What games are you most excited for this year?

I was recently looking at the list of games waiting to be released this year and I literally said to myself, "Holy schnikes!" There are a lot of great looking games that will be shipping this year, almost all of them are part of an already well known franchise. With so many awesome games on the way, which ones are you saving your cash for? Take a look at the list below to get an idea of what's coming in 2012.

Sleeping Dogs – August 17
Dark Souls (PC) – August 24
Madden NFL 13 – August 28
Far Cry 3 – September 4
Borderlands 2 – September 18
Resident Evil 6 – October 2
Medal of Honor: Warfighter – October 23
Assassin's Creed III – October 30
Halo 4 – November 6
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 – November 13

That's not all though, there's also quite a few titles already confirmed for 2012 but waiting for an exact date. You can expect to see dates soon for games like Tomb Raider (reboot), Hitman: Absolution, Dishonored, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Brothers in Arms: Furious 4, Aliens: Colonial Marines, Skylanders Giants, and Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. There is even speculation that Grand Theft Auto V will hit stores this year as well. 

I've been debating which games I'm most excited for and I have to say that with this year's lineup its going to be  tough. I would have said Bioshock Infinite would be the one game I'm most anticipating but it was recently delayed until February of 2013. My runner up (currently) would have to be the Tomb Raider reboot. It just looks so raw and so real and I can't wait to see how the game has been changed. While details have been scarce since E3 of last year, the game sounds like it will focus a lot more on survival. Lara won't be carrying an arsenal that could supply a small army or her own personal set of gadgets to get her out of trouble. This time around she will have to rely on her instincts to survive. I'm just so intrigued by all the new ideas being implemented and I can't wait to get more details on the plot.

After Tomb Raider, it's a really close tie between, Assassin's Creed 3, Dishonored and Hitman: Absolution. I love Assassin's Creed and I'm really glad they're taking the next step with a completely new game and moving on with the series. As for Hitman, it has been quite a while since Blood Money and I've really missed Agent 47. The game's graphics look amazing and the gameplay trailers show off some of 47's new tricks. He's now able to handle a lot more objects in the environment and employ them to bash an enemy's skull. There's also an ability much like Eagle Vision in Assassin's Creed which 47 can use to aid him in sneaking past enemies or taking them out.

As for Dishonored, I have to say I'm excited because it is influenced by Thief and looks/sounds like it'll play somewhat like Bioshock. Set in the middle ages with some steam punk flair, Dishonored follows the story of former personal guard to the empress, Corvo. He's also a master assassin that has been imbued with super natural powers. He has a skill set that make him a deadly swordsman, expert marksman and skilled infiltrator. The story starts with Corvo having been framed for the murder of the empress, the very person he was assigned to protect. Out for revenge, Corvo vows to eliminate those responsible for framing him and those who have been oppressing the people in the dystopian setting. The game has parkour, powers which can be wielded with weapons much like Bioshock and an awesome sounding plot (there's more to it than I explained). Those ingredients sound like they'll make a mean game and I can't wait. 

Enough about me though, what are you excited for? Maybe Borderlands 2 or Resident Evil 6? Whatever it is, you really can't go wrong here since all of these games look very promising.