If you're looking to blow up city blocks with a rocket launcher, Mafia II may not be your cup of cappuccino. However, if, like me, you're hoping HBO's upcoming Boardwalk Empire fills the gaping Soprano-less void in your life, Mafia II's ready to fit you for a nice pair of cement shoes.

Take some time to get into Syndicate and you'll discover it's not just another shooter with a pretty Blade Runner paint job.

The fun vehicle levels, tons of weapons, gun emplacements to use, and scripted, cinematic gameplay all show just how short the single player mode is, even if it's generally really good stuff.

Yggdra Union had the potential to be a really compelling tactical game, but due to a lazy storyline, a cumbersome UI, and a brand of gameplay that excludes the player 50% of the time, it couldn't help but fall short.

It's a decent game with some pretty fun volleyball, although only the diehard sim fans are going to keep going after the first few days of play.

Despite a few issues with reluctant AI and somewhat clunky platforming, The Saboteur stylishly proves that the genre of open world action-adventure is considerably bigger than GTA.

Combine fictional missions with an unrealized paratrooper advantage, and Medal of Honor: Airborne simply doesn't deliver.

With LEGO Pirates, Traveler's Tales didn't really intend to create a pitch-perfect reproduction of the tone and feel of the movies, but even in their crazy cartoon style, you might be surprised at just how much they got right. Adventure gaming fans now have plenty of stuff to choose from, especially with TellTale and Double Fine making pure gold on a regular basis, but I think that the LEGO games are a great choice too, and Pirates might possibly be their best one yet.

GUN Showdown is a great game that just doesn't quite fit onto the tiny PSP platform.

Ultimate Mortal Kombat is definitely a worthy pickup for any fan of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3.

With LEGO Pirates, Traveler's Tales didn't really intend to create a pitch-perfect reproduction of the tone and feel of the movies, but even in their crazy cartoon style, you might be surprised at just how much they got right. Adventure gaming fans now have plenty of stuff to choose from, especially with TellTale and Double Fine making pure gold on a regular basis, but I think that the LEGO games are a great choice too, and Pirates might possibly be their best one yet.

I think the only unfortunate thing here is that many of the gamers that would enjoy Hard Reset - old Quake veterans setting up impromptu LAN parties in their college dorms in the late '90s - have since "grown up", gotten married, and are funneling all of their money towards their kids rather than their gaming PCs.

Overall, the Metal Slug games are great, and Anthology's biggest plus is that all seven games are here. Beyond that, don't expect much.

Unleashed offers the best Star Wars yarn that involves the original characters since the first trilogy.

Vietcong: Fist Alpha is a tough expansion pack that's going to frustrate the hell out of many players, even with its many virtues.

Really, there's no way you can go wrong with this purchase, especially considering it is only 39.99 for a complete package. And at 2.50 a stage, the downloadable content really isn't all that badly priced, either.

So let's just end by saying that for what it is and what it costs, Crimson Alliance offers some good-looking, undemanding fun and with its class-specific gameplay and multiplayer modes, a respectable amount of replayability.

Gratuitous Space Battles isn't for everyone, as its brand of strategy is entirely weighted towards the setup phase - and the execution is almost completely hands-off. Still, the prospect of building your own ships and using your own unique combinations of general strategies and offensive and defensive loadouts is very compelling for anyone who is a sci-fi space battle enthusiast.

You get quite a bit for the money, too, as the campaign is quite long, and the wealth of features, gameplay modes (including deathmatch-type play for those who desperately need it for some reason) and configuration options make this one of the most raw, brutal, and unapologetically fun PC FPS experiences you'll have had in quite a while.

The Getaway is a pretty decent game with a few bad design decisions but some cool driving and action.

Sure, the PC version looks prettier in high-res and runs at a higher frame rate, but it feels like the game's logic can barely keep up with the fast frame rates I was getting, causing an unsettling jerky feeling throughout the game - even though the frame rates were doing just fine.

From the two-minute, almost completely useless tutorial that pretty much expects you to have played Tony Hawk games before to a wide range of difficulty on many of the goals and new features that just plain suck, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground simply fails to be much fun and will definitely frustrate new players.

The combat system, while seemingly simple on the outside, is actually pretty deep.

For a first effort and a brand-new IP, Phoenix Online Studios has done an admirable job. Although in places Cognition's graphics are little rough and the writing's a little unnatural, it offers us an adult-level adventure game full of interesting mechanics, a professional voice cast, great music and a compelling heroine. After playing the first Erica Reed episode, I have no doubt there will be future ones and no doubt that through them, Phoenix Online will iron out the remaining kinks and create for us a truly memorable adventure series.

