Every year we get at least a few amazing PC titles to appreciate and enjoy. They come in all shapes and sizes, so there’s usually something cool for everyone.
2012 was no different – but do you remember what exactly did we play back then and which PC games received the most praise? Let’s take a look at some of the best video games that came out in 2012 on the list down below.
| Game | Release | Genre | Developer | |
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 | Alan Wake | 2012-02-16 | Adventure | Remedy Entertainment |
 | Call Of Duty Black Ops 2 | 2012-11-12 | Action & Shooter | Treyarch |
 | The Walking Dead | 2012-04-24 | Adventure | Telltale Games |
 | Max Payne 3 | 2012-05-31 | Adventure | Rockstar Vancouver |
 | Borderlands 2 Goty | 2012-09-20 | Action & Shooter | Gearbox Software |
 | Far Cry 3 | 2012-11-28 | Adventure | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Castle Crashers | 2012-09-26 | Adventure | The Behemoth |
 | Assassins Creed III | 2012-11-21 | Adventure | Ubisoft Montreal |
 | Batman Arkham City Goty Edition | 2012-09-07 | Adventure | Rocksteady Studios |
 | Chivalry Complete Pack | 2012-10-16 | Action & Shooter | Torn Banner Studios |
 | Chivalry Medieval Warfare | 2012-10-16 | Action & Shooter | Torn Banner Studios |
 | Counter Strike Global Offensive Prime Status Upgrade | 2012-08-21 | Action & Shooter | Valve |
 | Borderlands 2 | 2012-09-21 | RPG | Gearbox Software |
 | Crusader Kings II Imperial Collection | 2012-02-14 | Economy | Paradox Development Studio |
 | Diablo 3 Battlechest Battlenet | 2016-11-28 | Adventure | Blizzard Entertainment |
 | Dishonored Definitive Edition | 2012-10-11 | Action | Arkane Studios |
 | FTL Faster Than Light | 2012-09-14 | Adventure | Subset Games |
 | Hitman Absolution | 2012-11-19 | Action & Shooter | IO Interactive |
 | Hotline Miami | 2012-10-23 | Adventure | Dennaton Games |
 | Jet Set Radio | 2012-09-19 | Action & Shooter | Blitworks |
 | Legacy Of Kain Soul Reaver | 2012-12-06 | Adventure | Crystal Dynamics |
 | Lego Batman 2 Dc Super Heroes | 2012-06-22 | Adventure | Traveller's Tales |
 | Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 | 2012-01-05 | Traveller's Tales | |
 | Lego Lord Of The Rings | 2012-11-27 | Adventure | Traveller's Tales |
 | Little Inferno | 2012-11-19 | Adventure | Tomorrow Corporation |
 | Mark Of The Ninja | 2012-10-16 | Adventure | Klei Entertainment |
 | Orcs Must Die 2 | 2012-07-30 | Indie | Robot Entertainment |
 | Prototype 2 | 2012-07-26 | Adventure | Radical Entertainment |
 | Risen 2 Dark Waters Gold Edition | 2012-04-26 | Adventure | Piranha Bytes |
 | Rocksmith | 2012-10-18 | Arcade & Platform | Ubisoft San Francisco |
 | Sacred 2 Gold | 2012-12-21 | Adventure | Ascaron |
 | Sins Of A Solar Empire Rebellion | 2012-06-12 | Indie | Ironclad Games |
 | Sniper Elite V2 | 2012-05-03 | Action & Shooter | Rebellion Developments |
 | Spec Ops The Line | 2012-06-28 | Action & Shooter | Yager Development |
 | The Darkness Ii | 2012-02-09 | Action & Shooter | Digital Extremes |
 | The Walking Dead The Telltale Definitive Series | 2019-09-10 | Action | Skybound Games |
 | Ticket To Ride | 2012-05-24 | Indie | Days of Wonder |
 | Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Future Soldier | 2012-06-27 | Action & Shooter | Ubisoft Paris |
 | Torchlight II | 2012-10-02 | Adventure | Runic Games |
 | Total War Saga Fall Of The Samurai | 2012-03-22 | Strategy | The Creative Assembly |
 | Transformers Fall Of Cybertron | 2012-08-23 | Adventure | High Moon Studios |
 | XCOM Enemy Unknown Complete Pack | 2012-10-11 | Strategy | Firaxis Games |
Borderlands 2
| Release: | 2012-09-21 |
| Genre: | RPG |
| Developer: | Gearbox Software |
Let’s start with Borderlands 2 – a first-person shooter game that allows parties of up to 4 players to cooperate, explore, loot, and level up their characters together.
