The holiday season is the most exciting time in gaming. Every year, an onslaught of highly-anticipated titles storm onto store shelves, and 2008 is no exception. Shooter fans won’t have a problem satisfying their tastes, no matter on which platform they play. With “Gears of War 2” coming to Xbox 360 and “Resistance 2” on PlayStation 3, each console will get a sequel to its biggest new franchise. Valve’s “Left 4 Dead” will have you and your friends struggling to survive the zombie apocalypse on 360 and PC, while “Call of Duty: World at War” takes players to World War II’s Pacific theater on all the major platforms.

Fans of role-playing games haven’t been left out in the cold, either. “Fable II” came out for 360 in October, and “Fallout 3” launched on 360, PS3, and PC one week later. Many will compliment these single-player games with the recently-released “Rock Band 2” and “Guitar Hero World Tour,” which bring up to four players together to simulate the experience of playing in a band (just be ready to
fill your room with lots of plastic).

Meanwhile, on the PC, “World of Warcraft” players have less than a week to enjoy all other games before Blizzard sucks them back in with
“Wrath of the Lich King.” On Nov. 13, the latest W.o.W. expansion will raise the character level cap to 80, introduce the Death Knight class, and open a whole new continent to explore.

But what about the rest of the holiday offerings? Every year, great games get lost in the flood of titles. Here are a few games that might slip under your radar this fall.

It’s déjà vu all over again

The most hardcore gamers tend to ignore them, but ports are still exciting for those who don’t own every gaming platform. Well, PS3 owners should be thrilled to hear that “BioShock” finally came to their console on Oct. 21, exactly 14 months after its 360 release. The creepy first-person shooter was one of the most important games of last year for its unique setting (a disaster-struck, underwater metropolis stuck in the ’50s) and immersive, exploration-based narrative.

On Dec. 2, PC gamers will finally get to experience “Grand Theft Auto IV,” which came out for consoles last April. The GTA series has a history of coming to PC late, but the ports usually bring upgrades not found in the initial console releases. In this case, the PC version will have improved graphics (if your machine can handle it), as well as a new replay editor that lets you save videos of your gameplay and share them online.

“Sir, yes, sir!”

The release of “Red Alert 3” last month marked the revival of a much-loved, PC strategy franchise. The series’ charming mix of an absurd alternate history (where Einstein goes back in time and kills Hitler) with self-aware cheesiness captured my heart as a kid. The third installment promises the return of classic gameplay and corny cut-scenes with modern graphics and a new faction: The “Empire of the Rising Sun” boasts ninjas, psychic schoolgirls and giant robots that trans-form into fighter jets.

Speaking of Japan, Sega just released “Valkyria Chronicles” in the United States a few days ago, which has you commanding troops in fictional 1930s Europa.

“Valkyria’s” art design will strike you immediately, with sound effects written out like in a comic—machine guns fire with a “Rat-ta-Ratta-Ratta” and grenades explode with a “Blam!”—alongside graphics that are reminiscent of a watercolor
painting. The game mixes elements from a number of genres. In battles, you plan your attack on a detailed map, but when it comes to moving units, you zoom in and take control from a third-person perspective. It’s an effective blend of the turn-based strategy and third-person shooter genres.

If you’re looking for a more reality-based strategy experience, “Tom Clancy’s EndWar” from Ubisoft has you covered. Set in the near future, you direct armies in “EndWar” with your voice. The voice controls aren’t mandatory, but if you’ve tried the downloadable demo, you know that uttering orders through your headset works surprisingly well. The game was just released for 360 and PS3.

How the heck do you get up there?

The platformer genre used to consist of cute mascots gathering countless collectables, but we’ve covered a lot of new ground since the early days of Mario and Sonic. Last month saw the launch of “LittleBigPlanet,” a PS3 exclusive and the feather in Sony’s cap this holiday season. LBP’s cartoony graphics, straightforward platforming, and collecting gameplay might be a throwback to simpler times, but it’s only the framework for much bigger ideas. The game puts deep level-creation tools in the hands of the player, and user-created levels can be shared online and rated by other players. Even if you’re not the creative type, you can still benefit from the seemingly infinite amount of player-made content.

From Electronic Arts and DICE, the developers of the popular “Battlefield” shooter series, “Mirror’s Edge” takes a totally different, though equally fresh, approach to the platformer genre. You play as Faith, a courier for subversive elements within a tightly controlled, Orwellian society. “Edge” is unique in that it’s played from the first-person perspective, which re-ally puts you in the action as you use parkour-style techniques to traverse the environment. I encourage everyone to download the 360 or PS3 demo before the game’s Nov. 11 release.

While “Mirror’s Edge” tries to capture “Prince of Persia’s” gameplay in first person, “Prince of Persia” itself will be reinvented next month. Arriving Dec. 2 on 360, PS3 and PC, the fresh characters and beautiful new art design instantly convey that this is not just “Prince of Persia 4.” This “Prince” will focus on your new computer-controlled partner, Elika, who Ubisoft promises will not have to be babysat. Instead, she’ll help you cross difficult gaps, solve puzzles and fight by your side in combat.

Like every fall, it’s a good time to be a gamer. It’s heartening to see so many original and innovative games from top publishers, especially in an industry riddled with yearly sequels and decade-long franchises. So, even if you can’t wait for the fifith, sixth or seventh installment in your favorite franchise this season, don’t forget to look out for all the other exciting new games out there!