Only the lack of a rich multi-player section and some odd design decisions keep Unreal 2 from being one of the best FPS’s in recent memory.

Yes, The Suffering is one downright frightening game, taking you for a long-lasting and not-for-the-weak-of-heart horror ride that is scarily enjoyable right from the start until it regrettably loses steam in its latter stages.

And the Sims wouldn’t be the Sims without great music, given an appropriately magical theme in Makin’ Magic, and the now-famous Simlish language spoken amongst Sims populating your PC.

Tropico 2 is a wonderful game worth its weight in buried golden treasure.

The only real disappointment I had with Homeworld 2 was with the missions themselves.

A stunning and beautiful game.

If dating is your game and "partying" is your middle name, then dance on downtown with Nightlife, where the nighttime is the right time for loving and partying hearty all night until the sun rises in the morning.

A lack of online support and, more prominently, the cheesy-bad story mode are negatives in THUG2, and represent a stumble for the franchise.

The digital beaches of the game are so close in look and feel to the real thing that I could almost smell the salt water.

It’s enjoyable, but because of the top-heavy resource management it’s easy to feel overwhelmed.

The sheer number of playable X-Men is amazing.

A must-buy for both the NASCAR Nation and "casual" car-racing gamers alike.

It won't appeal as much to fans of the Mario Golf/Outlaw Golf/Hot Shots arcade-style golf game, but if you're looking to play "real" golf on a console, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 clubs the competition off the tee.

Yes, it's a blatant rip-off of Grand Theft Auto. So were a lot of other games – but at least The Godfather is a good rip-off of the genre setter, unlike some embarrassingly awful games (the putrid "Driver 3" and equally dreadful "25 to Life" come to mind).

RPG fan or not, Monster Rancher 4 gives everybody a little taste of something.

Everything is extremely bright and colorful, and no matter what’s going on there are never instances of slowdown – except when there is supposed to be slowdown.

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.

It’s nice to see that Harmonix decided not to rest on their laurels and instead try some new things with Amplitude, and the diversity in the available music tracks is commendable.

Perhaps one of the coolest parts of this game is that after every level is completed, Sly learns a new stealth move, which helps him get by enemies and dodge traps and ambushes.

Making the experience unbelievably rapturous is the Xbox Live headset communicator.

This is one of the best rosters in all of the KoF games, and longtime fans will probably not be disappointed.

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

The sheer focus on tactics and all of the available options within this makes this an extremely challenging game, but persevering and learning these intricacies will reveal a true gem.

Action fans owe it to themselves to play Otogi 2: Immortal Souls. Don't be fooled by its art house sensibility – this is non-stop action and it has everything you want, plus a little extra.

While The Sims isn’t a totally radical departure from its PC origins, the Xbox version scores just a tad higher than on the other console version I’ve played, the GameCube, because of its slightly better graphics, more comfortable controller, and easier game save system on the built-in Xbox hard drive.

I haven’t had this much fun with a fighting game since… well, it’s been a long, long time.

A very good rally racer. It looks good and plays even better. For those interested in this style of racing, this title is one worth looking into.

The music is one of those touches that really remind you that this is a Disney property. All of the musical scores for the worlds are either originals or very strikingly similar ones.

Yes, it's a blatant rip-off of Grand Theft Auto. So were a lot of other games - but at least The Godfather is a good rip-off of the genre setter.

A great game. While the AI can be extremely tough and playing the Story mode through so many times gets a bit old, these shortcomings are more than made up for with the intensity, presentation, and clean fun that it has to offer.

It’s not high on story or heavy stealth elements, but Return to Castle Wolfenstein: Tides of War delivers in liberal and visceral amounts of action. And you get what you pay for.

You can play 18 holes with up to three more players or play in a huge tournament (up to 50 players) It's not a revolutionary online mode but it's a huge step forward from HSG3.

DD's biggest failing is the audio. There are four different types of musical sets you can listen to while racing. They’re all lame and performed by bands that are not known very well.

A great game that any fan of shooters or third person games would enjoy.

A great mix of what gamers loved about the original and some welcomed upgrades that don’t detract from the experience.

Maxis still did a great job of mapping all the PC commands to the GameCube controller.

Replicating speed is always a goal for racing games and ATV 2 meets the challenge. Fast is fast, especially with the better ATV’s, and the blurring effect during boost use really does bring that sense of speed home.

