By Matt Peters
This year is scheduled to be one of the biggest of note in the world of comics, video games, and all-around geekiness. We here at Pads & Panels would like to give you twelve reasons that 2012 will be awesome. Let’s hope our Mayan overlords don’t return from outer space until we get to experience most of it. Take a look below for some of the highlights:
Publisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment — Developer: Rocksteady Studios
Batman Simulator 2.0 doesn’t disappoint, as it hits all the high spots gamers loved in Arkham Asylum and scatters them across an entire sandbox of a city to find. Rocksteady Studios is to be commended for continually getting what makes Batman fun. The double-edged sword here is – even though Arkham City is more robust than Asylum, gamers won’t get that stunning moment again where they realize that finally someone finally got a Batman game right. But the overall quality of the game is vastly improved, making it one of the year’s best. (more…)
Title: Rage
Platform: 360, PS3, PC
ESRB: M
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: id Software
Review By: Eric Stuckart
Rating: 
After years of development and hype, Rage has finally hit consoles and PC alike, unfortunately with a resounding thud. It’s hard not to look at the game as a disappointment more than anything else, as it excels at doing everything in its power to underwhelm players, especially knowing how much potential the game has in its possession.
Given id Software’s penchant for developing games heavy on the action and gameplay with the least bit of emphasis falling on the shoulders of the game’s story — one need not look further than Doom for that — it should come to no surprise that the game’s story isn’t exactly the greatest. It wouldn’t even be much of a stretch to say that it makes that of Borderlands look fleshed out, but in Rage’s defense, that partly might be due to the design of the game. Much of the attention is clearly being directed to the visuals and the gunplay, which are far superior to much of the first person shooter competition out there. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to really make up for everything else that Rage has to offer. (more…)
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Title: Brink
Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)
ESRB: T
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Splash Damage
Rating: 
Review By: Eric Stuckart
Since its release, Brink has been very divisive in the gaming community, and for good reason. It’s one of those games that has gotten pretty much anyone with any sort of interest in first person shooters either enrapt or enraged with what it has to offer. (more…)
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Publisher: Rockstar – Developer: Rockstar San Diego
Our Review
I didn’t want to buy into the hype for Red Dead Redemption. Its precursor, Red Dead Revolver, was a decent rental, but forgettable – a go-to title when trying to think of games that time forgot. To associate Red Dead Redemption with it should be a sin. Rockstar could have easily slapped a cowboy-themed skin on Liberty City and called it Grand Theft Horsey, but Rockstar San Deigo did so much more. The studio made a Wild West that was fun to explore on horseback – a desert that was desolate, yet not deserted. (more…)
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Publisher: Microsoft – Developer: Bungie
Our Review
Bungie may have bid a fond farewell to one of its most popular franchises in the form of Halo: Reach, but that’s not to say it didn’t leave the series with a bang. Described as “The Halo they always wanted to make,” this prequel to the series attempts to throw in everything but the kitchen sink. The single-player campaign, while somewhat shorter, is easily one of the best narratives Bungie has told in the series and eloquently brings everything full circle. The tighter scope also manages to make Reach more personal and engaging than previous titles in the series. (more…)
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By P&P Staff
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(360/PS3/PC/Wii/DS)
Activision’s popular shooter series is back this year with the Treyarch-developed Call of Duty: Black Ops. If the shooter fan on your list wasn’t already camped out for a midnight release of the game and doesn’t already own it, this one is essential. A brand-new single-player storyline, as well as new multiplayer levels and the return of the zombie mode from World at War will guarantee plenty of Prestige ranking, zombie killing, multiplayer fun. (more…)
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Title: Fallout: New Vegas
Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)
ESRB: M
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Developer: Obsidian Entertainment
Rating:
Review By: Eric Stuckart
There has been much talk of whether or not Fallout: New Vegas is really worth the time, effort and, most importantly, money. It’s been labeled little more than an ‘expansion pack’ by its detractors, and much has been said about Obsidian Entertainment’s inability to get rid of many of Fallout 3’s bugs and glitches in this installment. (more…)
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Title: Halo: Reach
Platform: 360
ESRB: M
Publisher: Microsoft
Developer: Bungie
Rating:
Review by: Bill Jones and Dan Braun
Halo: Reach, Bungie’s farewell to the series, serves as a prequel to the core trilogy. Taking place in 2552, the latest game in the Halo series tells the tale of the fall of Reach, which leads into Halo: Combat Evolved. Or rather, it would do greater justice to the UNSC’s Noble Team to say Reach tells the tale of their heroic last stand.
Reach has served as the heart of UNSC military power, and in many ways is an Earth-like hub for the human race…and home to the elite Spartan forces. The Covenant have launched an attack on the planet unlike any other, however, and this could be the team’s chance to give humanity one final hope. (more…)
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Title: Mafia II
Platform: 360 (PS3, PC)
ESRB: M
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: 2K Czech
Rating:
Review by: Bill Jones
More than three years after the first trailer was released, Mafia II is finally on store shelves. And while Mafia II gets a lot of things right – mostly on the storytelling side – it’s going to leave a lot of people wondering what 2K Czech spent all that development time doing on the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. But despite that, Mafia II still has a few fun tricks up its designer sleeves. (more…)
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