: 3DS

The first big title to really show what the new 3DS hardware is capable of and thank the zombie gods a proper return to the Resident Evil universe. Resident Evil: Revelations is a return to the scary high-paced action and puzzle solving of old with beautiful graphics to boot. If you own a 3DS odds are this is the title you’re going to show your friends to really sell them on the system. 

Release Date: 2/7

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

You may have only just recently found out about Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, thanks to EAs new cross promotion with a little game called Mass Effect 3, but Kingdoms of Amalur has a hell of a lot going for it. With an all-star creative team of Ken Rolston, Todd McFarlane and R.A. Salvatore, you can be confident the game is going to be something special. Imagine an open world RPG like Skyrim but with the battle system of an action game and the visual aesthetic of Fable and you know what to expect. 

Release Date: February 

Platform: Xbox 360

Remedy Entertainment’s follow up to Alan Wake is surprisingly enough not Alan Wake 2. Oh they’re planning that, but if I were a betting man that’s going to be coming next-gen, but for now we get Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. American Nightmare is a 5-6 hour campy horror romp through an episode of Night Springs (think The Twilight Zone) where Alan is facing his evil double Mr. Scratch and trying to I’d gather get back to the real world. Costing a decent $15, American Nightmares hopes to bridge Alan Wake to Alan Wake 2 and throw in some new gameplay ideas along the way. 

Release Date: 2/17

Platforms: PS3

Car combat doesn’t get much more fun or balls to wall f*ck sh*t insane than Twisted Metal. Sony in their infinite wisdom has decided to bring the series to the PS3 and this time some vehicles can even transform. It’s sad as hell that Sony isn’t hyping this title up but Twisted Metal is definitely one of the funnest looking damn games coming this Q1 on any system.

Release Date: 3/20

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360

Ninja Gaiden 3 marks the first Ninja Gaiden title not directed by the now legendary Itagaki. Ninja Gaiden 3 is very much going to be a true test for Team Ninja to see if they can continue the legacy of punch you in the balls fierce combat and beautiful visuals of the past Ninja Gaiden games. At least so far, we can all agree the title is looking visually great but how’s the combat going to hold up? We’ll find out this March. As a bonus for gamers picking up the PS3 version, it will support the PlayStation Move controller, so you can swing around like a maniac in your room or living room. Be careful and watch out for pets, girlfriends and or boyfriends, unless you do want to whack the hell out them. 

Release Date: 3/20

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

Capcom this year is mixing up the Resident Evil formula with a horror and action packed third person shooter developed in conjunction with Slant Six. No it’s not your typical Resident Evil but it looks fresh and exciting for it. Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City drops us back into Raccoon City as members of an elite Umbrella clean up crew hell bent on eliminating any evidence of the virus and any one that gets in their way in the process. It looks fun, frenzied and fun and is full of Capcom fan service for long time fans with the inclusion of classic Resident Evil characters like Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield.

Release Date: Only Blizzard knows but they’re saying Q1

Platforms: PC but word is it’s also making its way to consoles

Blizzard’s Diablo III has been a long time coming and I mean a long looooong time coming but it’s finally here. Well, sort of. Blizzard is promising a Q1 release with an actual release date any week now. If you’ve played Diablo before, you pretty much know what to expect and know why Blizzard fans are in frenzy to finally install this baby in our gaming rigs and then saying good-bye to that thing called a life. 

Even better, Diablo III is coming to consoles, so console gamers that thought they’d be spared the hit to their social life are in for quite a shock. Diablo III sucks time like a hooker in Vegas, thankfully it costs a lot cheaper.

Release Date: 3/6

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360, PC

This is it, the final battle the one we’ve been working towards and arguably the biggest game of Q1, Mass Effect 3 is the game that will end the Mass Effect trilogy and also have us all talking for months. Nothing is really known of the story and that’s a good thing. BioWare at least for the most part is keeping the story close to their chest but Mass Effect 3 is going to back packed with content and with lots of love for fans of the epic space opera. 

Mass Effect 3 will also feature Kinect support on Xbox 360 and a new multiplayer mode that will actually affect the single player campaign. It’s time for Shepard to kick some Reaper ass once for all.

Release Date: 3/27

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360

It’s been years since Capcom has tried their hand at the fantasy genre but it’s looking to fix that with the Devil May Cry team developed Dragon’s Dogma. Dragon’s Dogma aims to bring DMC like action to an openworld fantasy world with a deep story and literally hundreds of NPCs. It’s Capcom’s most expensive game ever and is a huge risk for the company but one that may finally bring Capcom back some of that old JRPG flavor its lost since the end of the Breath of Fire series. 

As you can see, Q1 is the new Christmas for gamers and that’s not including tons of titles that we didn’t even mention. Some notable other big Q1 titles are:

Syndicate

Binary Domain

Max Payne 3

Silent Hill: Downpour

Silent Hill HD Collection

Devil May Cry HD Collection

With so many great games coming in the next 2-3 months, what’s making your must have list?

staff