The Top Ten Video Game Sequels for E3 2012

Well it turns out that this time around they understood that -- gone are the general and utility levels and bang-on present is the thrill of BEING a Sniper, from the stealth of getting into position to carefully making "the shot" to the process of E and E!

Sure, you have a silenced pistol as well as your very accurate and silent Sniper Rifle, but if you need to use that sidearm for anything other than shooting a lock off a door to gain entry to a building, or taking out a lone sentry discretely who stands in the way of you and your route to the optimal shooting position, well, you have already done something wrong.

An intuitive targeting system (you play the game with a spotter who marks the targets and target order for you) the game this time around is a back-to-the-basics find Jesus honest-to-God sniping challenge, and easily earns its place on the list of the best of the best for this year's E3. In fact it is fair to say that the first question that I had for the bloke who set me up for the demo and answered my questions as we played it was "Is there any way I can get an advanced copy... You know... Now?"

Sniper: Ghost Warrior 2 has all the right stuff, and was very hard to stop playing (they actually had to kick me off of the demo) and even then I stalled for an extra few minutes, repeating over and over again "Me no speaka da English, me no understand you!" Yeah, it is that good.

09 -- ARMA 3

Publisher: 505 Games

Developer: Bohemia Interactive Studio

Platform: PC

Release Date: TBA 2013

There is this expression that the bikies used to say when I was a teenager that I thought was profound at the time: For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not, no explanation is possible. Fans of the ARMA series of course understand why it was a very cool and addictive game back in the day, but considering the fact that the first title in the series, ARMA: Armed Assault was released in 2007, and the sequel, ARMA 2 in 2009, it is a fair statement to say that when 2011 rolled around and there was no ARMA 3 it had us both jonesing for our next ARMA fix and wondering why developer Bohemia Interactive has missed the two-year release cycle?

Thankfully in spite of it being twice as long -- four years -- between the titles this time around, ARMA 3 turns out to be very immersive (and I am not just making a joke about the underwater frogman levels and the wicked cool and ultra-realistic special underwater weapons that are built into the game) and intense, with a measure of depth (yup, another water joke) and addiction that is difficult to shake off (and there I go again with the water jokes) -- but seriously, you would have to be wet-behind-the-ears not to fall hard for this one!

Considerable care has been taken to not only provide an expanded armory of weapons to choose from, but to make those weapons, their use, accuracy, and characteristics as realistic as possible, effort that will certainly not go unappreciated by gamers when this one hits the shelves next year.

Conceived as an open-world tactical-shooter, the game takes place in the near future during "Operation Magnitude," a military action in the Aegean Sea of Greece and its surrounding territories that is launched by NATO forces who are engaging "Eastern Armies" in Europe, putting the player in scenarios that can easily be imagined to have been torn from the headlines...

As Captain Scott Miller -- a Special Operator who is part of the British Special Forces -- you fight along side soldiers from the US Army's reactivated 7th Infantry Division, who you try to help hold off a massive Iranian military offensive from the east whose direct aims are to push coalition forces out of the region.

Sadly your resistance action is destined for failure, leaving you behind enemy lines where you will disrupt hostile forces, sow seeds of dissension, and otherwise make yourself into a major pain-in-the-ass for the enemy, all the while making use of both a variety of specialized weapons, kit, and vehicles and, where it is necessary, improvised and captured kit and weapons, which allow you to continue to bring the fight to the enemy.

The impressive world, proper physics, and well-executed vehicles in the game (including underwater vehicles) provide lots of variety and challenge, and when combined with the variety and the realistic rendering of the weapons in the game easily justifies this one making the cut!

08 -- Call of Duty: Black Ops 2

Publisher: Activision

Developer: Treyarch

Platform: Xbox 360 / PC / PS3 / Wii / Wii U

Release Date: 13 November 2012

Considering that this is the ninth game in the CoD franchise, and a direct sequel to 2010's Call of Duty: Black Ops, you probably do not need to hear why this one made the cut -- though it should be noted that it is not simply that this next eagerly anticipated title in the series is almost like coming home, or that it delivers on some of the promises that were made previously, providing the simple pleasures of resuming the role of Alex Mason -- this time as he returns as the protagonist for the Cold War sections of the game -- because in addition to what you are likely expecting, there is an exciting new element to the game and game series!

In Black Ops II for the first time in the history of the franchise we get to play within the construct of a completely futuristic setting, with many features that revolve around future warfare technology that instantly delivers all that such a scenario can offer in true CoD fashion.

Constructed with a branching storyline that is largely driven by choices that you make, for the first time in CoD history a new level of excitement, immersion, and addictive game play is provided that is based upon a mixture of very shrewd guesses as to where the science and technology for weapons will head in the 21st century. At the same time the game rewards gamers who are part of the core war game-centered experience who properly utilize established real-world military tactics unique to Spec Ops in truly meaningful ways.