Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Irrational Games
System requirements: Windows Vista SP2/Win 7 SP1, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.7 GHz Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB DirectX10-compatible graphics card (GeForce 8800 GT/Radeon HD 3870/Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics or better), DirectX-compatible sound device, 20 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG/Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

You find yourself in a rowboat headed towards a lighthouse in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maine. You have a cigar box that contains a picture of a pretty, nicely dressed young woman, and a pistol. A chattering couple sporting British accents argues about who’s rowing and who isn’t. Once the boat reaches its destination, you pause in your seat to take in the scene. “He’s not moving,” one of your boatmen says. “He will…eventually,” is the reply. Substitute the boat ride and the pithy banter with a fiery plane crash and the scene becomes all too familiar for those who played developer Irrational’s 2007 masterpiece, BioShock. The parallels between the games don’t end here, as you will discover during your journey through Irrational’s new magnum opus, Bioshock Infinite.

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Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Ratloop Asia
Genre: Side-scrolling shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Despite the high-minded aims that Sony has for the Playstation Vita, the truth is that one of the things for which it’s best suited is the old-school platformer. Developer Ratloop Asia has delivered just such an item with their Vita port of the PC/PS3 hit Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken, which takes the original game and juices it up a little bit to take advantage of the new handheld’s unique attributes.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Visceral Games
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista SP1/Win 7, 2.8 GHz or better CPU, 1 GB RAM (2 GB Vista/Win 7), 256 MB GeForce 6800/ATI X1600 Pro or better graphics card with Shader Model 3.0 compatibility, DirectX 9.0, 10 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now
Review by Christopher Lazenby

I’m not sure what to make of Dead Space 3. I’m happy to see a new chapter in one of the greatest new series of this gaming generation has been released, but three games in just four-and-a-half years? Isn’t that pushing it a little?

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Criterion
System requirements: Windows Vista SP2/Win 7, 2.4 GHz Core2Duo/2.7 GHz Athlon X2 or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, 512 MB DirectX 10-compatible graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound device, 20 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Racing
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now
Review by Christopher Lazenby

Need for Speed: Most Wanted is the 19th entry in the popular racing franchise, and Criterion’s second foray into the series. Gone are the cheesy plotlines, bad acting and cringe-worthy cutscenes. Most Wanted is just pure racing and chasing, and I actually think it’s a better step for the franchise.

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Publisher: Dark Vale Games
Developer: Dark Vale Games
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7, 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU, 512 MB DirectX 9.0c-compliant graphics card, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c, DirectX-compatible sound device, 6 GB hard-drive space
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now
Review by Peter Gore

In December, those of us who write for Avault were asked to submit their wish lists for potential reviews in the upcoming year. I threw in some of the more interesting Tier 1 games such as Crysis 3, but I had also just finished reading a teaser for a soon-to-be-released game that combined multiplayer PvP play with RPG elements, entitled Forge. Not long after, a key code arrived in my inbox with the offer of a review. I grabbed the chance to play what I thought would be a unique gaming experience.

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Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Firaxis
System requirements: Windows Vista/Win 7, 2.0 GHz dual-core CPU, 2 GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce 8800GT/ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0, 20 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Strategy
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

In 1994, Mythos Games and MicroProse released XCOM: UFO Defense, a game regarded even today as the best of all time. It was simple and frustratingly difficult, all at the same time, and PC gamers loved it. After 18 years of waiting, gamers of all platforms (it would be rude to let PC players have all the fun again) have the chance to see what all the fuss was about with XCOM: Enemy Unknown.

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Publisher: LudoCraft
Developer: LudoCraft
System requirements: Windows XP SP2/Vista/Win 7, 2.6 GHz CPU, 2 GB RAM, DirectX 9.0c-compatible graphics card, DirectX-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 1 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now
Review by Peter Gore

One of my favorite all-time games combined tanks, combat and racing. Treadmarks was an indie multiplayer game that had you racing your tank against others in wide-open vistas and enclosed tracks, allowing for combat as well as a race to the finish line. It never made the big time, but it had a cult of online followers that still plays today, even 10 years after it was published. So when I was assigned to review Air Buccaneers, I was reminded of odd combinations that could work. Buccaneers have been known to have a cannon or two. How is any self-respecting pirate-buccaneer type going to plunder the high seas without one. But Vikings? I’ve seen my share of Viking movies (13th Warrior remains an eternal favorite), and I don’t remember Vikings having either cannons or gunpowder. And neither buccaneers nor Vikings had hot air balloons in which to tool around the skies. But Air Buccaneers throws the entire mish-mash into one place, creating a sort of “chocolate meets peanut butter” collision with the hopeful result of an entertaining gaming experience.

