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75 Must Have Games for the Holidays

• By GamePro Staff
• December 19, 2008 16:42 PM PST
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Metal Gear Solid IV, Gears of War 2 and Super Smash Bros. Brawl lead off our list of the 75 Must Have Games list! The store shelves are jam packed with amazing titles but knowing which games are worth your hard earned cash can sometimes be difficult. But there's no need to worry: GamePro's done all the heavy lifting for you! We've put together a list of games that's sure to satisfy anyone on your holiday shopping list. We've also asked members of the GamePro staff to pick and choose their favorite games of the year so be sure to look for their personal recommendations!

Microsoft Xbox 360

Despite some lingering issues with the hardware's reliability, the Xbox 360 had a strong 2008 with a killer line-up of must-have 3rd party titles as well as some incredible first-party efforts. If you own a 360 or are planning on purchasing one this holiday season, you are in for a treat with a well-rounded library of titles from every genre.

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Gears of War 2

More Gears of War? Yes, plz. Game design rockstar Cliff Blizenski and his cohorts are back with the followup to the award-winning Gears of War. Packed with more action and bullet-holes than an Arnold Schwarzanegger flick, Gears of War 2 is exactly what the Xbox 360 needed heading into the holidays: an exclusive title that's worth every penny of the purchase price. When you're done rampaging around in the single-player mode, go online for a deep and satisfying multiplayer component that'll have you blasting away into the wee hours of the night.

Call of Duty: World at War

Senior Editor Sid Shuman says: "Infinity Ward didn't develop this quasi-sequel to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, but that won't stop you from getting a huge vicersal thrill out of this razor-tight online shooter. The thematic shift back to World War II may seem boring, but it's not -- this is the most violent, hysterical depiction of WWII ever presented. Any first-person shooter veteran worth his salt should already own COD: World at War. But if the anti-Treyarch hype kept you away so far, know this: World at War is a shockingly solid successor to COD4. If the gripping single-player campaign doesn't grab you, the four-player co-op and massive online battles will."

Fable 2

Famed developer Peter Molyneux received a lot of flack over the first Fable; he made some promises that weren't kept and many gamers took him to task over it. The game also failed to live up to the extraordinary hype that was generated. Regrettably, the game, which was still pretty good, faced an uphill battle upon release. Well, Fable 2 was much less hyped and the pie-in-the-sky promises were kept to a minimum; the result-a fantastic game that finally lived up to the expectations of gamers. Offering a deep and engaging RPG experience, Fable 2 is another crown in what has been a great year for the Xbox 360. Peter Molyneux, take a bow: you finally delivered the Fable game that we can all be proud of.

Grand Theft Auto IV

There's no denying the influence that Grand Theft Auto has had on the video game industry. Terms like "open world" and "sandbox" didn't gain a foothold in the gaming lexicon until Rockstar unleashed GTAIII onto the masses; the series is so influential that Features Editor Dave Rudden placed that game in the number one slot in his book, "The 25 Most Influential Games of All Time." (Available now!) But while GTAIII and its offshoots-Vice City and San Andreas-helped establish Rockstar's vision, GTAIV is the title that fully brought it to life. Offering an incredibly detailed world with near limitless possibilities, the game's scope and ambitious gameplay elements left a deep and indellible mark on the industry. It fully leveraged the power of the next-gen consoles and only strengthened Rockstar's powerhouse reputation. It's the very definition of the term "must have title."

Prince of Persia

Ubisoft took a big gamble with the original Prince of Persia reboot, taking the classic 2D side-scrolling platformer and transforming it into a slick 3D platformer with acrobatic moves and a neato time-shifting mechanic. The series went onto spawn a few sequels-one lackluster, the other well-received-but Ubisoft understands that you have to keep up with the times in order to be successful. This explains why they went back to the drawing board for their next-gen installment in the series. With a new visual style, a reimagined Prince, a mysterious new heroine and slick new gameplay, Prince is a bold new step for the long running franchise. It was also good enough to win our coveted Game of the Month honors in our January 2009 issue of GamePro (on newstands now!).

Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts

Nuts & Bolts picks up ten years after the events of Banjo-Tooie and we find that Banjo and Kazooie have really let themselves go. A mysterious figure known as the Lord of Games (LOG for short) sets our heroes on an adventure in the hopes of working them back into shape. Banjo and Kazooie are transported to Showdown Town, an open-world hub that links them to several Game Worlds where the dynamic duo can prove that they're still hero material. The best thing about Nuts & Bolts is that it never takes itself seriously, constantly seizing every opportunity to poke fun at itself as well as past Rare titles. Nuts and Bolts features a hilarious script that really augments the gameplay. The graphics are also gorgeous and vibrant and the level design is constantly varied and always interesting.

Far Cry 2

The jam-packed holiday season got its first AAA shooter in Far Cry 2, a title that's more spiritual successor than direct sequel to its tropical island-set predecessor. The lush jungles and blue waters have been replaced with dusty roads and wide-open plains, and the lame, Xbox-only feral abilities -- the ones that had us running around like rabid kitty cats -- were thankfully dropped. This time out, gamers were treated to an experience that couldn't possibly be pigeon-holed into a single genre; a masterful mix of shooting, open-world exploration, and some light stealth and RPG elements, culminate in the most engaging "FPS" we've played since donning Gordon Freeman's horn-rimmed specs.

Tales of Vesperia

Tales of Vesperia is very much a Tales game, so if you're familiar with the series, then you'll feel right at home. The series has its own quirks and unique sensibilities, so your enjoyment may depend on how much you liked other Tales installments. Vesperia stars Yuri, a retired knight, who gets caught up in a mystery when when an important Blastia-it's sort of like a programmable magic bauble-is stolen. You can guess what happens after that: you go out, meet characters, fight battles and unravel the larger plot. Tales of Vesperia is a fairly straightforward Japanese RPG, which isn't a bad thing at all. Sure, it's cliched and it doesn't reinvent the wheel. We're not telling you to run out and buy it as the next big innovation in role playing, though; I'm saying if you have a soft spot in your heart for RPG games and you liked the other Tales titles, then this is a pretty safe bet for you.

Too Human

Heavy weapon action meets armor and weapon looting in Too Human, the closest game to Diablo II in eight years exclusively on the Xbox 360. Despite fairly low review scores, GamePro says that, "while it's not perfect, Too Human definitely has enough going for it to silence its critics." At its core, Too Human is an action game with an RPG twist. Players choose one of five distinct classes that range from the Berserker's dual-wielding breakneck speeds to the powerful tanking abilites of the Defender class -- each character can be leveled up to 50. Then you're plunged into the world of futuristic Norse mythology, which depending on your interests will either enthrall or bore you to death. Luckily, playing Too Human online in cooperative mode skips the Norse bullhonky and gets right to the goods -- killing and looting. The killing part is easy thanks to a simplified control scheme which maps all attacks to the right thumbstick. You're going to be fighting a lot of cybernetic robot goons with fairly devestating ground game, so launch them into the air to dish out ultra juggling damage. And just like in Diablo II or World of Warcraft, rare loot items will drop that you're going to either equip to grow stronger, trade or sell. Too Human isn't a robust action game as say God of War, and it isn't quite full RPG; it's a smooth blend of the two with extremely addicting gameplay, pretty graphics, and tons of items to loot and comb through.

Dead Space

Senior Editor Sid Shuman says: "Why? Because it's like playing a horror movie where you're the masked assaillant who emotionlessly hacks and slashes through countless victims (in this case, hideous undead creatures called "Necromorph"). And true to horror movie form, there's virtually no plot, only a series of increasingly savage killings using tools such as buzzsaws and plasma cutters. The atmosphere, graphics, and survival-horror gameplay in Dead Space are among the finest we've ever played, and may represent a new high-water mark that 2009 games such as Resident Evil 5 will have to meet. If you choose to skip Dead Space, you're missing out on one of the best horror games ever devised."

Mass Effect

A truly "massive" experience -- forgive the bad pun -- Mass Effect is to the console RPG genre what Star Wars is to sci-fi movies: an epic example of what can be done with the right combination of technology and storytelling. Launching from developer Bioware like a Star Destroyer disembarking from the Death Star, Mass Effect was exactly what the RPG starved Xbox 360 nation needed. It featured a fully realized galaxy to explore, complete with solar systems and planets which you could explore for goodies. There was a ton of loot to unearth, a deep and sweeping storyline that encompassed the entirety of the game's universe, characters you actually came to care about and a dialouge system that was heralded for its complexity and depth. It did just about everything right and even though it was plagued by a few minor issues-curse you, slow moving elevators-it was a game that deserved every ounce of praise it received.

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