23 Hot Videogames for Fall '12

There’s big trouble in zombie China in Resident Evil 6, which brings back many series favorites to face a bioterrorist plot that has infected the U.S. president (just in time for the election!). Players will travel the globe, blasting zombies and mutants in three different scenarios with interconnected story lines. Most exciting is the new Crossover system, which randomly pairs you with other online players to cooperatively take down big bads. (Oct. 2; rated M; PS3, Xbox 360)

Does the game live up to our expectations? See Darren Franich’s Resident Evil 6 review.

Who better than Jay-Z to executive produce NBA 2K13? A part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets, the rap legend will also contribute several songs to the game’s soundtrack. See what happens when the best players in NBA history square off: Match the 1992 Dream Team against Team USA 2012 to settle the fantasy debate once and for all. (Oct. 2; Rated E; PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360, PC; TBD for Wii U)

Stalk the streets of a plague-ridden city where the industrial meets the mystical. As a bodyguard-turned-assassin framed for a murder you didn’t commit, it’s up to you to decide how to seek revenge. The stealth-action first-person adventure promises a fantastical sandbox where you can dispatch foes in a seemingly endless variety of ways: teleporting, using magic, possessing characters, or even unleashing swarms of rats to devour them. Talk about a dishonorable discharge. (Oct. 9; Rated M; Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

When an unknown enemy suddenly attacks (spoiler alert: aliens!), it’s up to you to fight back. As the leader of XCOM, an elite paramilitary organization, you’ll wage a full-scale assault on extraterrestrial baddies in this update of the classic turn-based real-time strategy game. (Oct. 9; Rated M; PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

Kinect’s killer app gets a threequel that will have you pushing your furniture out of the way so up to eight players can get their swerve on. Dance Central 3 lets you groove your way back through the decades, reliving everything from the Hustle to the Electric Slide to whatever one does in order to Boom Boom Pow. Its got 40-plus tracks and the ability to add songs from the previous games, so don’t forget to tell your downstairs neighbors you’re ”Sorry for Party Rocking.” (Oct. 16; Rated T; Xbox 360)

Unlike this year’s Call of Duty, Medal of Honor is going for a decidedly realistic take on modern warfare. Warfighter has you controlling an international coalition of Tier 1 Operators, battling terrorists in real-world hot spots such as Somalia and the Philippines. And in what might be the year’s oddest cross-promotion, the game will feature two DLC maps based on the Osama bin Laden-hunting December movie Zero Dark Thirty. (Oct. 23; rated M; PS3, Xbox 360, PC; TBD for Wii U)

Microsoft’s premiere racer is getting an arcade-y spinoff. Forza Horizon takes the series open world, allowing players to drive around the roads of Colorado and challenge other drivers to races. Set around a fictional music festival, the game features tunes by artists such as the Black Keys, Avicii, and Santigold. Because there’s nothing like taking a mountain corner at 150mph while blaring dubstep. (Oct. 23; Rated T; Xbox 360)

After stalking through the Third Crusade and parkouring across Renaissance Italy, hero Desmond Miles is coming to America. In Creed III, he inhabits a half-Native American ancestor who gets caught up in the Revolutionary War. When not fighting redcoats and hanging with the Founding Fathers, you’ll hunt game and avoid predators on the frontier. New naval-warfare missions will let you cruise along the East Coast and declare independence via cannon fire. (Oct. 30; rated M; PS3, Xbox 360; Nov. 20 for PC; TBD for Wii U)

The Creed universe is getting its first female protagonist, a French-African assassin named Aveline de Grandpré who fights her way through 18th century New Orleans in the last days of the French and Indian War. Liberation could be a breakout hit for the fledgling PS Vita, offering a console-sized adventure while taking advantage of the portable’s touchscreen, camera, and gyroscope. (Oct. 30; Rated M; PS Vita)

You got Burnout in my Need for Speed! Most Wanted is going open world, and much like developer Criterion’s Burnout Paradise, it presents a huge city to race around and crash into things, all while evading the persistent police. The Autolog feature will track virtually everything you do — police pursuits, car take-downs, record speeds — so you can compete with your friends to see who is truly most wanted. (Oct. 30; Rated E 10+; PS3, PS Vita, Xbox 360, PC)

LEGO’s epic quest to brickify every franchise in the world continues. The two-player co-op game follows the LOTR film trilogy, including music and dialog taken straight from the movies. Prepare to giggle when LEGO Gandalf shouts ”You shall not pass!” and awww at how preciousss LEGO Gollum looks. (Oct. 30; Rating TBD; Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, PS Vita, PS3, Xbox 360)

