Simply put, inFamous is the kind of game that when I'm not playing it, I'm constantly thinking about doing so. Heck, I already know what's going to happen right after I finish this sentence: I'm going to go back and play more as "superhero lightning cop" Cole.

Even if you're not a UFC fan this is still an incredibly fun fighting game.

Even if you're not a UFC fan this is still an incredibly fun fighting game.

But online level sharing is definitely Bash Party's biggest strength -- it lets me pick and choose the levels I like most: The ones where destruction is the signature element.

After finishing the disappointingly anticlimactic game, I felt like I just read through a graphic novel side-story, but one that doesn't reveal anything new or interesting. From a technical standpoint, the game is passing, but its narrative, structure, and inattention to detail reveal this game for what it is: Yet another lazy cash-in on a "blockbuster" film.

After finishing the disappointingly anticlimactic game, I felt like I just read through a graphic novel side-story, but one that doesn't reveal anything new or interesting. From a technical standpoint, the game is passing, but its narrative, structure, and inattention to detail reveal this game for what it is: Yet another lazy cash-in on a "blockbuster" film.

I am happy to say that EA Sports Active finally bridges the gap between house and gym, earning it top honors as the best exercise game currently out for the Wii.

It does a lot of things right (great looking graphics, fun multiplayer, and quality voice work), but it's constantly held back by unfortunate design decisions that replace satisfaction with frustration.

It does a lot of things right (great looking graphics, fun multiplayer, and quality voice work), but it's constantly held back by unfortunate design decisions that replace satisfaction with frustration.

While Punch Out!! makes for an entertaining enough solitary experience, the back-seat driving aspect makes it positively shine as a party game. There's nothing quite like having a few friends over, passing the controller around, shouting advice, and just generally bonding over some hilarious, bloodless violence.

With friends or smart online players, D-A-C can provide a couple hours of mindless fun, but it just doesn't provide any reason to keep playing beyond that.

While virtually identical to its predecessor, the total revamp of the battle system makes Devil Summoner 2 more than "more of the same."

Sacred 2 turns out to be a great couch game, largely because you can play co-op with a friend at your side. But the real surprise is that the folks at Ascaron managed to create a mostly-great interface for the XB360 and PS3 controller, giving you faster and easier access to more combat abilities than you could use in the PC version.

Sacred 2 turns out to be a great couch game, largely because you can play co-op with a friend at your side. But the real surprise is that the folks at Ascaron managed to create a mostly-great interface for the XB360 and PS3 controller, giving you faster and easier access to more combat abilities than you could use in the PC version.

A lovingly crafted tribute to some largely unsung shooters, and well worth the list price.

I can see myself buying it again for XBLA, just because I enjoy the core game so much. At any rate, it's $5 cheaper than the retail handheld versions, so you're getting an extra affordable edition of a universally-praised shooter.

Arkanoid Live is good for some occasional casual fun -- as it's always been and always will be -- but with an iffy aesthetic and not much more variety outside of a standard two-player versus mode, it's probably not something you'll want to boot up often.

Patapon 2 melts the time away and before you know it your PSP will need some juice.

This is a game that is filled with a simple yet endearing story, excellent game mechanics, eye-popping visuals, a challenging collection element, and a surprisingly bittersweet ending that will make you want to play it all over again, especially to see the once-static cinematics recreated in full 3D. Klonoa is one of the best platforming games of all time and this is a superior remake of an already flawless original.

Despite its initial approachability, PvZ gets surprisingly challenging toward the end of the game.

Origins isn't bad at what it does, but what it does isn't very ambitious.

Origins isn't bad at what it does, but what it does isn't very ambitious.

Endless Frontier's boss battles are even worse, and they are numerous.

Although VOOT's endemic control woes aren't impossible to overcome, it keeps the game from being the truly pleasurable adrenaline blast it should be.

It has some good plot points and character development. But the story's shortcomings show the trials a young studio endures as it learns to craft a tale.

Even though it won't wow you with its inventiveness, ExciteBots succeeds on the st[r]ength of its fun racing that keeps challenging you to one more go without ever getting frustrating.

Make no mistake, what's offered in Outrun Arcade Online is brilliant, addictive fun, but it could have definitely offered more.

Dark Spire recreates both the best and worst qualities of a bygone era, making for a taste that's difficult to acquire.

If you're interested in throwing down cash for a beta and maybe getting in some practice before things get smoothed out, go ahead and bump that score up a letter grade. Anybody else should find something else to do until then.

