In terms of flat out fun and speed, not much can touch Burnout 2: Point of Impact.

There's no questioning the fact that Battlefield 3 brings a lot to the table. It's visually stunning and mechanically very sound in terms of gameplay. The shortcomings that are present, however, keep the game from reaching true perfection.

Even though I was disappointed with no extra features, I was still extremely satisfied with the game as a whole.

The improvement of the computer AI is really felt here – if you tend to blitz too often, the computer will start relying on short out patterns that will burn you for a ton of yards.

Now, the computer-controlled cars are much better at making players work hard for a win. The only time a player can tear apart the competition is if their car has significantly more aftermarket parts on it.

L.A. Noire is on my personal Game of the Year list. The game appeals to me on so many levels and delivers on the same that overlooking the occasional graphical glitch and annoyance with some of the chases is easy. I'm really looking forward to what Team Bondi comes up with next to fill-out this already fantastic world.

It has everything you want from a platforming Mario Bros. game and then some.

Like everything and nothing you've ever played.

With an absolutely stellar story, and characters that are more lively and fleshed out than those found in other series this game provides the integral components to make for an RPG that will rule the players life until they’ve finished the game.

Mixes in arcade style gameplay with never before seen realism, topped off with the best graphics and detail in any sport game.

With a such a wealth of options, NHL 2K3 is about as deep a hockey game as any fan could wish for.

This is one awesome GameCube title. Splinter Cell is a no-brainer next to Metroid Prime and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker to add to your ‘Cube library.

Despite a somewhat-less-satisfying replacement for previous crash modes, fans of the franchise will find this Burnout to be their idea of paradise, with red-hot racing in a large environment that provides plenty of asphalt-burning events to keep gamers putting the pedal to the metal for mile after scorching mile.

It is the most impressive game to use to show off the PSP's power, but it is also very, very fast and fun.

Without peer in Flight Simulators. If you only have one flight sim, this is the one!

The one major nuisance in the game is that very few of the cars in the pack provide much of a challenge. Only the cars in second and first place put up much of a fight, while the rest behave like placeholders.

A great sports game and a betterment of its previous installments. If you're a fan, this is a no-brainer purchase.

While I didn't appreciate the sudden difficulty of the racing mission, it doesn't wreck the game as a whole.

Easily the best WWII first person shooter on the Xbox.

This is definitely a great football game, even though it could reach a hall-of-fame level of excellence with better presentation values (particularly in the announcing booth and by possibly using the ESPN license it confiscated from 2K Sports and replicating the ESPN studio analysis that was part of ESPN 2K5).

Dishonored is put together so well and executes its ideas in such an expert way that it would be difficult to not recommend the game to the highest degree possible.

Graphically, Tekken 5 is one of the smoothest games I have ever played. Almost every movement looks believable and the stages, the lighting, the character models, it all looks amazing.

Golf videogaming has never been so fun.

Psychonauts marries platforming, adventure games, stellar art, fun dialogue and a great gaming experience – it's a polygamous experience that I definitely recommend to all gamers.

BioShock 2 is a stellar first-person shooter adventure with plenty of boogey men scares and thrills around every black corner.

It’s got some very good features (voice communication, integrated community options, good team action), making it a game I can recommend if you’re willing to suffer through the growing pains.

At this point in time, EA Canada has the NHL franchise down to a science. But this year, rather than just spit out another instalment, they took the time to do some really interesting things while refining things like hitting and getting the control aspects almost perfect. NHL 09 is highly recommended.

The DS isn’t lacking when it comes to puzzle games but if you were disappointed with the puzzling of Mr. Driller Drill Spirits or Yoshi Touch & Go, Meteos firmly supplants both as the premier puzzle game available on the DS.

All in all, NHL 10 is a lot of fun, as I can attest to the 50+ and rising hours that I've put into the game so far. People who purchased the previous year's version may want to hold off for another season for more additions to propagate in the franchise before re-upping.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a gorgeous game. But it's heartening to realize that they seem to have spent just as much time making sure Uncharted is fun.

The multiplayer portion of the game is practically a game unto itself. Most matches quickly develop into fragfests – gone is any semblance of tactical approach.

With so many hours of new gameplay just in the single-player mode, not to mention the multiplayer and customization upgrades, it's shocking to realize that this is really only an expansion pack.

If you loved the main game (and if you didn't, why not?) then you are going to love this too. Go get it, and don't let yourself get Left Behind.

