Feature - The holiday season is approaching quickly: If you have children or if you are an avid gamer yourself then you know there are tons of video games you could buy. This Christmas season is jam-packed with a few very interesting titles and sequels to some of the most popular games already on the market for both the PC and console game systems. Here are our recommendations as a guideline which games you can expect to appear on most wishlists of gamers. Be sure to check out our slideshow to see screenshots of the games listed below.

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SLIDESHOW:
20 most anticipated video games for Christmas 2008 (43 pictures)

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1. Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (EA; Release date: October 27, 2008) - This computer game is a real-time strategy game that is a continuation of the Command & Conquer series. The Red Alert game series asserts that Albert Einstein designed a time machine and used it for the purposes of traveling back in time to kill Adolf Hitler, thus preventing Nazi Germany from forming and preventing World War II from ever taking place. In this scenario, Joseph Stalin becomes Europe’s main aggressor. Following the events of Red Alert 2, the Soviet Union leadership plans to also travel back in time with a time machine they too have created with the intent to assassinate Albert Einstein following his killing of Hitler, thus placing the Soviet Union in a position of power. Unfortunately, during this mission a terrible mistake is made and a completely different timeline is created that erased all of the events of the previous games thus altering the evolution of technology and creating newer, more advanced technologies such as a super power deemed the Rising Sun. This inevitably fuels a World War between the Soviets, the Allies and the Empire.

2. Fable II (Lionhead; Release date: October 21, 2008)- Fable II is a role playing game designed to be played on the Xbox 360 console. It is a sequel to Fable and Fable: The Lost Chapters. Set 500 years after the original Fable, Fable II is an action role-playing game that allows players to live whatever life they decide in a completely open world environment. There is limitless freedom and choice and players can explore many different catacombs, caves, and dungeons in the world of Albion.

3. Fallout 3 (Bethesda; Release date: October 28, 2008) - Fallout 3 is a PC game and takes place in a post-apocalyptic United States in the year 2277. The character the player chooses is a member of a fallout shelter, Vault 101 that serves Washington, D.C. The character resides with their widower father (voiced by Liam Neeson) until, one day, the player awakes to discover that the father has vacated the vault and journeyed into the wasteland for an unknown reason. The vault overseer becomes suspicious that the player is the cause of the father’s disappearance, so the player decides to travel into the wasteland in search of their father. The player will run into organizations from previous games such as the Brotherhood of Steel (a group of tech coveting survivors), and the Enclave - an elitist and genocidal group from the United States Government.

4. Far Cry 2 (Ubisoft; Release date: October 21, 2008): Far Cry 2 is a first-person shooter game designed originally for Windows, but will be available on October 21, 2008 for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation platforms. The game no longer entails the science fiction aspects of its predecessor; in fact, the setting is realistic. The game takes place in a small, imaginary, central-African nation that is in a state of civil war. The protagonist of the games in the past, Jack Carver is not featured in this game. In the sequel, the player will have an option of choosing nine different characters for play. Each character has its own unique look and story. All of the characters will be different types of mercenaries. Any playable character not chosen will become a non-player character throughout the game. The plot of the game is centered on the recent collapse of the nation’s government which leaves two factions trying to gain control. The United Front Liberation and Labor, and the Alliance for Popular Resistance are at war with one another. Both groups claim to have the interest of the people at heart but are both obviously corrupt. It is then revealed that the diamond minds have been completely depleted, leaving the people with nothing, causing even more drama amongst the people of the country. The player must find and liquidate “The Jackal” an arms dealer that has been selling weapons to both sides of the conflict. This goal is to be accomplished by any means necessary.

5. Gears of War 2 (Epic; Release date: October 26, 2008) - Gears of War 2 is a third-person shooter game developed exclusively for the Xbox 360. At the end of the first game, there was a Lightmass Bomb; Gears of War 2 takes place six months after its detonation. The majority of the Locust Horde was destroyed. In addition, the explosion caused the majority of the liquid Imulsion underground to vaporize thus causing a fatal disease deemed “Rust Lung”, which spread among the already diminishing human population. Following months of piece, Tollen and Montevado (two cities) disappear underground, thus causing the COG to believe the Locust has resurged. The players responsibility is to save the Jacinto Plateau, one of the only remaining safe harbors for humans, to do this one must take on a war with the Locust.

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