It’s that time of year again: November, the best month of the year for gamers. Here is an overview of some of the most highly anticipated games of 2012.
Assassin’s Creed III (October 30): Ubisoft’s award-winning Assassin’s Creed franchise is back and bigger than ever. Assassin’s Creed III is the fifth installment of the multimillion-selling historical science-fiction video game series.
The reason for the odd numbering is that each Assassin’s Creed with a Roman numeral in its name introduces a new historical setting and fictional character. Three of the four previous games featured the same main character.
This time around, the franchise takes us back to the American Revolution- but not the one we’ve read about in history books. As Connor Kenway, the franchise’s newest assassin, players canexperience the epic, gritty story of the fight for our independence in an immersive, breathtakingly realistic colonial America. They can wage war in a wide range of dynamic historical locations, from Boston and New York to the legendary battlefields of Lexington and Concord. They can also explore the enormous open world of the snow-covered Appalachian wilderness and use their keen tracking skills to hunt quarries, be it animal or man. Assassin’s Creed III is one of the largest games ever built; as such, it also has a new engine.
Ubisoft’s Anvil Next Engine has been in development for the last three years exclusively for Assassin’s Creed III. The new game engine provides improved graphics, AI (Artificial Intelligence) and performance. But it does far more than that. The Anvil Next Engine also boasts dynamic weather, seasons and time, as well as advanced integrated physics, all of which add unprecedented realism to the third-person genre of gaming. In addition, the number of NPCs (non-player characters) on-screen at any given time has been drastically increased from the impressive 100 NPCs in previous Assassin’s Creed games to a jaw-dropping 2,000 NPCs for Assassin’s Creed III.
Simply put, Ubisoft has spared no expense on its latest creation. With a highly advanced game engine, an all-new assassin, and an American Revolution setting, Assassin’s Creed III is shaping up to be one of the year’s best upcoming games and certainly the best installment yet of the Assassin’s Creed franchise.
On an interesting side note, actor Michael Fassbender (who played Magneto in X-Men: First Class and David in Prometheus) signed a contract with Ubisoft last Tuesday, October 23, to co-produce and star in a movie adaptation of Assassin’s Creed. The movie will be filmed by Ubisoft Motion Pictures and New Regency Pictures, and it will be distributed by 20th Century Fox.
Call of Duty: Black Ops II (November 13):Say hello to the latest addition of the massively popular Call of Duty (CoD)franchise, which has sold a grand total of over 100 million copies of all its game, as of November 11, 2011. Black Ops II is the ninth CoD game, and it will be the first one to be set in the future.
Black Ops II centers on the game’s antagonist, Raul Menendez, a Nicaraguan narco-terrorist who is the leader of “Cordis Die,” a populist movement comprised of self-proclaimed victims of economic inequality. The campaign follows two connected storylines: the first is about Raul’s rise to power in the 1970’s and 80’s; the second is about his attempt to incite all-out war between the USA and China in the year 2025. There are two protagonists in Black Ops II, one for each storyline. The protagonist for the 70’s/80’s storyline is Alex Mason, the protagonist from the first Black Ops (who is played by famous actor Sam Worthington from James Cameron’s “Avatar”). The protagonist of the 2025 storyline is Alex’s son, David Mason. Though not much else has been revealed about it, we can expect the plot to be well-written; the stories of both Black Ops I and II were written by the one-and-only David S. Goyer, co-writer of the “Dark Knight Trilogy” and the upcoming “Man of Steel.”
The game-play is worth noting, as well. Black Ops II deviates from the rest of the CoD franchise because it will have elements of futuristic science-fiction warfare in addition to the classic first-person shooter style of game-play. Also, in a first for the Call of Duty franchise, Black Ops II will feature branching storylines called “Strike Force Missions” driven by player choice, like the Mass Effect trilogy. A notable component of these secondary storylines is that they will feature permanent death; if the player’s character dies or fails to complete an objective, these results will have ramifications on the main story.
