It's no better and it's no worse than what you will find on Microsoft's side of the console space. It may not be much of a showcase for what the Playstation 3 can do. But for golf, you can't go wrong with Tiger.

It reminds me of that college professor who taught a fun class but didn't explain things very well -- in the end, you didn't learn as much as you could have. Second Opinion's fun, but in the end, you feel like you didn't enjoy it as much as you should have.

A maturation of the series, this is a really solid game with lots of loony Street-style happenings. In the end, it's fun to play, and will keep you engaged. If only it were on next gen.

In the end, it's fun to play, and will keep you engaged. But the muddy visuals, lack of Wi-Fi, and undersold Gamebreakers will throw you for a loop.

It's kind of a cakewalk. You won't feel pressed to utilize just the right combos for a given situation, and health boosts are generously doled out. Even the highest difficulty is pretty forgiving.

Most of us were better at these kinds of games when we were young. Tweens or teens could play through this game with their thumbs cut off and a frontal lobe tied behind their back.

With combat that is just easy enough to engage the younger crowd, borrowed elements that keep the game from being boring, and a storyline that the kids already love, Eragon on the DS makes for an adequate movie-licensed RPG-lite for adventuring tweens everywhere.

Nine patches in, Gothic 3 has a long road to hoe before rating "close enough for government work." Try it if you're hardcore and even-tempered. But yep, here we go again -- closing with another "until it's adequately patched, caveat emptor."

But here's where, at least for me, NBA 07 earns the "sports innovation" award at the PS3 launch: Every week, Sony will offer five downloadable scenarios from this year's real NBA season that you can try and re-create (hey, the rest of you sports developers, this is how you give your game some longevity, OK?).

Rampage: Total Destruction is broken and a perfect example of how not to port a game to the Wii. (And then charge extra for it.)

It's kind of a cakewalk. You won't feel pressed to utilize just the right combos for a given situation, and health boosts are generously doled out. Even the highest difficulty is pretty forgiving.

A lot of bang for the bullion -- whether you crave a detailed toy-soliders-in-1197-AD simulator or a complex, rewarding Civ-style strategy game, this Total War is a total package.

Ultimately, skipping Konquest mode altogether doesn't seem like such a bad idea, considering that all the characters are unlocked from the start, which was the main reason to play through Konquest mode on the home consoles.

To be fair, Dark Kingdom doesn't have any single game-destroying flaw, except perhaps for that murderous bastard camera. It's an average, if occasionally very frustrating example of a genre that's abundantly represented on other platforms.

Honestly, though, that's part of the problem. Way too much of your new game feels like you're just playing it safe.

Does Ridge 7 usher in the next-generation of racing? No. Is it the best way to while away the hours, driving on the PS3? For the time being, yes.

The A.I. is generally good, but constant one-timer goals and did-you-see-my-stick-clip-through-the-goal-post wrap-arounds can get quite annoying.

The game is an embarrassment to the Gundam name, and raises suspicions that it was rushed for the PS3 launch. Clearly, the series -- and the fans -- deserve better.

Dead or Alive: Xtreme 2 is what happens when you tinker too much with a perfect formula -- and not in the name of improvement. This is the Dead or Alive that, quite frankly, critics of Team Ninja have been hoping for -- a soulless, poorly executed title slathered in truly shameless fan service that not even those who would use it for dirty deeds could force themselves to sit through. It's as ridiculous as the individual breast physics that it entails.

Rare has certainly recaptured its former glory itself here, and in producing one of the most misunderstood games of the year, it has also produced on one of the finest in its history, and certainly one of the most intriguing on 360.

Each stage is memorable...They all combine for an unforgettable adventure through 36 hectic, desperate hours of a group of soldiers' lives...A visual and visceral masterpiece.

Every Extend is as addictive as the best puzzlers, so it's painful to see its pumped-up remake bogged down by over-the-top special effects.

Whereas "Call of Duty 2" did an incredible job creating the illusion of an open environment, it's just the reverse here. You feel hemmed in and herded along at every turn, and the pacing also reflects that. Unless you rush forward, progress in the game grinds to a halt -- no considered approaches or tactical positioning, just advance and keep firing.

What Neversoft has built in Tony Hawk's Project 8 is, without a doubt, its masterpiece. The series has evolved into a sort of "evens are groundbreaking, and the odds are great" formula, but not only is this the greatest of the series, it's the best entry since "THPS4," which has long been the series' crowning achievement.