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Today’s advanced technology can be a double-edged sword. It can provide us with tools and experiences unimagined in previous generations. But it can also deprive us of some of the things we’ve come to cherish. Technology has recently claimed another victim in games journalism, and we’re all the worse for it.

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Time to roll up the carpet on gaming year 2012. It’s been a great one on all fronts, bookended by the releases of the Playstation Vita in February and the WiiU, the first shot to be fired in the upcoming next-generation console wars, in November. Our coverage leaned more towards the indie scene this year, but we still kept our toes in the AAA waters. Here are the favorite games our writers played this year (please note the use of the word “favorite,” rather than “best”). Feel free to chime in with yours. And have a happy and safe 2013!

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Every year we receive a number of clever trailers from game publishers around the holidays, but this one from Wargaming.net was exceptional. Check it out; this is one Santa you don’t want to meet in a dark alley. Many thanks to our friends at Wargaming, and happy new year to all!

Publisher: Beatshapers
Developer: Nurium Games
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

In these days when a high premium is placed on innovation, face-melting graphics and cinematic plots, it’s oddly comforting to spend a few hours with a good, old-fashioned gaming concept. Developer Nurium Games has provided us with just such a respite with BreakQuest: Extra Evolution, a shout-out to the long-gone days when all you needed in a game was a fire button and a joystick (and a stack of coins).

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Publisher: UTV Ignition Entertainment
Developer: Golgoth Studio
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8, 2 GHz Intel Core2Duo or better CPU, 2 GB RAM, GeForce 8800 GT or better graphics card, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound device, DirectX 9.0c, 500 MB hard-drive space
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Not rated
Release date: Available now

Review by: Peter Gore

I’m not a puzzle guy. Oh sure, I’ve had Tetris on my cell phone as a time-waster, but I never joined the cult of Bejeweled or any of the similar knockoffs that have come along. So when I received Magical Drop V to review, two questions sprang to mind: How am I going to review a game of a type I know nothing about, and what do you suppose happened to Magical Drop I through IV?

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Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
System requirements: Windows XP SP3/Vista/Win 7/Mac Snow Leopard, 2 GB Pentium IV or better CPU, 3 GB RAM (4 GB for Mac), 512 MB graphics card, DirectX 9.0c, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: All five episodes available now

Many players complain about the stories in games, or the lack of them. These folks should be flocking to The Walking Dead, Telltale’s five-part odyssey through graphic novelist Robert Kirkman’s zombified universe. You’ll find more honest-to-god storytelling in a single episode of this series than in any three AAA releases. But is all of this narrative emphasis too much of a good thing?

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Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Forty-six hours. What can you do in 46 hours? Watch 46 episodes of your Law and Order series of choice. Drive most of the way across the US (at a law-abiding 60 mph, of course). Watch Wagner’s Ring cycle of operas three times. For me, 46 hours was how long it took to get through Capcom’s new apocalyptic zombie opus, Resident Evil 6. It was a dark, repetitive, sometimes frustrating journey that I’m unlikely to take again.

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Publisher: Blizzard Entertainment
Developer: Blizzard Entertainment
System requirements: Windows XP/Vista/Win 7/Win 8/Mac OS 10.6.8, 2.8 GHz Pentium D/Athlon 64 X2 4400+ or better CPU, GeForce 7800 GT/Radeon X1950 Pro or better graphics card, 1 GB RAM (1.5 GB for Vista/Win7/Win 8, 2 GB for Mac), 12 GB hard-drive space, broadband Internet connection
Genre: RPG/Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Review by: Peter Gore

I knew that Diablo III wasn’t going to be your grandfather’s Diablo. I slogged through hours upon hours of monster slaying and loot gathering in both the original game, then the follow up Diablo II and its expansion, Lords of Destruction. But the last iteration of Diablo appeared 12 years ago. In gaming time, this represents a quantum leap in terms of graphics, sound and game design. How would this new and highly anticipated third chapter look and feel? And what, if anything, would it bring new to the table in terms of game mechanics and the all-important gaming experience?

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