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.

All in all, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 offers a lot of positives, and both casual and hardcore golfers should be entertained by this game.

After learning to take Darwinia in bite-sized pieces – say 45 to 60 minutes a time – it didn’t take long for me to begin to anticipate playing it.

After I beat the game I almost cried. Not from disappointment however, because the ending was great and it gave a great conclusion to the epic trilogy.

Space Invaders Extreme is a great retro redux of the original, bringing memories flooding back front and center to the conscious of those old enough to remember throwing many, many coins into Space Invaders cabinets back when arcades were where all the hardcore gamers fed their gaming addiction.

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.

All in all, NHL '13 is another solid game as we would come to expect from EA Sports; some areas for improvement that I would like to see personally but otherwise not a horrible way to spend the lockout.

This is one war worth repeating.

A worthy addition to the series and a good game.

So, like last year’s model, Live 2005 is good, but not great.

No doubt in my mind, 3DS owners should have Kid Icarus: Uprising in their library of games, especially if action games are a favorite.

Those who haven’t played the first two games can hop right in without feeling alienated, and those who have followed the Sly series from day one can feel safe that the game’s quality hasn’t ebbed in the least over the years, while still enjoying the little in-jokes peppered throughout Sly 3.

It can be very difficult when it comes to playing for perfection, but the challenge is not always a deterrent, it can be seen as an opportunity to see if one can do it.

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.

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D is better than the original -- still a difficult game -- but the advantage of being able to close the lid of the 3DS and take a break rather than hurling a Wii Remote in frustration and the lengths the developers went to make the game more accessible without really changing anything about the game elevates the entire experience.

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

Halo for the PC is everything that PC gamers want in a first person shooter, but a bit of a failure to those Xbox gamers waiting for the multiplayer.

Darksiders II is full of enormous environments and dungeons to traverse to and explore, even more fantastical enemies and large-scale bosses to battle, and plenty of challenging hacking, slashing and loot collecting.

It is a bit too short and a lot too linear, but the combination of great graphics, sound, and theme make for a fun experience.

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

A surprisingly deep game; its many features pushes the game’s replay value up into the stratosphere.

It puts at least a cherry on the "vanillafication" that was Generals.

Phantasy Star Online is definitely not an Xbox Live gaming experience for everybody, although gamers who may be more adjusted to the traditional Final Fantasy-style RPG hit/miss combat system at the heart of PSO will enjoy it immensely.

Some objects in the environments look aliased and you’ll occasionally see some texture pop-in problems as well.

Rally fans should have already grabbed this, but I’d even go as far as to challenge non-racing fans to take Dirt for a spin – the challenge of trying to master any given stretch of beautiful road is made compelling enough to try again and again.

The production values are perfectly tuned to the game's style as the graphics and audio are beautifully implemented. Quite simply, I loved the game.

Resident Evil 5 will obviously appeal to long time Resident Evil fans, particularly those that enjoyed Resident Evil 4 because a lot of what the previous game developed for the series has been honed by Resident Evil 5, giant cockroaches, mutant dogs, Las Plagas victims, inventory management, unexpected quicktime events, and bizarre story points included.

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.

Overall, this game makes you want to get to the next tier, pushes you to get to the next level so you are invited to international events, and rewards you regardless of your driving style. That makes it accessible to just about any gamer out there and is definitely worth your time to give the cars in here a spin.

For more casual players, the simple repair and customization interfaces serve up a crash course in the intricacies of the sport, but many may find the inability to race against computer generated opponents a drawback.

The story started to grate on me after beating the first few Blacklist opponents.

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

As fun as it is for fans, novice players should give it a pass.

Without the adoption of 3rd Edition rules, IWD2 is essentially the same D&D game released years ago.

With the refinements and enhancements the team has made it's definitely worth a look if you missed the previous title.

Much of the fun in Crackdown is your ability to muck around in a world alive with (destructive) possibilities – sometimes it’s just satisfying to run around and blow stuff up.

Ending with a patented twisted ending with a twist, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak is yet another great point & click adventure of the hilarious and bizarre lives of the Freelance Police, to be continued in episode three, They Stole Max's Brain!

A mix of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, Minority Report (also by Treyarch) and Grand Theft Auto III, Spider-Man 2 opens up the Spidey experience like no other Spider-Man game before it. That's not to say it doesn't have some flaws, but if you're looking for a fantastic Spider-Man experience, this is it.

While retaining its gameplay and adding numerous improvements, R6: Raven Shield is definitely worth checking out for any realistic tactical shooter fan.

Fairly fun, but could have been moreso had there been realistic damage modeling and a full set of off-track racing options.

