This spring, a busy and exciting time for the video game industry, brings ghosts and golfers, superheroes and Starfleet officers to console-equipped TVs everywhere, along with the return of an iconic Tomb Raider and a certain Italian plumber's brother.
More than a dozen enticing new titles are headed for store shelves over the next couple of months, including Gears of War: Judgment (March 19) for the Xbox 360 and Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge (April 2) for the PS3 and Xbox 360 (the Wii U version hit stores this past November).Here are 10 more games releasing in the near future to get excited about. As always, release dates are subject to change.MLB 2K13Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360Publisher: 2K GamesRating: EveryoneIn stores: TuesdayPrice: $59.99The long-running "MLB 2K" series continues with 2K13. The trademark analog pitching and hitting controls return, as does the Perfect Game Challenge, which gives players pitching a perfect game the potential to win prize money (who says playing video games is a waste of time?).Modes of play include Home Run Derby, My Player (customize your player and climb the ladder to success), MLB Today (featuring the latest rosters and lineups) and MLB Today Season (real game results mean you can compete with real MLB teams). Dynamic player ratings, authentic scouting reports, franchise management and commentary by Steve Phillips, Gary Thorne and John Kruk add to the fun.Tomb RaiderPlatforms: PS3, Xbox 360Publisher: Square EnixRating: MatureIn stores: Tuesday Price: $59.99Lara Croft, the busty heroine of the iconic "Tomb Raider" series, is getting a reboot and an origin story with this new M-rated release. While traveling at sea, a young Croft finds herself the victim of a raging storm that splits her ship in half, stranding her on a tropical island in the Dragon's Triangle.Croft begins frightened and inexperienced, but she eventually gains confidence and the steely resolve to rescue her captured companions. Using guns, fire, pistols, an ax, bows and arrows, and other tools and weapons, Croft battles wild animals and malevolent mercenaries in a game that combines action, adventure, exploration, platforming, survival and role-playing.God of War: AscensionPlatform: PS3Publisher: Sony Rating: MatureIn stores: March 12Price: $59.99The "God of War" series is third-person, 3-D hack-and-slash action at its best, with gamers guiding vengeful antihero Kratos as he solves puzzles, engages in platforming action and uses his powerful Blades of Chaos to battle undead monsters from Greek mythology, including gigantic bosses.Ascension, the seventh game in the series, is a prequel, taking place six months after Kratos was tricked by Ares into murdering his wife and child. However, the combo-based formula remains much the same. There are new weapons and enemies, but the biggest change is the welcome addition of online action for up to eight players. As usual, expect plenty of blood, nudity and explicit violence.LEGO City: UndercoverPlatform: Wii UPublisher: Nintendo Rating: Everyone 10 and upIn stores: March 18Price: $49.99Building-block play sets come to life in LEGO City: Undercover, which lets gamers, as undercover cop Chase McCain, explore open-ended areas, gather clues, and collect and commandeer more than 100 vehicles, including cars, helicopters, motorcycles and trucks. During his lighthearted, humor-laden quest to capture Rex Fury (and other bad guys), McCain will also perform wall jumps, build objects out of bricks and don such disguises as a firefighter, a construction worker and a robber.The Wii U GamePad is employed as a detection kit, mapping system, scanner, communication device and motion sensor, helping players solve puzzles, find hiding criminals and more.The Walking Dead: Survival InstinctPlatforms: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii UPublisher: Activision Rating: MatureIn stores: March 19Price: $49.99AMC's zombie scarefest comes to the three big consoles with the release of The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct. The game puts players in the role of everyone's favorite redneck-with-a-heart-of-gold, Daryl Dixon, who can use stealth to sneak past "walkers" or employ his increasingly iconic bow to shoot them in the head.Daryl, with his obnoxious brother Merle, must make his way across the post-apocalyptic Georgia countryside to the relative safety of Atlanta. The game is a prequel to the