Summer’s here, and you could fry an egg on your head in 7.5 seconds if you step outdoors. But a better source of entertainment is logging on or downloading the best, must-have online games, calling your friends, switching on the AC and switching off reality for a while.

Here are 12 games that you simply have check out to scale stimulating limits of the gaming experience — the best bet for the summer’s entertainment.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

If you’ve ever played Nintendo, this is a must-have. You get no less than 35 unique characters in a single fighting game, where four fighters can simultaneously punch each other’s lights out with a zany collection of moves or super-attacks called Smashes. This 3-D, superfast and beautifully simple-to-play experience is called Brawl. The music and sounds are electrifying and the game sets such a blistering pace that you won’t be able to blink, let alone breathe. And this will be your chance to see how characters from different games, each with their own unique fighting styles, skills, strategies and special effects, play off against each other.

Surprisingly for such an easy-play, high-octane attackfest, there is a good deal of strategy involved, too. Figuring out each opponent’s strengths and weaknesses versus your own quickly will make you the master fighter.

And yes, there’s a single-player option for playing alone as well. If you have a Wii, know that it isn’t complete without this.

Available on: Nintendo Wii
Demo not available
Game site: http://www.smashbros.com/en_us/index.html

Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Vegas 2

This game is the most detailed, true-to-life, accurate shooter you can get. Everything in the game — weapons, movement, locales — give the game a very realistic feel.

Unlike a simple one person shooter, here you control a six-person team; but the controls are easy, streamlined and lots of fun. Another major differentiator is the game’s dependence on tactics. You can’t just rush in and win. You need to observe, think, recon, plan and then attack. The maps — playing areas — are huge and detailed, and the AI — your computer opponents — are intelligent. A superb experience.

Available on: PC, PS3, Xbox360
Demo not available
Game site:
http://rainbowsixgame.uk.ubi.com/home.php

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

This game hits you right in the gut from the starting credits itself. It might turn out to be one of the most beautiful games you’ve played at the level of the playing experience, effects, detail, lighting, sound — the works. That doesn’t mean it’s just a pretty picture. This is an awe-inspiring gaming experience. The AI is supernaturally advanced and your enemies are not simple programs. They’re practically real, people that watch how you fight, and respond accordingly. They call for backup, hide, ambush, and retreat to fight again.

Also, it’s highly realistic in the setting and story itself, rather than being like some C-grade sci-fi movie. This is as close as you can get to real life.

On single player, it’s really short with missions finishing quickly. The real fun will come when you go multiplayer. Make sure you have a high-end PC, to get the full impact.

Available on: PC, Xbox360, PS3.
Demo site: http://www.fileplanet.com/180530/download/Call-of-Duty-4-Demo
Game site: http://www.callofduty.com/

God of War: Chains of Olympus

Chains of Olympus is, story-wise, a prequel to the God of War titles on the PS2 — and yes, playing on a handheld rather than a console is just as good. It’s easily the most outstanding PSP title in the market. In fact, it’s easier to play than the console, because the controls have been stripped down to less confusing combos. There are fewer final fights and enemies, and the game is a bit linear; but that’s still ok, because the audio, visuals, and game responsiveness more than makes up for it.

Available on: PSP
No demo;
cool stuff on: http://in.playstation.com/psp/games/god-of-war-chains-of-olympus/index.html

Devil May Cry 4

Fantasy action — two words that fall desperately short of conveying the insane action-packed treat that is DMC4. If you’ve played earlier versions, you’ll find a lot of the characters — as well as gameplay, weapons and fighting styles — have been retained, while adding some brilliant new ones. Fighting styles are the backbone here — you get graded on the stylishness of your battles, not just the number of enemies you dispatch. You also switch between characters midway, giving a unique twist to playing and to the story.

Available on: PC, Xbox360, and PS3
Demo not available
Game site: www.devilmaycry.com

Unreal Tournament 3

nIf you’ve played this before, nothing changes much. The only thing(s) new is some vehicles, weapons, map features and a lot of maps… and a graphics engine that rocks. That’s why the game completely redeems the repetitions with its game-playing experience and graphics alone. Now you know what to expect. Start to finish, this is a frantic, explosive, war. If you haven’t played it before, nothing should stop you from trying UT3 right now.

Available on: PS3, Xbox360, PC
Demo site: http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/ut3/
Game site: http://www.unrealtournament3.com/

Quake 4: Enemy Territory

Warning: This is not Quake. It’s a multiplayer war strategy game that just happens to inhabit the Quake universe. You won’t get much of the intense, single-person shooting experience that Quake delivered, and will instead need to concentrate on the overall war. Gameplay gives clear objectives, the maps are huge, and the new vehicles, awesome. But the fun element comes when you play as the macabre alien Strogg forces, and experience the war from the enemy’s viewpoint.

Be ready for a steep learning curve. My suggestion — play single-player to get a feel of the vehicles, weapons and the game, then go multiplayer, since that’s where its real strength lies. You’ll need a high-end PC, but the experience will be worth it.

Available on: PS3, Xbox360, PC
Demo site: http://www.fileplanet.com/168864/download/Enemy-Territory:-Quake-Wars-Demo-v1.1
Game site: http://www.quake4game.com/

Burnout Paradise

The newest thing here is an open-city environment. This means you’re free of the fixed track and can go down any road or crossing, in a large, very detailed city. You’ll quickly find stuff to do, since on almost every crossroad is an event that you can participate in — races, stunts, best-time laps, etc. There are around 75 cars in the game, but not all available immediately. You need to ‘unlock’ them by crashing into them on the streets. Just one more fun thing to do while you cruise around.