Clubhouse Games is not as cheap as a deck of playing cards, but it's more versatile -- it's worth it for the multiplayer options alone (if card games are your thing).

There's so much extra built into the game I'm not sure how anyone could evaluate all of it in one go, which is why I'd encourage anyone interested in NHL 13 to give it a rental first to focus on the part of the game that might be of most interest. For me, it's the action on the ice during couch matches, which is my recommended way to play.

With it's great sense of style and creative puzzles -- and easily digested price of $7.99 on Steam -- it's an easy title to recommend.

This may not quite be the pièce de résistance finale that franchise fans desired. But a good-not-great single-player campaign story for the trilogy conclusion with a less interesting protagonist is easily overcome with a fantastic variety of alien-eliminating weaponry, solid FPS controls that restore gameplay functionality to fan-favorite quality with the reintroduction of the weapon wheel and health bar, and good-not-great multiplayer.

Despite just slightly tweaking last year's game, Madden NFL 07 proves to have enough Pro-Bowl caliber features to prove its dominance as the best football and one of the best sports video games around.

A fresh and exciting step forward in a market that always threatens to be staid and blinkered, and I hope future games will steal (not borrow) its innovation, its excitement and style.

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

There are collectibles scattered throughout, like VR missions, but the main draw for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is the entertaining whackiness of the whole thing, including the so-far-over-the-top-it-hits-the-moon violence. For that alone, you get your money's worth.

Sometimes the game throws a bit too many gameplay ideas at the player through its constant switching between playing as Lucas and the cops, as well as the over emphasis on action sequences, but they aren’t so awful as to ruin the game.

The story won’t win any awards, but there is enough to do in this game, and enough charm to keep players occupied for a very long time.

If you liked the original, there's nothing here you won't fall back in love with. It's a true sequel in the sense that it builds upon what was great in the original and fixes up some of the bad. For those that weren't exactly excited with the first one, I urge you (as I did) to give this one a try. You just might be shocked at how much you like it (sorry for the bad pun).

If you let it, Nintendogs will warm your gaming heart. Nintendo put more than enough content into Nintendogs to keep your kids and, lets face it, you engrossed for many hours.

With enough variation of modes to opt for, including the new story-type mode Fight Lab (which is rather short, although it will help gamers learn the game's moves), Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has enough fighting gameplay for single-player and same-console multiplayer entertainment, especially with the strong controls and impressive visuals. However, the utter dismalness of Xbox Live (lack of) gameplay delivers a double-fisted punch to the face of Tekken Tag Tournament 2's quality.

It may not surpass the game-of-the-year quality of Call of Duty 4, but certainly is a very good alternative, especially for those looking to fight the online battle with vehicular manslaughter as part of their killing repertoire.

SWAP Force is a terrific game that offers so many new things to keep the series fresh. A great and humorous story, colourful environments, deep campaign and swappable characters make this a great game you shouldn't miss.

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

In the end, Torchlight is a very solid dungeon exploring action RPG.

If you let it, Nintendogs will warm your gaming heart. Nintendo put more than enough content into Nintendogs to keep your kids and, lets face it, you engrossed for many hours.

An exceptional racing game, with stunningly awesome graphics and a solid gameplay, albeit somewhat lacking in the A.I. smarts.

One of the biggest surprises the game has is the user-friendly interface. It’s very easy to give commands to your character. One problem does arise though, which is the reaction time of your character.

There is a lot to do and you'll get every penny's worth.

While the campaign length is fairly standard of past iterations of the series, it's worth multiple playthroughs and the multiplayer offers endless hours of fun and enjoyment; whether it's slaying zombies or facing off against other players in a wide range of multiplayer modes with an endless number of loadout combinations.

I was surprised with Guitar Hero III – surprised that I actually enjoyed pushing buttons in time to music. It’s not really rockin’ out, but it sure is fun and I’m a little sorry I missed the previous titles.

After so many years in development, it's kind of a relief to finally play Alan Wake and it was worth the wait.

Exquisitely detailed, satisfying, immersive, and challenging – worth buying.

If you let it, Nintendogs will warm your gaming heart. Nintendo put more than enough content into Nintendogs to keep your kids and, lets face it, you engrossed for many hours.

A quality title by a quality developer who has shown that you can actually fix a game that ain’t broken, and introduce fresh possibilities into an already intriguing genre.

If you're looking for a lengthy portable game that will take you around 35+ hours with a lot of customization, then Valkyria Chronicles II will not disappoint. You will not regret a purchase and hopefully this series starts to pick-up a larger fan base.

Kudos to the developer for the fact that the game ran trouble free without a patch—only the third game I’ve played in the last month for which that was true.

