The game is afoot

Get a good grip on your joysticks and keep your eyes glued to the screen. We throw at you a volley of video games just out and few in the pipeline.

Lego The Lord of the Rings
Return to Mordor in the company of Frodo, Gandalf, Gimli, Legolas and friends, before this year's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey arrives at cinemas in December. All three LoTR films are covered, with typical Lego humor and wit.

Price on 360 and PS3: $49 (₹ 2,626) Less on other platforms

videogames.lego.com/lego-lord-of-the-rings

Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (3DS)
The learned Professor Layton and his puzzle-solving crew return for their 3DS debut. A rather disruptive masked gentleman is causing trouble in the otherwise peaceful town of Monte d'Or, and he must be stopped before his supernatural powers cause further harm.

Price: $39 (₹ 2,090)

professorlayton.nintendo.com

Need for Speed: Most Wanted
(360 PC PS3)
A cross between classic Need for Speed racing with the open-world, arcade-styled racing of Burnout Paradise, giving Forza Horizon a run for its money and
the closest thing to a Burnout Paradise sequel so far, Need for Speed: Most Wanted folds Burnout principles in with the NFS heritage, laying out an open city to roam around in, friends' achievements to beat, vigilant cops to outrun, and a hectic online multiplayer for up to 16 drivers.

Price: $59 (₹ 3,162)
Less on Vita and PC
needforspeed.com/most-wanted

Assassin's Creed III (360 PS3)

A new cast of characters and a new dose of action-packed historical conspiracy theory as Connor is launched into the American Revolution, rubs shoulders with the founding fathers and sprints through colonial Boston, New York, and surrounding battlefields, locked in an ages-old conflict against the Templars for control of powerful ancient artifacts. Vita game Liberation follows African-French assassin Aveline of New Orleans.

Price: $59 (₹ 3,162)
Less on PC and Vita
assassinscreed.com

Nike+ Kinect Training (360 + Kinect)
Sports and games combine once more as Nike and Microsoft present a heart-rate-raising response to the likes of Wii Fit Plus, Your Shape, Zumba Fitness, Adidas's MiCoach etc. Professional trainers Alex Molden (ex-NFL) and Marie Purvis of the Nike Training Club put players on track to get "athlete fit."

Price: $49 (₹ 2,626)

nikeinc.com/news/introducing-nike-kinect-training

Pid (360 PC)
Have you ever fallen asleep and missed your stop? That's what happened to the kid in Pid (aka Planet in Distress), at least in a roundabout, intergalactic kind of way. He's now stuck on a gorgeous-looking, perilous alien planet, but with a pocketful of light beams and a few friends found along the way to help him get past all manner of deadly obstacles and enemies.

Price: 800 Microsoft Points / $9.99 (₹ 536)
pidgame.com

Call of duty black ops II
Literally the biggest game launch on record, it will include many features that Elite players have enjoyed in the past, only this time for free. Call of duty: Black Ops 2 also has a trailer showing explosions, robots and futuristic fighter planes to a soundtrack by AC/DC.

Price: Preorder for ₹ 3,299 at Flipkart.com