4. ALIENS: COLONIAL MARINES
Touted as a “true sequel” to Aliens 3, Aliens: Colonial Marines takes place right after the events of the aforementioned film from the perspective of a company of soldiers sent to look for Ellen Ripley. Instead, they come face-to-face with the xenomorph threat the series is regarded for and puts players right into the experience of the movies, doing its best to remain true to the source material. Developer Gearbox has stated how close its team was to the original blueprints and people who brought the films to life, so there’s no doubt that this experience will be clearly crafted as a labour of love. Furthermore, the Wii U will receive added functionality of motion sensor (reminiscent of the ones introduced in the movie Aliens) on the GamePad, seeing as the game removes itself from a HUD-based system across all platforms.
3. THE WONDERFUL 101
What do you get when you combine a Pikmin-style strategy game and a DC/Marvel universe mash-up? Platinum Games is hoping to answer just that with its interesting take on the superhero genre The Wonderful 101. After earth is invaded by aliens, players will band together in an all-star group of super-powered misfits to combat the extraterrestrial threat. One of the game’s hooks is that the heroes can combine together for special group abilities, like turning into a giant sword that does extra damage or becoming a human ladder to reach higher ground. The Wonderful 101 also has a lot of cheeky style to its name, which is something Platinum Games has been remembered for since its 2010 release Bayonetta. I don’t think we’ll be seeing any naked gun-witches here, though.
2. RAYMAN LEGENDS
If you didn’t get around to playing one of 2011’s most under-appreciated platformers, Rayman Origins, then you really are missing out. Thankfully, Ubisoft has managed to craft a sequel to Origins with Rayman Legends. Despite the previous game garnering praise for its amazing hand-drawn art style and engaging level design, Ubisoft has out-done itself this time around, with a game that’s drop-dead gorgeous regardless of how much madness is taking place on-screen. If you need to further convincing, you can check out our preview or just download the demo from the eShop right now. You owe it to yourself to do the latter.
1. PIKMIN 3
Of course, when looking into the Wii U’s 2013 line-up, there’s no way of looking past Pikmin 3. There’s a reason why people have been foaming at the mouth for a threequel to the series since its last entry back in 2004. The Pikmin games deliver some of the most charming and engaging RTS gameplay around, without requiring too much juggling of resources or unit management. It also perfectly encapsulates the wonders of being a minuscule creature that’s on the lower end of the insect food chain, finding strength in numbers rather than weaponry. We don’t know the specifics of how Captain Olimar gets back to hangin’ out with the colourful little guys again, but we trust Nintendo that it’ll be yet another hell of an adventure.
This is a personal list that’s representative of the editor’s tastes, not those of the entire staff. The ranking of multi-platform games will vary between the console-specific articles.
There are still a slew of other great titles slated, and it’s a sure bet that more will be announced soon. In a perfect world we would be getting a new Metroid or F-Zero, seeing as they haven’t been given fully-fledged attention for a while (their respective Nintendo Land minigames don’t count). But with that said, what are some of the games you’re most looking forward to? We’d love to hear from you in our comments section below!