This is a great year for Thanksgiving Gaming, one of the fullest I can recall in a long time. This week as I have been squeezing game time I have had to choose between several great games; Dragon Age, Assassin’s Creed 2, and Modern Warfare 2. It could have been worse I could have bought Left4Dead 2, and if I was a PS3 owner I would also have Uncharted 2 on my plate. Overall this has been a great year for gaming, and next year looks to be started well with Splinter Cell:Conviction, Mass Effect 2, FF13, and Alpha Protocol.

Thus far Assassins Creed 2, has been a great experience. The story, game flow, and side activities are improved from the first, while retaining the awesome freedom of movement the of AC1.  I find it amazing that spend more time picking pockets, opening chests, decoding secret messages, and updating my villa, than I have spent on assassinations. And all that time I spent without feeling like I was doing any grinding, which is a testament to the how much fun AC2’s core game loop is.

So many games so little time, between MW2 multiplayer and time in AC2 I have had to put my Dragon Age progress on hold for a bit. Which is alright since DA is such a big game taking short break from it will help keep me from burning out before finishing, and its too good to not finish.

Oh and thinking of MW2, I have never wished for a mouse/keyboard set up for my Xbox more than when I am playing Multiplayer MW2. Yes I could have bought the PC version and I still might, but I knew way too many people with the 360 version.  I had to trade good controls for a large community to play with, it was a tough trade but one I feel, at least for now, was worth it.  This is the only game I can recall that I have kept playing even though I generally don’t do very well. Those guys at Infinityward found the secret sauce in the MW2 unlockables reward structure, I keep wanting to play to unlock something new.

Time for me get back to holiday gaming.