2013 looks like it’s going to be another great year to be a gamer. Next gen consoles are arriving and the biggest and most renowned developers are creating a string of new games and sequels to some of the best series around. But with so many great games being released which, in our humble opinion, are the ones to look out for? This is part one of the countdown of ‘The Top 10 Games To Look Forward To In 2013’.

10. Metro: Last Light

Metro: Last Light promises to deliver all the tension, atmosphere and strong narrative that was present in Metro 2033. With visual updates and a new story, you yet again follow Artyom and his bid for survival amongst the ruins of his homeland.

Last Light really grabs my attention as one of the most anticipated games of next year for a number of reasons, firstly the mixed gameplay it offers compared to most FPS on the market. It’s unique outlook on combat means that ammo is in short supply and choosing when to fire and when to avoid confrontation is a handy skill to master. Last Light also offers a mix of stealth and horror elements that build sections of great tension and all out action working brilliantly with the strong narrative. Visuals have also been given an update with the sprawling city of Moscow looking even more intricate, yet desolate than before.

9. Amnesia: A Machine For pigs

If your looking for a survival horror game that will regularly set you on edge and constantly make you jump and squirm then look no further. Amnesia is just such a game and is unique in the fact that it makes your mind create the horror rather than imediately baraging you with blood and monsters. Quite often what you are running from, hiding under tables from and dying to is unseen or only briefly glimpsed. It’s lighting effects, eerie music and sound effects, graphics and puzzles all add the necessary to makes this one of the scariest games around.

Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs looks set to follow the trend of heart pounding terror, nail biting tension and underwear soiling panic and perhaps even surpass it. Find out… if you dare!

8. Tom Clancey’s Splinter Cell: Blacklist

Sam Fisher is back and will be providing more of the stealth action gameplay that we have grown to love from this series of games. Blacklist follows straight on from the story of Conviction with Third Echelon disbanded and Sam heading up the newly formed Fourth Echelon unit.

While Splinter Cell games have always had that stealth action mix to them, the stand out moment for me comes in the execution of this mix. In other games you may have to time your path well to hide from enemies using boxes and invisibility gadgets to get by, where as Splinter Cell is more about moving with fluidity and hiding yes, but executing kills and stealth cooperatively to gain the advantage.

7. ArmA-3

Could this game be yet another in an increasingly long line of similar futuristic war games? I doubt it! While I may have only discovered the series a few months back due to a popular mod (Day Z), ArmA 3 will no doubt be a stand out selection for 2013.

Set in the mid 2030’s ArmA 3 intends to be a photo realistic quality open world tactical shooter. With a viewing distance of up to 20km, underwater environments, the freedom to travel in any direction and the ability to create your own missions, the possibilities are endless and unique to its genre. Aiming to be as realistic as possible, the land in ArmA 3 is modelled on real life geographic data and has destroyable structures.

6. Tomb Raider

Lara Croft is back and Square Enix have added a fresh injection of style for the revamp of this classic series. Any Tomb Raider game would most likely be in my most anticipated list but it’s the fact that the developers have decided to start afresh with the series and put their own angle on Lara and her adventures that interests me the most.

Tomb Raider will take Lara back to the roots of her legend and explore the story of how she became the combat hardened, mummy slayer that we know today. The game will capture an entirely different feel from the past games, with larger open world areas to explore, a host of new weapons and combat abilities and more in depth survival mechanics, meaning you have to find the bare essentials of food and water in order to survive.

5. Beyond: Two Souls

Beyond: Two Souls is the next game from acclaimed French developers Quantic Dream. This team of developers are well known for delivering unusual but very interesting story lines and characters and plenty of innovation to their games. From what I’ve seen of the game so far it certainly seems to be following that trend well and the story is certainly the biggest pulling point for me.

Beyond: Two Souls lets you play out fifteen years in the life of Jodie Holmes and her journey to determine the truth surrounding an entity named Idan, that has followed by her side her whole life. The main story of the game will be centred around questions of possible life after death and what happens when you die.

Remember that this is only part one of our countdown and there are still four brilliant games to reveal. Look forward to entries from Ubisoft and Irrational Games among others. Will open world gaming take the crown of most anticipated in 2013? Will a new developer top our list or maybe even a new gaming franchise? Find out in part two.