If you really wanted to get more out of rampaging around in GTAIV or want to go through an open-world action game with a buddy together over Live, then this one is worth your money. Otherwise, you might want to keep your cash and see what the rest of the holiday season offers us.

Anyway, even with its flaws, The Wise Monkey offers some good old-fashioned adventure game entertainment and promises more to come. Fortunately for us, the Cognition series' compelling heroine and an even more compelling story arc do two important things: make it possible to overlook the game's graphics, dialog and puzzle design hiccups and ensures that I for one, will see it through to the end.

Longtime gamers, especially those who dug this type of game back in the day (controller-chucking fits and all), will find Prinny a breath of fresh air on the content-starved platform, even if that fresh air is pierced by your own frustration-powered F-bombs.

Ultimate Ghosts & Goblins may bring on some nostalgia and looks fun for a while, but unless you are fantastically good at side-scrolling games or just plain masochistic when it comes to your gaming, this one's not worth your money.

The racing's solid, but the AI needs work and the lack of internet play is inexcusable.

Even with the modest $20 price tag for Puzzle Quest: Galactrix, it's not worth the frustration after a taking a couple of losses that are completely out of your hands.

Between the bugs and lack of originality during the single player campaign, Dark Messiah is a great idea for a game that was executed only somewhat well.

For now, if you just can't get enough of Star Power lightning effects, checking your hit/miss percentage on the second guitar solo of a given song, heavy metal album cover-style art and design, and the Guitar Hero way of doing everything, then you won't have a problem jumping into Warriors of Rock. But if you want a wider range of tracks to pick from, new control schemes that more closely resemble playing real music, and a different range of features to go alongside it all, you're better off keeping your money and waiting for Rock Band 3 to be released in a couple of weeks.

If you're looking for an exciting romp through impressive-looking dungeons where you smash monsters, get loot, use tactics to win, and level up a lot of fun abilities, then this game delivers that in a way that's more true to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance than it is to either the past Dungeon Siege games or the Diablo series. And if you want something with the kind of wide-open online play that lasts for years, well, you're better off saving your money and waiting for Diablo III.

If you’re looking for a refreshing respite from the Wii’s line-up of me-too mini-game collections and other familiar fare, you should let Deadly Creatures infest your game library.

I maintain that Saints Row 2 is still a damn fun game and really not bad on a super-fast PC, but it's not going to be worth the effort for most.

While its many tweaks send the series in new directions, they're still drenched in the franchise's unmistakable style, and rarely pull you from the fun.

And its idiotic treatment of our current military and rather insulting depiction of our soldiers is the kind of thing that makes me feel not only like my intelligence was insulted, but also just a little ashamed to be a gamer.

Atari has mixed old-school dungeon hack games with modern gameplay to make D&D Heroes a pretty decent success.

Really, though -- you do not need to be a train enthusiast to get something out of this package -- you just have to have an open mind and be willing to try out something new.

Sure, Shank 2 falls apart here and there, but it's minor compared to the excitement that this game brings, and the reasonable $10 price tag (on all platforms) makes this a good value, too.

If you've enjoyed zombie games of the past and want to see a different take on what cooperative zombie horror games should be like, then I think you will enjoy Killing Floor too.

If you're a fan of fast-paced action complemented by gluttonous gore, do yourself a favor and allow Dark Sector to infect you.

There needs to be a way to adjust the computer’s level of perfection to make swing mode usable outside of multiplayer games.

Moon is a well-made 3D action/adventure game which is something the DS could definitely use more of.

A great return to the formula that helped the series to gain the popularity it has to this date. While the adventure isn’t long, it is definitely fun to play through a couple more times.

Medal of Honor: Heroes delivers a lackluster WW2 experience on the PSP platform. It's got boring combat and some dull missions, but the multiplayer is definitely worth a try if you love online gaming on your PSP.

Still, the art, design, and action go at least some of the way towards making this game worth your money, so if you've blasted your way through all of those and are yearning for more, then you should definitely check out the Shank demo on XBLA or PSN.

WWE '12 is the best fan-service game in the business right now, and I think the rest of the game development world could learn something from such a pure, wholesome dedication to giving fans what they want.