This is a game made for online, and especially for Xbox Live users, because a hilarious feature is the ability to take a photo of your (real) opponent’s expression just when you crash his vehicle in-game.

Gameplay is excellent. Driving is very well-controlled and the cars feel realistic, while the speed effects (with wayside objects blurring past) give a huge rush. Overall, the experience is real.

Available on: Xbox360, PS3
Demo not available
Game site: http://burnout.ea.com/home.asp

Condemned 2: Bloodshot

Play this alone at night — with a surround-sound system. But keep it out of reach of children. Bloodshot is a game not meant for the faint of heart, as it comes with gory visuals, ultra-violent gameplay and extraordinarily creepy music and sound. It’s basically a fighting game, though sometimes you can use guns. The forensics angle is also very interesting, which means it’s not a brainless shooter. You actually need to use your head. The overall environment is satisfyingly scary and there’s an abundance of weapons and special-kill effects that make this one stand apart.

Available on: Xbox360, PS3
Demo not available
Game site: http://www.condemnedgame.com/flash.php

Crysis

This game is as visually stunning as it is incredibly detailed, interesting, and above all, one that offers a realistic experience.

The graphics are what hit you first — the backgrounds as well as close-ups, the vehicles, enemies and faces. They are all are so good they’re appear almost photographic. Then, the gameplay. Crysis uses truly giant maps, so you have several options to reach your objective and the route you take changes the game accordingly. The AI is smart, the environment is interactive rather than a flat backdrop, the weapons are detailed and the feel extremely satisfying.

Lastly, the storyline is sci-fi, but believable, realistic and free of any cheesy scenarios that a lot of other games suffer from. This could have been the best game here, if not for the huge demands Crysis makes on computer hardware. Unless you’re already looking to upgrade (and upgrade big) forget the highest settings. The good news? It looks almost as good on medium-resolution.

Available on: PC
Demo site: http://www.fileplanet.com/168866/download/Crysis-Demo-(Singleplayer)
Game site: http://www.ea.com/crysis/

Gears of War

Released more than a year ago, Gears is still one of the best shooter games going. It’s an interesting mix of tactics and all-out shooting, and in learning how to use your environment to advantage — taking cover and fighting. There’s not much in-depth storyline, but who needs it anyway, when you can just leap into the action with one of the superlatively splendid game weapons developed till date — the chainsaw-machinegun.

You’ll always be accompanied by an AI buddy as you fight. The enemy is suitably ugly, vicious and smart enough to make playing a challenge even on easy settings. The pace is fast, the music thumping, weapons and sound effects suitably grisly. Overall, an all-round action-movie experience beyond parallel.

Available on: Xbox360, PC.
Demo not available
Game site: http://gearsofwar.com/

Flight Sim X: Acceleration

First and foremost —this is a simulator, so don’t go looking for a game. There are no dogfights, no shooting friends and strangers out of the sky. But if you’re looking for the largest, most realistic and most detailed flight sim, this is it.

FSX has more planes, locations, missions, realism and graphical wow than earlier versions, but your PC hardware needs to be up to the challenge. You’re rewarded with beautiful visuals, an incredibly sophisticated and detailed weather module, an ability to experience real flying conditions from anywhere in the world and global landmarks, so you can cruise anywhere and experience a level of scenery detail hitherto unseen. There’s also a pack of 50 missions that will test your flying skills in a civilian setting, ranging from easy to incredibly tough. In short — serious flying enthusiasts — this is the best in the genre.

Glossary

AI Artificial Intelligence — your computer opponent

Combos Combination of simple moves that trigger a complex action sequence

Console Any dedicated gaming device, usually attached with a TV. Eg. PS3, Xbox360, Wii

Fighting Game Game that depends on hand-to-hand fighting, or using weapons, but not guns

First-Person Perspective, where the player sees from a point of view that matches with the main character's view

FPS First-person Shooter

Gameplay The game playing experience

Graphics engine: The software that controls how realistically the game responds, looks, feels to the player

Graphics Visuals of environment and objects — gives a more realistic-looking game

Handheld Any portable device used for playing games, like PSP, Gameboy, etc

High-end PC at least 1 GB RAM, 10 GB free HD space, and a graphics card

Maps Game locales, environments that you play in — ranges from small (single room) to large (entire cities / islands etc)

Multiplayer Online gaming, where your opponents / teammates are not computer-controlled, but real people in different places

Open environment Player is not confined to a fixed path but can go anywhere he chooses in the game

PSP Playstation Portable

Responsiveness Speed of response of the computer opponent and the game to your actions. Better response = less jerky movements, better control

Shooter Game interface where you see the game from behind the barrel of a gun, in first-person

Simulator A ‘game’ that bases its challenge on being realistic, player has to overcome intricacies of real-life situations (like piloting a plane) rather than fighting enemies

Single-player Gameplay style where you can play alone, with the computer acting as the opponent

Strategy Game Focus is on resource management, such as supplies, territory, weapons, etc — better control wins wars

Third-Person Perspective, where the player sees from a point of view slightly away from the main character and can control his overall interactions

Available on: PC
Demo not available
Game site: http://www.microsoft.com/games/flightsimulatorx/downloads.html
Check out www.gametrailers.com for trailers of all these games