hottest xbox games 2011

Call of Duty:
Modern Warfare 3

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is first-person shooter and the latest installment from one of the biggest gaming franchises of all time. MW3 follows on from the events of call of duty modern warfare 2 and sees the return of task force 141 as they search for Vladimir Makarov. Set across the globe in locations such as England, France, Germany and campaign stages are also planned for Somalia, Sierra Leone, Moscow and Dubai this latest call of duty is set to be the biggest installment yet.

Adding to the kick ass single player campaign is the epic multiplayer mode from Infinity Ward. The whole multiplayer experience has had an entire overhaul with brand new killstreak rewards and a revamped ranking and unlock system. Infinity Ward have also revealed that MW3 will feature a new Survival Mode, that features one to two players fighting endless waves of enemies with each wave getting more difficult much like the current zombie modes from black ops.

Battlefield 3
Limited Edition

Hot on the heels of Call of Duty mw3 this winter is the amazing looking shooter Battlefield 3. Developed by EA DICE who brought us the popular Battlefield Bad Company series; battlefield 3 is a direct sequel to battlefield 2. The game will feature a single player campaign set in the Middle East, with the US Marine Corps taking on the People's Liberation and Resistance. Set in 2014 the single player game will feature the hugely satisfying gunplay of previous Bad Company titles and will also feature controllable vehicles. While the single player campaign with its gritty realism will be enough to make this game a triple A title, It's the multiplayer mode that looks like it could finally stop the hold COD has over the FPS market.

The multiplayer game will feature maps set in Paris, Tehran, Sarajevo, Sulaymaniyah, New York, Wake Island and Oman and the fast paced combat will take place in urban streets, metropolitan downtown areas, and open landscapes suited to land vehicle combat and attacks by air. Battlefield 3 will still use the class based system seen in the other battlefield and Bad Company games, with 4 classes to chose from Assault, Support, Engineer and Recon. Several game modes have been announced, including Conquest, Rush, Squad Deathmatch, Squad Rush and a new mode to the series, Team Deathmatch. I'm really looking forward to this game!

Batman:
Arkham City

Batman: Arkham City is the sequel to the smash hit title Batman Arkham Asylum. The story takes place a year after the events of Arkham Asylum and moves the stealth action from inside the asylum onto the mean streets of Gotham city. After the events of the first game Quincy Sharp the former warden of Arkham Asylum has bought a large part of Gotham city's slums and turned them into a large open prison rather like a city within a city set to house all of Gotham's criminals and the criminally insane. Much like the film "Escape from New York", the prisoners in this new Arkham City are left to fend for themselves and are given a free rein, as long as they do not attempt escape.

The game starts with Two Face sets to take over the city and publicly execute Catwoman to gain notoriety among the inmates and other villains in Arkham city. Batman can't let this happen, and we wouldn't have much of a game if he did would we! So the caped crusader launches into a gritty stealth based mission into the heart of Arkham City. Like the previous game Batman has lots of cool gadgets and abilities to get the job done, from taking down enemies silently from above or taking out a room full of bad guys with free flowing battle attacks this game has it all. Along with Batman and his sidekick Robin, you also get the chance to play with the awesome Catwomen, as she will be a playable character in some of the campaigns, opening up a whole different array of gadgets and kick ass moves.

Also making a welcome return is everybody's favorite insane super villain the Joker along with newer enemies such as the Penguin, the Riddler, two face, Bane, Calendar Man and Mr Freeze. The game has about 40 hours of gameplay with the main campaign lasting 25 hours and 15 hours for the side missions. The game also contains over 400 Riddler challenges, which will make up one of the multiple side missions that players can embark on at any given point in the game

Dead Island

Dead Island is the video games all self respecting zombie fans have been waiting for, a survival horror game based in a zombie infested open world, this is going to be epic!

Dead island plays like the undead spawn of dead rising and left 4 dead with a little Fallout 3 thrown in for good measure; its basically an action RPG survival horror game set on a fictional island call Banoi. The story starts when the player wakes up after a hard night partying to find most of the islands holiday makers have been zombified overnight!

You pick one of four characters who specialize in different areas from knives, guns, power or the all-rounder, from here you're free to explore the beaches, hotels and cities of Benoi to find a way off the island. Along the way you must interact with other survives who give you quest to complete in order to gain XP to customize you player or to receive cool items, like special weapons, weapon mods or even vehicles. Along with a host of sub quest there's a main story that keeps it all together and keeps the game moving at a good pace.

For the most part you will be asked to go from point A to point B and pick up supplies or rescue someone, but on the way you'll encounter hordes of zombies around every corner, the game features several different types of undead bog-standard walkers that move slowly the infected that rush at you, large zombies called thugs that can land devastating punches and take a lot of damage; hideously mutated suiciders that explode if they get near you and tanks in straitjackets charge you (totally ripped left 4 dead off here!)