All in all – I particularly enjoyed my time playing with these Star Wars themed tables and had fine time reminiscing while using them and are definitely recommended for any Star Wars pinball enthusiast.

Online, Project Gotham Racing 3 is practically an addiction.

DICE also has a long history of supporting their games and there are already plans in place to offer DLC in the coming months. This has all the markings of a long-term investment in fun.

The gameplay issues really stunt an otherwise solid game. The complaints are really nitpicking, but if I had to pick a golf game to sit down and play, it would still be "Hot Shots Golf 3."

The game is successful in combining elements from four or five different genres.

The best hockey game out today is ESPN NHL Hockey.

Gamers who already bought the game when it came out in 2011, though, won't find enough in the "komplete" edition to justify purchasing it. However, any fighting-game fan that missed it last year shouldn't pass it by the second time around. With smooth graphics and gameplay, great controls, and excellent online multiplayer and spectacular single-player gameplay, Mortal Kombat has reclaimed its crown as the best fighting game.

If you’ve never played Ninja Gaiden before, you definitely need to give this game a chance. If you’ve played through the original and are looking for a reminder of why this game is great, it’s definitely worth picking up.

All in all, NHL 11 is a excellent upgrade over NHL 10 fixing a lot of those issues that we've had with the previous games. Perfect? No, but getting pretty darn close.

The depth of Morrowind's gameplay and overall design is matched by the audio-visual presentation. Hands down, Morrowind's soundtrack should be released on CD – once you've heard the opening chords you'll be humming it for hours after first booting it up.

The gyro may seem like a gimmick – and it probably is – but that doesn't make Twisted any less worthy of the WarioWare moniker – it's fun, challenging, and ever so twisted.

Black Ops is a must have for any fan of first person shooters.

It isn't quite (Serious) Sam and Max's (Payne) level, but it definitely should be regarded right up there as one of the superlative FPS games to hit the PC scene this year.

Online play, new features, and completely perfect gameplay once again show everybody why NCAA Football 07 is always considered one of the best sports video games year in and year out.

Witcher 2 is a throwback in a lot of ways to old PC games, which certainly appeals to me. The delivery method is modern, no doubt, but the fact there's a lot of poking and prodding (and death) that happens even early on has me anxious for another instalment.

The game completely over-delivers and will surprise you at every corner with its diverse mission design.

Doom 3 stumbles a bit in its online play, but it still offers a great alternative to Halo 2 for FPS online gaming, although it won't exactly make anybody forget about Halo 2's much better online package.

It has tons of replayability and lots of fun, even if it might take a while to grasp the control and get used to the speed issue.

Simply put, Advance Wars + Golden Sun + anabolic steroids = Fire Emblem.

There is absolutely no denying that Diablo III continues to maintain the high artistic standards that it has kept over the years. But the dumbed character and inventory systems, coupled to the ridiculous always-on connection and the breathtaking arrogance of the"you'll play how we tell you to play" attitude makes playing this title a damned shame instead of a hell of a good time.

The visual and storytelling satisfaction in gaming today across any platform doesn't get much better than OSW.

While the gameplay experience is now more varied and focused, it remains largely unchanged from the original game.

Some will be disappointed by the fact that MW3 is not a drastic departure from previous iterations of the series and that is a very valid criticism. MW3 still offers so much content and still proves to be one of the best online experiences around. MW3 is a game that will certainly keep you busy until next year's release.

EA continues to raise the bar year after year with its sports simulations, and MVP Baseball 2005 is no exception.

A well-done racing title that strikes a good balance between realism and accessibility.

The story is tight, the gameplay and flow of the game is familiar, but still an improvement over past offerings, and there is more goodies than you can shake a stick at this time too.

Amazingly engrossing online play, near-flawless visuals and sound, strong overall gameplay, and lightning-quick control responsiveness.

A must have game for shooter fans! It’s got a large assortment of weapons, tons of action, excellent multiplayer, and lots of replay value.

Hell-bent on destruction psycho drivers finally get a game to meet their rubbernecking tendencies full throttle.

At it's core Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit is an arcade racer. It smacks all the right targets, my personal preferences regarding power-ups notwithstanding.

With its impressive graphic and new Nitrous boost feature, RR positions itself as the best game in the series and it provides a great example of the quality of games we can expect from the PSP.

Comes close to Pure Gaming Joy.

That said, Plants vs. Zombies remains a triumph for PopCap. The game joins their Peggle at the top of the addictive, just-one-more-level-and-I'm-off-to-bed, list.