For fans of the series, you'll feel like the developers ordered the series to "hold its position" because it hasn't gone that far from the previous SOCOM. And unfortunately for us, unlike your teammates in the game, it actually obeys every order.

But while a ton of awesome bands are represented (Nirvana, Guns N' Roses, Anthrax, All That Remains, Kansas, and so on) Guitar Hero II is still missing a few megaton metal bands -- mainly Metallica, Iron Maiden, and AC/DC. But no one will ever be happy, so instead of crying, crank the volume and bang your head until your brain busts.

Even if you can't find people to play in the two-player modes, the story mode has enough action-packed content to soak up the entire DBZ legacy, and to keep you busy for a long, long time.

Puzzle mode feels overly familiar, and the new Mission mode isn't actually that different than the Puzzle mode. Still, the core single-player experience is as addictive and elegant as ever, and this UMD will stay locked in your PSP for weeks to come.

Very few games can truly claim to be for all players of all ages, and this is one of them. With a delirious mix of slapstick humor, comic storytelling, infectious music, and tons of replayability, Elite Beat Agents is one of the best music-oriented games to date and stands among the cream of the DS's impressive library. Don't miss it.

Daisy-chaining raw resources to refined goods to end products hasn't been this gratifying in years.

The conversion from Super NES to GBA is rock-solid, and American gamers who are only familiar with this "lost" classic from its shoddy PlayStation repackaging will be pleasantly surprised at how incredibly fast this game is.

The problem is that it plays like Tony Hawk's 1999 debut. Worse yet, it's not even on par with that.

An entertaining adventure that boasts impressive production values, especially given its origins in a tiny development house. Its greatest failing is that it stands uneasily on the line between arcade-action and console-adventure.

The graphics are almost painfully cute, and the pseudo-physics system that causes enemies, objects, and heroes to ping-pong around the screen with abandon can make combat entertainingly chaotic. It's good, clean, dumb fun. There's just not much to it, or of it.

From beginning to end, this is the most complex Final Fantasy game yet, and it's just as evident in its plot as in its mechanics.

In its current state, and for those who just want a single-player RPG, this is recommended to D&D diehards only, who are probably the only ones with enough goodwill to slog through the problems. Everyone else -- wait awhile. A great RPG is in here somewhere; it's just not ready yet.

Instead of creating a wide variety of situations, the dev team relied on key-card hunts, escort missions, and (surprisingly pointless) vehicle-piloting sections ad nauseam.

While as nice as it is to see a classic arcade-style game get its due, what the world really needed wasn't a regurgitation of Power Stone 1 and 2; it needed Power Stone 3, brought up to spec with advancements in game design and all the things players have become accustomed to in other games.

This isn't to say that ATV Offroad Fury 4 is bad, it's just that its handheld sibling is a little more imaginative.

The younger set might not mind backtracking through old levels, hunting high and low for weapon parts (and that last, pesky, unsmashed crate). But other aspects of Root of Evil definitely aim older, such as the characters -- which include a dead boy, conjoined brainiac twins, and a wiseacre baby with stumps for limbs in a jar of formaldehyde.

While Carbon is peppered with clever little ideas, ultimately it falls victim to EA's insistence on annually iterating the franchise. It refines previous ideas but lacks that big "wow" factor we've seen in the past. It's thoroughly, thoroughly competent and shouldn't be overlooked, but it really is "Need for Speed Again."

It refines previous ideas but lacks that big "wow" factor we've seen in the past. It's thoroughly, thoroughly competent and shouldn't be overlooked, but it really is "Need for Speed Again."

Own the City still isn't the best racer on the PSP -- Burnout and Wipeout are both better -- but it's a major step in the right direction for a series that has been stuck in a major rut.

It's a shame Rockstar chose not to fix obvious flaws that have been called out repeatedly, but the weight of the total experience more than counterbalances this disappointment, making PSP owners, however briefly, the envy of those in the portable war.

It's solid, but its subtle gameplay stutters make us hesitate to recommend it too strongly -- and all the more impatient for Winning Eleven's next iteration.

It refines previous ideas but lacks that big "wow" factor we've seen in the past. It's thoroughly, thoroughly competent and shouldn't be overlooked, but it really is "Need for Speed Again."

It refines previous ideas but lacks that big "wow" factor we've seen in the past. It's thoroughly, thoroughly competent and shouldn't be overlooked, but it really is "Need for Speed Again."

Rarely do you ever find a dungeon-crawling action game as well thought-out as this one; a game that is feature-rich, playable, beautiful, is downright addictive, and does the Dungeon Siege lineage justice.