As a product, this package is recommendable to anyone who hasn't experienced the first game, or wishes to add it back to their current library. It also includes a surprisingly fun multiplayer suite, with the Riddick vs. Everyone Else mode "Pitch Black" as the main attraction. But as single-player games, the unsatisfying Dark Athena should be played as a curiosity and then put back where it belongs: in Butcher Bay's shadow.

As a product, this package is recommendable to anyone who hasn't experienced the first game, or wishes to add it back to their current library. It also includes a surprisingly fun multiplayer suite, with the Riddick vs. Everyone Else mode "Pitch Black" as the main attraction. But as single-player games, the unsatisfying Dark Athena should be played as a curiosity and then put back where it belongs: in Butcher Bay's shadow.

Godfather II suffers from a lack of design foresight. Instead of delivering a movie-quality narrative, it presents a frustrating, accidentally comic world.

Godfather II suffers from a lack of design foresight. Instead of delivering a movie-quality narrative, it presents a frustrating, accidentally comic world.

Diehard COH multiplayer fans will want this by virtue of being able to use the new units that all the other veteran players will be using with their copies. But the player who either wants a great offline experience, or simply another fantastic COH expansion, might feel a bit cheated and disappointed with how paltry this expansion feels.

Presentation isn't everything, so Hammerin' Hero's flaws and frustration take away from Irem's admirable effort in putting a fresh coat of paint on an old form of action game. Though even that can be detrimental, as those who expect something fairly easy to get into -- on the level of a classic Mario game -- should take note that underneath, this is some devious arcade-borne action.

Despite the limited enjoyment found in figuring out how to kill the game's enemies, none of the tired, tentacle-porn clichés conjured here are of that much interest.

Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus is an enjoyable experience, and its strengths shine when played by two human opponents. Between two skilled players, matches are exciting and fun to play, mostly because the game's rules and mechanics require constant attacking and engagement.

Rhythm Heaven does its job with style and aplomb, but anyone who's played the GBA original knows that the concept has been done better. No one who enjoys pure fun should miss out on this game...but once you've had your fill, be sure to track down a copy of the GBA original for an even better time.

A super repetitive punch-and-kick fest.

Even with its frustrating controls, if you found yourself hooked on Cooking, you'll feel the same about Mama's adventures in Gardening -- with the same sense of accomplishment when you ace her assignments, and the same swearing and stylus throwing when things go horribly wrong.

So yeah, this is a good time all around. The only thing better than killing the hell out of a few thousand undead is doing it with friends. Well, unless you can do it for dirt cheap. Which you can. Fancy that.

If you're looking for just having some dumb fun driving in a big sprawling city, smashing and shooting every last thing in your way, then Wheelman is a great pick. However, it never even attempts to reinvent the wheel from any other free-roaming action-adventure.

If you're looking for just having some dumb fun driving in a big sprawling city, smashing and shooting every last thing in your way, then Wheelman is a great pick. However, it never even attempts to reinvent the wheel from any other free-roaming action-adventure.

If you're looking for just having some dumb fun driving in a big sprawling city, smashing and shooting every last thing in your way, then Wheelman is a great pick. However, it never even attempts to reinvent the wheel from any other free-roaming action-adventure.

What little tactical challenge commanding these brain-dead battles presents still manages to overwhelm the game's signature whip select system.

Its eminently forgettable title notwithstanding, the significant flaws lie in core mechanics and not the story framework.

The needless addition of QTEs to the formula and a relatively short single-player experience keep it from becoming a legend in its own right.

The needless addition of QTEs to the formula and a relatively short single-player experience keep it from becoming a legend in its own right.

For its six-hour playthrough (you can extend that by unlocking alternate characters, but they're so unmemorable and non-gameplay changing, that they provide no incentive to play through again), Wanted: Weapons of Fate is at best a competent, fire-and-forget movie game -- not much more nor less.

For its six-hour playthrough (you can extend that by unlocking alternate characters, but they're so unmemorable and non-gameplay changing, that they provide no incentive to play through again), Wanted: Weapons of Fate is at best a competent, fire-and-forget movie game -- not much more nor less.

But it's the seamless transitioning of the single-player to the multiplayer (you can hop in and out from one to the other at any save point) that really seals the deal.

But it's the seamless transitioning of the single-player to the multiplayer (you can hop in and out from one to the other at any save point) that really seals the deal.

A good JRPG that tries to do something new with its battle system. It's not altogether successful, but any PC Square fans should at least check it out and experience it for themselves.

While RA3 is still tip top -- featuring vibrant graphics, fast-paced gameplay, hilarious cutscenes, and the best co-op mode in RTS today -- it is absolutely no different in its "ultimate" edition than it was in its PC/XB360 regular edition.