The cliché of key collecting to open doors has been replaced by the completely and utterly new convention of PDA collecting to open doors.

All in all, Grid is a lot like candy, delicious in small doses, but too much could leave you feeling sick.

After playing through the single-player on Normal difficulty, I'd be more inclined to attempt the campaign on a higher difficulty if I wanted to experience the story. Maybe there's some dramatic linchpin that I missed! But I was unsuccessful in keeping my brain from thinking about the problems and inconsistencies I see with the story and the relationship between Cortana and Master Chief the first time around, why would the second time be any different? Halo 4 has its moments, but not enough of them to make me forget about this stuff.

Completely overshadows its predecessor in every single way.

Improves on its predecessor's already-impressive showing, with the real clincher of its racing game greatness being the Xbox Live support, especially adding the ability to utilize XSN tournaments.

Dragon Quest IX doesn't do much to break new ground in the genre, but adheres quite closely to elements that have helped define the series over the years. Thankfully it does this very well, providing an entertaining experience well worth spending some time with.

There's no doubt that NCAA Football 06 lives up to the pre-release hype and keeps the dynasty going by staying on top and garnering yet another title as the best college football game around.

Heavy Rain is an essential title for an adventure game fan but I don't think I can limit the recommendation to "fans of the genre." It's involving in a way that most games don't even aspire to.

If the first two games left you in the dark with the heavy emphasis on stealth, then Chaos Theory will certainly intrigue you as there’s the option to play it like an action game.

It doesn't go above and beyond, but the expansion pack gets the job done and that's just fine as it is still a very entertaining little romp.

You get your money’s worth.

A good solid driving pick-up.

The sound is phenomenal, just like the graphics.

After "finishing" Morrowind, I'm left wordless to describe the experience...This game is about as linear as a bowl of spaghetti.

So despite being an excellent sequel to a solid first installment, I believe Silent Assassin to be a better game than "Codename 47," but I think many fans will always love the first game best, as I do.

It tries to to do too much at once, and while it generally succeeds, there's still some room for a bit of spit and polish.

There's no doubt that NCAA Football 06 lives up to the pre-release hype and keeps the dynasty going by staying on top and garnering yet another title as the best college football game around.

Undead Nightmare, as a single-player upgrade, is an exceptional bargain for the amount of new gameplay that it provides. But including the highly entertaining Undead Overrun multiplayer mayhem makes this a cannot-miss DLC purchase for Red Dead Redemption gamers.

What you should take away from everything above is that Max Payne 3 is a worthy sequel to the Remedy Games originals. Max's monologues aren't quite as faux-serious (and are instead depressingly serious) and the cover mechanic will certainly be an adjustment for fans of the first two games, but there's a lot of action, challenge, twists in the story, and plenty to do after the credits roll that Max Payne 3 gets high marks indeed.

The Wii may be more focused in hooking in a new generation of easy-going players, but for Nintendo fans from the early days, this game was made for you.

If you only buy a handful of games each year Elite Beat Agents should be among them. It’s fun, plain and simple.

Flaws are in short supply. It's easy to save, the control is great, the presentation awesome, and the gameplay deep and addictive.

This reboot of the series not only surpassed my expectations, but it is easily one of the best games I have played in a long time. If you're like me and love story driven games that offer a great gaming experience then Tomb Raider is definitely for you.

Double-Dash doesn't stray far from what gamers have come to love about the series -- if it aint' broke, don't fix it -- but the added refinements make it a must-play title, particularly with friends.

If you’re looking for a quick dungeon crawling, hack-and-slash trek through the frozen north with a peppy little story and some great combat then this is definitely a title to get.

If you totally enjoyed MGS2, this definitive version is certainly worth a look, delivering all of the extras and the original game in one package.

If Sega can fix some of the problems and totally do away with the worthless batting cursor (batting cursors, like crying, don’t belong in baseball), next year could crown yet another new PS2 baseball champion.

More un-lockable features, multi-player modes, and car upgrade options would be very welcome here.

Donkey Kong Country Returns starts strong and offers a great gaming experience to players of any age. That's no small feat but it seems Nintendo has been doing it a lot lately.

For all of the claims by the mainstream media that this game is just like GTA, and will be a great harm to society’s moral fabric, the truth is far from it.

For a true PC RTS to surpass the lazy day couch and button mash of a console classic, it must be fun! Kohan: Immortal Sovereigns is.

The controls of MechAssault are its biggest asset. I could not believe how responsive the controls are and how easy they are to master.