I want to like Flashpoint 2, but instead, I just feel like the game is telling me: "war is hell, sorry."

I want to like Flashpoint 2, but instead, I just feel like the game is telling me: "war is hell, sorry."

It's a disappointment that a franchise so (ostensibly) devoted to endless creativity could produce a game so limited in its meaningfully creative options. In the end, Spore Hero never becomes anything more than a lighthearted but uninspired platformer -- and a waste of the brand's creative potential.

I don't know what it would take to make a game of Spore's scope on the DS, but I know it requires an entirely different approach than the lamentably simplistic Spore Hero Arena.

Its basic design philosophy is one of laziness and glossing over problems rather than really putting out the effort to make a decent game. That's a bitter pill to swallow for a kid who just shelled out 50 bucks of lunch money.

Its basic design philosophy is one of laziness and glossing over problems rather than really putting out the effort to make a decent game. That's a bitter pill to swallow for a kid who just shelled out 50 bucks of lunch money.

Its basic design philosophy is one of laziness and glossing over problems rather than really putting out the effort to make a decent game. That's a bitter pill to swallow for a kid who just shelled out 50 bucks of lunch money.

If you like RPGs in general, though, you'll find one of the better, most challenging quests of your life -- one well worth picking up. But you may want to clear off any games in your backlog beforehand.

Saw's derivative gameplay -- which even includes sliding around crates (or racks of frozen pig carcasses) and searching dressers for hidden valves to shut down nearby pipes spewing hot gas (did that happen this often in the movies?) -- has all been done before, and done better by titles like Silent Hill and Condemned.

Saw's derivative gameplay -- which even includes sliding around crates (or racks of frozen pig carcasses) and searching dressers for hidden valves to shut down nearby pipes spewing hot gas (did that happen this often in the movies?) -- has all been done before, and done better by titles like Silent Hill and Condemned.

I enjoyed myself while playing Live 10. It's slick and mostly captures the feel of NBA basketball. I hope that next season, Live takes the new, inexperienced player into account and helps them learn to enjoy the game as much as the hardcore player.

I enjoyed myself while playing Live 10. It's slick and mostly captures the feel of NBA basketball. I hope that next season, Live takes the new, inexperienced player into account and helps them learn to enjoy the game as much as the hardcore player.

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.

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.

Both NBA Live 10 and NBA 2K10 offer PSP versions this season, but The Inside hardly suffers in comparison to its competitors. With its more forgiving take on the sport and wide array of simple but addictive minigames, it should be the most appealing choice for more casual sports fans who want some arcade-style hoops with a solid array of minigames on the side.

I want to like Flashpoint 2, but instead, I just feel like the game is telling me: "war is hell, sorry."

Wii Fit Plus is a better product, but keep in mind that it's not a sequel. Like the second edition of a book, it looks and feels exactly the same as before, but the additions effectively make the previous version obsolete.

GTPSP is not a bad game by any means; it's a great fit for the PSP and offers a genuine Gran Turismo racing experience on the go, but it's constantly hindered by its boggling lack of structure. More than anything, GTPSP lacks a sense of direction.

If you've already beat the previous two islands, trying to gain medals for each challenge will give you a whole other goal to obsess over, but if you've never played PixelJunk Monsters before, well, there's no better time than now!

Beaterator is not the perfect music-crafting software, but for the price, it's damn good.

As an expansion of the Dead Space universe, it provides necessary sustenance for Dead Space fans, and a fun introduction for newcomers. The game avoids treating the Wii as a gimmick, incorporating a minimum amount of waggle -- except for when you need to brush off an enemy or activate your Glow Worm (for some reason, in this future nobody has a flashlight, but there are plenty of glow sticks).

While casting adorable MySims in a kid-friendly, superspy adventure is an idea filled with potential, the game suffers from the one thing a superspy shouldn't have to endure -- boring and repetitive cases.

It's hard not to be a little disappointed with MotorStorm: Arctic Edge -- it plays just like its siblings on the PS3, and I mean just like its siblings. While that's likely good enough for many, the "been there, done that" feel of the game means that it gets old quickly.

The level changes remove the garbage found in Gaiden 2, while creating an almost new experience, and the Team Mission mode introduces thoughtful, meaningful ways to test your skills. Any doubts about whether Team Ninja could succeed without their former boss now sit on shaky ground -- the developer seems to be thriving.

By the time I finished with Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, my left thumb felt like it was about to fall off. In fact, while playing through it, I frequently had to take breaks during long encounters to rest my aching D-pad hand. But through it all, I persisted.

The graphics and soundtrack warrant a look for their own sake, but it's a light-on-story alternative view of a classic, that's sometimes too easy, sometimes too hard, and never quite the enchanting game I hoped it would be.

If you absolutely need to play Modern Warfare when you're on the go, well here it is, and it's pretty good. But really... how often will you want to?

Worse than simply being tedious, though, is how jaw-grindingly frustrating Zombie Apocalypse becomes.