Holiday Shopping Guide 2011: Bestselling PC Games

By Armchair General

Following is a list of great PC games that were blockbuster bestselling AAA games in 2011.

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3 is one of the hottest games out there this year. Set in the modern world, the player takes on the role of a US Marine in battling the bad guys. A high-action, frenetic first-person shooter (FPS), Battlefield 3 is at the top of our list for the intense, adrenaline pumped PC gamer.

Modern Warfare 3

Modern Warfare 3 is Activision’s answer to Electronic Arts’ Battlefield 3. Also a high-intensity FPS game set in the modern era, Modern Warfare 3 lets players take on the role of different avatars ranging from the British SAS to US Marines.

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If you have an FPS gamer on your gift list, they’ll probably play either the Modern Warfare or Battlefield series. Both are great choices. If they don’t have either game, find out what they like and buy it. Or if they have one, but not the other, give them what they don’t have to try something new. If they have both games, then perhaps something in a different genre might be appropriate…

Skyrim

Like a role-playing game (RPG). The biggest RPG this season has to be Bethesda Softworks’ Skyrim. The fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series, Skyrim is a fantasy-based RPG filled with top-tier voice acting, state of the art graphics, and one of the most open-ended class systems available. The Elder Scrolls series has unrivaled depth of detail mixed with an epic plot and numerous side quests making it the hottest RPG of the season.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

If fantasy RPGs aren’t your giftee’s thing, take a look at the Sci-fi RPG Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Offering a plunge into a different world of myriad moral choices and a legendarily immersive storyline, Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a must-have for the sci-fi RPG gamer.

Warhammer 40,000

The next two recommendations are for the PC gamer who is also a fan of a specific tabletop franchise: Warhammer 40,000. The Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures gamer is easy to recognize., carrying around dozens of 25mm figures in suitcases that are lined well enough to transport the most fragile of Faberge eggs. Considering all the time invested in painting those figures, it’s hard to blame them. But giving Warhammer 40,000 gamers something electronic will give them something to do when they can’t make it to the game store. (We’ll get to some gifts for the tabletop Warhammer 40,000 fans below).

Our first recommendation is an adrenaline-soaked FPS game, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine. Here the FPS gamer is immersed in a compelling (if somewhat predictable to fans of the game’s fiction) plot. Players can enjoy mowing down hordes of Orks using a variety of weapons accessible to the Space Marines. Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine is certainly a fine game in its own right, but it is a can’t-miss-this-game for fans of Warhammer 40,000.

Shifting from the FPS genre to a real-time one, Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War II Retribution is RTS fun in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Boasting the ability to play as six different factions, once again it is wholly immersive into the uniquely Gothic Space Opera universe of Warhammer 40,000.