Happy holidays, and thank yous to all my family, friends and followers!  With the end of 2011 coming to a close, it’s now time for the celebrations to begin as we discuss the top ten XBox 360 games of this year.  This has been a good year for video games in general so it was kind of tough to decide.

After some grinding, here are my picks for the Top Ten XBox 360 Games of 2011:

Gears of War 3. With the selection of multiplayer and the improved and tougher cooperative modes, this game is one game that’s tough to beat.

Battlefield 3.  With the selection of Battlefields already available, this third selection of Battlefield tops them all with the team-based multiplayer and the destructive impact by the Frostbite 2 engine.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Although Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 isn’t particularly one of my favorite franchises, it deserves a top spot for having a more entertaining single-player campaign than Battlefield 3.  However, the run-and-gun gamestyle of the multiplayer doesn’t play favor to me.  However, it is cream for some.

Portal 2. The second Portal has definitely topped the first, and with the co-op mode, they only improved the game further.  Instead of watching on the sidelines, two people can now solve the mind-bending puzzles.

Batman: Arkham City. Improving on the first Batman: Arkham Asylum, the single-player is more enriched as there are more villains to encounter, and the hand-to-hand combat is more fluid.  With Rocksteady thanking its fans with the recent Batman, Inc. batsuit and other additional add-ons including Catwoman, Nightwing and Robin, this game deserves top honors in 2011.

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Using the Fallout 3 engine, the massive content of this game is incredible.  Even spending a few hours in single-player, one can easily get lost in the game with the primary and secondary quests.  Unlike Oblivion, this game is much more focused.  The Fallout 3 engine is both a curse and a godsend to this game as the game’s graphics are a bit outdated.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution. A prequel to the original Deus Ex video game played great homage to the original.  The gameplay is fluid with the exception of some of the Matrix-like stealth and typhoon explosion cut-scenes.  They are a bit jarring at times and take away from the game.  However, unlike the original Deus Ex, this game had boss fights which were unnecessary.

L.A. Noire. This 2011 neo noir masterpiece published by Rockstar games is one of those games that changed the landscape of gaming. With the use of Motionscan, the characters of the video game have facial expressions like never before.  However, despite this, this game only reached cult status at best.  And the worst, well, the studio Team Bondi tore apart at the seams soon after this game was released.

Orcs Must Die. A gem among XBox Live Arcade with its humor and traps.  This is tower defense done right, although some of the levels are very tough.

Trenched/Iron Brigade. Another gem among XBox Live Arcade.  Another tower defense game with humor.  Still tough at times, but it’s enjoyable.

This was a very tough year to judge for XBox 360 video games.  Which was your favorite among my list, and which should have been added?