Best Games for Holidays 2024: Unwrap Exciting Gems Without Breaking the Bank

Alan Wake 2

Once a spooky action-adventure game, now a full-blown survival horror.

The long-awaited sequel to one of Remedy’s most famous franchises, Alan Wake 2 returns even creepier than ever before.

Image credit: Remedy Entertainment

The titular character ended up in an alternate dimension, where he’s been trapped thirteen years. To escape this hellish realm he concocts a plan which involves writing a horror story about an FBI agent by the name of Saga Anderson. And so you get to play as both of these characters, each with a separate storyline.

The game once again makes use of a pretty interesting combat mechanic where you have to weaken the enemies with flashlight in order for them to become susceptible to firearms. Additionally, there are detective elements in Saga’s segments. All in all, it’s a great survival horror. If you’re a fan of the genre, you’re in for quite a treat.

Alan Wake 2 received two expansions – Night Springs and The Lake House – and an anniversary update, so it’s totally a game you might want to revisit.

Alan Wake 2

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Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

The base game alone turned out to be one of the greatest ever released. Its DLC followed suit.

Shadow of the Erdtree takes you to the Realm of Shadow, a new open-world environment existing outside of the Lands Between. As it turns out, you’re one of the first souls to set foot in this place in, like, ages. Cool, huh?

Image credit: FromSoftware Inc.

Naturally, the new realm to explore comes with its own set of fresh dangers, enemies to defeat, powers to obtain, and items to collect. Exploring this dark fantasy world is once again an immense pleasure. Do take your time tracking Miquella down!

Please remember that Shadow of the Erdtree requires the base game to work.

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree

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Baldur's Gate 3

Larian Studios’ latest magnum opus took the gaming world by storm.

No wonder: Baldur’s Gate 3 is easily one of the greatest role-playing games ever released, period.

Image credit: Larian Studios

Divided into three acts, the campaign will take you to a variety of locations in the Forgotten Realms. And the freedom you get is something else. You can complete quests in pretty much any order you want and there are usually a couple ways to get things done. You can kill off anyone you wish and this won’t prevent you from completing the game. The attention to detail in this game is simply astounding.

If you’re looking for a fantastic present for an RPG fan, you can’t go wrong with Baldur’s Gate 3. Just make sure they don’t have it already.

Baldur's Gate 3

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Project Zomboid

It seems that the zombie apocalypse theme is still popular these days, even if there are less games featuring the living dead.

Project Zomboid is one of the best, but beware: it’s excruciatingly difficult!

Image credit: The Indie Stone

It’s less about killing the undead and more about trying to survive. This is going to be incredibly difficult, as the hazards include stuff like hunger, illnesses, changing seasons, and so on. You need to outmaneuver deadly hordes, loot buildings for supplies, and keep a low profile so that your hiding spot remains undetected. While this seems rather straightforward, it certainly isn’t and dying here is not a matter of if, but when.

Project Zomboid also offers a local 4-player split-screen cooperative mode and modding support. It’s an Early Access game, which means it’s still in active development, but it’s already big and the features that are expected to be released in the future will make PZ even greater. Grab it especially if you love zombies and hardcore survival.

Project Zomboid

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Astro Bot

Behold: one of the biggest sensations of 2024. Who knew that a cutesy platform game about a cute little robot can become such a hit?

Naturally, it’s a success well earned. Astro Bot is a 3D platformer where you control the titular character using your DualSense controller. You have a whopping 90 levels to beat, which will take you to six galaxies and sixty planets.

Image credit: Team Asobi

Your objective is to rescue a given number of Bots, all while collecting coins, fighting enemies using a bunch of moves, and utilizing a wide variety of available abilities to help you beat levels. It’s simple, it looks fantastic, it plays great – if you’re in for some excellent platforming action, Astro Bot is a game you simply can’t miss.

Astro Bot

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Helldivers 2

Ready to do your part? Helldivers 2 doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to throwing you to the lions – deadly alien bugs and Terminator-style machines, that is.

You join a team of up to four players and land on all sorts of planets where you have to complete a bunch of objectives, blow stuff up, and ensure Super Earth’s supremacy and survival while at it. The game is now a third-person shooter as opposed to the twin-stick shooter the previous installment is, which changes things a whole lot.

Image credit: Arrowhead Game Studios

Helldivers 2 quickly became an incredible hit and not without a reason. Excellent gameplay and atmosphere make it one of the most amazing cooperative shooters available on the market. Be sure to grab it if you’re looking for a fun game to play with your gang.

Hi-Fi Rush

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Black Myth: Wukong

Who would’ve known that a game about a shapeshifting warrior monkey can become such a success?

Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG inspired by soulslikes and a classical Chinese novel, Journey to the West. You play as the Destined One, the above-mentioned shapeshifting warrior monkey. You embark on a quest to six realms to bring back Sun Wukong to life.

Image credit: Game Science

This of course requires you to traverse different landscapes, defeat tons of enemies, and find six relics needed to restore Sun Wukong’s senses. While not exactly a soulslike, Black Myth: Wukong will surely be familiar to the fans of Dark Souls and similar games. Definitely one of the better titles of 2024 to check out.

FIFA 24

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Mortal Kombat 1

Reboots aren’t always done right, but Mortal Kombat 1 is definitely not one of the bad ones.

Feeling both fresh and familiar, it once again proves to be the king of fighting games.

Image credit: NetherRealm Studios

One of the most interesting additions to the franchise are Invasions which turn MK into a…board game! Throw in a pinch of RPG elements and you get a mode you’ll be revisiting often, especially now that there’s a fresh board released every six weeks or so. Neat, huh?

Naturally, this doesn’t mean all the classic modes are gone. So, you get stuff like Towers and good old multiplayer duels, the Story mode is also back. If you’re into gory stuff and extremely violent fatalities, you’ll find Mortal Kombat 1 to be a real treat.

Mortal Kombat 1

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Diablo 4

The fourth installment in the series, Diablo IV pits you against the daughter of Mephisto, Lillith, summoned by her loyal followers.

And since the forces of both angels and demons have been significantly weakened, she was able to put her plans in motion. Your goal is to stop her, of course.

Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment

As usual, this involves the traditional gameplay loop the series is famous for: getting more powerful weapons and gear by defeating more and more difficult enemies. You can choose from one of the five different character classes, each with unique abilities and gameplay. There are five regions that you can explore in addition to procedurally-generated dungeons, a staple of the series.

Diablo IV features an open world and you can explore any of the regions as you see fit; their difficulty scales to the player’s level. Since the game requires you to be always online, you will be able to encounter other players during your adventures, including PVP and boss events. All in all, it’s a spectacular hack and slash experience and a release that seems much better than Diablo III. It will receive an expansion pack, Vessel of Hatred, in late 2024.

Diablo 4

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

In case you wanted more Call of Duty-style action, here’s another chapter in the Black Ops saga. And a mighty good one, too.

The game takes you back to the early 90s, where, as a rogue CIA operative, you have to prevent a sinister plot. There’s this paramilitary organization named Pantheon and you have to stop it. The single-player campaign surely packs quite a punch, with more open-ended missions where you get to choose the way you want to proceed.

Image credit: Treyarch

Add fun multiplayer to that, including another chapter in the long-standing Zombies saga, and you’ll get a great first-person shooter for lone wolves and pack hunters alike. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is definitely one of the best Christmas gift ideas for gamers, especially those who love some good, old-fashioned shooter action.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

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