This week begins the weekly count up to Christmas as the some the biggest, most anticipated games of the year are going to start coming out, starting with Enslaved and the new Castlevania. Here's a pick of this week's best.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is the newest Castlevania title, and probably the best title in the series since Symphony of the Night, taking a step away from the traditional gameplay of the series Lords of Shadow is a God of War cum Shadow of the Colossus experience, you can expect epic fights and gruelling gameplay, a great leap forward for the Castlevania series.

Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon
Nintendo DS
Rising Star once again bring the brilliant Rune Factory to the UK in the second title following the fantasy Harvest Moon title, follow two generations of farming as they attempt to save the farm whilst protecting yourself from the many creatures around the town of Alvarna. With your traditional farming equipment it's the perfect game to wile away the cold days Rune Factory 2: A Fantasy Harvest Moon will have you hooked.

Pirates!
Nintendo Wii
The brilliantly addictive Sid Meier’s Pirates comes to the Nintendo Wii, including the perfectly crafted mini games including Sword Fighting, Dancing and Ship Combat, as well as Wii exclusives Bombarding and Lock Picking. With over 27 ships to fully customise and commandeer, you'll be hooked on Pirates! for hours on end just like a generation were with the PC version.

Enslaved
Xbox 360, Playstation 3
Ninja Theory’s newest action title Enslaved is loosely based on the Chinese tale Story to the West, following the character Monkey and his ‘sidekick’ Trip who manages to trick him into taking her home. With some beautiful animation, and gameplay akin to Uncharted, Enslaved is definitely the one game you should check out this week.

Comic Jumper
Xbox 360

Twisted Pixel's newest XBLA title was released this Wednesday Comic Jumper is an overly enjoyable on rails action shooting QTE experience, and is definitely worth a look if you’ve liked Twisted Pixel’s previous games, just play it with a pinch of salt, if you love the complete decimation of the fourth wall then you’ll be in your element, however you may find the self-indulgent writing a little hard to swallow at times.



With two great action titles like Enslaved and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow released this week most gamers will be at odds at which game to buy, however DS fans will be ecstatic with the release of Rune Factory 2 which will surely spark hours full of farming fun for generations. What are you buying this week?