The tough part about judging Gran Turismo 6 is that it's clear that Polyphony Digital put an overwhelming amount of effort and love into their latest game, and the challenge between you and the road is better than ever. But much of the effort put in is not what its millions of fans will appreciate or value, especially when it comes at the cost of leaving some of the game's most frustrating issues almost completely untouched.

Simply put, while Rivals can be fun with the right people and in the right doses on the right platforms, it is very poorly suited to PC gaming.

It's the perfect example of a video game status quo being maintained if I've ever seen it, and if there's one game series that desperately needs better than that after nearly a decade, it's Call of Duty.

I don't fault DICE for making another botched campaign for Battlefield 4 - I blame the focus tests and market research that was used to decide that a campaign like this was necessary in the first place. But the online play is obviously where BF4 was always going to shine, and here on PC, the result is pretty damn outstanding.

We also enjoy The Stanley Parable, but this isn't just a game meant to be enjoyed. I refuse to believe something like this is just meant to be something we goof around with for a couple of evenings and dumped into our hundreds-strong Steam libraries, never to be thought of again.

Skylanders: Swap Force is a somewhat-fresh take on the franchise with a really satisfying new element of mixing and matching character halves, but let's not pretend that it's going to take the series' fans by surprise.

Does GTAV live up to one of the pedigree of one of the best franchises gaming? There's no doubt for me that it does, and a few minor issues here and there don't get in the way of this game delivering such a lively and large world to explore or from presenting such an entertaining way to do dozens of activities - and I love that for the first time for GTA in nearly a decade, the developers aren't relying so heavily on mind-numbing, straightforward gunfights with thugs and cops.

The additions that Tate Multimedia have added are interesting and the chaotic scenes you traverse are entertaining - or at least they are the first few times - but I have to keep coming back to those frame rate issues. Jump in if you've got a powerful video card, but if not, just hold off, watch the UTF page on Steam, and see if any improvements come along.

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.

Outlast offers a lot for the $20 that the developers are asking: great visuals, a decent story, some solid scares, plenty of checkpoints, and a little bit of openness in both exploration and in dealing with the enemies that can't be fought back against.

If you're interested in a more grounded story and don't mind calling a game without violence, well, an actual game, then you should definitely consider Gone Home. For everyone else the best I can recommend is to keep an open mind in the future and maybe catch the next one.

I'm not going to even attempt to suggest that Saints Row IV is some kind of video-game-defining-moment or whatever, but at least for this generation, we might have found the best example yet of a big-budget developer doing whatever the hell they want and rather than being generally criticized for what doesn't work, being celebrated by newcomers and fans alike for what does.

Despite a few iffy choices and some frame rate issues, this new, fresh version of an FPS semi-classic breathes new life into the classic shooter genre. Even if you didn't grow up playing these games in the early-mid 90s, I think you'll still value the kind of action that Rise of the Triad provides.

Buy this one without hesitation, especially if you haven't played it before.

This is an arcade revival done right, and even if my memories of the games were a little more idealized than reality, the games are still a blast to play and this is now by far the best way to play them.

With a well-thought-out mythos, a mildly original take on the zombie survival game that relies more on superb execution and storytelling than innovative mechanics, acting that's so good we actually see character development happen without even words being spoken, and Naughty Dog's impressive engine and top-notch production values, it all comes together to make for a wonderful reminder that not all big-budget action games need to be measured in headshots-per-minute.

The Cognition series is nothing if not consistent. Thus far, all three chapters have delivered bizarre-looking characters and laughable dialog, but more importantly, they've delivered seductively gruesome murder cases and an impressively comprehensive story arc.

So here we go: Remember Me will either be remembered for being a flawed start of an original and probably eventually very fulfilling and fun game franchise, or forgotten for its reminder of many tired video game tropes that we hope developers can start finally retiring soon. I hope it's the former, but I fear it'll more likely be the latter.

This is not a game that was ever going to ingratiate itself well to Super Serious Video Game Critics, but I think that in the right frame of mind and with the right people, it can prove to be a hell of a lot of fun.

It's still a fantastic game that follows in the footsteps of great Russian-style FPS games before it, and the added polish, fantastic visuals, and supernatural story elements help keep things fresh.

Zeno Clash II isn't amazing, but for twenty bucks, it gets the job done - if only barely.