Street-racing nuts won't get the satisfaction they want, while fans of the original Rush franchise will be disappointed that their favorite series has been reduced to another ride-pimpin' also-ran.

While certainly not the finest racing game ever made, credit must be given where it's due. Climax has squeezed an awful lot of game onto a UMD here. Not only is it vastly improved over last year's game, but you also get a lot of bang for your dirt-riding, dike-jumping, snowmobiling buck here.

Story aside, the campaign shines. The pacing's on par with Factions in terms of how quickly you gain levels (not that those matter much in Guild Wars anyway), and the game's 20 missions present lots of replay incentive thanks to a tiered reward system.

A throwback to the good ol' days of "Diablo 2"-style dungeon exploring, PSU is a value-packed, worthwhile action-RPG that finds its biggest challenge not in its modern-day peers, but in escaping the shadow of its predecessor: "Phantasy Star Online (PSO)."

It's too early to say whether PSU will have the same level of staying power in an age inundated with online games, but its pedigree makes this one worth watching -- and playing.

A throwback to the good ol' days of "Diablo 2"-style dungeon exploring, PSU is a value-packed, worthwhile action-RPG that finds its biggest challenge not in its modern-day peers, but in escaping the shadow of its predecessor: "Phantasy Star Online (PSO)."

It's quickly clear that Dark Messiah is a "Half-Life 2"-style rail ride, but with "Deus Ex"-style character development.

At its best, the 360 version is the standout, but if you add up all the features, pretty much any system owner can be proud of their version and how it holds up against the others, which seems to be what Ubisoft had in mind. And which also is very annoying for those who want the single best version across the board.

Vol. 1 still has bouts of incredible monotony, but with the increased speed of the battles and graphics that don't induce nausea, it makes for a fine -- but not really great -- role-playing adventure.

Reservoir Dogs won't appeal to hardcore aficionados of the film; the almost-total omission of the original cast and likenesses will probably cause fans to attempt a bullet festival of their own.

Reservoir Dogs won't appeal to hardcore aficionados of the film; the almost-total omission of the original cast and likenesses will probably cause fans to attempt a bullet festival of their own.

More than enough fun to last through the main story -- especially if you bring a couple friends -- but whether you'll be returning to it again and again over the course of months is dependent largely on your superhero obsession and tolerance for repetition.

More than enough fun to last through the main story -- especially if you bring a couple friends -- but whether you'll be returning to it again and again over the course of months is dependent largely on your superhero obsession and tolerance for repetition.

No matter how hard it tries, Downhill Jam for the DS isn't its console cousin. It's barely a Tony Hawk game. That's why it works best when it's simply comfortable with what it actually is: something new entirely.

If you're still a big fan of F.E.A.R. and you're itching for some more horror-type FPSing, Extraction Point will give you eight hours or so of the good stuff. Keep in mind, though, that this expansion seems even more resource-hoggish than the original.

Touch Detective's greatest failing -- winning is rarely a rewarding experience.

Reservoir Dogs won't appeal to hardcore aficionados of the film; the almost-total omission of the original cast and likenesses will probably cause fans to attempt a bullet festival of their own.

There's not a massive separation between generations. In some ways, the 360 game blows the doors off the current-gen ones, while in others -- oddly -- the current-gen games have a strong advantage.

More than enough fun to last through the main story -- especially if you bring a couple friends -- but whether you'll be returning to it again and again over the course of months is dependent largely on your superhero obsession and tolerance for repetition.

Magical Starsign should be looked upon less as an RPG and more as a warning to potential DS and Wii developers: Yes, these new systems offer exciting, different possibilities. But please don't sacrifice old-school playability for unnecessary control schemes.

Its high-concept nature never translates into pretentiousness -- on the contrary, the English script is by turns hilarious and intriguing. Despite its imperfections, it's unique, daring, and occasionally strange.

Each little cartoon snippet you unlock is fun, but eventually you find yourself asking why you have to do so much work for them -- it's like watching a cartoon on a DVD player powered by a hand crank.

The best games -- games like Bully -- don't concern themselves with technical perfection. They just push headlong into new places and new ideas, leaving behind the ranks of unimaginative, spit-polished safe bets. Bully takes chances, and the gamble pays off big.

Because the co-op missions are just gussied-up versus matches, and because the versus game doesn't have any variations in objectives (spies simply hack at computer terminals to retrieve files to return to the starting base) or modes, multiplayer may start to wear out more quickly than in previous editions.

