2011 was a pretty good year overall but there are some titles in 2012 that already have me thinking about the forthcoming year and one in particular has me reaching for the pre-order button - Mass Effect 3. Words like epic and awesome are thrown around a lot but in terms of the Mass Effect series they are entirely justified. I remember that first game that had you spending the first two hours chasing chickens or something and thought that I just didn't get it. Then I got hold of the Normandy and went about saving the galaxy and it was all kinds of awesome epicness. If the third in the trilogy matches the previous two installments then it should be a phenomenal conclusion.

I only briefly played the original Syndicate and loved the whole corporations and cyberpunkery theme running through it. After seeing a couple of trailers for the first person shooter reboot I am quietly optimistic that it will give us a brutal Deus Ex type experience with plenty of hi-tech gadgets to use along the way. As a fan of Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell and anything William Gibson I am really hoping that the developers can capture that feeling of 'hi-tech/low life' that these sources inspire. Fingers are crossed most tightly for this one.

Are you a Bayonetta beater? Ninja Gaiden III and DmC will be challenging the witch for the action crown but it's Asura's Wrath that has captured my imagination. With bosses bigger than an entire planet, an angry red-faced anti-hero with six arms and a unique art-styIe I am hoping it can match Bayonetta in terms of action and imagery but without the stupid and nonsensical storyline. There will certainly be a lot fewer gratuitous crotch shots that's for sure (no guarantees though).

The Witness is the indie title that is being made by the same guy as Braid. Little seems to have been released about it so far and it's looking a bit Myst-ey at the moment but hopefully it can capture the same amazing mood that Braid had along with some well-balanced headscratchers to keep controllers on the right side of user destruction. At the moment it looks like this is PC only which means I may have to get that Steam account open after all (which may be no bad thing) but I am praying it will get an XBox Live release to satisfy us wimpy console users too.

If cIassic game purists are wailing about Syndicate being converted into a first person shooter then they must be reaching banshee levels of ear-destruction over X-COM going the same way. I never played the original so I don't care one finger of fudge as if those amazing teaser trailers are anything to go by then a change is officially better than a rest. Set in a paranoid McCarthy era America you play a secret agent that has to fight off a sinister alien invasion without alarming the general population. If the idea of Don Draper fighting The Thing floats your boat (and why wouldn't it) then get your waders on as you are going to be knee-deep in alien goo by the time this game wraps up.

So what is everyone else looking forward to?