Most Anticipated PC Games of 2012

Like a rollercoaster, 2011 was full of transient highs and enduring lows – mostly the latter for PC gamers. The year began with a promising lineup, but title after title fell flat. Some were incredibly buggy, others had console-esque interfaces and far too many shipped without DirectX 11 support. We'll spare you of a list because you surely recall their names, but for reference, even the well deserved game of the year, Skyrim, somehow fits in all of the above.

Determined to redeem themselves, developers have readied yet another tantalizing roster. In fact, many of last year's most anticipated titles have spilled over into 2012, including Diablo III, Guild Wars 2, Mass Effect 3 and Max Payne 3. As usual, we've assembled a list of the hottest PC games expected to hit shelves over the next 12 months. Titles are sorted alphabetically as most of the release dates aren't set in stone.

It goes without saying that some chosen games won't materialize this year and we've undoubtedly excluded some noteworthy titles – not least of which are End of Nations, Firefall, Fortnite, Natural Selection 2, Planetside 2 and The Darkness II (coming on February 10). If we included everything, our list would reach unruly lengths, but there's nothing stopping you from sharing your most anticipated PC games for 2012.

	Title	Genre	Release
	Alan Wake	Third-person shooter	Early 2012
	BioShock Infinite	First-person shooter	2012
	Borderlands 2	First-person shooter	July 2012
	Counter-Strike: Global Offensive	First-person shooter	Summer 2012
	Diablo III	Action role-playing	Q2 2012
	Dishonored	Action-Adventure	Q2 2012
	Dota 2	Hero RTS	TBA 2012
	Far Cry 3	First-person shooter	Late 2012
	Grand Theft Auto V	Action-Adventure	TBA 2012
	Guild Wars 2	MMORPG	TBA 2012
	Half-Life 2: Episode Three	First-person shooter	TBA 2012
	Hitman: Absolution	Third-person shooter	TBA 2012
	Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning	Action role-playing	February 2012
	Mass Effect 3	Action role-playing	March 2012
	Max Payne 3	Third person shooter	May 2012
	MechWarrior Online	Action	Mid 2012
	Metro: Last Light	First-person shooter	Late 2012
	Microsoft Flight	Flight sim	Early 2012
	Prey 2	First person shooter	TBA 2012
	Prototype 2	Action	April 2012
	Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City	Third person shooter	January 2012
	S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2	First person shooter	TBA 2012
	StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm	RTS	TBA 2012
	Syndicate	First person shooter	February 2012
	Thief 4	Stealth, Third person	TBA 2012
	Tomb Raider	Platformer, Third person	Mid 2012
	Tribes: Ascend	First person shooter	Early 2012
	Warface	First person shooter	TBA 2012
	World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria	MMORPG	TBA 2012
	XCOM & XCOM: Enemy Unknown	Tactical shooter	TBA 2012

First released for consoles in May 2010, Alan Wake won countless awards, including game of the year in Time magazine. Greatly influenced by Stephen King's work, critics praised the title's storytelling, atmosphere and graphics – the latter of which should be even better when the game relaunches early this year. The PC version will be self-published by developer Remedy Entertainment through Steam and will include two DLC packs, The Signal and The Writer. Remedy hasn't shared much beyond that, but we expect good things.

BioShock's third installment exits the abandoned underwater metropolis of Rapture and introduces players to Columbia, a floating city suspended by giant blimps and balloons. It unfolds in 1912 – prior to the events of previous entries – and players control ex-Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt as he rescues a young woman named Elizabeth (a companion character) who has been trapped in Columbia for most of her life. To accompany the new characters and environments, Infinite will encourage players to explore the weapons more.

Although Borderlands offered an intriguing mashup of RPG and FPS gameplay, the title wasn't without its faults. Players complained about its repetitive experience. Enemies were uncoordinated and respawned too fast, weapons were greatly rehashed across the board and the multiplayer component used GameSpy's much-despised service. Set five years after the original on the same rustic planet of Pandora, Borderlands 2 plans to address most of those shortcomings with more customizable equipment and smarter AI.

Originally planned as an Xbox 360 port of Counter-Strike: Source, Valve decided take advantage of the situation with a multiplatform release that expands upon previous versions. Although Global Offensive won't offer a drastically overhauled experience, CS diehards can expect new maps, characters, weapons, matchmaking, leaderboards, and a game mode called arsenal that's being co-developed with mod makers. Meanwhile, newcomers will be happy to hear it's not too late to experience updated versions of the classic content.

It's been a decade in the making, but the long-awaited follow-up to 1998's epic dungeon crawler is finally on the horizon. Set 20 years after its predecessor, Diablo III will bring the franchise into the 21st century with polished graphics, PvP arenas, NPCs who sell, craft and enhance gear, as well as an online auction house that lets players exchange virtual goods for real money. Between Blizzard's online platform, custom 3D engine and random encounter/level generator, Diablo III promises to deliver a rich hack-and-slash experience.