The fun that can be had killing the undead is great in this game, yeah the games a little buggy but the combat is very satisfying especially smashing a zombies head in with a bat! there are lots of weapons in Dead island from knives to pipes, bats and guns basically anything you can get your hands on can be used as a weapon, weapons can also be moded too. Just add nails to a baseball bat to create the ultimate zombie killing machine.

If you're a Zombie fan like me, ignore the reviews and buy this game, you won't regret it.

Deus Ex:
Human Revolution

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a fitting prequel to the original ground breaking Deus Ex game released in 2000, set 25 years before the first game You play Adam Jensen, an ex-SWAT specialist now working as head of security during the prologue to the game you are Badly wounded during a terrorist attack, left for dead Adam is mechanically augmented and brought back from the dead with futuristic implants.

Keeping with the original content of the game this deus ex keeps the cyber punk styling of the original and brings them to life with up to date graphics, think blade runner crossed with the matrix, the gritty streets of Detroit and China are brought to life with lots of different NPC's to interact with as well as give you missions to complete.

All missions in Deus Ex lets you the player choose how you want to play the game, faced with a large building full of bad guys you can either go in the front door all guns blazing and kill everyone inside terminator style, of get in the place undetected by crawling through air vents, windows hey even get on the roof and come through the glass ceilings the choice is yours. Hell, you can play this game without even killing anyone! (apart from the boss fights)

Augmentation plays a large part in this game as you can build you Jensen with skills that fit the way you play the game. Throughout the game you gain XP by completing certain tasks or reading books, this XP can the be spent on augmentations that give Jensen certain abilities. Want your Jensen to be a cold blooded sneaky assassin, then use your XP points to buy stealth mods, this game really gives you the tools to play this game how you want to play it.

Deus Ex is a great game, that lets you play it how you want, with large open environments to explore and infinite ways to play missions, this game will keep you playing for a loooong long time.

Gears of War 3

Gears of War 3 is the hotly anticipated conclusions to the gears of war trilogy.Once again the story follows super soldier Marcus Fenix and delta team as they do battle against the locust.

The game picks up at the end of gears of war 2, things are looking bad for our hero Marcus Fenix as the last human city was destroyed by the locust, and now he and his COG soldiers must fight to save the human race. Gears of War 3 sees the introduction of a new enemy called The Lambent, who are basically mutated Locust that explode when killed, and attack anything on screen, even the Locust making turning some fire fights into epic three way battles! The story behind this campaign is Marcus has information that his father is still alive and he and his loyal Delta squad Dom, Baird and Cole have to venture into Sera to rescue Fenix's father.

To add to the single player campaign, there are 3 multiplayer modes Versus, Horde 2.0 and Beast. Versus is your normal team death match scenario, where players battle it out to kill each other. In Horde 2.0 players work together to fight through 50 waves of increasingly difficult enemies. However in this new variant, you face a boss battle every 10th wave, which can be anything from a Lambent Beserker to a series of adolescent Corpsers, to a gigantic Brumak. Like any good multiplayer mode with ever kill you gain cash/XP points to unlock different things from fortifications, gun turrets and remote canons. Beast mode is similar to Horde, except players take on the role of the Locust monsters.

Gears of War 3 is looking to be a fitting end to the Gears of War saga, and set to be one of 2011's essential titles.

Saint's Row:
The Third

The crazy over the top gameplay of saints row makes a welcome return in the form of Saint's Row: The Third, even the producer of the game Greg Donovan wants this game to be every gamer's favorite guilty pleasure.

The aim of the game for Sainst Row The Third is to let the player have as much fun as possible, from flying cars, mind-controlled octopus bazookas,the Man-a-pult (a car that sucks up pedestrian and fires them out of a cannon!) and all the other crazy over-the-top itmes you can get your hands on in this open world sandbox game, a realistic crime sim a la GTA this isn't!

The game leaves Stilwater behind and is set in a new city named Steelport, and focuses on the saints war with the syndicate a shadowy gang that rules the streets, missions can be played in any order leaving it up to you how you complete the game, but all missions you complete in Saints Row The Third have an effect on the other colourful gangs that inhabit and fight for turf in Steelport like, this in turn has a massive impact on how you play the game, with different missions being availble with the different alliances and enemies you make throughout the game.

Saints Row: The Third may not get the plaudits and hype of other games set for release this holiday season, but one thing is for certain saints row the third will be anything but boring.

Forza Motorsport 4

The Xbox answer to Gran Turismo returns, sporting astonishing visuals, picturesque circuits and a selection of high-end cars that'll have petrolheads slavering uncontrollably. Kinect support means you'll be able to get out of your vehicle and walk around it, admiring its curves. If you're into that sort of thing

Forza Motorsport, the highest rated racing franchise of this generation, makes its return to the race track in Fall 2011 with Forza Motorsport 4. The definitive racing game of 2011, Forza Motorsport 4 brings together genre-defining, controller-based racing, the power and freedom of Kinect, and content from leading brands like Top Gear to create an automotive experience unlike anything before it.

