Games to Watch in 2013

BioShock Infinite

Platform: PC, Xbox 360, PS3
Release: March 26, 2013

BioShock Infinite is one of the big gaming mysteries at the moment; there's been relatively few people who've had a chance to go hands-on with it, let alone get the inside track on how the game is developing. Normally that'd be enough to get us worried, but Irrational Games did similarly with the original BioShock and that turned out marvellously.

Infinite isn't like the other BioShock games in any other regard, however. Instead, Infinite will tell a brand new story and introduce a wholly new location - the flying city of Columbia. Disavowed by the US Government, Columbia has been hidden in the clouds for years and has seen admittance from nobody until you sneak on board. Your mission? To rescue a girl called Elizabeth in order to wipe away your debts.

It's a complex enough tale to start with, but as if that weren't enough then Infinite will also be introducing a whole host of other bizarre features - such as skyrails, alternate dimensions and Plasmid-like superpowers. Some worry that designer Ken Levine's finally bitten off more than he can chew, but we'll still be watching eagerly as the spring release finally nears.

Total War: Rome II

Platform: PC
Release: October 2013

If there's one thing we've never been able to get enough of then it's grand scale strategy - and as far as that goes there's always been one developer who's ahead of all the others. Now, as Creative Assembly loops back around to the Roman setting finally, we're desperately hoping that Rome II will live up to our expectations.

Thankfully, rumour is that Rome II is shaping up nicely, successfully collecting all the latest additions to the Total War series and fusing them into a more cohesive whole than ever before. Navies and diplomacy will finally be fine-tuned to a reasonable state, for example, while battles will also be able to span land and sea seamlessly.

Whether that impression proves to be reliable or not though, only time will tell - but in the mean time we'll be keeping a careful eye on the situation and we'd advise you to do the same!

The Showdown Effect

Platform: PC, Mac
Release: TBA 2013

An odd and very recent one, this. The Showdown Effect was only properly unveiled in late December by publisher Paradox Interactive, at which point we discovered the long-teased title to be an outrageous action platformer from the team behind Magicka.

Focused on delivering the feel of a classic action movie, The Showdown Effect will support up to eight players at once and enough violence to make even Rambo blush. Additionally, it's all wrapped up with Arrowhead Games' usual comedy stylings - a fact evidenced by the ludicrous tagline of 'Fight to the death or die trying'.

Having been only just revealed properly there's still a lot we don't know about this change of tack for Paradox Interactive - but we'll be visiting the studio later this month and we'll be sure to report back in full then.

Did we miss something? We couldn't cover them all! Head to the forums and tell us which games you're most looking forward to this year!