For all fans of first-person shooters, this is the month for you! This month, first-person shooter fans are treated to Halo 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops II. However, that isn’t all gamers get this month: a ton of new games are coming out for the Wii U such as New Super Mario Bros. U and ZombiU, not to mention the stealth-based game Hitman: Absolution and crossover video games such as PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale and Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. This month has a bit of everything for a variety of gamers.

Action

(11/6) Halo 4 (Xbox 360)

(11/13) Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)

(11/18) Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two (Wii, Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)

(11/18) New Super Mario Bros. U (Wii U)

(11/20) Hitman: Absolution (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC)

(11/18) ZombiU (Wii U)

(11/20) Rise of the Guardians (Wii, Wii U, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, 3DS)

“Halo 4″ is the first game in a new trilogy of Halo games set four years after the events of Halo 3. The player plays through the entire campaign mode alone or cooperatively either locally or on Xbox Live. In the multiplayer, players customize their own Spartan-IV character and expand their career through games such as War Games, Spartan Ops, Forge, and Theater.

“Call of Duty: Black Ops II” is the ninth game in the Call of Duty series and the sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops. It is the first in the series using future warfare technology and branching storylines driven by the player’s choice. In multiplayer, there is a “Create-A-Class” feature which allows the player to customize their character.

“Hitman: Absolution” is the fifth game in the series and has been promised to be easier, to make it more accessible to new players, but still retain hardcore aspects. There is an online option. One interesting new feature is “instinct mode,” which allows the player to predict enemy patrol routes.

“Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two” is the sequel to the original “Epic Mickey,” and is featured on multiple consoles. This time the game has a two player compatibility mode which can be played by the computer or an actual person. An interesting feature added to this game is the musical numbers littered throughout the entire game.

“New Super Mario Bros. U” is the fourth game in the New Super Mario Bros. series, solely featured on the new Wii U. There are two new modes: Challenge Mode and Boost Rush. The Challenge Mode creates challenges such as clearing a level as fast as possible or getting as many 1-UPs in a row without touching the ground. In Burst Mode, the player goes through a scrolling screen level which gets faster as he or she collect coins.

“ZombiU” is one of the Wii U launch titles in which the player is the survivor of a zombie apocalypse in London. “ZombiU” utilizes the new features of the console such as the use of the Wii U GamePad for inventory and unlocking doors. The player only has one life, and when the player dies they become a new character. Players are even able to meet up with their old character as a zombie.

“Rise of the Guardians” is a game based on the animated Dreamworks movie of the same name. The player plays as five characters (Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Sandman, the Easter Bunny, and Jack Frost). It is a drop-in/drop-out cooperative play with up to four people and has a leveling up system.

RPG

(11/11) Paper Mario: Sticker Star (3DS)

(11/6) Harvest Moon: A New Beginning (3DS)

“Paper Mario: Sticker Star” is the fourth game in the “Paper Mario” series and the first to be available on a portable system. However, this game introduces the concept of stickers, found throughout the game and then used as items or power-ups. Another interesting new feature is the ability to go into “paperization” which allows the player to place stickers in the world and activate certain events.

“Harvest Moon: A New Beginning” is another game added to the Harvest Moon series with an emphasis on customization including the player’s character and form. The player can go on honeymoons and vacations with their family to different places. The players can also create their own furniture and buildings rather than just buying them.

Fighting

(11/1) WWE ‘13 (Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

(11/20) PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale (Playstation 3, PlayStation Vita)

“WWE ’13″ is the fifteenth game in the WWE series and uses the Predator Technology 2.0 game engine, which allows for over 300 new moves. A weight detection system lets the game tell which wrestlers would realistically be able to lift others. This game also has the biggest roster of any of the WWE games.

“PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale” is a crossover fighting game in the same vein of Super Smash Bros. where up to four characters battle each other. It features characters from Sony games like “God of War,” “Sly Cooper,” and “Ratchet and Clank,” but also features characters from third-party franchises like Bioshock. The arenas are themed around different PlayStation games.

Racing

(11/6) LittleBigPlanet Karting (PlayStation 3)

(11/20) Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360)

“LittleBigPlanet Karting” is a racing game based on the LittleBigPlanet series which includes a variety of themed racetracks. The player creates their own Sackboy, karts, and racetracks as well as their own game rules and weapons. The player can even tweak the AI a little if they are having trouble.

“Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed” is the sequel to Sonic & Sega All-Star Racing and has characters from Sonic games as well some other Sega games. A new feature in this game is the ability to transform into sea or air-based vehicles during a race, but it is only performed by going through transformation gates. The game also features a new adventure mode, where players can unlock characters.

The article November Game Releases for 2012 appeared first on The Toonari Post - News, Powered by the People!.

Two of the largest racing franchises are getting ready to release new games in their series: Forza Motorsport with Forza Horizon, and Need for Speed (NFS) with Need for Speed Most Wanted. Both franchises promise that their game is loaded to the core with famous gameplay features, as well as introducing new features. But the question is, which game stand above the other as the greatest racing game of the year?

The first of these two games to come out is Forza Horizon. The key selling point of the Forza franchise is the realism to their driving mechanic, always a staple feature in the games.

Developed by a different company, Playground Games, Forza Horizon looks to expand upon the series with some new features that have never been seen in any of the past Forza games. Horizon introduces an open world environment that lets players free roam around the map to explore or drive from race to race. The game further expands the car selection and customization; building on Forza’s vast collection of the hottest and most popular cars around, including Aston Martins, BMWs, Ferraris, and many others.

Horizon also has an online mode in which players can challenge their friends to races. “King” and “Infection” are two multiplayer modes that incorporate the open world environment. These two game modes and many other returning online matches will push the limits of the player as they compete to be the best against other human players.

Forza Horizon looks to be a promising installment to the Forza Motorsport franchise, but will the open world environment add to the Forza experience or will it hinder the design and gameplay of the series?

The week following the release of Forza Horizon, the NFS series will be coming out with Need for Speed Most Wanted. Most Wanted is a high definition comeback to the NFS Most Wanted game previously released back in 2005. With the success of the reboot of NFS Hot Pursuit by Criterion Games, the developer has been signed on once again to develop Most Wanted.

The game lives up to what the original version was like, with the addition of the Autolog from Hot Pursuit. Autolog 2 is advertised as a new means of online play in which it gives the player a more personalized and customizable means of online interaction. Autolog 2 for Most Wanted takes the online features from Hot Pursuit and expands them even further by letting players customize their broadcast feeds and recommendations for challenge and competition updates.

But the key feature advertised for Most Wanted is survival. As a staple for most NFS games, drivers must not only race against others in high speed races, but must also survive against waves of cops trying to shut down the race. But the police don’t only pursuit the driver in races, they are also on full force in the free roam mode.

Most Wanted looks to be a grand revival of its predecessor as well as a more advanced update to the new features that were added in Hot Pursuit. But will this high octane adrenaline rush be able to compete with the realism of Forza Motorsport’s newest installment? The important thing to understand is what the two franchises push for in their games. Forza focuses on the realism of racing and pushes the boundaries with the feel and look of the cars that most racing games don’t dwell too much into, while Need for Speed is all about intense arcade racing action.

Both franchises are looking to take their genres of racing to whole new levels. With Forza Horizon coming out October 23, and Need for Speed Most Wanted coming out October 30, players will choose for themselves which game will come out on top.

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