Star Wars Galaxies could be a great MMORPG in time, as it has some excellent potential and a solid technology base. But if you want a balanced combination of exciting combat, quick progress, and fun PvP, and you want it right now, then SWG is not the game for you.

If you've got the controllers already bought and the friends sitting around that are willing to play at least half of these songs either for the first time or in the new, updated way, then by all means go for it. If any of those conditions fail, though, you might want to wait three months for the next major iteration in Guitar Hero.

Considering there have been so few western action games over the last dozen years or so, anyone who's a fan of this style owes it to themselves to at least give Call of Juarez a shot.

But despite these major differences, On Tour stands tall on its own as a fantastic portable music game.

The shooting isn't as tight as Gears of War nor the fighting as honed as a focused brawler, but the combination of simple, satisfying mechanics coupled with quality-oozing production values shoot this one to the top of the movie-licensed heap.

If you're looking for an exciting romp through impressive-looking dungeons where you smash monsters, get loot, use tactics to win, and level up a lot of fun abilities, then this game delivers that in a way that's more true to Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance than it is to either the past Dungeon Siege games or the Diablo series. And if you want something with the kind of wide-open online play that lasts for years, well, you're better off saving your money and waiting for Diablo III.

I enjoyed Hellgate immensely. You have a ton of items to find, lots of fun monsters to kill in the randomized levels and fun bosses to face off with. If you're looking to scratch that pack-rat itch and can put up with the bugs, I'd highly recommend Hellgate.

RAD's return had a lot to live up to, and it mostly succeeds at rebooting a long-loved franchise, delivering a title fans of the original will appreciate, while introducing newcomers to an excellent action game that hopefully sees a sequel.

The open-world gameplay of Guerrilla is gone, and what's been put in its place is decidedly more of what you'd see in a more generic action game.

This sequel doesn't innovate in as many ways as it probably should have, but it does still wind up executing a pretty decent formula that serves up more of the same - plus just a little bit extra.

Homecoming shows a significant improvement over the franchise’s last console outing, but there’s still work to be done.

Altogether Tales of Valor is an adequate package of upgrades with a few surprises in the multiplayer and single player.

Sanctum isn't for everyone, but for a dedicated pair of FPS/strategy-loving people in the same room, it's a damn fine choice for for a fun weekend of innovative tower defense.

Quantum of Solace certainly showed some great promise before its release (in preview events, Activision made sure to show off the absolute best levels in the game) and the console versions play a bit more solidly, but the PC port is one that should be avoided.

Space Marine gets off to a sluggish start and it never really reaches the lofty heights that long-time fans of the tabletop games probably hoped for, but Relic has still done an admirable job in making their first AAA-level action game - and the online play is a definite fun distraction if not entirely unique or long-lasting.

MX vs. ATV Untamed is not a bad choice on the 360, but it's not a terribly great one either.

Cooking Mama 2: Dinner with Friends feels like a second helping of the first game, rather than a new dish, but that doesn’t make it any less tasty.

It's got decent motion controls that give you a unique handle on the action, and while the cartoonish nature and linear structure won't put this game anywhere near the likes of Skyrim (or even Fable) on the RPG halls of fame, PS Move owners have plenty of reasons to go ahead and give Sorcery a go.

Brink has quite a few flaws, but the most frustrating one is the spawn-die-spawn-kill-die repetition in single player mode. At best it's a little banal and tedious, and at worst, it's downright rage-inducing. Your AI teammates and enemies often act strangely, exhibiting poor awareness of their surroundings, but they will unleash laser-accurate gunfire once they notice an enemy. This makes playing the game, especially at the start of the Security campaign, a real chore.

Ultimately, your level of enjoyment depends on whether you define an expansion by its item catalog or by its gameplay mechanics.

Sure, the graphics in Full Auto are great and lots of stuff goes boom, but so many other games just plain play better.

I can only recommend Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to fans of both Guitar Hero and Aerosmith.

Pick it up if you're a serious Japanese action fan, but if not, then at least wait until it's on sale.

Although Episodes 1-3 had flaws, they also had spirit, creativity, and the ability to grab your emotions by the throat. By contrast, Episode 4: The Cain Killer lacks tension, feels sloppily conceived, hastily made, and worst of all, lets its narrative weaknesses set it up for equally damning gameplay shortcomings.

With some new social features, online play, or even some adjustments that more closely tie in the arrangement of enemies with the pace of the music, Beat Hazard's value could ascend well beyond the $10 asking price.

Not only does it do a stellar job of walking new players through what for them could be some overly complex mechanics, it pulls them through the game with an interesting storyline and a satisfying reward system.

American McGee, I really wanted to love Alice: Madness Returns, truly I did. And while I can say that in it there were instances of fun and moments of wonder, these were eclipsed by an excess of repetition, a surfeit of crummy-looking textures and a general lack of polish. And so I admit to you with a heart full of regret, that Madness Returns has failed to live up to either my dreams or its own potential.

I'll say it right now: if you're considering buying Homefront today, it needs to be for the multiplayer. The campaign should only serve as a small distraction that you might want to goof around in if you're bored and have already gotten your money's worth out of the multiplayer.

No other fitness game goes this far to motivate you to continue after the first week.

I'll say it right now: if you're considering buying Homefront today, it needs to be for the multiplayer. The campaign should only serve as a small distraction that you might want to goof around in if you're bored and have already gotten your money's worth out of the multiplayer.

I'll say it right now: if you're considering buying Homefront today, it needs to be for the multiplayer. The campaign should only serve as a small distraction that you might want to goof around in if you're bored and have already gotten your money's worth out of the multiplayer.

The world is drab in this fourth Driver game and the missions are just plain boring, and with about 15 to 20 hours of gameplay, at least it's not excruciatingly long (nothing makes a mediocre game worse than making you trudge through it for 40+ hours to feel like you accomplished something).

Sorry wizardry fans; if you're looking for magical mystery, I suggest you re-read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. Magician's Quest just doesn't deliver.

If you can get past the goofy presentation and dig into the massive battles, then you'll definitely consider this to be $40 well-spent.

What disappoints me about WET is that the developers seemed to sabotage the fun factor in their own game by insisting on too many video game and film stereotypes.

Ultimately, the game is a solid but flawed first attempt from High Voltage Software at a first person shooter on the Wii.

Overall, NiGHTS is not a bad game. Flying around is still as fun as it was the first time around on the Sega Saturn, though this time it is more because of the quality of world design as opposed to the tight controls of the last edition of this game.

Even though there's almost a complete lack of strategy required to race, some wonky visuals on the console editions, and a conspicuous lack of split-screen play, I can still offer a pretty hearty recommendation for nail'd.

Risen 2 is another ambitious effort from one of Germany's most well-known game developers, but once again it is dragged down by combat that doesn't really ever feel right, and it's kind of sad to see so much effort and talent go into their games when some of the fundamentals have been ignored for so many years.

It uses the Wii’s main advantage, the controller, to decent effect – there needs to be a good bit of tightening up Sonic’s response, though.

Blue Dragon Plus has a few character movement issues but overall is a fun, easy-to-learn, highly-polished game.

If you’re the patient type, MotoGP has a lot to offer, especially if you like the idea of hurtling down a straightaway at insane speeds in a two-wheeled deathmobile from the comfort of your couch. Just be prepared to grind to see your work bear fruit and get used to the idea of a pretty straightforward approach.

Overall, Freestyle Street Basketball has the potential to be a neat game. The idea is solid, the graphics and overall style are neat and the gameplay is pretty fun. However, the horrible players you have to get through to eventually play with the decent ones will turn people away and the lag will push even more away.

While the environments, sound effects and music are some of the best that I’ve seen in a next-gen game yet, I can’t say the same thing for the fighting system that seems to lack variety.

The game tries to seriously make you believe that this mohawk-lite-sporting tough guy fits in this sci-fi world, and then expects you to slog through one annoying or frustrating encounter after another.

American McGee, I really wanted to love Alice: Madness Returns, truly I did. And while I can say that in it there were instances of fun and moments of wonder, these were eclipsed by an excess of repetition, a surfeit of crummy-looking textures and a general lack of polish. And so I admit to you with a heart full of regret, that Madness Returns has failed to live up to either my dreams or its own potential.

Get this one for its online action, which moves quickly and rewards those who have the skill and knowledge to play to the strengths of the many weapons and vehicles.

However, if you enjoy building your team more in Franchise mode than you do actually playing the games, give NFL Head Coach a shot – the game definitely has a lot to offer despite some shortcomings.

The combination of free-roaming Manhattan to smoothly swing through, a serviceable (but not wonderful) sequel-to-the-movie plot, and some solid stealth and action to fill out the experience is what makes The Amazing Spider-Man a winner.

It's pure KH fun, and it will immediately remind you why this most unusual clashing of worlds works so well.