The Hottest Games for the Holidays

This holiday season there are plenty of newly-released games to choose from, whether you’re looking for a gift for a loved one, or are just planning on how to spend your days off. From strategy games, to first-person shooters, role-playing games, driving games, and more, there’s lots of fresh titles from which to choose. Here is a list of what we consider to be the hottest games for the holidays this year.

Star Wars Battlefront

With the up and coming blockbuster already creating a major uproar in the movie market, the new Star Wars Battlefront game for PC is bound to be a hit this holiday season.  Released on November 17^th, this massive sandbox includes multiple worlds with extreme attention to detail. Survival mode puts you in a single or double player gaming arena against the Rebels and Imperialists. You have the option to play first or third person in this shooter game with its spectacular multiplayer mode. IGN.com rated Battlefront an overall 8.0 with some objection to the odd gaming music and volume.

Fallout 4

A story has never changed the gaming world as much as the Fallout series.  With the third follow-up to the original, Fallout 4 continues its post-nuclear atmosphere while in search of finding your lost family. This is the most diverse Fallout world yet, with dilapidated urban areas, ominous dead forests, eerie swamps, a desolate area hindered in a hellish radioactive haze, and even some areas that look borderline hospitable like beaches and budding farms. Deciding which post-apocalyptic philosophy to side with can determine many different outcomes in the game.  You can never be sure who to trust with the amount of complex characters and nuclear monsters around every corner. This first or third person role playing game is rated a 9.5 on IGN.com and came out on November 10th.

Call of Duty: Black Ops III

With the best story line of the series, Call of Duty: Black Ops III is jam-packed with constant action for a multiplayer first person shooter game.  If you are familiar with the past Call of Duty series games then this one should come across as slightly similar. However, it combines three unique gaming modes: Campaign, Multiplayer and Zombies which is different than any game of the series in the past.  Call of Duty: Black Ops III can be played entirely online against up to 4 multiple opponents. The game came out on November 6^th and is rated an 8.5 on IGN.com.

StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void

In this third person real time strategy game, StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void offers a lot of new things, especially to people who may have been frustrated with the focus on ladder play and high-level competition that defined early StarCraft 2.  With a strong mission design, it will take a well thought out approach to defeat the game.  The multiplayer mode is not for the faint-hearted.  Taking on a co-op mission is pleasantly surprising and rewarding.  Learning to use each hero, and trying harder difficulty levels, make co-op much more than just a gimmick.  StarCraft 2: Legacy of the Void came out November 10^th and got an overall 8.9 rating on IGN.com.

Need for Speed Rivals

If there’s any way to get your blood pumping it’s by racing through the open road environment in the new Need for Speed Rivals game that came out on November 19th.  With the part live action CGI graphics, you’re sure to feel like you are in a real life police chase as you out run the cops through the very realistic street environment. As a racer, the goal is to become infamous for taking risks behind the wheel and capturing your most intense escapes on video for the world to see.  The more cops you get to follow you, the more speed points and street cred you get as well. With speed points, you can customize your own car with every detail possible so that you’re back out on the streets and ready to race again. In another game playing mode, as a cop, players work together as part of a team in pursuit of tracking down racers.

Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate

In Assassin’s Creed: Syndicate, multiplayer was left out entirely in order to focus on the setting entirely. In the city of London, you will find yourself placed in the 19^th century with fun side-story missions helping Charles Dickens and other real life characters.  While still keeping the classic Assassin’s Creed moves like climbing the walls, scaling towers and locking on to kill targets, this game’s story is much more uplifting and allows for more familiarity within the city setting. Released on October 3^rd, this action-adventure game received a rating of 8.2 from IGN.com.

Just Cause 3

With an action-adventure open world format, Just Cause 3 allows for some non-stop spectacular demolition. It’s about rescuing the picturesque island nation of Medici from an atrocious dictator. While the ridiculous over-the-top action, physics-defying based comedy, and impressive destruction in a vast sandbox world is what grabs and hold your attention throughout the entire game. Your goal is to liberate dozens of towns in the most creative and destructible way possible. With its recent release on December 1^st and an IGN.com rating of 8.0, Just Cause 3 is sure to be a hit this holiday season and will keep you entertained for hours on end.