Out This Week - 18/11/11

I hope you've been saving.

3DS fans will have been, and Super Mario 3D Land rewards them with abundance. "You couldn't wish for it to be any denser, any more imaginative, or any more daring," wrote Christian Donlan in Eurogamer's Super Mario 3D land review. "Most importantly, you couldn't wish for it to be any more playful."

Timelessly playable is the message that carries through Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary - the Xbox 360 remake of the original Halo. You can't hang earrings on a pig, goes the saying, so it's fortunate that Halo was no swine to begin with. This is "an Anniversary worth celebrating", declared Martin Robinson in Eurogamer's Halo: Combat Evolved review.

The same isn't true of Assassin's Creed: Revelations, however, which struggles to iterate on a flagging formula with the flair of previous instalment Brotherhood. Multiplayer keeps Revelations above average. "Where Brotherhood enhanced the thrill of being Ezio Auditore," wrote Assassin's Creed: Revelations reviewer John Teti, "Revelations distracts from it. Ezio may look old, but it's the series itself that really shows its age.

Amid the flurry of annual familiars is Need for Speed: The Run, which will be met with salivating mouths thanks to the work of Hot Pursuit and developer Criterion. Eurogamer's Need for Speed: The Run review will be published tomorrow morning.

Family shoppers - or those with an eye on Christmas presents - have Kinect game Disneyland Adventures, Wii game Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games and Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 to consider. Reviews of all are in the works.

Fighting game fanatics, meanwhile, will look to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. In a nutshell, this adds new characters and rebalances gameplay, which Wesley Yin-Poole finds tantalising. A review is forthcoming.

This Week in Shops!

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword

• Developer: Nintendo
• Publisher: Nintendo
• Format: Wii

What is it? The hungrily-awaited native Wii instalment in Nintendo's iconic fantasy action adventure series. What does Eurogamer think? We were blown away; possibly the best Zelda ever. For a new generation, "Skyward Sword will surely be the greatest adventure money can buy."

Minecraft

• Developer: Mojang
• Publisher: Mojang
• Format: PC

What is it? Simply, a sensation. And finished, finally. Can 4 million people be wrong? Build wondrous creations in an oversized-pixel world, and protect them from monsters at night. What does Eurogamer think? We've talked plenty about MineCraft in the past - it was one of our games of 2010. Look for a review of this full version in the not too distant future.

Saints Row: The Third

• Developer: THQ
• Publisher: Volition
• Format: PC, PS3, Xbox 360

What is it? Unbridled Grand Theft Auto - over the top, silly fun. But with good critical pedigree. What does Eurogamer think? Our review will be published soon.

What Else?

• Assassin's Creed: Revelations (Tuesday - PS3, Xbox 360)
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary (Tuesday - Xbox 360)
• Super Mario 3D Land (3DS)
• Need for Speed: The Run (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games (3DS, Wii)
• Lego Harry Potter: Years 5-7 (3DS, DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Disneyland Adventures (Xbox 360)
• Medieval Moves (PS3)
• Anno 2070 (PC)
• The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (PC)

Chart Predictions!

Each week one of the Eurogamer's finest attempts to foresee the future - or rather, what next week's top five games will be in the UK all-formats chart. The following predictions are for the week beginning Friday 18th November, to be reported next Monday.

Fred Dutton, US News Editor, Eurogamer.net

"In last Monday's Out This Week, Martin Robinson asked 'Has there ever been a more monumental week in video game releases?'. Well, I'd argue this is bigger. Sure, last week had Skyrim and MW3, but you've got a staggering list of AAA titles to choose from this week. As such, predicting a top five seems an almost impossible ask but, for what it's worth, I'm pegging Call of Duty to hold on to the top spot, just ahead of Assassin's Creed. Zelda should do brisk business at three, with perennial seasonal seller Need For Speed: The Run at four and Halo Anniversary at five. The 3DS's install base is likely too small for Super Mario 3D Land to have a shot at a top five finish, but it shouldn't be too far off. Skyrim, Saints Row: The Third and the new Lego Harry Potter won't be far off the pace either."

1. Modern Warfare 3
2. Assassin's Creed: Revelations
3. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
4. Need for Speed: The Run
5. Halo: Combat Evolved - Anniversary

Last week, Eurogamer's Features Editor Martin Robinson gave us his predictions. Was he close?