The game is too darn short. Four or five additional levels would have helped to remedy this, but this isn’t enough to irreparably damage the game. It’s still a damn good title well worth taking for a spin.

The AI is unlike anything else I've seen in a driving game...At times in R1C it was hard to believe I was facing off against computer controlled opponents.

It's a solid title and it'll pay for itself if you can addict your significant other to Dr. Mario's gameplay.

Besides being fun and challenging (it’s not insane challenge all the time), it’s got a variety of different mission types, the solid controls are easy to learn and use, the graphics and sound are well done, and the two-player co-op mode makes for an entertaining experience.

The game should last an average player quite a while with plenty of hidden secrets and bonuses for completion.

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.

Proves that gameplay and story can (and always should) supersede flash and that a game does not need a big budget to tell a great story.

There’s almost a complete absence of soundtrack and it really works in creating a sense of dread (coupled with the sporadic nature of the thing attacks, at least in the early going).

The sword combat is simple to come to grips with, the addition of recruits, Robin’s base, and non-linear approach (after level 2) are good features that make it a deeper game than most comparable games even though the engine is showing its age, there’s no tutorial, and the difficultly level can be entirely frustrating.

A bloody good game...If its good single-player action doesn’t get you addicted, then the excellent multiplayer romp definitely will.

The A.I. predictability coupled with linear game levels somewhat dampen the invigorating, bullets-flying-everywhere gameplay that will have your ears ringing from gunfire hours after playing.

A good game that isn’t ground-breaking; however, it does add some interesting considerations with the Trust and Fear of your squad-mates and it creates a terrific atmosphere.

The best console rendition of the series yet.

The clashing of weapons, the whooshing and swooshing of spells, the grunts and roars of monsters, wind passing through a valley, the sound of crashing waves on the shore, they all bring the game to life.

A worthy addition to the series and a good game.

A respectable console version of a very good PC game.

Looks great, tactics work, easy interface and camera, and the ability to easily customize your ‘Mech load-out all add up to a solid game.

A fun, well-designed, innovative title, and if you've got a long, uninterrupted stretch of weekend in front of you, it's worth at least a rental.

May not be as groundbreaking as the original Super Mario 64 but as a launch title and a full-featured game you absolutely get your money’s worth.

Graphically, this game is very impressive. The players are very detailed and have lots of nice animations. The players can even get their clothes all dirty. Everything looks and feels realistic and players will actually feel like they are in a baseball stadium.

DOA Ultimate is just that, an ultimate DOA game that caters to the fans. It's not the pinnacle of fighting games but it looks great, plays awesome over Live with plenty of options, and is accessible to novices.

Manages to walk the line between hardcore RPG and straight action. It’s fun and it’s polished – definitely worth your time as well.

With so many options available and constant re-evaluations about the situation I didn't feel the creep of boredom even if most of the enemies are pushovers.

The game kicks butt too except for one big problem: the camera.

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.

An extremely good fighter; just don’t expect it to reinvent the wheel.

For a relatively budget price with around 45 hours of total gameplay, gamers who may not have played them in their first release get a reintroduction to one of the PS2's classic protagonists in two good games – DMC1 and DMC3 with a third (DMC2) only worth playing to acquire new added achievements.

Although the single-player is a roller coaster ride, complete with "on rails" vehicle sections that are over all too soon the multiplayer will ensure that you stick around.

For the NASCAR fans looking for the chance to pursue The Chase on their Xbox 360, stock car racing doesn't get any better than NASCAR 08.

All told, Skylanders is responsible for hours and hours of enjoyment in my house.

C&C: The First Decade will have all C&C aficionados waxing nostalgic for the good old days of GDI versus Nod, Kane and Yuri, and of course, Tanya, the sexiest female gaming character next to Lady Croft.

Be that as it may, the strengths of A Crack in Time overcome its weaknesses and on the whole is a fun experience.

Crysis 2 is an excellent first person shooter and delivers a different experience than what other titles in the genre are currently offering. "Have it your way" is really the name of the game and whether you love frantic shooters or stealth based games, Crysis 2 has a little of everything.

Vanquish is a complete action package and like any other spectacle on this scale -- movies, books, TV shows -- it's crazy fun, even if it doesn't stay with you beyond turning off your 360.

As a Dead Rising fan I appreciate the basics of exploring and messing around with different weapons and just having fun. And while the conclusion isn't really satisfying the enjoyment getting there lets me give Case West a recommendation.

