Top 10 Unscheduled Video Games That May Set 2012 on Fire

Nearly the whole of 2012 has been engulfed with two of the biggest upcoming games of the year - Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and EA's Battlefield 3, which are expected to take the gaming experience to a whole new level.

Battlefield 3 may have the upper hand with the newly built Frostbite 2.0 engine with enhanced graphics and real-time physics, but Infinity Ward will not let it go unanswered and will look to maintain its best game streak in the wargame category.

Other 2011 games which also came into news were Star Wars: Old Republic, the upcoming Prototype 2 (arriving on April 24 next year), Dead Island, Batman: Arkham City, I Am Alive and Assassin's Creed: Revelations.

However, there are a host of games that are about to hit the market in 2012, and if the expectations are true, a yet new age of gaming may start with new storylines, sequels and lots of bang bangs.

Here is the list of the Top 10 unscheduled video games that may arrive in 2012.

Halo 4: Undoubtedly one of the biggest games that will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2012, Halo 4 is expected to be the first of a new trilogy of Halo series games, named the Reclaimer Trilogy. The game, developed by 343 Industries, will also mark the return of the Master Chief as the main protagonist. Cortana will also appear in the game. Halo 4, however, will only be for Xbox 360.

Counter Strike: Global Offensive: Global Offensive is targeted for an early 2012 release, and will be available for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3 via the PlayStation Network and Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade. The game is expected to arrive with classic maps as well as new maps, characters and game modes.

Far Cry 3: Far Cry 3 will again return to the tropical setting, similar to the first game. The player will take over the role of the protagonist Jason Brody, a tourist who has been stranded on an island chain that has been in the grips of violent local conflict for many years. Brody will be in search of his girlfriend and will try to get out of the island. The player has the ability to shoot enemies behind objects in crouch mode without moving his head up but with free hands, and will also have the ability to perform takedown abilities by performing melee attacks from above or in crouch mode. The game will arrive in the fourth quarter of 2012 on Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.

Max Payne 3: Max Payne 3 will be the first game in the series not to be developed by Finnish game developer Remedy Entertainment and not being written by series creator Sam Lake. The game was previously scheduled for a 2009 release which was later pushed to 2010. However, Rockstar announced a March 2012 release date for the game later. Max’s life will see a new chapter with this game where he has grown older, more world-weary and cynical than ever. Max has now left New York City behind and is now in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he has been double crossed. The game will be set 8 to 12 years after the events of the second game.

[The Game’s official trailer will be out on Sept.14]

Grand Theft Auto V: This is of the few rumored games which are expected to arrive in 2012. Previously, five Web sites were discovered which seemed to indicate a new installment of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Rockstar, however, has not confirmed any such news about a possible 2012 release.

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier: The game, previously known as Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon 4, has been published by Ubisoft. This is the fourth installment in the Ghost Recon series, and was announced to be in development by Ubisoft on January 22, 2009. The story will take place in a near future in Norway, the Middle East and Asia where Russia went into war. The Ghosts will be fighting an ultra-nationalist force that took control of Russia and are invading neighboring countries on the deadliest missions behind enemy lines. The Wii and PSP versions have different storylines.

Tomb Raider (2012): The new Tomb Raider will be the ninth instalment of the Tomb Raider series, published by Square Enix and developed by Crystal Dynamics as their fifth related franchise title. The game will emphasize the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character, Lara Croft. The player will play as Croft and will have to endure physical and emotional torture in order to survive the island. The game is expected to arrive in the third quarter of 2012.

Resident Evil Revelations: Resident Evil Revelations will see a return to the survival horror gameplay of earlier series installments, with returning elements such as a limited supply of ammunition and more emphasis on exploration and puzzle solving. The story revolves around BSAA (Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance) co-founders Jill Valentine and Chris Redfield, the protagonists of the first Resident Evil. The game will arrive on Nintendo 3DS in early 2012.

Hitman: Absolution: Hitman: Absolution will be the fifth entry in the Hitman game series. The game is set to run on IO’s Glacier 2 game engine that will combine original Hitman game mechanics with brand new mechanics. Nothing much has been known about the game at the moment but the main antagonist is revealed to be Blake Dexter, a new character to the series. A new mode, Instinct, has also been added.

Brothers in Arms: Furious 4: The World War II-based video game has been developed by Geargox Software and published by Ubisoft, and was first unveiled at E3 2011. Brothers in Arms: Furious 4 is a casualized sequel to the Brothers in Arms titles, taking a very different approach to its World War II subject matter. The new game follows four madcap characters of a yet unnamed unit on a fictional romp through Germany after Hitler himself. The four protagonists are Chok, a Native American soldier who uses hatchets to dispatch enemies; Montana, who is a large lumberjack and a Nazi slayer who wields a chain gun; Crockett, a Texas native who uses a cattle iron to brand fallen enemies; and Stitch, a mentally unstable Irishman who shocks enemies with a custom made taser. The game is expected to arrive in early 2012 on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC.