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.

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.

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.

All 4 One provides some fleeting co-op fun with characters you know and love, though it's not necessarily the kind of Ratchet & Clank game that fans like us were looking for.

NBA 2K10 is an excellent basketball game that's full of nagging technical problems. It's a shame that some players probably won't be able to look past the inconsistent frame rate, online issues, and A.I. quirks, because NBA 2K10 does many things very, very well.

It's an acquired taste. And for die-hard pirate fans, it's the only MMO that offers eye patches and peg legs as rewards. What are you waiting for?

It's telling that my main criticism of Band is its meager song count, as it's a feat for any game that actually made me love jamming to Fall Out Boy.

The problem is that Hell's Highway doesn't make me care about the characters as much as the other installments did.

In the end, did Eternal Poison frustrate me countless times? Absolutely. Does it include inexcusable, easily fixable design flaws? Certainly. But its haunting style and twisted atmosphere also inspired emotions that'll stick with me for a long time to come -- and that's precisely why we play games, isn't it?

As soon as you hit the city, the game's pace drops off, and the sub-par graphics and poor controls steadily bog down an otherwise terrific idea.

You probably won't put too much alone time into the game, but TV Party's an enjoyable pick-up-and-play option if you can get few friends or family members on board.

It's just a shame that, due to Sega's mismanagement of its properties over the last decade or so, Superstars Tennis comes too late to fully resonate with today's gaming audience.

An uneven effort, MotoGP '08 is a decent game that should please most newbies and occasional riders but proves that Milestone has a ways to go before it fully grasps the handlebars.

Pro Evo feels more like real soccer, but it doesn't really look like it a lot of the time.

Pro Evo feels more like real soccer, but it doesn't really look like it a lot of the time.

While Army of Two does have its high points (an attack on an aircraft carrier being one), levels often lack excitement and instead deliver much of the same over and over. As mentioned before, it's not bad gameplay, but it never builds to much of anything. In fact, the entire game is rather anticlimactic.

An unfocused baseball game that neither excels as an arcade experience nor as a baseball game -- it's only an average player in the bigs.

Unplugged's gameplay and high-fidelity music fits the PSP almost perfectly, but for all the big features that are mysteriously missing, the developers didn't pay enough attention to the small details, either.

While the controls are frequently irksome, Exit DS is a challenging, rewarding, cleverly designed game for any puzzle fan.

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 odd bit of slowdown and mostly forgettable minigames (aside from the amusing Big Brain Challenge) further detract from the experience, but with great presentation and a genuinely funny narrative that recalls the zaniness of "Earthworm Jim" and "Dead Head Fred," I cannot help but be charmed by Teenage Zombies.

Personally speaking, though, Axis is unbearable: A hodgepodge of ideas with no aesthetic consistency. It includes practically every Tetris derivative mini-game to have been pushed out the door by various licensees over the past decade, both good and bad, making it a sort of omnibus. At the same time, the whole thing feels cheap and generic, and there's very little visual consistency from mode to mode.

An open-world zombie game has far more potential than what Techland is putting on display. There's certainly a lot of fun to be had on Dead Island, but don't be surprised if tedium sets in once you've murdered a zombie in every way imaginable (estimated time: 20 hours).

An open-world zombie game has far more potential than what Techland is putting on display. There's certainly a lot of fun to be had on Dead Island, but don't be surprised if tedium sets in once you've murdered a zombie in every way imaginable (estimated time: 20 hours).

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.

On a theoretical level it achieves a significant design accomplishment in pulling everything together into a cohesive package. As the person holding the controller, though, it stumbles too often on its inability to turn its potential into a consistently fun game.

Clone Wars' appeal may reside more with the younger audience than that of the more dedicated gamer -- there just isn't enough of a challenge here for most. As such, this version of the game works better as a substitute to those who can't play the excellent console iterations, or who want something else to play on their 3DS until a more substantial title arrives.

It's damn near a flight sim, with tons of controls and HUD elements (a bar for your health and your shields, and a bar for the charging time for your special weapon -- which is more special if you shoot it with your main guns).