What Am I playing?

A lot of people I meet at midnight launches and tournaments ask me what game I am playing. Well I think the question should be what games am I playing. Currently I am juggling Assassin's Creed III, Halo 4, Hitman Absolution, and the amazing Mass Effect 3.

Each of these games are super unique, and I must say they are some of the most entertaining games I have had the chance to play. Not only are all of these games on several "Game of the Year Award" lists, but they are currently on my personal favorites list.

Sniping on this particular mission's is one of twelve ways to take out the main target. The game is that huge.

Currently one of the most difficult games I am playing is Hitman: Absolution, and for good reason. There are five levels of difficulty in this game, and I'm playing the third hardest setting. My first time through one area of a mission is mind boggling, and the next area always forces me to think out my next move. Long gone are the days of being able to run in guns-a-blazin' to get a good look at the next area. The AI in Absolution is some of the smartest yet, and it calls for back up when Agent 47 goes in loud. A brand new, and totally unique feature in Absolution is the Contract's mode. This allows the player to enter each mission with a completely different outlook than the story mode. A player can mark up to three targets, and take them out in any order or way he or she would like. The game will keep track of the order they are taken out, with what weapon, disguise, and even how quickly the player finishes the contract. From that point forward, the player can send the contract to another friend, or publish it for the country or world to try out. There are over 55,000 contracts out there right now, and each of them is as different as the player who created it.

Assassin's Creed III is an extremely impressive, and beautiful game. With an exciting new Assassin to follow, AC:III is definitely the best in its series, and by far the biggest. I am still spending hours running around the back country of the Frontier, and if it be rock climbing, tree hopping, hunting, fighting red coats, developing the home stead, or naval warfare, AC:III has all of it for a veteran Assassin, or a gamer new to the series. If you are worried about missing things from the previous games, I do recommend playing all of them before you pick up AC:III, but it is not absolutely necessary due to the convenient video at the beginning of the game explaining it's respective titles. Overall I am extremely impressed with A.C.: III, and am still blown away by the massive and detailed environments to explore. There are not as many buildings to climb over and over again, but instead trees, rocks, cliffs, and deep landscapes. Rather than of all the AI's being human, there are now dozens of animals to come upon. The player must be careful in some locations due to wild cats, elk, wolfs, and bears who will attack on site. After a successful kill, the player can take his furs, meats, and other belongings to the general store to trade in for money. If you're looking for countless hours of entertainment, this is the game for you.

The flag carrier is no longer just an easy target. He bites back!

I'm not going to talk about Halo 4's campaign due to my review, but I can't get enough of its multiplayer. With a perfect combination of the previous Halo title's style of gameplay, and its brand new weapons, armor, customization, sound, revamped engine, vehicles, and maps, its bound to go down as one of the best FPS experiences of all time. In my opinion, Halo 4's beefy multiplayer is how it should have been since Halo 2, which was a huge success. Not only is the competitive side amazing, but so is the robust Spartan Ops mode which can be played as a lone wolf, or with up to three other friends. 343 Studios has released a new episode every week since it's November 6, 2012, release date, and each episode has five missions and one continuous story to go with it. Spartan Ops is similar to the respective Firefight game mode in previous Halo titles, but this time around it comes with a higher end of gratification with experience points to be earned, and the anticipation of future episodes in the coming weeks.

My goodness. Fighting Reaper's never looked so beautiful!

Last, but definitely not least, on my list of games that I am playing, is arguably the best game I have played in the nearly twenty eight years of my life. Mass Effect 3 has the brand new "Omega" DLC which visits the beloved Aria T'Loak and her journey to take her turf, Omega back. Shepherd first visits Omega in Mass Effect 2, and it is revealed in the third game that Aria lost it to Cerberus, but leaves it at that. Thankfully BioWare has released this DLC to explain why it was lost, and has Aria asking Shepherd to aid her in getting it back. The player must be careful with what decisions he/she makes due to Shepherd's relationship with Liara T'Soni who has been around since the first game. Omega adds the series first female Turian, weapons, and much more. Not only is this incredible DLC out now, but ME:3's outstanding and highly addictive multiplayer is still around and is just as entertaining as before, if not more. With the possibility of unlocking fifty four characters, even more weapons, and fighting against Cerberus, The Frightening Reapers, and now the insect-like Collectors, this multiplayer has kept me coming back for more. For those who think that the multiplayer's "Gold" difficulty became too easy should tighten up their armor for the recently released "Platinum" difficulty. It is definitely not for the "Noob", but is geared towards the hardcore audience and their upgraded characters.

Long story short, I'm playing multiple games at once, and loving every second of it. If you find yourself bored, continually playing one game, or want to pick up something new, I hope you can look to this list for guidance, or even as a gift idea. T'is the season, right?!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!