Even if you dislike the poker, this game is probably still worth it just for the general humor you'll get, and it helps that Telltale can keep nearly anyone laughing and coming back repeatedly.

It sounds good, but frankly, it just doesn't seem like developer Digital Extremes were able (or allowed) to put forth the time, money, or ingenuity to make anything but a Starfleet-themed cooperative shooter, complete with extreme use of cover-based gunfights, silly mini-games, or bad AI - all of which are generally considered hallmarks of a mediocre action game.

The biggest issue with Dead Island Riptide is that it's a glorified expansion pack sold at nearly full price ($40 US on PC, $50 on consoles); there's nothing wrong with a developer doing this if they're adding lots of features and are building on top of a near-universally beloved game, but the simple fact is that neither of those conditions really apply here.

As much as progress NetherRealm has made - and improving on MK9 was a difficult feat which I believe they succeeded in doing - the problem is that the face of fighting games has changed even just in the last year and a half that I'm not sure Injustice is a comparative step forwards when you look at everything else.

Either way, Defiance gives off a bad first impression, but it still holds up well on its own with continued play.

On PC, BioShock Infinite absolutely shines. The use of the venerable Unreal Engine might surprise you, considering just how stunning this game looks, especially with the high-res textures exclusive to the PC version that balloon the game to about 15GB in size.

As much as I've said over the last year-plus that I actually don't mind the ending to Mass Effect 3, that I found it a bit iffy but not nearly as rage-inducing as it seems the vast majority of players thought it was, maybe the Citadel DLC, which jam-packs five-plus hours of maximum entertainment into its $15 package, is just a better way to end the story.

Tomb Raider delivers a slick, fun time with plenty of collectibles, great action, and an excellent main character.

SimCity is a brilliant, accessible yet very deep game - at no point do we deny this conclusion. But for now, EA's infrastructure makes it a sometimes-broken, severely disappointing example of how good intentions with regards to DRM, monetization, and anti-piracy can backfire and create problems for gamers and publishers alike.

It comes off less as a product made of art and design and gameplay and excitement, and more like an entry on a balance sheet, a simple fulfillment of a contract, or a footnote on an investor conference call. I know that both EA and Crytek can do better, and I hope that's their plan for their next project.

I was skeptical about why I'd really want to play anything like a PS2-era action platformer here in 2013, but spending even just half an hour in this game made me a believer, and there's much, much more fun to be had beyond that. Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time may not innovate in bringing the genre forward, but there's still a ton of merit in bringing to market a polished, charming game with colorful graphics and inventive characters and levels.

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.

Aliens: Colonial Marines certainly offers a wealth of reverence of the movie it's aping, but the efforts by TimeGate and Gearbox Software seem misguided and tone-deaf - and that's not even considering the wooden gunplay, often-broken cutscenes and terrible AI.

Skyrim was such a wonderful game, and it was disappointing to see something as half-baked as Dawnguard serve as the only example of what Bethesda could offer for post-release support for this game. Dragonborn, however, is truly worthy of the Elder Scrolls name - even if it doesn't have characters casually pulling actual Elder Scrolls out of their back pockets and buying or selling them for a few thousand gold - as it adds the kind of large, epic feel you should be experiencing when playing an open-world RPG.

Nostalgia aside, Sonic Transformed as a kart racing game is a blast to play and it comes highly recommended, especially at the reasonable Steam price of $30 (or $80 for a four-pack).

This PC version is better than some straight-over ports I've seen this generation, but it certainly could have benefited from a little more time spent on PC-only features.

Alexander Bruce's biggest achievement with Antichamber is that he created a game that's brilliant and inviting, something that can rarely be said for a game made entirely of difficult puzzles where what you see isn't always what you get and where the room you're standing in can change at any moment.

As the Outcasts go, however, you're not really missing much if you just leave them behind.

Any fan of the genre owes it to themselves to give Ni no Kuni a try, but I won't go so far as to guarantee that you'll love this game even if you've hated past JRPGs.

Hammerlock is a decent DLC pack, but with Gearbox farming out some of this work, I'm hoping that means they've got something bigger and even more interesting in the works for post-releaseBL2 support.

Earth Defense Force 2017 is not really a good looking game, nor is its sound anything to hold in high regard, but it gets a lot of its gameplay right, and somehow this quirky title always seems to show up at just the right time on a system to let us know that yes, loot-heavy action RPGs are still a total blast to play - even if other publishers out there haven't bothered to fulfill our wishes for more of them.

