There are a LOT of games coming out this holiday season, so how will you know what to buy your children, especially given this economy? You’ve got to know what’s the best so you don’t spread your hard-earned moola around on lame games.

This is the guide will help you find the best games coming out this year.

Oh yeah, and you’re WELCOME Santa!

Shooters

Resistance 2 (PS3)- The epic follow-up to the PS3′s first AAA title has finally arrived. Featuring 64 player online matches, 8 player online co-op, and a truly epic campaign this title is a must-have. I highly recommend this to any fan of 1st person shooters. The graphics are great and the story ties up everything nicely.

Price – $60

Rating – B+

Release – OUT NOW

Gears of War 2 (360)- Another follow-up to a AAA title but this time, it is for Microsoft. Gears of War was voted Game of the Year many times and also voted Best Graphics. All of this was for a reason. The game play is fun, the graphics are amazing, and the online will entertain you for a long time. The story continues the adventure of Delta Squad who now is looking for Dominic’s girlfriend and, of course, a way to end the Locust Horde. Speaking of horde, this game has a brand new online mode that has you and 5 friends pitted against waves of enemies. This game is a shoe-in for a GOTY nom.

Price – $60

Rating – A-

Release – OUT NOW

Dead Space (360,PS3)- Finally we have a great horror game that has great graphics and fun game play to boot. This is the game horror and sci-fi purists have been waiting for. It is set on the USG Ishimura where you are Isaac Clarke, an engineer sent to repair the ship. The game has great graphics and is tons of fun to play. Oh, its also ****ing scary as hell. I nearly pee’d myself all throughout the game.

Price – $60

Rating – B+

Release – OUT NOW

Call of Duty: World at War (Multi)- Yet another follow-up to a hit game but this one turns the series in a new direction. You are now back in World War II (Call of Duty 4 was set in modern times) and must fight the Japanese with a much grittier tone. While this isn’t as good as CoD4, this is just because they had less freedom with it being in the past. A rather short campaign is elongated by amazing and fun online play.

Price – $30 – $60

Rating – B-

Release – OUT NOW

Far Cry 2 (360,PS3,PC)- An open world game set in Africa with amazing graphics, an incredible map editor, and fun multiplayer adds up to make a great game. The editor is extremely intuitive and fun-to-use. You can easily recreate other maps from your favorite games. The multiplayer is just the basics though and the campaign gets a bit repetitive.

Price – $50 – $60

Rating – B-

Release – OUT NOW

Left 4 Dead (360,PC)- The latest game from master developer Valve. This is an very simple game. You are one of four survivors in a zombie apocalypse. You have hordes of hundreds of zombies rushing you at once from all directions. Needless to say it is intense. The meat of this game comes from co-op play with four player online and two player offline split-screen. A great game with a short story but extremely high replay value.

Price – $60

Rating – B+

Release – OUT NOW

RPG

Fallout 3 (360,PS3,PC)- An action RPG with lots of deep game play and an amazing open world to run through. You are a Vault survivor. While nuclear bombs were being dropped, many people went into underground vaults to stay safe. One day you wake up to find out that your dad has escaped the vault for the first time in 100 years. You must follow him out and track him down. Amazing graphics and atmosphere make this a must-buy.

Price – $50 – $60

Rating – A-

Release – OUT NOW

Fable II (360)- An RPG of epic proportions. Stylized graphics that are very pleasing to the eye and drop-in-drop-out co-op is also a nice edition. The story is too short for an RPG though, it’s only 12-16 hours. The combat is surprisingly deep and fun yet very simple for the casual players.

Price – $60

Rating – B

Release – OUT NOW

World of Warcraft : Wrath of Lich King (PC)- The second expansion to the massively addicting MMORPG. This expansion adds cool new environments, raises the level cap by ten levels, and adds new items. A great expansion at a reasonable price. They still have that monthly fee, but we’re all used to that by now.

Price – $50

Rating – A-

Release – OUT NOW

Racing

Pure (360,PS3)- Pure is an ATV racing game featuring huge jumps, gorgeous graphics, and lots of tracks. With 45 tracks this game has plenty of content for you to race through. Pure also has a great online play that anyone can enjoy. Although, it gets boring kind of quickly.

