For most, the end of summer is nothing but a drag. Pulling oneself away from the hot sun and carefree days for another year of school is a painful process. However, for gamers, the changing of seasons can’t go quick enough. Fall has the largest concentration of video game releases of any season. While summer is for blockbuster movies, fall usually is for big-name video games. Thankfully, this year is no exception. Below are some of the hotly anticipated games due for a fall release.

Halo 4:
November 6 for Xbox 360

Grab your battle rifle and get ready to blast some aliens in “Halo 4,” the latest installment in one of the greatest first-person-shooter series of all time. The game picks up right where “Halo 3” left off five years ago and follows the super-soldier Master Chief as he crash lands on the mysterious planet Requiem. Multiplayer is back with some new tricks; players will be able to choose a Call-Of-Duty-esque weapon and perk load-out before a match. With many new weapons and vehicles, along with more detailed and varied graphics and sounds, “Halo 4” may just be the best shooter of 2012.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2:
November 13 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows, and Wii U

This year’s installment in the annual Call Of Duty (COD) franchise, “Black Ops 2” is sure to be a blockbuster. The last game in the series, “Modern Warfare 3,” was the highest grossing game in American history. With a single-player set in both 2025 and the 1980s, “Black Ops 2” follows both the cold war of the past and a fictional cold war of the future. By incorporating choices that affect the gameplay and outcome of missions, the game promises to give players a less linear experience than past COD games, in which the story mode progressed one way with few choices to modify the experience. Graphics are improved, albeit slightly, and the series’s award-winning multiplayer mode has gotten a visual facelift to fit the near-future setting. “Black Ops 2” also features the popular ‘Zombies’ mode, in which up to eight players must survive as long as possible while combating an endless onslaught of murderous zombies.

Assassin’s Creed III:
October 30 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, Windows, and Wii U

The fifth main game in Ubisoft’s historical third person sandbox series, “Assassin’s Creed III” (ACIII) is the most ambitious installment yet. Each numbered Assassin’s Creed title has introduced a new character and time period, and ACIII features the half-native-American Connor, who must battle the agents of the ancient Knights Templar during the American Revolution. Thanks to a brand-new engine, the graphics have never looked better, and the series’s distinctive free-running and combat systems have never felt more effortless. The game’s massive open world features revolution-era New York City and Boston (painstakingly rendered in 1/3 scale) and the forested frontier between the two cities. The action game for history buffs has never looked or felt better.

Borderlands 2:

September 18 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows

The sequel to the 2009 hit, “Borderlands 2” features a first-person shooter with a massive open-world environment, RPG elements, cooperative play, and “87 gazillion” guns. It follows four diverse adventurers who attempt to rid the planet Pandora of its tyrannical dictator, Handsome Jack. However, the story doesn’t take itself seriously at all, with hilarious writing that often makes jokes at its own expense. The most intriguing aspect, however, is the promised “87 gazillion” guns. The game randomly generates weapons that drop from fallen enemies, so no two weapons are exactly alike. This game promises to be a must-play for any fans of expansive cooperative games.

Resident Evil 6:

November 20 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows

Survival-horror fans rejoice; the newest game in the Resident Evil series looks like it may be better than all of its predecessors. The reason? It’s essentially four games in one. That’s right; “Resident Evil 6” will have four separate campaigns, three of which are playable with a cooperative partner, and all of which promise some form of horror-based gameplay. However, only truly skilled players will be able to play all four, because in order to unlock the fourth campaign gamers must finish the other three.  Each of the four campaigns is different, featuring gameplay similar to that of a previous game in the series. As such, anybody who has ever enjoyed a Resident Evil game will have good reason to purchase this one.

Dishonored:

October 9 for Xbox 360, Playstation 3, and Windows

A stealth-action game, “Dishonored” promises gameplay that is sure to keep players captivated for months after their initial purchase. Each level is a miniature sandbox, with an objective given to the player, who subsequently has the freedom to choose exactly how he or she will go about accomplishing the goal. For example, at some point the player must infiltrate a guarded party. One might sneak in through a window, kill all the guards around the party, or even use a fish to swim through the drainage system and reappear in the party’s bathroom. In “Dishonored,” the possibilities are endless.