Call of Duty, Assassins Creed, Pokemon among most anticipated video games this holiday season

This year’s entry to the “ **Call of Duty** ” military action franchise is the most anticipated video game in the run up to Holiday 2017, according to analytics firm Nielsen, with Nintendo’s “Pokemon Ultra Moon” and “Super Mario Odyssey,” plus the “ **Assassin's Creed** ” comeback among others also tracking highly. [caption id=“attachment_136605” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Call of Duty. AP[/caption] Set in World War II after last year’s futuristic sci-fi excursion, “Call of Duty: WWII” is returning to territory more readily associated with the franchise’s 14-year-old roots. With a 99 percent overall anticipation level as measured by the Nielsen Game Rank, “Call of Duty: WWII” is the most anticipated Holiday game available on more than one type of console or computer, releasing as it does on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Windows PC from November 3. That puts it a nose ahead of Ancient Egyptian action title “Assassin’s Creed Origins” (95 percent), movie tie-in “Star Wars: Battlefront II” (90%), and sports wrestling iteration “WWE 2K18” (80 percent). All four release on the same three platforms between October 1 and December 31. Also given honorable mentions were action adventure “Middle-earth: Shadow of War,” racing game “Need for Speed: Payback,” shooter “Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus,” suspense thriller “The Evil Within 2,” darkly comic adventure “South Park: The Fractured But Whole” and rhythm title “Just Dance 2018.” The Xbox One’s “Forza Motorsport 7” and the PlayStation 4’s “Gran Turismo Sport” were measured with an equal 85 percent rating, while a 96 percent label was applied to the Nintendo Switch’s vibrant “Super Mario Odyssey.” On Nintendo’s older 3DS line of handheld systems, “Pokemon Ultra Moon” (99 percent,) “Pokemon Ultra Sun” (97 percent) “Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga + Bowser’s Minions” (96 percent,) and “Mario Party: The Top 100” (93 percent) all rated very highly. “Age of Empires: Definitive Edition” was the top exclusive on Windows PC, with virtual reality remakes of “Fallout 4” and “L.A. Noire” next up at 79 percent and 75 percent respectively.