Rage

The creators of Doom and Quake return with a post-apocalyptic adventure mixing first-person shoot-'em-up action with offroad driving. Legendary developer id may have had its position in the FPS limelight stolen by the likes of Valve, Bungie and EA Dice, but this should still be a rollicking blaster.

Rage is a first-person shooter set in the future after an asteroid impacts Earth, leaving a ravaged world behind. You emerge into this vast wasteland to discover humanity working to rebuild itself against such forces as bandit gangs, mutants, and the Authority - an oppressive government regime that has a special interest in you in particular. Featuring intense first-person shooter action, breakneck vehicle combat, an expansive world to explore.

Dark Souls

The follow-up to 2009's challenging and innovative role-playing adventure, Demon's Souls, is set to increase the difficulty level, as well as the size and scope of the challenge. Hack your way through a landscape of looming citadels, collecting weapons, customising your character and discovering messages left by other players.

Enter a dark world filled with despair and threaded by hope where your ability to creatively strategize, learn and overcome unpredictable and unique challenges determines your fate. Dark Souls will demand your absolute concentration, unflinchingly punish your mistakes, but reward your ability to learn from death. Each challenge is a mind game met with endless combinations that will test your ability to creatively strategize a way to conquer unimaginable monsters and progress deeper into this bleak and forbidding environment filled with the un-dead.

FIFA Soccer 12

FIFA Soccer 12 is the 19th game in Electronic Arts' popular video game soccer series. Continuing with the franchise's unique blend of realism and innovative features that bring the authenticity to the video game pitch that fans crave, FIFA Soccer 12 is an exciting title for longtime and existing fans of console sports gaming. Game features include: 500 officially licensed clubs and more than 15,000 players, improved self-awareness and aptitude of AI players, a redefined defending mechanism, more true-to-life injuries, precision dribbling and new commentary teams.

WWE '12

The popular WWE franchise returns in an exciting new edition with WWE '12. The new Predatory Technology gameplay system will have your knees shaking as you feel like you're truly in the ring with the most fluid, dynamic, realistic and action-packed WWE simulation to date.

Enjoy new and improved gaming features, including the Breaking Point submission system, new attributes, control layout, momentum and stamina. WWE Universe Mode 2.0 introduces new elements of unpredictability based on player decisions to keep gameplay fresh and authentic. Watch your favorite stars and see their amazing moves in stunning display with dynamic visual changes, including new animations, camera positions, lighting and improved rendering.Explore the Road to WrestleMania mode and get captivated by the suspense of new storylines. With an impressive roster of WWE Superstars, Divas and Legends, you'll be able to choose from your favorites, including Randy Orton, John Cena, The Miz and the debuting Alberto Del Rio.

Assassin's Creed Revelations

The fourth major outing for Ubisoft's history-spanning romp will be the last to star dashing Renaissance hitman Ezio, while original lead character Altair also gets his story concluded in dramatic style. Plus, the game is bound to end with a few hints about Assassin's Creed 3.

In Assassin's Creed Revelations, master assassin Ezio Auditore walks in the footsteps of the legendary mentor Altair, on a journey of discovery and revelation. It is a perilous path - one that will take Ezio to Constantinople, the heart of the Ottoman Empire, where a growing army of Templars threatens to destabilize the region. In addition to Ezio's award-winning story, a refined and expanded online multiplayer experience returns with more modes, more maps and more characters, allowing you to test your assassin skills against others from around the world.

NBA 2K12

With over 5 million copies sold worldwide and over 20 Sports Game of Year awards, last year NBA 2K11 allowed you to BECOME THE GREATEST with MJ & the Jordan Challenge mode. This year the NBA 2K12 franchise is back and bigger than ever, providing fans with the opportunity they've always dreamed of - to finally END THE DEBATE as to who are the best teams and players of all time. Featuring such NBA legends as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird as well as all of your favorite NBA players of today, NBA 2K12 will be packed with new and exciting features that will be revealed in the weeks and months ahead that, come October 4th, will put fans center court of an unprecedented basketball experience.

Elder Scrolls V:
Skyrim

Promising more than 200 hours of gameplay, a vast landscape to explore and masses of character customisation options, this immense role-playing epic is set to deliver one hell of an adventure. Start this one in November and no one's going to see you again until next spring.

Skyrim reimagines the open-world fantasy epic, pushing the gameplay and technology of a virtual world to new heights.,Play any type of character you can imagine, and do whatever you want; the legendary freedom of choice, storytelling, and adventure of The Elder Scrolls is realized like never before. Skyrim's new game engine brings to life a complete virtual world with rolling clouds, rugged mountains, bustling cities, lush fields, and ancient dungeons. Choose from hundreds of weapons, spells, and abilities. The new character system allows you to play any way you want and define yourself through your actions. Battle ancient dragons like you've never seen. As Dragonborn, learn their secrets and harness their power for yourself.