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.

Unequivocally, the world would be a better place if there were more games like Wario Land Shake It!

It’s a short game, clocking in at 14 hours tops for most gamers the first time through, with at least a quarter of that time padded with “light seed” collection tasks that require you to re-explore levels after defeating bosses.

Offering much more action-heavy gameplay and battling with weapons and magic than Skyrim, but lacking some of Skyrim's RPG complexity, Kingdoms of Amalur is still a long-lasting, adventurous game that will provide plenty of fantasy-infused dungeon-crawling fun.

Three tables, all with different aspects of gameplay and a variety of characters from the Star Wars universe, will delight the army of Star Wars fans. But as always, regardless of the subject matter, the real supernova star of any FX 2 pinball game is the stellar ball physics and authentic pinball sounds.

I'll readily admit that I think Brutal Legend's style outweighs the substance of the game, but dammit, why should apologize for liking it more than I probably should?

A great game that seems to be missing something, all of the great characters that we love to use.

Visually and audibly, The Sims Life Stories has exactly the same presence of The Sims 2 series.

And it’s with good reason: Osmos is a great game (and is a great bargain, at only $10US) that will challenge the puzzle-solving skills of even the best gamers, as ambient gaming enters a new cosmos with Osmos.

But despite that brevity of gameplay, DuckTales: Remastered is a fun flashback with modern flair for both those that quack-attacked in its 8-bit incarnation or those totally new to the duck tales of Scrooge McDuck.

If you’re a WarioWare fan, Smooth Moves ramps up very slowly but when it’s firing on all pistons... great fun.

The basics are covered early on; there are more than two dozen courses to play on and a continual stream of new challenges to tackle.

Overall, for a game that was supposed to be more about the arcade experience of hockey it feels like a more complete solution than the “other product” and impressed me at every turn.

Spinning a new tune for the franchise, Def Jam ICON’s incredible graphics, a really fresh gameplay innovation, great hip-hop soundtrack, the ability to play to your own “beats” and solid online fighting come together in (Bone, Thugs-N) harmony.

While the Tony Hawk franchise soars once again, it certainly hasn’t flown into the same stratosphere of excellence reached by earlier Tony Hawk games.

While the tacked-on combat portions bring a blemish to the game’s identity, and the overall length is a bit on the short side (although there are plenty of speed runs and time trials to encourage multiple playthroughs to master each area for the best online time), Mirror’s Edge is still a breathtaking adventure that has brought a new immersive experience to players along with the thrill of the hunt(ed).

For hard-core auto racing gamers, especially those that are fans of Formula 1, Codemasters revs up an immersive, realistic racing simulation in F1 2011 with all the official drivers and tracks of the F1 circuit and a nice selection of gaming modes, including a engrossingly robust career mode.

It's a fitting end to the series (well, at least Kratos) but it remains extremely close to the lines laid down by the previous two games in both form and content so as not to upset long-time fans.

In long stretches, Painkiller can become repetitive. (By long stretches, I mean two or more hours.)

It certainly isn’t a hole-in-one for the Tiger Woods PGA Tour series gone portable, but with the career mode and enhanced online play more than making up for lackluster graphics and a dearth of mini-games (although there’s still a plethora of other golf-game modes), Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 still makes the cut as the best PSP golfing game around.

Geometry Wars Galaxies is good for long and short play sessions, but it’s the latter of these that make it perfect for times when you don’t really want an extended play session.

In the end, this iteration of Bangai-O is a fast, intense shooter that retains the unique feel that the game has had both on the N64 and Dreamcast, with the difficulty significantly ramped up

What we have here is a game that follows the norm in basic premise as to what we’ve come to expect from console strategy RPGs, but twists it just enough to play a little different and still be very fun.

If you liked the original, it’s hard to imagine why you wouldn’t like this expansion. It is the same mix of RPG action and puzzle-solving and even has a story that is more compelling than the original game.

I'm not going to sit here and tell you that Gatling Gears is some sort of transcendent gaming experience. What it does is remind us why we started playing games in the first place: to have fun. No pretense of artistic or literary value. No outlandish attempt to make your GPU melt down from the number of polygons being thrown at you. Just pure and unadulterated fun.

For hard-core auto racing gamers, especially those that love Formula 1, Codemasters once again has a fuel-charged and totally immersive, realistic racing simulation in F1 2012 that has everything a F1 fanatic could want.