For its six-hour playthrough (you can extend that by unlocking alternate characters, but they're so unmemorable and non-gameplay changing, that they provide no incentive to play through again), Wanted: Weapons of Fate is at best a competent, fire-and-forget movie game -- not much more nor less.

But beyond the 40-50 hour main story, Platinum offers plenty to keep the game going long after you've collected all the badges.

The online play -- particularly co-op -- gives HAWX significant replayability. Everything from the picture-perfect planes to the stunning real world environments looks great, even after multiple passes.

The multiplayer component isn't likely to keep you occupied for long, but there's more than enough single-player content -- especially if you can take advantage of the Retribution Connect extras -- to warrant a purchase. Resistance fans won't be disappointed and newcomers to the franchise will find a very competent portable shooter in Retribution.

The PES-versus-FIFA bout is always tough to call, but while neither disappoints, I'll narrowly side with the glitzier, überlicensed competition this season: FIFA 09.

The game mostly manages to walk that fine line between catering toward the casual and the hardcore, but in those moments when it leans more toward the hardcore crowd, you experience DS-shaking frustration.

Chinatown Wars is what I expected -- it takes an understandable few steps back from GTA4, but also takes a couple forward (a touch screen can do that). It's a well-honed "core" GTA on the handheld, not merely a one-to-one clone of its console parents.

If the design were just a little tighter, and the presentation just a little crisper, I am convinced that this game would be one of my all-time favorites. As it is, I still find Valkyrie Profile's gameplay and branching storyline fascinating, and I will absolutely be adding it to my personal collection.

Ultimately, Resident Evil 5 shouldn't be looked at as a failure in the series, merely too ambitious, inconsistent and uneven. Earlier entries in the series benefited from their simplicity and focus, and while it's laudable for RE5 to try and include so much variety, perhaps a little more of the same ol' same ol' would have resulted in a slightly better game.

Ultimately, Resident Evil 5 shouldn't be looked at as a failure in the series, merely too ambitious, inconsistent and uneven. Earlier entries in the series benefited from their simplicity and focus, and while it's laudable for RE5 to try and include so much variety, perhaps a little more of the same ol' same ol' would have resulted in a slightly better game.

This expansion pack is not for every fan of the series, and therein is Uprising's biggest flaw.

The design constraints of Nintendo's system forced the developers at Platinum Games to be creative, and they followed through on their creativity by putting together a thoroughly enjoyable brawler with just the right amount of the ultra-violence.

As with so many boldly innovative games, Avalon proves that the main downside to new and untested ideas is that they've yet to be refined into something that works smoothly. There's a lot of quality content here for anyone with the patience to suffer through the clumsy implementation in which it's presented. Yet despite these incentives, Avalon ultimately feels like a promising prototype for a brilliant game that has yet to be created.

The Wii interface is a brilliant fit for the game, giving it the speed and fluidity of a true RTS.

The graphics aren't sharp, HD models, but Mario Power Tennis looked good when it first came out, and it still looks good today. It's not perfect, and more carefully retooled port would have been preferable, but Mario Power Tennis provides what's important: fun.

If anything, ReBirth is a harmless non-canonical sequel, and the flaws are pretty excusable -- no matter how you look at it, this is a good Gradius. But, like all the other recent, deliberately retro-styled games, it's definitely meant for people who had some sort of connection to the series in their youth.

Objectively, this first Watchmen episode is just an average brawler that looks fantastic at times, and has some good voice acting to boot.

Objectively, this first Watchmen episode is just an average brawler that looks fantastic at times, and has some good voice acting to boot.

Objectively, this first Watchmen episode is just an average brawler that looks fantastic at times, and has some good voice acting to boot.

Halo Wars is a solid, if somewhat uninspired and simplistic, all-around RTS package with few faults. Ultimately, it's not an RTS game designed for a console (such as, say, Tom Clancy's EndWar), but rather a PC-style RTS that's been adapted and streamlined for the console. I wouldn't venture to say that it's either a great RTS game or a great Halo game, but it's a really solid beginning towards what could be a really good console RTS.

It would be easy to be just bowled over by how glorious Empire: Total War looks. Creative Assembly's signature series has always been big on spectacle, and Empire is no different. The battles are bigger and bloodier, only now you have the smoke of muskets and crack of 12-pounders to accompany your march across the known world. Don't let the color of charging Cossacks blind you to everything else going on here though, Empire is a major step forward for the entire Total War franchise.

The online play -- particularly co-op -- gives HAWX significant replayability. Everything from the picture-perfect planes to the stunning real world environments looks great, even after multiple passes.

