Story aside, the campaign shines. The pacing's on par with Factions in terms of how quickly you gain levels (not that those matter much in Guild Wars anyway), and the game's 20 missions present lots of replay incentive thanks to a tiered reward system.

A throwback to the good ol' days of "Diablo 2"-style dungeon exploring, PSU is a value-packed, worthwhile action-RPG that finds its biggest challenge not in its modern-day peers, but in escaping the shadow of its predecessor: "Phantasy Star Online (PSO)."

It's too early to say whether PSU will have the same level of staying power in an age inundated with online games, but its pedigree makes this one worth watching -- and playing.

A throwback to the good ol' days of "Diablo 2"-style dungeon exploring, PSU is a value-packed, worthwhile action-RPG that finds its biggest challenge not in its modern-day peers, but in escaping the shadow of its predecessor: "Phantasy Star Online (PSO)."

It's quickly clear that Dark Messiah is a "Half-Life 2"-style rail ride, but with "Deus Ex"-style character development.

At its best, the 360 version is the standout, but if you add up all the features, pretty much any system owner can be proud of their version and how it holds up against the others, which seems to be what Ubisoft had in mind. And which also is very annoying for those who want the single best version across the board.

Vol. 1 still has bouts of incredible monotony, but with the increased speed of the battles and graphics that don't induce nausea, it makes for a fine -- but not really great -- role-playing adventure.

Reservoir Dogs won't appeal to hardcore aficionados of the film; the almost-total omission of the original cast and likenesses will probably cause fans to attempt a bullet festival of their own.

Reservoir Dogs won't appeal to hardcore aficionados of the film; the almost-total omission of the original cast and likenesses will probably cause fans to attempt a bullet festival of their own.

More than enough fun to last through the main story -- especially if you bring a couple friends -- but whether you'll be returning to it again and again over the course of months is dependent largely on your superhero obsession and tolerance for repetition.

More than enough fun to last through the main story -- especially if you bring a couple friends -- but whether you'll be returning to it again and again over the course of months is dependent largely on your superhero obsession and tolerance for repetition.

No matter how hard it tries, Downhill Jam for the DS isn't its console cousin. It's barely a Tony Hawk game. That's why it works best when it's simply comfortable with what it actually is: something new entirely.

If you're still a big fan of F.E.A.R. and you're itching for some more horror-type FPSing, Extraction Point will give you eight hours or so of the good stuff. Keep in mind, though, that this expansion seems even more resource-hoggish than the original.

Touch Detective's greatest failing -- winning is rarely a rewarding experience.

Reservoir Dogs won't appeal to hardcore aficionados of the film; the almost-total omission of the original cast and likenesses will probably cause fans to attempt a bullet festival of their own.

There's not a massive separation between generations. In some ways, the 360 game blows the doors off the current-gen ones, while in others -- oddly -- the current-gen games have a strong advantage.

More than enough fun to last through the main story -- especially if you bring a couple friends -- but whether you'll be returning to it again and again over the course of months is dependent largely on your superhero obsession and tolerance for repetition.

Magical Starsign should be looked upon less as an RPG and more as a warning to potential DS and Wii developers: Yes, these new systems offer exciting, different possibilities. But please don't sacrifice old-school playability for unnecessary control schemes.

Its high-concept nature never translates into pretentiousness -- on the contrary, the English script is by turns hilarious and intriguing. Despite its imperfections, it's unique, daring, and occasionally strange.

Each little cartoon snippet you unlock is fun, but eventually you find yourself asking why you have to do so much work for them -- it's like watching a cartoon on a DVD player powered by a hand crank.

The best games -- games like Bully -- don't concern themselves with technical perfection. They just push headlong into new places and new ideas, leaving behind the ranks of unimaginative, spit-polished safe bets. Bully takes chances, and the gamble pays off big.

Because the co-op missions are just gussied-up versus matches, and because the versus game doesn't have any variations in objectives (spies simply hack at computer terminals to retrieve files to return to the starting base) or modes, multiplayer may start to wear out more quickly than in previous editions.

What's in question here isn't whether this or that technology is hooey -- it's impoverished, store-brand imagination.

In the end, it's hard not to fall a little bit in love with Railroads!, because it's just a lovable kind of game. Now if only they'd release some scaled-up maps to match the game's ambitions.

Despite all the fixes, the game, much like that umpteenth alien abduction story on TLC, wears thin. Sure, the improved story buoys the "take me to your leader" trappings, but your tasks still tap into the cloning machine a few times too many -- one can handle only so many escort missions and cross-map fetch quests.

Every hero has a weakness, and Justice League Heroes' kryptonite is its laughably lame story. Wait a second, wasn't this game written by an actual comic writer? That's why it's sad that the story is frickin' terrible.

An exciting exercise in completely rethinking old strategies. And this, after all, is what the best expansion packs do: not just add, but entirely revise.

It just doesn't feel that different the previous installments. But since those previous installments were good games, that's not necessarily a bad thing. But publishers should stop holding content back from their next-gen sports games, especially when more full-featured versions are available at a cheaper price.