Early X-mas for gamers

Seth Schiesel reviews ten unseasonal games, which will set your console on fire

With the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (known as E3) currently underway in Los Angeles, most of the video game industry is focused on the future.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t great games on the market right now.

The end-of-the-year holiday season remains the heart of the video game calendar, but more publishers are releasing major titles earlier in the year, when competition is less intense. Gamers reap the benefits.

In alphabetical order, here are some of the best new games and systems on the market. Any would make a fine gift for someone who enjoys twiddling their thumbs.

Crusader kings II

I have spent more time playing Crusader Kings II than any other new game this year. That is because if you combine an interest in strategy games with an interest in European history, the vagaries of dynastic politics and a fantasy of becoming an all-powerful emperor, Crusader Kings II is the best game on the market.

From Paradox Interactive, the game begins in 1066 (start of the Norman Conquest of England) and allows players to assume the role of any of hundreds of Christian rulers across Europe. You can play as an Irish duke, a count in Hungary, the king of France or a Spanish nobleman trying to fend off Islam.

You have until 1453 (fall of Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire) to make your dynasty as powerful as possible. If you lose all your territory or die without an heir before then, it’s game over.

Otherwise, for almost 400 virtual years, you can scheme against your neighbours, agonise over whether to marry off your children for genetic or political value, curry favour with the pope and battle the “infidel” hordes, both Muslim and Mongol. Rated T for Teen.

Diablo III

More than a decade after Diablo II, Blizzard has released a new Diablo for Windows and Macs. Unlike a game like WOW, which is ultimately about spending weeks, months or years conquering complex challenges with other players, Diablo is about kicking down the door of the dungeon and slaughtering hordes of monsters like an avenging force.

Along the way, you gather sackloads of random loot, making the game akin to a digital slot machine. The twist is that, as soon as next month, you are supposed to be able to put that virtual magic sword or helmet you just found up for auction to other players for actual money. Rated M for Mature.

Draw something

Draw Something has quickly become one of the most interesting applications for iPhone and Android because it is one of the first games to tap into the creativity of players.

Much as in Pictionary, the challenge here is to draw a picture that allows your partner, who could be on the other side of the planet, to guess which word or phrase you are trying to draw.

Hilarity tends to ensue, especially if you and your friends are horrible artists. But what makes Draw Something so interesting is that instead of trying to beat other players, you are trying to collaborate and cooperate with them.

Kingodoms of Amalur: Reckoning

Amalur (for Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) is a straightforward fantasy fare involving magic and otherworldly creatures, but what makes the game stand out from most studios’ debut efforts is its impressive level of overall polish.

The graphics are engaging and the combat is visceral yet easy to understand. In its huge scale, it can even rival the epic scope of the Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Rated M for Mature.

Mass effect 3

This is the grand conclusion to the Mass Effect trilogy, which started way back in 2183 (actually, 2007), when humanity was new to interstellar travel and was first trying to establish a decent reputation among the more established species of the universe.

In the third act of this grand space opera, your character, Commander Shepard, must accomplish nothing less than saving all life in the galaxy from an alien threat.

Suffice it to say that you will travel the galaxy recruiting various factions and heroes to your side, settle a few interspecies wars and fire a bunch of laser guns along the way.

Available for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Windows. Rated M for Mature.

Max Payne 3

And you thought Grand Theft Auto was violent. Rockstar Games, makers of the GTA series, has recently come out with the self-consciously bloody new shooter Max Payne 3.

Rockstar is channelling a bit of John Woo here in the sense that urban combat has rarely looked so balletic and graceful. Max is an alcoholic former New York cop who is on his last legs as a bodyguard for a corrupt Brazilian family, and Rockstar is one of the few companies that could tell his story in style.

Hip attitude and excellent music are Rockstar’s strengths, along with top voice acting and visual design. Rated M for Mature.

Minecraft Xbox 360 edition

Minecraft sets you loose in what amounts to a wide-open virtual wilderness – rendered in 1980s-style blocky graphics – and allows you to build your own hovel, home or castle. During the day you can mine for ore, build walls and staircases, and explore open vistas.

At night, animals and monsters come out, and if you haven’t built any walls to protect your place, look out! The joy in Minecraft comes in building creatively, not conquering. Like the PC version, the game for Xbox 360 is downloadable. Rated E (PLUS) for Everyone 10 and over.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13

With the new Tiger Woods golf game, the first to support Kinect, you just stand in front of your TV and swing without holding any sort of device at all. Instead, Kinect’s cameras watch your body and decide whether you deserve to be rewarded with a 300-yard drive down the fairway or a shank into the trees.

The new game on Kinect is not as precise as playing on a Wii or PlayStation 3 with a motion-sensitive wand, but the sensation of swinging your arms sans club and watching a ball fly away on the screen is beguiling. And you don’t run the risk of throwing your controller through your television. Rated E for Everyone.

Tom Clancy’s ghost recon: Future soldier

Many men, like many boys, enjoy romanticising the life of a soldier. That is one reason Tom Clancy’s books have sold so well, and it is also why Ubisoft of France keeps making games based on Clancy’s fiction.

Even as the Call of Duty franchise has become the behemoth of the combat game category, Tom Clancy games have continued to attract a loyal audience. The most recent entry, Future Soldier, naturally focuses on futuristic technologies, including drones and Predator-like “optical camouflage” (which makes you essentially invisible).

As usual with these sorts of games, the story revolves around various warring factions in the former Soviet Union who are getting their fingers into the nuclear cookie jar. There are good Russians and bad Russians, and your job is to sort them out through the power of hot lead. Rated M for Mature.

The Witcher 2

The Witcher 2, created by CD Projekt RED of Poland, was clearly one of the top fantasy role-playing games of 2011. With its gritty style and kinetic combat, it provided a welcome alternative to childish fairy-laden adventures and adolescent vampire hunts.

The only problem was that the game was originally available only on Windows. But recently Witcher 2 was rereleased for Xbox 360, making the game available for couch-sprawling console players (as opposed to desk-sitting PC gamers).

The new Xbox edition adds several hours to Witcher 2’s already-compelling story of intrigue, politicking and racial persecution. In Witcher 2, the ethical choices you make determine the fate of kingdoms and entire species. (In this world, humans tend to oppress dwarves and elves.)

The prime minister of Poland actually gave a copy of Witcher 2 to President Barack Obama last year as a reflection of the artistry in Poland’s technology sector. Playing the game, it is easy to see why. Rated M for Mature.