The online play -- particularly co-op -- gives HAWX significant replayability. Everything from the picture-perfect planes to the stunning real world environments looks great, even after multiple passes.

Black Knight is a competent action game starring Sonic and friends, but one that's replaced the classic gameplay Sonic fans seek with overly simple swordplay. It'll do the trick just fine for younger players still infatuated with the blue porcupine, but everyone else will likely be just as let down as I was.

The upside is that Ultimate Match is based on the Dreamcast port of KOF '98, which gives you the option to replace the original backgrounds with new 3D backgrounds as well as customizing and saving individual color configurations for each character.

A game that tries so hard to prove that the series is progressing, but ignores fixing the issues that have plagued it for years: poor defense, sloppy animations, and catering to the home run mar any greatness this game was hoping to achieve.

A game that tries so hard to prove that the series is progressing, but ignores fixing the issues that have plagued it for years: poor defense, sloppy animations, and catering to the home run mar any greatness this game was hoping to achieve.

There is something here for everyone who has a connection to the sport, and I get giddy with anticipation to see what Sony can deliver for next year's iteration.

Any port that makes me consider giving the source material another spin is worth the price of admission any day.

With its unparalleled graphics, incredibly well-paced single-player campaign and in-depth multiplayer offerings, Killzone 2 has established its place among top-tier console shooters. Expectations on Killzone 2 had reached ridiculous proportions; here's one of those cases where the game actually lived up to them.

The premise may be simple, but I found myself replaying levels over and over again to see how high I could get my score. Throw in the challenge mode (with objectives like getting a certain score with limited shots), and my OCD nature found a state of Zen.

The only real laugh in this game comes in the opening introduction (which you can watch in its almost-entirety here). The rest of the game is a plodding, boring mess that that forces you to play through the worst shooter genre clichés, and then asks you to laugh simply because the game's creators self-referentially point out how annoying those tropes are.

Like the "real" Matt Hazard, Eat Lead is best left to fade into obscurity.

Quibbles aside though, Ironclad has done an admirable job of addressing some longstanding complaints, making Entrenchment an easy choice for dedicated fans of the original. Even more casual or lapsed players will probably have fun just tooling around with the starbases, which by itself is a gateway into the kind of multi-hour sessions Sins is known for.

Blood in the Sand takes its missteps in stride. The game doesn't takes itself too seriously and if you try to, it completely unravels. Similarly, go in looking for old school street cred and you'll come up empty.

Blood in the Sand takes its missteps in stride. The game doesn't takes itself too seriously and if you try to, it completely unravels. Similarly, go in looking for old school street cred and you'll come up empty.

Star Ocean contains an interesting plot buried in its depths, but it's incredibly demanding of your time and your patience. The long-winded, poorly conceived dialogue, and formulaic cut-scene, dungeon crawl, cut-scene, dungeon crawl design isn't getting any fresher. I still enjoyed the game and its comforting, monster-slaying grind, though.

Should veteran Dead Risers bother with this admirable, but limited port of the original? Not really. But should newcomers to the series give it a spin? Given the scarcity of genuine, old-school arcade content on the Wii (soon to be remedied by MadWorld), I'd say yes.

Despite being a botched rendition of a pair of classics, Legacy of Ys is nevertheless a pair of classics, and that's what ultimately redeems this package -- that and Atlus's meticulous care with the localization.

So while I'm excited about the changes to the formula for Galactrix, the downsides aren't sorted out nearly as well as I'd hoped, making this huge bundle of gameplay seem more like a chore than a boon.

It's a highly compelling new form of social gaming, if only because the already-bizarre nature of the experience makes the promise of new settings and potential abilities an exciting prospect.

I'm taking Blue Dragon Plus for what it essentially is: a flat, RPG-like outing, which is mostly the fault of a design platform that needs revising.

The fact that it does something genuinely different than the rest of the genre earns it a lot of goodwill from me; if DOW2 really was just the expected "COH in space" or "DOW with spiffy graphics," then those flaws would be intolerable. So yes, I love it, flaws and all. Besides, watching Assault Marines or Stormboyz fly in the air and slam down onto some fools doesn't get old.

Capcom and DIMPS have done an amazing job with Street Fighter 4. It's obvious from front to back that the people working on this game knew the legacy they were contending with, and found the guts to finish this project with conviction. This is no mere copycat; this is a proud new addition. It's a bold, confident fighter that celebrates its heritage while bringing fresh, new ideas to the table, arriving in a remarkably complete package that -- if this were the last Street Fighter to ever be created -- earns its rightful place in the series' canon.