While this is the last game freak of the semester, it is the first of many where I achieved liberation. No longer am I bound by the limits of paper ­­— I am free. Sadly there’s not much to talk about, because December is one of the deadest months in video gaming year. But know that next semester there will be many reviews, of the in depth variety. Read game freak and you will understand everything about the subject I cover.

Anyway, while there aren’t many new games being released over break, it does offer gamers the valuable time needed to dive into some of the games released in the past month. The title all gamers should be looking forward to being able to play, while marking the days off their calendar until break starts, is “The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.” Thanks to months — bordering on years — worth of content, college students will have their first chance to lose themselves in the game. Seriously though, don’t be surprised if your friends disappear over break, and it isn’t because they live out of state. Also, be warned those who have yet to play it but want to, this is not exaggeration. If you come to like “Skyrim,” it is very likely to consume you.

Those wishing to lose their souls to a different franchise are in luck, too, because on Dec. 20, “Star Wars: The Old Republic” is being released. For those that are unaware, it’s the newest massively multiplayer online role-playing game, and one with the best chance of unseating the current titan that is the “World of Warcraft.” For the past month or so, there have been open betas, which I was lucky enough to be a part of, and the game is good. The game itself could ride on the laurels of just being a game about Star Wars, but it doesn’t. The gameplay, graphics, and story are solid. The only thing better than getting to play as a Jedi knight or Sith warrior is when playing as either of those is easy and fun to do. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make it to end game content ­— I didn’t have 48 hours to spare each weekend the beta was open — but if it’s anything like the low-level content, it’ll be great. The best thing? A focus on story.

Thanks to interactive and voiced conversations, getting quests is finally something interesting. Every NPC, and character for that matter, is voiced, and it makes a bigger difference than you might want to believe. Suddenly I found myeslf wanting to play for the story. It also helped my character come alive. No longer was my character nothing more than a race, level and class — I was Agonistes, a Sith inquisitor serving Lord Zash, of Korriban. Not a soul was safe from my wrath, and my enemies fell at my feet. The point is, I was invested in my character to a much greater degree than ever before, and there’s no better way to divert yourself this winter break than by playing “The Old Republic.”

There’s also a good chance there will be no end to the story, too, since it’s an MMO. And gamers are going to need that much content thanks to the fact that there are no good games coming out until the last day in January. That game, “Final Fantasy XIII-2,” isn’t even guaranteed to be great, though it looks good. So with more than a month and a half of time to kill, and half of that time free of school, gamers should do themselves a favor and pick up one of the good, long games out right now, because there won’t be any more for a while.