This week sees the release of the bookmakers’ choice for what will be the top-selling game this Christmas. It also showcases some fresh blood in the often-stagnant world of first-person action, and makes a major new addition to the surprisingly sparse snowboarding genre.

It’s also a week where PC gamers won’t need to harbour as much envy as they’re accustomed to. In our five listed games this week, only Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts isn’t scheduled for release on the PC. Another release this week however, Football Manager 2009, continues to show that some things will only ever work with a mouse, a keyboard and several patches.



Mirror’s Edge

DICE
PS3/360/PC
US Release: Nov 11
UK Release: Nov 14
PC Release: Jan 2009
At a time where FP is habitually suffixed with an S, it’s refreshing to see a game make more thorough use of the potential first-person gaming has to offer. Though Mirror’s Edge isn’t afraid to give the player a gun, the game has bigger fish to fry.

Powered by the Unreal Engine 3, Mirror’s Edge has built a beautifully cold dystopia of high-rise skyscrapers in which the player, Faith, traverses in adrenaline-packed bursts of free-running. Momentum is the key here, where chaining successful numbers of slides and shimmies will allow you to buid up flight across the landscape.

The feeling of empowerment it gives without using a rocket launcher – the sensational joy of, somehow, making a perilous jump – and the arresting harmony of feeling alone but ready for anything makes Mirror’s Edge a unique pleasure. “You've never played anything like Mirror's Edge. It's a genuine original,” says Playstation Official Magazine UK, while CVG calls it an “extraordinary and special game. It's beautiful and stylish like nothing else on PS3, and skews the over-worked mechanic of first person shooting into a new, daring and - when it clicks - brilliant direction.”




Call of Duty: World at War

Treyarch, Rebellion, n-Space
PS3/360/PC/Wii, PS2, DS
US Release: Nov 11
UK Release: Nov 14
Pessimistic fact: Taken as a total Metacritic average, the Call of Duty games developed by Infinity Ward get a total score of 91. That of course includes scores from the highly-praised Call of Duty 2 and the benchmark-setting award-magnet that is Modern Warfare. The same average for Treyarch, the lead developer behind Call of Duty 3 and World at War? 79.

Yet Treyarch has provided many reasons to hold the pessimism for now. The game uses an enhanced version of the Call of Duty 4 engine and features a promising scale of online and offline co-op features. And though Treyarch's largely-unwelcome return to World War 2 is hardly doing the game any favours, the graphical showcase on offer cannot be overlooked. 

What’s clear is that Treyarch and Activision have enough resources and ambition to raise the bar, and according to an early review from PSW magazine, the team has done just that.



Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts

Rare
360
US Release: Nov 11
UK Release: Nov 14
There’s an emphatic absence in the title of the next Banjo-Kazooie game. In Nuts and Bolts you have no sign of the word ‘threeie’, no explicit suggestion that this is Banjo-Kazooie version 3.0, and a revealing indication about the direction the game has taken.

Though fans may have been more content with a straightforward update to the series’ platforming traditions – and tradition is certainly something the genre could do with a bit more of right now – Rare has opted to make play out of vehicle modding and race challenges. The big question looming over this is whether it’s genuinely adding something new to the genre, or simply a means to evade the platforming standards made by its own prequels.
 
So far reviews have been predominantly positive, with 1Up suggesting that “while the challenges get a little repetitive, the ability to create and operate custom vehicles – both online and off – make Nuts & Bolts a unique, entertaining spin on the everyday platformer.” IGN UK, however, scored the game a 6.5, claiming that “the game's biggest fault is that, bar the occasional moment of invention, missions consist of some of the most singularly boring objectives we've ever encountered.”



Shaun White Snowboarding

Ubisoft Montreal
PS3/360/PC/Wii/PS2/DS/PSP
US Release: Nov 16
UK Release: Nov 14
Considering that the last generation of consoles hosted a banquet of snowboarding titles, it feels a little peculiar that the genre has slipped into hibernation in recent years. The fact that hardly anyone is complaining about this, however, may just be Ubisoft Montreal’s biggest concern.

The Montreal team certainly have a strong chance of putting the extreme sport back in the spotlight. Shaun White looks a considered and comprehensive affair, with an emphasis on 16-player online shindigs to which players are (à la Burnout Paradise) free to explore, race, or mess around in. 

The Montreal team should be delighted with game’s looks – a serene magnificence extenuated by the longest of draw distances – and its delightful loading screen which lets players sharpen their skills as the huge playscape loads in the background. Wii users can expect a trimmed experience bolstered by the addition of Balance Board compatibility.



Football Manager 2009
US Title: Worldwide Soccer Manager 2009

Sports Interactive
PC/Mac
US Release: Nov 18
UK Release: Nov 14
Steam Release: Nov 13
Players get injured far too easily. Commentary shows a goal is scored before the ball crosses the line. The game freezes up. The most loyal of real-world players are suddenly open to any offers, teams offering transfers simply take no for an answer. Certain players are shockingly underrated, others are insultingly overrated. The 3D engine is prehistoric; characters have only one celebration, players sometimes freeze and run on the spot. The stadiums replace fans with empty walls of grey.

Yes, Football Manager is back, and it’s as wonderful as ever. Though the aforementioned list of complaints is from a demo, there’s much frowning to be had with a game set to release a major patch on launch day. And yet FM fans will know in their hearts that it doesn’t really matter how many of these errors are corrected. Like a good marriage, Football Manager is about commitment, problems, love, arguments, resets, workarounds, late nights and the occasional treasured memory.