With clever puzzle design, inspired graphics and laugh-out-loud dialog, it's head-and-shoulders above the majority of adventure titles and is a shoe-in for any adventure fan's list of most-loved games.

There are some nice nuances and a couple of "neutral"-type choices that can be made, but overall I'm not impressed with any of the possible end results, not when this DLC costs a rather princely sum of $15.

All of the Infinity Engine games are brilliant pieces of work that still stand out from the RPG pack more than a decade after their release dates, and here Overhaul Games made a perfectly competent "port" of the game that started it all. But it costs twenty bucks, and that's too much when you can get the original version with the same Tales of the Sword Coast expansion pack over at GOG for half the price - even less when it goes on sale - and a few minutes of installing mods gets you to nearly the same point.

Far Cry 3 gets so many things right about why we play first person shooters, that I really am having a hard time knocking it too much for the few things it gets wrong.

It still needs some work, but I'm very impressed with the end result. If you've got a powerful PC and a desire to bring some real tactics and organization to your team-based FPS fighting, then this game is a must-try. And with no material cost to get started, all you have to lose is the time it takes to download, patch, and give it a shot.

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.

Still, as flawed and frustrating as this game can be, Ubisoft has brought us one of the most ambitious, entertaining, and expertly-built games of 2012. Assassin's Creed 3 is overbearing and sometimes just a little too much to handle, but after you play it, you'll see why it's worth all the trouble.

Hitman: Absolution's insistence on putting Agent 47 on the run can often get in the way of what made the series so fun in the past, and the lack of a manual save system undermines the kind of goofing around and experimentation that made past games so enjoyable.

Those looking for a stroll, a punch, and a bow down memory lane will enjoy the many throwbacks to the original, but even those gamers will likely come away at least a little disappointed.

For those who love Halo and mostly play online, all I can say is that you should pick up Halo 4 as soon as possible, because it's got everything that makes this series' online play so entertaining. For the rest, I wouldn't worry about rushing out to pick it up on release day, but do check it out when it's convenient.

In the end, Painkiller HD is only a half-measure, and it doesn't do everything it could have to modernize the classic fast-paced action of the original. It's worth the twenty bucks if the overhaul you want is visual, but otherwise, it's best to pass.

The franchise is most definitely at its most complete here in '13, with a massive roster, a focus on a golden age of wrestling, and lots of visual and functional tweaks to rein in the franchise's ambition and instead start making the many modes and options a little more polished.

If real-world handling and precision aren't remotely your concern, then Most Wanted should be your game of choice. And if you want realism and would rather stay on the PC, consider a more serious racing games like Project CARS, iRacing, or even last year's SHIFT 2 Unleashed.

I feel that Danger Close is a talented, dedicated and well-meaning studio and I do hope they can stay together and make more games, but at this point, I think it's probably a good idea that EA helps them come up with a new IP or new style of game. This current revival of Medal of Honor just isn't working out.

Other than a couple of minor issues and unavoidable things you'll have to get used to when doing competitive gaming on the Vita, SFxT really is a fun and fair game that's plenty fast, but not so frantic or silly that you get lost with a half-dozen characters flying around on-screen.

Hotline Miami is difficult and violent, but it's not aggravating when you lose, and it's very rewarding when you win.

Ravaged is far from perfect, but it certainly has its moments, and those are easily worth the price of admission.

If you haven't gotten the Season Pass yet because you're waiting to see how the first DLC turns out, then I'd say run over and get it now, because if history repeats itself on this one, I think we're in for some great new adventures from Gearbox.

There's nothing really like Forza Horizon out there right now, as the wide-open world to explore and solid handling of the Forza franchise come together beautifully. Yes, Playground and Turn 10 had to compromise on what feels like a rather hefty list of features and selling points in order to make Horizon a reality on Xbox 360, but the relatively few new things this game includes add up to a massive impact on how it's played and enjoyed.

Does Firaxis' re-imagined XCOM perfectly bring back the tactics and excitement of the MicroProse original? Not exactly, but they've still made an excellent tactical game that works just as well on all three platforms.

Pure FPS fans may not be too excited and there are a few minor problems, but this is a rare gem that anyone looking for a more cerebral action game should be paying serious attention to. And by "paying serious attention", I mean that you should buy it.

There's nothing really wrong with DOA5 and it's certainly an improvement over its predecessors, but I was expecting more from the first Dead or Alive game to come out in nearly seven years.