Price – $45

Rating – C+

Release – OUT NOW

Motorstorm : Pacific Rift (PS3)- Is the sequel to the PS3′s AAA racing title. The first one only had 5 tracks and and few game modes, obviously it was lacking in content. Also, all of the tracks had the desert theme which made it hard to enjoy the very few tracks. The new game addresses each one of these problems by adding 16 tracks each of which has it’s own distinct style. The graphics look beautiful and the game runs smoothly.

Price – $60

Rating – B+

Release – OUT NOW

Platformers

Prince of Persia (360,PS3,PC)- The newest game in the Prince of Persia series takes the series in a completely different direction. You control a different prince, have a brand new companion, the graphics have been overhauled, and the Sands of Time are gone. The new graphical style is beautiful and vibrant. It’s like a watercolor painting. The combat and acrobatics are great and the game is tons of fun although a bit on the easy side.

Price – $60

Rating – B+

Release – Dec. 9th

LittleBigPlanet (PS3)- A definite Game of the Year (GOTY) contender coming from a small British company comprised of only 25 people. The game features a great editor which lets you publish your own levels. It is a 2D platformer with 3D graphics. You can switch between three layers of play for all kinds of fun. 4 people can play at once, online or off which makes for a great time. An amazing game that will be played for a long time

Price – $60

Rating – A

Release – OUT NOW

Mirror’s Edge (360,PS3,PC)- An entire new genre for 1st person games. A first person platformer with a graphical style like no other. The entire city is white except for the strong primary colors used to signal the direction you need to move in the style of the French ‘Parkour’ athletic system of movement. It is extremely fluid and fun to play. The game is only about 6 hours long so it’s a rental for most unless you plan on playing through it many times. It is so sweet I had to put it on the list.

Price – $60

Rating – B

Release – OUT NOW

Banjo Kazooie : Nuts and Bolts (360)- A pseudo sequel to the N64 original game, Nuts and Bolts, and yet it is unlike its predecessor in many ways. It is based mostly on creating your own vehicles to drive around and has very little on-foot platforming. It looks and runs great. Highly recommended for fans of the original as long as you like change. Also, it’s a steal with the budget price.

Price – $40

Rating – B+

Release – OUT NOW

Party

Rock Band 2 (Multi)- *sigh* ANOTHER sequel in the holiday season but this one doesn’t change much. It has nearly identical gameplay and pretty much just adds more songs and fixes some of the problems with the first game. 84 songs to rock to with friends, it is highly recommended that you buy the instruments to play. If you don’t have the instruments already, buy the newer ones as they are more refined than the first game’s.

Price – $60 – $190

Rating – B

Release – OUT NOW

Guitar Hero : World Tour (Multi)- A continuation of the series but this time they introduce new instruments, the same ones seen in Rock Band a year earlier. It introduces a song editor but it is extremely hard to learn. You can download other published songs but mods have been deleting and copyrighted songs.

Price – $60 – $190

Rating – C+

Release – OUT NOW

Buzz: Quiz TV (PS3) – The latest quiz game hits the PS3 with great success. It has ncie graphics that can carry the game along well, it has tons of questions, great variety, and is a ton of fun with friends. The only drawback is that you’ve pretty mcuh seen the entire game after about half an hour. Not all the questions, just all the different things possible.

Price – $60

Rating – B-

Release – OUT NOW

Strategy

Command and Conquer : Red Alert 3 (PC)- The third game in the quirky Command and Conquer : Red Alert series. With hilariously cheesy live-action cutscenes and fun gameplay, this game is a ton of fun. The game is a little too simple for my liking.

Price – $50

Rating – B-

Release – OUT NOW

Valkyria Chronicles (PS3)- A Japanese Action RPG where you command a bunch of soldiers strategically on a map and then directly on the battlefield. The graphical style is beautiful and the gameplay is challenging. A strong Action RPG for the PS3.

Price – $60

Rating – B

Release – OUT NOW

Enjoy the games you buy and buy the games you enjoy! If there’s a game, or any gadget, we haven’t covered here, check out our latest find! Go to www.testfreaks.com and check out the enormous quantity of reviews and scores they have online!

Written by Haydn

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