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.