Season 2012

It's that time of year again, gamers: Golden Mullet time! That's X-Play's annual celebration of the worst games of the year. Whether it's the horrors of Thor: God of Thunder, the terrors of MindJack or other awful titles, 2011 provided mullet-lovers with a bumper crop of terrifically bad interactive entertainments.

Everything will be bigger in Mass Effect 3, the conclusion to Commander Shepard's epic universe-saving space trilogy. We'll check out gigantic bosses, online multiplayer, and more. A disgusting, fleshy virus consumes New York City in Prototype 2, and we'll get an early look at the action. Early Peter Molyneux creation Syndicate returns as a first-person shooter from the creators of Riddick, and we'll weigh in on the results with our review. We'll get a hands-on demo of indie platformer Vessel, in which sentient machines get a little full of themselves and wreak havoc. We'll open up the X-Play Inbox for another round of answering your viewer mail. Blair Herter catches up with Gearbox's Randy Pitchford and Epic's Rod Fergusson in Las Vegas for a special Feedback DICE 2012 edition.

Master Chief returns this fall in Halo 4, and we'll take an early look. Gearbox Software has a big year coming up, with Aliens: Colonial Marines and Borderlands 2 both set to release. We'll hang with Gearbox President and CEO Randy Pitchford for his thoughts on what we can expect. Ninja Gaiden 3 wants you to feel what it's actually like to kill someone, and we'll go hands-on for a sneak peek. The last Assassin's Creed said farewell to Ezio Auditore, and the upcoming Assassin's Creed 3 will feature a new protagonist and a new setting. We'll take a first look at the new trailer. MLB 2K12 will feature the annual tweaks and updates you've come to expect each year, but one new one stands out. You'll be able to play a full season in sync with the real one, and we'll get details.

The original Mass Effect was an excellent game. Sequel Mass Effect 2 went on to win our 2010 Game of the Year award. Now, the epic space trilogy concludes with the arrival of the highly anticipated Mass Effect 3, and we'll have a big two-part review and discussion of what this series has meant to gaming. Mass Effect 3 adds 4-player co-op into the mix, something that when done right can make for a great time. We'll run down the games that have done it the best. Not knowing what you're doing will get you killed in a hurry in Gears of War 3, but pro gamer Tsquared will have the tips you need for dominating online play. For the tidy sum of $15,000, the Blue Tiger Motion Simulator controller promises to bring all the high-speed action of videogame racing to real life. We'll go hands-on for a closer look.

We get details from Tony Hawk himself on the upcoming collection Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, the hi-def remake of your favorite levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater parts one and two. Japanese developers have a shaky history developing shooters for a Western audience, but SEGA takes a crack at it with Binary Domain, and we'll weigh in on the attempt with our review. After watching Harrison Ford play Uncharted 3, we thought it might be a good idea to watch what happens when Nick Nolte plays Grand Theft Auto IV. Journey is the latest entry from thatgamecompany, creators of such "art" fare as Flower and flOw. We'll let you know if it's a buy in our review. We'll check out another round of great indie games that aren't necessarily on the mainstream radar. This time we'll look at Really Big Sky!, Realm of the Mad God, and The Blackwell Legacy. Sly Cooper: Thieves In Time throws back to last generation's light and colorful action games, and we'll get a sneak peek. The latest Silent Hill incarnation adds new combat features like breakable weapons and an open world environment, and we'll check out the results in our review.

In the last two weeks, we've unveiled new BioShock Infinite enemies the "Motorized Patriot" and the "Handyman." Today, we'll reveal a third. Get a first look at Dishonored, the upcoming title that's all about assassinations and revenge from Deus Ex and System Shock designer Harvey Smith and RPG Arx Fatalis designer Raphael Colantonio. The baseball game franchise of "Million Dollar Perfect Game" contest fame is back with their annual installment. Find out if it's worth your time in our review. Morgan Webb heads to Austin, TX to get scoop from the ScreenBurn Arcade, SXSW's festival within a festival where game industry announcements are made and new products revealed. More Move games are on the way, and we'll check out three: Sorcery, Datura, and PixelJunk 4am. Just in time for Apple's latest version of the iPad, get our picks for best sports games to take on the go.

Nexon's big update for free-to-play MMORPG Vindictus will include twenty player raids, new PVP modes, a little capture the flag, and even an X-Play in-game item. Gamers expressed concern when 2K revealed XCOM: Enemy Unknown would take the series into shooter territory. What would happen to strategy? Get a look in a gameplay preview. Ubisoft joins the post-apocalyptic fray with their new game I Am Alive, but does it add anything worthwhile to the genre? Find out in our review. One of the highlights at this year's GDC in San Francisco was the "Kara" demo given by Heavy Rain's David Cage, in which the promise of a powerful new game engine wowed the audience. Get face time with the man for a closer look. Take a first look at the Star Wars: The Old Republic patch coming in April, with more content like flashpoints and warzones. We'll check out more of our favorite Elder Scrolls 5 mods made using Bethesda's Skyrim creation kit. Blur Studios is behind trailers for DC Universe Online, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Resident Evil 6, and even did the opening credits for The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo. Go behind the scenes with Blur Creative Director Tim Miller.