Borderlands 2 was and still is a widely praised video game – it’s one of those titles that aged exceptionally well. Maybe because it used a unique type of art style that didn’t try to look realistic and aimed into something like an animated comic book instead, making the game somewhat aging-proof.
But visuals wouldn’t mean a thing if the gameplay was boring – and in the case of Borderlands 2, it’s anything but that. There are four classes to choose from, each with its own skill trees to invest in, which means that there are multiple ways to play and enjoy each available character. Add procedurally generated loot and a ton of humorous dialogues and situations to the mix and you get a recipe for a bestseller.
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Hotline Miami
| Release: | 2012-10-23 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Dennaton Games |
If you’re a fan of fast-paced arcade-style games, you’ve surely heard of Hotline Miami. If you didn’t, then maybe it’s time to fix it and give the game a go.
Hotline Miami is a top-down shooter that sacrifices any kind of realism there potentially is, in favor of pure, unrestricted, intense fun. There is a story, sure, but who cares – we’re in for some sweet, bloody massacre accompanied by catchy electronic music. The gameplay revolves around completing increasingly difficult levels by eliminating all targets as fast as possible with the use of whatever items and weapons you can find in the area
Easier said than done, you will surely die a lot, but that’s also part of the fun. Expect to restart certain levels over and over, but don’t be discouraged – in fact, it’s not as bad as it may sound and it can get extremely addictive. The game is outstanding – it already managed to receive a cult status, which should be enough of a proof.
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Max Payne 3
| Release: | 2012-05-31 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Rockstar Vancouver |
Rockstar also delivered us something great in 2012, and this is Max Payne 3. Although it’s drastically different from previous games in the Max Payne franchise, it’s still a game you wouldn’t want to miss.
Rockstar excels at two things – making incredible, huge, open-world environments, and making compelling stories that feel like a good American movie. Although there’s no open world in Max Payne 3, you won’t be disappointed by the story part
A dark and believable story of revenge and betrayal is what you can expect, but the story is not the only strong point of the title. The gameplay is also incredibly smooth, and there’s still this iconic bullet time that allows players to slow the time down to easily dodge bullets and take out dangerous enemies with ease.
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Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition
| Release: | 2012-08-23 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | FromSoftware |
2012 was also the year when we got an enhanced edition of one of the most difficult and unforgiving, yet enjoyable and addictive action role-playing games up to date.
The Dark Souls series is an action role-playing game, best known for its incredibly high difficulty level. It’s worth noting, however, that although the game is hard, it’s also fair. The difficulty comes mainly from the player’s lack of knowledge and understanding of the game mechanics.
It’s easy to die when you don’t know the area yet, and you’re not sure where the enemies can appear from – they can, for example, hide on a cliff behind a rock, waiting for you to come closer and attempt to push you down. Once you learn enemies’ locations and boss attack patterns, the game can be no more difficult than an average RPG. It’s also worth noting the game’s incredible, dark, sometimes even grotesque atmosphere. Playing at night may result in nightmares. You have been warned.
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Hitman: Absolution
| Release: | 2012-11-19 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | IO Interactive |
Agent 47 returns in the fifth installment in the Hitman franchise – a much more approachable title that is still challenging enough to not kill players with boredom.
Hitman is a popular stealth video game series and it focuses on the character of Agent 47 – probably one of the most recognizable characters in the video game industry. The ultimate assassin’s mission continues, but now his task seems more difficult than ever, as he’s ordered to eliminate his former handler, Diana Burnwood, who betrayed the agency and disappeared for reasons unknown.
The game is played from a third-person perspective and puts emphasis on stealth play, which means that you will be usually sneaking around while trying to silently complete the job. You can use all sorts of items and weapons during play, and you may even use the environment to your advantage to create a distraction, hide bodies, and so on. And if you’re more of a rambo type of player, you can also try to simply fight your way through, but this approach can prove to be unreasonably challenging.
