Some of the games released in recent months give players the opportunity to take on various personas, including a swashbuckling treasure hunter, a medieval assassin, a roguish barbarian, a rakish cop and a squadron of soldiers. Each will provide the necessary adrenaline rush.

Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (Sony Computer Entertainment; PS3; rated teen); The hero of Uncharted is Nathan Drake, a descendent of Sir Francis Drake, who was an Elizabethan explorer, circumnavigator of the globe and bane of the Spanish Armada. In this action adventure, Nate is on the trail of El Dorado, the golden treasure of Spanish legend. The history is a bit loose, but that’s OK, because you’re going to want to play this fast and fun game. It stretches across genres, too, so you’ll have plenty of opportunity to run and gun, climb and jump, and solve puzzles while following the map. Nathan Drake joins the elite club that includes Indiana Jones and Lara Croft; explorers and seekers of antiquity who manage to get themselves into the hottest of water and are equally capable of extricating themselves with panache. If all that wasn’t enough, the voice talent — Nolan North as Nate, Emily Rose as Elena Fisher and Richard McGonagle as Victor Sullivan — provides some of the best work ever found in a video game. These actors really bring the characters alive.

Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft; PS3, Xbox 360; rated mature); This incredible game is not quite what you think it is. Yes, you play an assassin in the Holy Lands during the time of the Third Crusade, but you take on the role by playing a young man today, who relives the experiences of his ancestor by means of a machine that can delve into genetic memory. It’s a great device, giving a rationale for English dialogue and an excuse for any anachronisms that may appear. The game is memorable, too, and does an excellent job of re-creating an ancient world. The lush rendering of the Kingdom is captivating, and climbing the towers to get your bearings in the towns of Jerusalem, Acre and Damascus, you’ll realize the scope of the world. You’ll explore those cities — and the countryside between them — while taking on a series of contracts, exposing a conspiracy and trying to gain back your honour. My chief concern with Assassin’s Creed is that players have to watch too much. Perhaps, in the coming sequel we can have more “do” and less “tell.”

Conan (THQ; PS3, Xbox 360; rated mature); Given the success of sword-slashing adventure games based on Greek and Persian mythology, it is fitting that Robert E. Howard’s Conan got similar treatment. In this game, you play as the barbarian from Cimmeria, trying to recover your armour from a demon wizard who took it from you. The production value in this game is fantastic, with a voice-over narration setting the plot and terrific voice acting by Ron Perlman as Conan and Claudia Black as the warrior princess A’Kanna. While there is some repetition in the environments and the combat could use some refinement, Conan is a great introduction to the rambunctious character. More, please.

Stranglehold (Midway; PC, PS3, Xbox 360; rated mature); Don’t worry about ammo shortages in this game, instigated by film director John Woo. As with the violent ballet that was Hard Boiled, starring Yun-Fat Chow, Strangehold is all about blood, bullets and the poetry of motion. Yun-Fat reprises his role of Hong Kong cop “Tequila” Yuen, but he probably shouldn’t have, as his English isn’t any better than it was when he first starred in Hollywood films, and you’ll have to listen closely to understand his dialogue. You’ll embody Tequila and range from the alleys and port of Hong Kong to the mean streets of Chicago in an effort to curb gang activity. With the ability to interact with the environment, you really get to embody Tequila, too, from bodysurfing on carts to bounding down stairs using the banister, just like in the film.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Activision; DS, PC, PS3, Xbox 360; rated mature); This is our fourth foray into Call of Duty, the first-person shooter game that puts gamers in the role of a soldier. This game, though, advances beyond the Second World War, the era in which the previous games were set, and is planted in the contemporary. You embody a number of characters in the game, and in so doing, you get a first-person perspective on events. You spend most of your play time, though, alternating between a British SAS soldier and an American marine. The complicated plot involves a cabal of Russian separatists and Middle Eastern terrorists. The action in Modern Warfare is intense, with challenging AI and varied environments and smooth and responsive controls. Online multiplayer action — the DS is an exception with this feature — can support up to 18 players on 16 maps and six game modes such as “deathmatch.” Modern Warfare makes for a great update to a thrilling franchise.