January is usually a slow month for video game releases, due to the glut that people usually purchase around the holidays. Come February and March, however, the release pace picks up significantly, and 2013 is no exception.
This year’s slate includes a number of Triple-A releases, more than a few of which are sure to be on any gamer’s radar. So, let’s take a look at some of the big names coming out in the first quarter of this year.
Kicking off this year’s video game season is Dead Space 3, the survival-horror sequel to the enormously popular Dead Space and Dead Space 2. In this game, players take control of Isaac Clarke, an engineer-turned-soldier who is fighting the Necromorphs, reanimated corpses twisted into new and horrifying shapes by an extraterrestrial virus. An overview of the universe thus far can be viewed here. The third installment of the Dead Space franchise, Dead Space 3 includes story-based co-op, allowing players to also play with a friend, who will take on the roll of soldier-turned-crazy person John Carver.
Dead Space 3 releases February 5th on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.
Next up is Aliens: Colonial Marines. An oft-delayed and highly anticipated title, Aliens: Colonial Marines is set between Aliens and Alien 3, and will expand on how the events of Aliens 3 came to pass. The game will allow players to take on the role of one of the titular Colonial Marines featured in Aliens, and kick some Xenomorph butt.
Aliens: Colonial Marines releases February 12th on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.
Continuing our trend of sequels and licensed products, Crysis 3, the sequel to the graphics demos-turned-actual games Crysis and Crysis 2, is up next. Players take on the role of Prophet, the main character from Crysis 2, as he returns to the now ruined New York City to fight the alien Ceph. The Crysis series is notable for being among the most graphically intense games on the market, and Crysis 3 looks to be no different.
Crysis 3 releases February 19th on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.
Rounding out the month of February is BioShock: Infinite, the spiritual successor to the critically acclaimed BioShock. BioShock: Infinite puts players in the shoes of Booker DeWitt who is tasked with assaulting the floating city-fortress of Columbia to rescue a woman named Elizabeth, who is far more than she seems.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLHW78X1XeE
BioShock: Infinite releases February 26th on Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and PC.
Moving into March, we have SimCity, the latest installment in the SimCity franchise. Players take on the role of a city mayor and take a tiny town to a sprawling Metropolis, all while dealing with budgets, fires, riots, aliens, monsters, and everything else that comes with running a city.
SimCity releases March 5th on PC, with a Mac version planned for the spring.
Finally, our last major release of the quarter, StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. The next iteration in the StarCraft 2 trilogy, following up 2010’s StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty. This installment follows Sarah Kerrigan, the now ex-Queen of Blades and ex-leader of the Zerg swarm, as she takes her revenge on Arcturus Mengsk, who was responsible for her original capture and transformation in StarCraft.
StarCraft 2: Heart of the Swarm releases March 12th on PC.
For those of you wondering why Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance didn’t make the cut, it’s because I refuse to preview something with the word “revengeance” in the title. I can stand all manner of silliness, but “revengeance” is a step too far.
