There are a ton of great games coming out in 2012, the unofficial Year of the Reboot, but there are five that we want to play more than any others. Maybe they won’t end up being great games, we don’t know. All we know is that we haven’t been this excited to play this many games in quite some time. Take a gander at our list and see if you agree.

1. Mass Effect 3 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

How can Bioware do better than Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2? How about Mass Effect 3? We’re still so fulfilled by the story and gameplay of the first two installments that we can’t wait to see if those folks have pulled off a threepeat performance. To call the franchise a space opera would be a misnomer because it’s so much more than that. However, while the Mass Effect story has always gone a long way for us, we’re hoping to see something new out of the trilogy’s anchor leg, especially since we know, one way or the other, that we’re still going to invest every minute of our spare time trying to save the universe and the last vestiges of humanity. We don’t really know how they’ll top Mass Effect 2, but the mere possibility that they’ve done so leaves us salivating.

2. Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Two words for Gearbox Software: thank you! James Cameron’s Aliens was a sci-fi action game-changer for films — and one of our favorite films of all time — but the follow-ups were complete and utter failures of epic, Vishnu-like proportions. That’s why we’re so happy that Aliens: Colonial Marines is coming our way in 2012. The game finally provides a proper sequel to the 1986 movie and boy does it look like it’s done a great job of capturing the essence of the film. We were on the edge of our seat for the whole heart-pounding video walkthrough and can’t wait to strap on a pulse rifle and go on what could very well amount to the greatest, most stressful, and most enjoyable multi-player bug hunt ever.

3. Diablo 3 (PC, Macintosh, possibly console systems)

Well, what can we say that hasn’t already been said? Those who played Diablo and Diablo 2 generally had so much fun that the games have essentially made developer and publisher Blizzard a household name among gamers. With advances in graphics since the first two installments, the action and scenery in Diablo 3 will undoubtedly shine brighter than ever before. Let’s just hope the game is more than that. After playing the first two, fans of the franchise are going to want more than just a new character class or a new spell. We’re not too stoked about all the delays in releasing the game, but we’ve had a ton of fun with Torchlight while we’ve waited.

4. Tomb Raider (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

We used to love Tomb Raider when we first played it way back in the 1990s on the first PlayStation. Now, though, the venerable franchise is all but dead — and made laughable in some respects by a couple of terrible Angeline Jolie turdfests. Many fans of the first few games have long since moved on to greener pastures, but we hope — and we do mean hope — that the franchise reboot will turn out as good as it looks. While we want the reboot to keep the puzzle-adventure ratio of the original games, it makes a bold first move by stranding our heroine on a LOST-like island complete with … wait, is that The Black Rock?

5. XCOM (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

The re-imagining of XCOM probably has more potential to bust than any other game on this list. The original game is widely held to be one of the finest examples of turn-based strategy games ever developed and it was combined with resource-management and building-construction features that were reminiscent of the Civilization games. The difference is that the reboot appears to be all action and it looks like unfinished cell animation at that. (XIII, anyone?) The trailer is out of this world retro-1950s cool, but we’ve been fooled by trailers before. Still, we want to play this game. Bad.

Honorable Mention

The Last of Us (PS3)

Post-apocalyptic survival horror can sure use a facelift, and we’re hoping Sony’s The Last of Us is just the game to go under the knife. Simply put, the trailer is awesome. We’re hoping the game is something close to it and not just another Resident Evil retread about some wonky secret government program that’s come home to roost. We really don’t know what to expect from this game, but we’re starved for something that builds us an aftermath world even close to the tender loving care shown in the Fallout series, even if it is full of mutated people-zombies. Too bad the game’s only on PS3.

 

We’re pretty sure your list of most-anticipated games of 2012 is different from ours. Drop us a note and let us know which games you’re looking forward to playing in the new year.