Geek Team Six’s Most Anticipated Games List

This is going to be a collaborative effort by Geek Team Six.  We are getting hyped about many of the upcoming titles set to release for the rest of 2011 and on into 2012 and we hope to get you jacked up too.  Enjoy!

C-Lew’s list

1) Mass Effect 3

Projected Release Date: March 6th, 2012

Things to look forward to:  It is anticipated that there will be more platforming and puzzle gameplay elements in this Mass Effect than in previous installments.  Updated and improved melee techniques also dazzled when on display at E3.  Individualized squad commands and more opportunities for upgrades were also hinted at.  There is a feature, when in tune with Kinect, where you can bark commands and the game picks up what you’re saying using voice recognition.  For example: if you say, “Garrus move forward” Garrus will follow your command on the screen.  Also, during dialogue wheel segments you say what you want to say rather than picking an option with your controller.  Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that this is the culmination of one of the greatest stories ever told in the video game medium.  Time to bring the reapers to justice!

Things that could bog down the experience:  I’ll be honest, Mass Effect 1 & 2 aren’t perfect.  It’s a testament to the series that even when there is something about the games that truly annoy nearly everyone it is still held in high regard.  In the first game it was the long drives in the mako and large periods of down time between battles.  In the second game it was the tedious mining/probing aspect that you HAD to work at to survive.  I’m sure the third game will have something about it that sucks, the game is too ambitious and massive for everything the developers put on the disc to work.  If it is a perfect game I’d be surprised because, again, the first two aren’t that.  Let’s just hope there’s no mining.

2) NBA 2k12

Projected Release Date:  Well if we have an NBA season? Kidding, that’s not going to hold them back.  October 4th, 2011

Things to look forward to:  Well if that cover is any indication, we’re in for another great year for the NBA 2k saga.  They’ve dominated the NBA gaming market for years now and they only seem to be getting better.  How do you follow up the greatest sports video game of all-time?  Where you could play, erm excuse me DOMINATE, as Michael Jordan in his finest moments of glory.  A sports game with the some of the smoothest controls in any genre and an incomparable A.I.  Where the players you know and love play just like they do in real life and look identical to their real-life counterparts.  I could go on and on about 2k11’s brilliance.  The downloadable draft classes, an RPG-like My Player mode where it was actually a challenge to make your player good, all the fun of the arcade with much improved slam dunk contests, the always jubilant three-point shootout, 1-0n-1/pick-up blacktop games, and one of the best dynasty modes around made 2k11 what it was… dare I say, a masterpiece?  If not that then it’s a near-perfect title that transcends what can be realistic about a sports game.  I think if 2k sticks to what worked in ’11 (did I mention that the on-the-ball and help defense were immaculate as well?) then it’d be hard-pressed not to be a winner.  Of course there will be new features, not many of which have been released.  Going back to the cover, if we’re putting two and two together here, how awesome would it be to play as another NBA great alongside Jordan?  Marinate on that for a while.

Things that could bog down the experience:  The only complaint I had with 2k11 was the online gameplay and even that is just a small one.  Occasionally, very occasionally, it would be the laggiest experience I’ve ever had.  If they fix this minor problem then there’s nothing holding this game back.  See above.  If you’re having doubts about anything at all just listen to what Snoop Dogg said about 2k11, “NBA 2k11 best game ever made.”  Snoop rapped it so it has to be true…

To be continued……….. next time look for Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite, Gears of War 3, and many more.  We’re always open to suggestions of games to preview as well!