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The Walking Dead
| Release: | 2019-09-10 |
| Genre: | Action |
| Developer: | Skybound Games |
Fans of zombie apocalypse settings had a reason to rejoice in 2012, as that’s when Telltale Games released their new game that was based on the popular series of comic books.
Telltale Games is best known for making a specific kind of graphic adventure games, where there are not many puzzles to be solved or exploration to be done, but rather there are difficult moral choices to be made, so it’s not surprising that their version of The Walking Dead is no different. There are some QTE events here and there, but in general, the game feels more like an interactive show, where you can alter the story according to your preferences.
With that being said, the game is of extremely high quality, and the story it presents can make grown-ups cry at times. As the player choices is the most crucial element of the series, developers took it further and made it possible to compare your own choices with those made by other players, so you can see how the rest of the community handled difficult situations.
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Counter-Strike: Global Offensive
| Release: | 2012-08-21 |
| Genre: | Action & Shooter |
| Developer: | Valve |
Counter-Strike fans also surely experienced a moment of happiness in 2012 – and for some of them, this moment still lasts until this day.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a first-person shooter game and probably one of the most successful releases in the entire Counter-Strike series. Sure, the 1.6 version has its own cult following, but clearly, Global Offensive is Valve’s most loved child as of now, especially considering the fact, that it’s still being maintained, gets regular updates, and tops the popularity charts on the Steam platform with about one million active users daily. And there’s a reason – the game is super easy to start, but it’s also hard to master on a professional level. It doesn’t matter if you’re just looking for some casual fun or a great e-sport title suitable for veterans – CS: GO somehow manages to keep everyone satisfied.
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is free to play game.
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Dishonored
| Release: | 2012-10-11 |
| Genre: | Action |
| Developer: | Arkane Studios |
We already mentioned Hitman on the list, but it’s worth noting that 2012 gave life to a number of great stealth games. The other one that deserves a mention is Dishonored.
Dishonored is an action-adventure game that puts emphasis on stealth. It does so to the point that it rewards those who manage to beat the entire game without killing anyone – it’s not an easy task, but it’s entirely doable and worth trying at least once.
The game features character progression and simple role-playing elements, which means that you will be able to customize your character to a certain degree and unlock new supernatural abilities as you progress through the storyline. There are also moral choices, so keep in mind that your decisions do matter – think twice before you act.
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Mark of the Ninja
| Release: | 2012-10-16 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Klei Entertainment |
When we said that there were multiple great stealth games released in 2012, we didn’t lie – and here’s yet another example.
If you are looking for a game that could be called the game of the year, Mark of the Ninja could easily be considered one of these. It took players by surprise, but let us tell you, how pleasant of a surprise it was. Mark of the Ninja redefines the stealth genre and gives us something new and fresh to try – it’s a 2D platform game, where you’ll be accompanying a skilled ninja as he tries to stay in the shadows and silently eliminate designated targets.
Some great features that should be noted gameplay-wise are the line of sight and noise mechanics, as well as the possibility to terrify opponents by ruthlessly dealing with their friends. There are also lots of unlockable abilities and weapons, so you’re guaranteed to have hours of fun with this title.
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Diablo III
| Release: | 2016-11-28 |
| Genre: | Adventure |
| Developer: | Blizzard Entertainment |
Finally, there’s Diablo III – a game from the franchise that was considered the king of hack and slashes for quite some time.
Although the people’s favorite is probably still Diablo II with the Lord of Destruction expansion pack, Diablo III also managed to gain a lot of love from the community, despite being drastically different from its predecessors.
The game became significantly easier in terms of character building, which was considered both a good and a bad thing – D2 was praised for virtually unlimited ways of enjoying the game, while D3 limits the choices to a certain degree. On the other hand, it’s also what makes D3 the best game from the franchise to begin the Diablo adventure. The game still looks amazing visually – it’s polished to meet modern industry standards and appeal to a new generation of players.
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The Best 2012 Video Games
2012 was a fruitful year for the video game industry and it brought numerous great games for players to enjoy. Rockstar came with a new installment of Max Payne, zombie apocalypse and interactive drama fans got The Walking Dead from Telltale Games, and the competitive e-sports scene was assaulted by CS: GO. It was truly a remarkable time, so why not pay the past a visit? Discover the best 2012 video games and pick your favorites from our list.