The Halo series isn’t as sequel-obsessed as some of the other annual offenders on this list, spacing things out between its numbered installments, but Halo 4 will still mark the eighth time we’ve been on this particular merry-go-round. For all its star-studded Halo-ness, it’ll need a new bag of tricks if it wants to startle gamers the way the original did back in 2001. New blood 343 Industries hasn’t released a standalone game yet — its prior Halo work involved support or oversight efforts — so this could go either way (though I’m predicting positively, and not just in the usual media-loves-anything-Halo way) without series creator Bungie at the helm.