In the past, shrinking a game down to portable form meant cutting out a number of features, but that doesn't happen here.

Also funny is some of the dialogue and one-liners. On the whole the audio portion of Metal Arms gets good marks – if not for being memorable, then for being perfectly suited to the game.

Even with the minor warts, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 still provides a great experience, both on and offline. And that's what we all want from our "sequels."

All in all, I'd say that Y's: Memories of Celceta enters the "Must Have" area for RPG fans. It shows it's age in some places and isn't the prettiest game ever, but the depth of game to be explored here is well worth the price of admission.

Visceral could have gone the easy route and slapped them on the disc as a digitized graphic novel but they went the extra mile with some great audio and subtle animations that make them worth flipping through.

Despite the storyline and innovative one vs. one vs. one gameplay, NBA Ballers is a few balls short of the full rack that NBA Street Vol. 2 happens to be.

Besides the lack of truly original modes, the only other major problem I had with the game was the batting A.I. It seems impossible to get the computer batter to swing at a pitch outside the strike zone.

It’s accessible, it’s fun, the graphics and sound are well done, has the crowd is the best out there, and has enough options and stats to mollify even the most rabid fan of “real” hockey.

Main story missions traipse from one outlandish setup to the next. Blowing stuff up with a helicopter or getting your game show on with Professor Genki's Super Ethical Reality Climax, which felt a little more more like a realized version of Smash TV, or just clearing out rival gangs, it's a good assortment provided you stay on the story path.

The strategic elements are in place for the most part, it has an interesting take on resource collecting, and the 3D engine makes the explosions nice to watch.

Just as before, gameplay isn’t much of an hour-eating affair, clocking in around two hours to complete, which goes back to the norm for the first three episodes while disappointingly straying from the longer gaming session to be had in Abe Lincoln Must Die!

Even if you’re a fan or owner of FIFA 10 there is something more here for you to enjoy and minor annoyances aside, this is a solid title that will keep you kicking into the wee hours of the morning.

Kong's controls are naturally quite sluggish, and the combat plays off like a jungle version of WWE, except instead of pinning your opponents, you grab their jaws and pound buttons until you twist their necks with a satisfying snap.

Besides just being fun and funny (I found the Pitfall mini-game hilarious for some reason) for Marvel fans, there’s enough here to warrant keeping the game in rotation long after its release.

Forget the other versions exist and enjoy this one for the boss battles, great multiplayer and all around good rockin’ time.

The game’s soundtrack is eclectic and solid but small.

Lair of the Leviathan is the best-written episode so far (and as always, extremely hilarious) that not only shines a lost treasure's golden glow in its storytelling but through the completely new gaming environments, including the love-starved male manatee's innards and Guybrush's bottom-of-the-sea "love connection" excursion.

This game has proven to me to be more addictive than cigarettes after all night romps in the hay with my special friend...the most fun I’ve had in playing an RTS since "Dungeon Keeper 2" and "Warcraft 2."

The new races added to Age of Wonders already fantastic fantasy world and a host of customizable campaign and level editors means that fans of turn-based strategy will never have to play the same missions twice.

It is one of the best “extreme” racing titles on the system, and online play gives the game tremendous replay value.

Needless to say, this type of gameplay is hardly challenging, thought provoking, or enjoyable, for most serious gamers. However, what Broken Sword does do is very polished and offers a slick level of gameplay for the occasional gamer used to solitaire and minesweeper.

Despite being a somewhat easy game that’s visuals are slightly long in the tooth, Ape Escape 2 still proves to be a fun game.

Ultimately, Dragon Age 2 still manages to be a good game, but it will also be a VERY divisive title among RPG fans.

The environments are massive compared to "SOCOM II."

With superior games like "Disgaea," "Fire Emblem" and "Final Fantasy Tactics" out there, all of which are more interesting on pretty much every level, Gladius remains a merely competent title in a field already full of magnificent experiences.

I may die a dozen times in as many minutes, but the simplicity of the controls and game mechanics and the great level design make for an experience that can be equally rewarding and damning.

I really like the fact I can pop open Space Invaders Extreme 2. play for ten minutes and feel like I've had a satisfying game experience.

The worst part of Brütal Legend is that the single-player portion of the game feels like training wheels for the multiplayer part. Granted the training wheels of Death have 7 chrome exhaust pipes, are covered in blood, and hum Def Leppard's "Rock of Ages" while smashing through a landscape of battered rock album ruins and occasionally spewing flames, but training wheels nonetheless.

Less than ten hours of content simply doesn’t justify the game’s price, regardless of how improved Legend is over the last few Tomb Raider games.