The game's been completely rebuilt from the ground up, yet stays ineffably faithful to the original.

Faults be damned, though; this is the kind of hugely ambitious game that doesn't come around very often, and when it does, you'd be a fool not to play it and enjoy the hell out of it and look forward to the day (next-next-gen?) when the fidelity of open-world RPGs takes another big step closer to the uncanny valley's far side.

Even without multiplayer, Torchlight makes for a remarkably entertaining 10 to 15 hours, with plenty more custom content to come thanks to the powerful game editor TorchED, which you can download free of charge. Even if you aren't waiting impatiently for Diablo III, Torchlight's a great value at a mere $20.

While it's unclear if we'll ever see GLaDOS or Chell again, this much is certain: Portal 2 is one of the best games of this generation.

SSF4's new characters feel strong, detailed, and more importantly, convincingly robust.

While it's unclear if we'll ever see GLaDOS or Chell again, this much is certain: Portal 2 is one of the best games of this generation.

Between the consistent improvement of the game's core concepts, and the Black Box's encouraged experimentation, Skate remains in a genre all on its own, but only time will tell if continued re-iteration will cause this still fresh series to stagnate.

The online multiplayer would be worth the purchase by itself. It's a perfect hybrid between platforming and first-person deathmatch -- in fact, you have the option to play both the single-player and multiplayer using a first-person view -- and works perfectly online.

This game is so well designed that time after time in my playthrough I thought, "Man, wouldn't it be great if this game had X?" and then, lo and behold, X appears, like the albatross to the Ancient Mariner, except in a totally good way that doesn't cause the mass suffering and death of my shipmates. Honestly, I can't think of any reason why anyone who loves video games won't enjoy JC2.

It's the atmosphere that transforms World of Goo from a great concept to a fantastic game, with production values well above what you'd expect from a tiny indie developer. The crisp, hand-drawn visuals burst with care and creativity, recalling the wonderfully distinct approach of another recent downloadable favorite, Castle Crashers. And the music -- who would've expected such intense anthems from a physics-based puzzler?

I've got fist pump fever and the only prescription is more Dance Central 2.

This is vastly different from the countless first- and third-person shooters and all the "me too" open-world games sitting on store shelves. All the things I've only read about in Dashiell Hammett novels, or seen in film classics like Double Indemnity, have all come to interactive life in L.A. Noire.

This is vastly different from the countless first- and third-person shooters and all the "me too" open-world games sitting on store shelves. All the things I've only read about in Dashiell Hammett novels, or seen in film classics like Double Indemnity, have all come to interactive life in L.A. Noire.

Shank is the freshest, most unequivocally rewarding beat-em-up game to come along in almost a decade.

It's hard to imagine a feature of this game that someone won't love... Sure, no one aspect of the game is life-changing on its own, but perhaps the package as a whole is. After all, Halo 3 has enough content to keep you stuck to your controller for weeks, if not months or even years.

Fable 2 is filled with more great ideas than the last 10 years of "Final Fantasy" combined.

I'm confident even the most critical 3rd Strike aficionados will be hard pressed to put down the arcade stick once they hop online and start putting the hurt on all the day-one Chun-Li and Kens out there.

Shank is the freshest, most unequivocally rewarding beat-em-up game to come along in almost a decade.

I'm confident even the most critical 3rd Strike aficionados will be hard pressed to put down the arcade stick once they hop online and start putting the hurt on all the day-one Chun-Li and Kens out there.

It's the most enjoyable experience to be found in arcade racing this year, and it provides that feel through fantastic courses that allow for deep strategic moves, especially when your team works together.

This is by far the most realistic console racer ever made, and it's hands-down the best racing game on Xbox.

It's the most enjoyable experience to be found in arcade racing this year, and it provides that feel through fantastic courses that allow for deep strategic moves, especially when your team works together.

Whether or not you've ever experienced Monkey Island's ridiculous puzzles and eccentric characters, this is a great opportunity to explore the reemerging world of adventure gaming.

Let me just get this out the way: Fire Pro Wrestling Returns is the best wrestling game ever. That's not an exaggerated statement -- you will not find a better mat simulator on the market.

Truly fantastic. It's not a reinvention of the genre like Ocarina was -- but it's much better, because it takes all its predecessors' raw ideas, perfects them, and creates an experience that's at once new and familiar. It's rare to find a launch game that truly justifies the purchase of a new console, but this is precisely that.

This is as good as action games get. It controls like a dream, is extremely well balanced (not terribly difficult on Normal and incredibly challenging on Hard), has tons of variety, features great retro game references, contains tons of unlockables and challenges to keep you busy after you finish the story, and when it comes down to it, is the best game Sega has published in years.

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.

The folks at BioWare have shown that they're always looking for ways to make their games better -- each of their RPGs builds upon the previous title. Dragon Age displays this refinement, and while the story may not be completely original, it's told in a way that enthralls and enchants the player. It's the best RPG of the year -- and maybe the best of the HD era.