All in all, Black Ops II is looking to be the most unique and ambitious Call of Duty yet. By going outside of the comfort zone of the rest of the CoD franchise (into the future), Black Ops II is aiming to broaden its demographic to include casual and hardcore gamers alike. With high-tech warfare, a riveting story, and new, extreme modes with futuristic CoD zombies (yes, our wildest dreams have been realized), Black Ops II is poised to break all entertainment success records, once again proving the popularity of one of the highest grossing entertainment franchises in history.
Halo 4 (November 6): Master Chief has returned. One of the most iconic video game characters of all-time, the Master Chief A.K.A. John S-117, has finally resurfaced from the dark void of space- only to face something ancient… something evil… something beyond our comprehension.
Set four years after Halo 3’s conclusion, Halo 4 opens with Master Chief and the AI Cortana, who are adrift aboard the UNSC frigate “Forward Unto Dawn,” finding themselves near an unknown Forerunner planet. The artificial planet, called “Requiem,” is the main setting for most of the game. Halo 4 marks the beginning of a new Halo trilogy whose story arc will be focused primarily on two things. The first is John’s fight to protect mankind from an ancient evil. The second is John himself; one of the key elements of the story of the new Halo trilogy is the development of Master Chief as a character. As events unfold, players will see a human side to John. While in conflict with this powerful, unknown entity, John will begin to discover his limits. He may be a genetically- and technologically-enhanced super soldier, but he is still human; he has boundaries on his abilities. Thus, a great deal of the story will be about John’s humanity, as well as about him fighting a new, deadly threat.
The hype surrounding Halo 4 is astonishing. Several live-action trailers have been filmed for the sole purpose of promoting the game’s release later this year. Additionally, the game itself was E3’s most awarded game of 2012. Indeed, Halo 4 is one of- if not, the- most anticipated game(s) of 2012. It is the second-most pre-ordered game in the U.S. with over one million copies already reserved; it is second only to Black Ops II.
Halo 4 is relaunching the beloved Halo franchise. The story is shaping up to be one of epic proportions, and the multiplayer will be even more addicting with new maps and game modes. After waiting five years for Master Chief’s return, most gamers can barely wait to start playing the game. Thanks to a little something special (which is discussed in the next section), though, the month leading up to Halo 4’s release has been made more than bearable.
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn: No, this isn’t a video game. But it is far from unimportant. For all you Halo fans who’ve been long-awaiting a feature-length live-action Halo movie, I present to you “Forward Unto Dawn.”
This live-action movie is the prequel story to Halo 4, as well as to the entire Halo franchise itself. Set in the year 2525, the movie follows Thomas Lasky, a UNSC cadet who is training at Corbulo Academy to fight human insurrectionists. Lasky is struggling with his convictions about the war when an unknown fellowship of alien races called the Covenant invades his planet and declares war on mankind. Lasky and his squad-mates are rescued from the attack by John S-117, a super-soldier from the legendary SPARTAN-II project. Together, they must fight a battle not to quell insurrectionists, but to insure the survival of the human race.
“Forward Unto Dawn” was filmed and produced by Microsoft and 343 Industries with a budget of about $10 million. It was released online as a five-part series, starting with part one on October 5 and ending with part five today, November 2. It is free to watch online; however, in December, an extended cut will be released as a feature-length 90 minute film on Blu-ray and DVD.
Halo fans everywhere are praising this video game spin-off. Senior Nick Schmidt said, “The ‘Forward Unto Dawn’ series is awesome. It truly is epic. As one whole movie on Blu-ray, it will be on par with Hollywood’s biggest movies, in terms of action, CGI, and story.”
But does it appeal to non-Halo fans, or even non-gamers in general? “I think it really does,” said Senior Cole Adams. “Even though there are some things that may not be understood by people who are not familiar with Halo, the series does a good job of explaining everything you need to know for its story. Anybody who likes action or sci-fi movies would like ‘Forward Unto Dawn,’” he said.
There you have it. A live-action, top-notch movie with a multi-million dollar budget that stays true to the Halo franchise, in addition to the highly anticipated game that comes out next week. What more could a Halo fan want?
