10 Games To Play This Valentine’s Day

It’s a mistake to limit “love” to a Hallmark definition, especially when there are so many better ones. Like the love you feel for coffee at 5:00 a.m. on Monday. Or the way you love your BF3 team after you level the field in Gulf of Oman. That’s why today’s Top 10 List goes beyond love in games – to embrace love for games.

Now, how do we love to play? Let us count the ways:

1. Star Wars: The Old Republic
Fill your heart with the Force. This award-winning MMO lets you live out an alternative life as a lightsaber-swinging, alien-seducing badass in a galaxy far, far away.

2. Mass Effect 3
With an all-new demo scheduled for February 14, it’s practically a date already. Stock up on candy and re-ignite your torch for Commander Shepard (or Commander FemShep). The full game premieres on March 6, 2012.

3. The Sims 3
Take love down the long road in this popular simulation game. With dating, marriage, kids, and more, you can live out “forever” exactly the way you want to. Already playing? Pick up the Master Suite Stuff Pack to spice up your Sim’s V-Day.

4. Dead Space 2
The Marker tends to inspire more fear than affection, but you can use that to your advantage. Fire up your console and put this horror hit on the big screen. Your significant other will be clinging to your arm by the end of Chapter 1.

5. Battlefield 3
The bond between squad mates is virtually unbreakable. Unless you’ve got wicked aim and a prime seat in a Super Hornet. Spread the love – and the bullets – in this gorgeous military shooter from DICE.

6. Dragon Age: Origins
Too busy for romance? Take a cue from Alistair, the sweet-talking soldier who – no matter how many Darkspawn he’s slaying – still makes time for his sweetheart. Morrigan… is another story.

7. Batman: Arkham City
For those coming out of a rough relationship, take heart. At least you aren’t on par with the Joker and Harley Quinn. Stop Gotham’s criminal couple from wreaking havoc in the dark, seductive sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum.

8. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
Orpheus once traveled to the Underworld for love. In Reckoning, you rise from the dead for it. Love of insanely powerful weapons, that is. Put them on, fight the Tuatha, and re-weave the threads of Fate itself in this classically-styled RPG.

9. Saints Row: The Third
This third installment in the Saints Row series takes a special delight in blurring those lines between love, lust, and a sheer lust for mayhem. Take control of the city you love with the gang you trust – and make your rivals pay.

10. Shank 2
How far would you go to save the ones you love? If you’re Shank, the answer to that question probably involves some guns, a baseball bat, and a slew of dead goons in your wake. And let’s not gloss over the special relationship between an ex-mob hitman and his chainsaw.

Going steady with a different V-Day game? Share your current favorite in the comments.