In case you’ve been living under a rock, there are a lot of great games that will be released within a few months.  Also, the holidays are approaching pretty quickly.  So naturally we ask ourselves, what do I shell out $50 for this year?  Everyone knows we gamers love to receive at least one video game during the holiday season, and most of the time they have to be new and shiny.  Well what if I told you that you could still get a great gift and only spend at maximum, $20?  As most of you know, sequels have been announced for Mass Effect, Bioshock, and Assassin’s Creed.  While some lament none of them making an appearance this holiday season, there is a great silver lining.  Why not buy the originals for your friends and family?  Sure, they may not be the newest games around, but they are without a doubt excellent, and they will also give your friends and family the necessary knowledge of history and plot for the upcoming sequels.

Let’s start off with Assassin’s Creed.  Quoting Steam’s description: “The setting is 1191 AD.  The Third Crusade is tearing the Holy Land apart.  You, Altair, intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict.  You are an Assassin, a warrior shrouded in secrecy and feared for your ruthlessness.  Your actions can throw your immediate environment into chaos, and your existence will shape events during this pivotal moment in history.”  The game is considered an Action Adventure game, giving the player many options to complete tasks, and a wide setting to explore and assassinate in.  The game play involves finding your target, gathering intelligence on when and where you should strike, the assassination itself, and then escaping.  While the story’s objectives may be somewhat linear, players can easily do side quests or just dick around in the numerous towns instead.  Also, rather than merely being a killing machine, the player is also immersed in a deep back story that transcends time.

Next up is Bioshock.  Having won numerous awards and receiving a metascore of 96/100, this is without a doubt a must play game.  Without spoiling anything significant, the story involves the player visiting Rapture, a city beneath the ocean.  Built by Andrew Ryan in 1946, the city was designed to be the ultimate capitalistic and individualist society.  The city thrived for about a decade, but then things began to slowly go horribly, horribly wrong.  After being the sole survivor of a plane crash, you must now go into the depths of this monstrosity and try to survive.  Using a wide array of weapons such as pistols, grenade launchers, and yourself through the use of mutations you will find, you must try and solve the mystery of just what the hell happened to this shell of a paradise.  Just remember, Rapture isn’t a place for the weak of body or faint of heart.

Last, but certainly not least, is Mass Effect.  Trying to sum up the story of this game is a practically a sin, considering there is easily over 50,000 years of history involved, but here goes.  In a nutshell, many years ago humanity discovers a small cache of highly advanced Prothean technology hidden deep beneath the surface of Mars.  Building on the remnants of this long extinct race, humans quickly explore the science of mass effect fields.  Through this new technology, humanity discovers a way to travel faster than light, and begins to explore the vastness of the universe.  Eventually, humanity discovers numerous different races who are far more advanced.  After participating in numerous wars, diplomatic missions, and political discussions, humanity begins to earn a reputation, be it positive or negative, with the other races.  Enter, Commander Shepard, the player, into the equation.  After taking a few quick surveys to develop your character’s back story, you begin a simple reconnaissance mission on your ship, The Normandy.  Things quickly spiral into a universal conspiracy, with the player stuck right smack in the middle of it all.  Mass Effect is my favorite of the three games I’ve mentioned, and is currently only $10 on Steam (for this weekend only).

Hopefully these quick descriptions will give you a great gift idea for someone you care about.  I loved playing all three of these games, and I’m confident that your friends and family will also.  Plus, you’ll have an even stronger reason to buy the upcoming sequels!