What's in question here isn't whether this or that technology is hooey -- it's impoverished, store-brand imagination.

In the end, it's hard not to fall a little bit in love with Railroads!, because it's just a lovable kind of game. Now if only they'd release some scaled-up maps to match the game's ambitions.

Despite all the fixes, the game, much like that umpteenth alien abduction story on TLC, wears thin. Sure, the improved story buoys the "take me to your leader" trappings, but your tasks still tap into the cloning machine a few times too many -- one can handle only so many escort missions and cross-map fetch quests.

Every hero has a weakness, and Justice League Heroes' kryptonite is its laughably lame story. Wait a second, wasn't this game written by an actual comic writer? That's why it's sad that the story is frickin' terrible.

An exciting exercise in completely rethinking old strategies. And this, after all, is what the best expansion packs do: not just add, but entirely revise.

It just doesn't feel that different the previous installments. But since those previous installments were good games, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But publishers should stop holding content back from their next-gen sports games, especially when more full-featured versions are available at a cheaper price.

The game's premise is ingratiating and deliciously creative, and so is the delivery.

Maxis hasn't changed the game drastically and shouldn't have to for an expansion pack that is adding a new (and cute!) perspective to an already solid game.

This year it's pushed farther than it has ever before by "borrowing" from Winning Eleven. As a handheld, it holds up over time -- but we can't help but to hold our breath to see Winning Eleven head-butt back on the PSP.

No, it's not the significant leap 2004's Century of Flight was, and performance -- usually unworthy of mention -- is the big sinker here. Otherwise, Flight Sim X is a solid, if not quite spectacular, tenth iteration.

What's most impressive is the way a lot of humor is injected into the actual gameplay.

Justice League Heroes' kryptonite is its laughably lame story. Wait a second, wasn't this game written by an actual comic writer? That's why it's sad that the story is frickin' terrible.

Despite all the fixes, the game, much like that umpteenth alien abduction story on TLC, wears thin. Sure, the improved story buoys the "take me to your leader" trappings, but your tasks still tap into the cloning machine a few times too many -- one can handle only so many escort missions and cross-map fetch quests.

Maxis hasn't changed the game drastically and shouldn't have to for an expansion pack that is adding a new (and cute!) perspective to an already solid game.

It doesn't help that The Guild 2 ships with technical issues: characters that disappear into walls, visual artifacts that take a restart to clear, buttons that don't work at all, and drop-sync issues with multiplayer games.

How many games are there that take place in a recently Westernized Japan and involve exposing ill-meaning demons, all laid under a campy detective theme? If there are more than Devil Summoner, they're likely not done quite this well.

The combat may feel satisfyingly fresh, but the game's visuals look dated. Bland textures, simple geometry, and bouts of slowdown abound, and distressing load times hearken back to an earlier, more annoying RPG age.

Yes, other brawlers may perfectly replicate the real-life trajectory of a fist making its way to a face. But God Hand takes you back to those days when you were a little kid in Chuck E. Cheese's. And that's far more satisfying -- and impressive.

If you're cool with paying full price for another minor upgrade to last year's already good game, Tiger Woods 07 is for you. That sounds clichéd, but there's nothing so good, so bad, or wildly different this year that will make anyone change their opinion of the series. Only fans need apply.

An outstanding RTS in its own right, and Relic is currently making the best RTS games in the business. For those already addicted to Dawn of War, this a must-have.

Worth a tour if you really loved the movie, but maybe less so if you've already played the hell out of Vice City. We can't really blame Scarface for the familiarity of the setting, but the fact remains that we've been here before.

Worth a tour if you really loved the movie, but maybe less so if you've already played the hell out of Vice City. We can't really blame Scarface for the familiarity of the setting, but the fact remains that we've been here before.

Worth a tour if you really loved the movie, but maybe less so if you've already played the hell out of Vice City. We can't really blame Scarface for the familiarity of the setting, but the fact remains that we've been here before.

Other than the exclusive ArchLord gimmick, we're left with a dated-looking game with limited classes and a lot of grind, and a miniscule chance of something cool at the end if you really throw yourself into it. Not exactly our cup of mead.

A truly awful experience. Put simply, it's a portable piece of ugliness that lacks any humility or wit. It is singularly unpleasant in the way it handles its subject matter, and lacks the style or panache to carry its inadequacies with any dignity.

This is clearly the best-playing FIFA game ever made, but that merely puts it above some of the most average-playing soccer games ever made. Even with the improvements, the game remains far too simple tactically.