The rebirth of Xbox’s flagship franchise also marks the return of hulking main character Master Chief. Fortunately, new developer 343 Studios seems up to the task, taking Chief to a mysterious planet full of new alien menaces. The Spartan Ops mode adds free weekly downloadable episodes that will expand the story throughout the fall. And Conan O’Brien and Andy Richter have been announced as guest voices…despite its not taking place in the year 3000. (Nov. 6; rated M; Xbox 360)

It may be a Mario Kart clone, but LittleBigPlanet Karting hopes to distinguish itself with a focus on the series’ ”play, create, share” ethos. Players can customize their characters and karts in LBP‘s trademark patchwork aesthetic and create their own tracks and game modes with a virtually limitless amount of options. Share your creations on PlayStation Network or download ever-expanding tracks created by the community. (Nov. 6; Rated E; PS3)

Paper Mario is going portable for the first time. The adorable turn-based RPG stars a papercraft Mario who must collect stickers that grant various powerups and abilities to help solve puzzles and — you guessed it — defeat Bowser. The game’s unique art style should look stunning on the handheld’s glasses-free 3-D. (Nov. 11; Rating TBD; Nintendo 3DS)

Call it post?Modern Warfare: The futuristic Black Ops II will take place primarily in 2025 after a cold war has erupted between the United States and China. The new Strike Force mode brings branching story lines to the series, with your success or failure on side missions affecting the wider narrative. But does any of that matter when the insanely addictive multiplayer and Zombie modes will devour everyone’s lives? (Nov. 13; rated M; PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U)

For everyone who ever wanted to learn magic at Hogwarts, Book of Spells is as close as a Muggle can get. The new Wonderbook peripheral works with the PS Eye camera, using augmented reality to bring the Harry Potter world to life. Learn the history of spells and cast them using the Move controller as a magic wand. Accio Wonderbook! (Nov. 13; Rated E; PS3)

Nintendo’s follow-up to New Super Mario Bros. looks similar on the surface: Four players hop and bop their way through candy-colored side-scrolling levels, collecting coins and various adorable power-ups. But with new hardware come improved HD graphics and a tablet controller sporting its own touchscreen. Until the Wii U is released on Nov. 18, it’s hard to predict whether the system will be as groundbreaking as its predecessor, but if anyone is going to show off what it’s truly capable of, it’s-a Mario. (Nov. 18; rated E; Wii U)

London’s Piccadilly Circus gets even more nightmarish when a zombie outbreak sweeps the city in this gory first-person survival horror game. Built exclusively for Wii U, the game will take advantage of the Gamepad’s camera and gyroscope, allowing you to hold it up and scan the area for hidden menaces. Interestingly, when you’re bitten, your character turns into a zombie and you respawn as a new character, who can then try to take your old self down to get your loot back. (Nov. 13; Rated M; Wii U)

Enter a virtual theme park filled with 12 attractions based on popular Nintendo franchises such as Mario, Zelda, and Metroid. Nintendo Land, a pack-in with the Wii U Premium Bundle, aims to show off all the unique capabilities of the new console for up to five players. Just don’t fight over who gets to use the shiny new Gamepad. (Nov. 18; Rated E 10+; Wii U)

Mickey Mouse is getting an HD makeover and an emphasis on co-op in Disney’s Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two. He’ll be teaming with the previous game’s anti-hero, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, to once again clean up Wasteland. The game will be fully voice acted and feature musical numbers, pushing it even further toward an interactive cartoon. (Nov. 18; Rated E; PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360)

Yep, it’s another Nintendo clone — this time Super Smash Bros. — but for the PSOne generation, Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale is a nostalgic treat. The four-player beat-em-up pits modern-day heavy hitters such as God of War‘s Kratos and Uncharted‘s Nathan Drake against older characters like the eponymous Parappa the Rapper and Ape Escape‘s Spike, then throws in third-party characters like Bioshock‘s Big Daddy and Metal Gear‘s Raiden for (literal) kicks. (Nov. 20; Rating TBD; PS3)

The original assassin is back. Mr. Clean lookalike Agent 47 returns, and he’s come to scrub out those who betrayed him. The new Contracts mode lets you design custom missions to share with friends, or download top challenges every week. The better you perform, the more money you earn that can be put toward new weapons, upgrades, and disguises. (Nov. 20; Rated M; PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

Step into the shoes of Jason Brody, an ordinary tourist who gets into extraordinary situations. The open-world first-person shooter gives you a massive jungle island to explore as you fight to save your girlfriend. But will the savage terrain make you go all Heart of Darkness? Sounds like a game you could really get Lost in. (Dec. 4; Rated M; PS3, Xbox 360, PC)