What we are playing is a weekly column that appears each weekend. Various staff members let the world know what games had them hooked the past week and which ones they look forward to.

John Laster – I’ve been dabbling in [easyazon-link asin=”B0044SA70M” locale=”us”]Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning[/easyazon-link] and while I love the gameplay I have no clue what the heck is going on in that universe, it hasn’t sucked me in which is bad for an RPG, but Chakrams rule! I absolutely love Gotham City Imposters, reminds me of Shadowrun. Also I want to play more Shank 2 soon as it is a huge improvement for even less MS points than the original.

Perry Jackson – After finishing The Simpsons Arcade, I went into Shank 2 and was completely floored by it. So much of an improvement with better dodging mechanics, tighter combo system and a much better plot to me even if it’s silly. I also played the [easyazon-link asin=”B004FYEZMQ” locale=”us”]Mass Effect 3[/easyazon-link] demo before the Tuesday release. Jealous? You should be because it’s amazing

Ross Adams – Played through [easyazon-link asin=”B00432O4VM” locale=”us”]Shadows of the Damned[/easyazon-link] over the last week, as a shooter it was ok but it was the humour and world that really impressed me. Really enjoyable and entertaining experience, glad I played it. XBLA wise I randomly picked up Aces of the Galaxy again, great frantic fun. Still super hard though, never managed to complete the whole campaign.

Todd Schlickbernd – I’ve been playing ridiculous amounts of Shank 2 trying to get all 16 characters. I just beat the game on Hard last night, a laudable accomplishment if I do say so myself, so that’s just one last character remaining. Other than that there’s been lots of Iron Brigade DLC time as well. Weird, almost as if I’m doing a guide for those games. Lastly is [easyazon-link asin=”B0044SA70M” locale=”us”]Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning[/easyazon-link] on the retail end.

John Drawdy – Been super busy this week, with what little bit of free time I had was spent finally playing through Bastion. Loving the bright colors and art style, but by far the music is my favorite part of the game; nice to finally experience the soundtrack from the game and not just my headphones.

Nathan Bowring – I recently finished [easyazon-link asin=”B004YVOCYG” locale=”us”]Assassin’s Creed: Revelations[/easyazon-link]. They give the old assassin’s the ending they deserved, and I can’t wait to see what they do with the next game. I’m still on the hunt for riddles in [easyazon-link asin=”B002I0JAVK” locale=”us”]Batman: Arkham City[/easyazon-link]; only one more hostage to go!

Ryan Reynolds – I spent a large chunk of my gaming time this week on Iron Brigade’s Rise of the Martian Bear content with highlights including a mysteriously flying breaker and Todd getting stuck behind a plant. In addition, I’ve been playing [easyazon-link asin=”B002I0H79C” locale=”us”]Gears of War 3[/easyazon-link] and [easyazon-link asin=”B00503E8S2″ locale=”us”]Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3[/easyazon-link] online and started a new game in [easyazon-link asin=”B001TORSII” locale=”us”]Mass Effect 2[/easyazon-link] to prepare me for the conclusion to the trilogy.

Matt Liparota – One word: [easyazon-link asin=”B004HYK956″ locale=”us”]Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim[/easyazon-link]. I was a holdout on what ended up being one of the biggest fames of 2011 (mostly for financial reasons), but it was on sale last weekend and I couldn’t resist. Pretty much every free minute I had this week was devoted to the game and I’ve barely scratched the surface. I didn’t use my Xbox for anything else. As for the few times I gamed away from my console, I’ve been rocking [easyazon-link asin=”B003O6E7DI” locale=”us”]Professor Layton and the Unwound Future[/easyazon-link] on my DS. My tastes are nothing if not diverse.

Mark Seymour – Been blitzing through [easyazon-link asin=”B0050SYY5E” locale=”us”]Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary[/easyazon-link] on Legendary this week. The Library sucks twice as hard as it did 10 years ago but it’s a wonderful nostalgia trip otherwise. Also started playing [easyazon-link asin=”B004ML7WOK” locale=”us”]The Darkness II[/easyazon-link], which gets shooting things in the face so right. Very satisfying.

Todd Pantier – I’ve still been playing a ton of [easyazon-link asin=”B003O6EBRA” locale=”us”]Final Fantasy XIII-2[/easyazon-link]. I’m really getting into it. Multiplayer wise, I’m still on [easyazon-link asin=”B002I0H79C” locale=”us”]Gears of War 3[/easyazon-link] and XBLA wise I got Shank 2. I love 2D beat em ups and it’s one of the better ones I’ve played.