The 18 Best PC Games of 2011 That You Don't Know About

From Dust
Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier
Release Date: Early 2011
Website
Little is known about From Dust at this point, but the few scraps Ubisoft has thrown our way are extremely intriguing. The game seems to take a bit of influence from Black & White, asking you to fill god's colossal flip-flops and defend an island crawling with tiny tribal folk. The twist, however, is that you're in control of elements like sand, water, lava, and vegetation, and you'll gain new powers as you fight off natural disasters and the like.

Frozen Synapse
Publisher: Mode 7 Games
Developer: Mode 7 Games
Release Date: Early 2011
Website
This turn-based, squad-based, sensical-synonym-for-”awesome”-based strategy game isn't technically out yet, but if you pre-order now, you gain access to a nicely polished beta, an extra free copy of the game, and some other nice goodies. In a nutshell, Frozen Synapse is a game that emphasizes creativity over rote tactics and sees both players take their turns simultaneously. The interface is also brilliantly simple, merely asking you to give your tiny men a target. No base-building, no watching and waiting. Instead, Frozen Synapse is about countering your opponent's next strike before they make it. It's fast, it's brutal, and – most of all – it's incredibly fun.

A Game of Thrones: Genesis
Publisher: Focus Home Interactive
Developer: Cyanide Games
Release Date: TBA 2011
Website
We might be a little biased about this one seeing as we're obnoxiously geeky about the book series it's based on, but we certainly like the direction A Game of Thrones: Genesis is taking. The game's been described as an RTS where giant armies and Rambo tactics are a nice way to die horribly, which fits the book's mix of political intrigue and treachery like a spike-encrusted mail glove. Granted, some more concrete info would be nice, but with the HBO TV series' debut rapidly approaching, we don't imagine we'll have to wait too much longer.

Homefront
Publisher: THQ
Developer: Kaos Studios
Release Date: March 8
Website
THQ may not be known for peddling the biggest first-person shooters on the market, but it sure knows how to pick the most unique. After very nearly knocking it out of the park with Metro 2033 last year, the publisher's back with the similarly immersive Homefront, which throws you into the nitty gritty of a rebel uprising against a near-future Korean occupation. Better still, the plot's being penned by John Milius, who co-wrote Apocalypse Now and wrote Red Dawn. The single-player bits we've seen seem to take a fair deal of inspiration from Half-Life 2 (you know, minus the headcrabs), which is never a bad thing. Multiplayer, meanwhile, has the benefit of developer Kaos Studios' formidable pedigree, which includes the sadly underrated Frontlines: Fuel of War.