Under the Radar: Previewing The Coolest Games of 2012

2011 was on for the record books in terms of killer video game releases: Portal 2, Batman: Arkham City, Minecraft, Dead Space 2, Deus Ex, Battlefield 3, NBA 2K12, and Star Wars: The Old Republic, just to name a very few.  But, just as you (and your wallet) started sighing in relief, 2012 has barged in, regardless of how much you still have left to do in Skyrim. So hurry up and finish, 'cause it looks like there's a lot of great stuff on the way this year.

It’s atypical to have so many high-profile games releasing so early in the year, but we aren’t fighting it. How do you separate the wheat from the chaff, though? Especially if your bank account hasn’t quite recovered from 2011, you’ve got some choices to make. We’ve looked at the immediate future (and a little beyond to help make your decisions easier).

Chances are you already know about the really big stuff coming out: Halo 4; Call of Duty: Whatever; Madden — we figure you don’t need to be told about those yet again. But as a counterpoint, we’ve rounded up a baker’s dozen of upcoming games (starting with Syndicate, above, which is out this week) that might be off your radar. We’re excited, of course, about a few particularly choice titles that you’re probably already looking forward to, so we’re throwing those in too. Read on and enjoy, just don’t hold us to the release dates: they’ve changed without explanation before and will do it again. But whenever these appear, it looks like it’s going to be another great — and varied — year in gaming, whatever you have a taste for.