television series, as it takes place during the early days of the zombie infestation, with actors Norman Reedus and Michael Rooker reprising their respective roles as Daryl and Merle.Luigi's Mansion: Dark MoonPlatform: Nintendo 3DSPublisher: Nintendo Rating: EveryoneIn stores: March 24Price: $39.99The long-awaited sequel to Luigi's Mansion (2001), which was a launch title for the GameCube, Dark Moon has players controlling Mario's green-clad brother, who uses a Ghostbusters-inspired vacuum, the Poltergust 5000, to capture ghosts and collect treasure. Eliminating all the ghosts from a room gives players keys to access other areas of the mansion, which is spooky in a cartoonish, kid-friendly kind of way.Legendary designer Shigeru Miyamoto, who created the aforementioned GameCube title, oversaw production of Dark Moon, which ups the ante with more puzzles, the inclusion of Toad as a helpmate and online multiplayer action via the Nintendo Network.BioShock InfinitePlatforms: PS3, Xbox 360Publisher: 2K Games Rating: MatureIn stores: March 26Price: $59.99The third game in the popular, critically acclaimed first-person shooter series, BioShock Infinite puts players in the role of Booker DeWitt, a disgraced ex-agent for the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. DeWitt must rescue Elizabeth, a young woman who can lend a helping hand by opening tears in time and space.While BioShock and BioShock 2 took place underwater, Infinite transports gamers to the floating steampunk city of Columbia (circa 1912), where DeWitt travels from location to location via a network of roller-coaster-like rails. As DeWitt makes his way through the game, battling soldiers in the air and on land (with fireballs, lightning and the like), he'll gain access to dozens of weapons and abilities.Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360Publisher: EA Sports Rating: EveryoneIn stores: March 26Price: $59.99Fresh off a round of golf with President Obama, and currently ranked the second-best golfer in the world, Tiger Woods is back in the swing of things after his scandalous divorce. In his forthcoming video game, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14, he shares the stage with Arnold Palmer to highlight the new Legends of the Majors mode, which lets gamers use a created golfer from the 1930s to the present and face such pros as Ben Hogan, Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus.The game also features varying weather conditions, 20 championship courses, night golf (a first for the series), an all-new LPGA career mode and country clubs that can house up to 100 members.Injustice: Gods Among UsPlatforms: PS3, Xbox 360, Wii UPublisher: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Rating: TeenIn stores: April 16Price: $59.99Injustice: Gods Among Us is a one-on-one fighting game pitting such DC Comics characters as the Flash, Green Lantern, Joker, Lex Luthor and Wonder Woman against each another. The mano-a-mano combat transpires in an alternate future where Superman is tricked into causing the destruction of Metropolis and the deaths of Lois Lane and their unborn child.Battles, which are waged on a 2-D plane, take place in such interactive environments as the Batcave, the Justice League Watchtower and Superman's Fortress of Solitude. Certain characters, such as Batman, rely heavily on gadgetry, while others, like Solomon Grundy, depend more on brute force. Mortal Kombat (1992) co-designer Ed Boon is heading up the development team.Star TrekPlatforms: PS3, Xbox 360Publisher: Namco Bandai Games Rating: TeenIn stores: April 23Price: $59.99Dating back to 1979 with Star Trek: Phaser Strike for Milton Bradley's handheld Microvision, and to a text adventure for home computers eight years before that, Star Trek has a long history in the interactive entertainment industry. The latest console title is a follow-up to the 2009 feature film, which was a prequel to the beloved television series.Gamers, in cooperation, control Kirk and Spock (voiced by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto, respectively) as they travel the galaxy, battling hostile aliens (including the Gorn) and exploring starships, space stations and exotic planets. Kirk is a shoot-from-the-hip type of character, while Spock relies more on stealth and relatively subtle approaches to combat.Brett Weiss is the author of the "Classic Home Video Games" book series (McFarland).Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