The ten bucks it costs to get into Faster Than Light won't be money well spent for every gamer out there, but if you are looking for a challenging roguelike strategy game with some intriguing ship management and light RPG systems built into it, then you owe it to yourself to check out this game.

If you've had issues in the past with the balance in Battlefield 3's larger, more open maps, I don't expect that anything added in Armored Kill will solve anything for you. But if you were happy with it and still play BF3 to this day, then just suck it up and get Premium, because DICE is delivering some great action with these addons, and the new unlocks, vehicles, and weapons included in each of their DLC packs means these are a lot more than just map packs, like you might be getting used to with military-themed FPS games now. Armored Kill doesn't try to vastly expand the scope of Battlefield 3, but it does add more of the exact kind of action that other shooters out there are incapable of giving us.

The world's bigger and badder, the visuals are more impressive, the best characters return alongside plenty of great new ones, and the endless search for new loot proves to be even more addictive than before. Borderlands 2 on PC is just plain awesome and will definitely be one of my candidates for Game of the Year.

I'd love to tell you that Namco has breathed a ton of new life into this ailing franchise with TTT2, but it's just not really the case. It's still a fantastic fighting game that will sell plenty of copies to the series' fans, but it's not a fantastic choice to start with if you're looking to get into fighting games.

There are still many annoying or silly things we've seen in the last decade-plus worth of MMOs that Guild Wars 2 didn't fix, but ArenaNet's efforts so far have delivered a huge range of disruptive changes that should pique the interest of any dedicated player.

If I was just reviewing Journey itself, I'd give it a 10 out of 10, but I'm reviewing this whole package, priced at twice the cost of the PSN version of the game that's in big letters on the box cover. If you've already played thatgamecompany's previous two games, then this isn't the best value.

It seems doubtful that this port of an already inhospitable game will make many new fans, especially with the kind of treatment it got in the conversion to PC, but there will be some that will swear by it as one of the best games made in a very long time. If you think there's any chance at all that you'll be one of those people, then you owe it to yourself to drop the cash and find out.

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron won't likely garner many Game of the Year awards since it just slightly misses the mark on a few key points, but what it does bring is some serious passion for a great property. What's important this time around is that Activision allowed High Moon to see that through with a big budget and the time needed to polish things up.

Square Enix and United Front Games pulled Sleeping Dogs from the brink of death, and what surprised me is just how good it turned out to be.

Better than its predecessor in pretty much every way: it's slick, polished, smart, beautiful, and most importantly, fun to play, giving you plenty of freedom and adventure with exciting combat and some excellent art and music to go along with the solid voice acting and interesting plot.

Is Dawnguard worth your money? Yes because it's more Skyrim, no because it's really only that: a bit more Skyrim. For twenty bucks, I was expecting more.

Orcs Must Die! 2 is a wonderful combination of action and strategy, all wrapped up nicely with a whimsical art style and slightly silly attitude.

In summation, riding wolves. Huge, awesome guns. Shoot stuff and marvel at just how much Intrusion 2 makes Adobe Flash, arguably the worst gaming platform in the world, actually look good. The one major complaint I have is that the game is fairly steep at ten bucks with a rather short playtime.

So the classics have been resurrected in one nice package, and while it's not a total home run, it'll scratch that itch you might've been feeling for something - anything - like the original Tony Hawk games.

To ask so much of gamers here in 2012, especially when there's such great competition out there, means that they should be delivering a game that's exciting to play, easy to get into, deep when people get to the endgame, and well-rounded in nearly all aspects - and I can't say that they've done that. This game is damn good in concept but it falters in the execution.

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

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.

Maybe the next Bellator game can be a full-featured MMA simulation experience, but this first title is just not going to work.

Quantum Conundrum won't live on in memes and in gaming history quite like that, but if you're in the mood for a solid, entertaining puzzle-action romp, it's hard to go wrong with this game.

The important part here is that Sins of a Solar Empire still delivers a very unique kind of strategy game, and Rebellion doesn't screw with that; instead, it makes that base game substantially smoother and more interesting.

Max Payne 3 contains a lot of wonderful, pretty moments and there is often a good chunk of substance there, but a few relatively small mistakes and technical issues have dragged it down a bit

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.

With key changes to its art style, technology, gameplay, skills, and classes, Diablo III has revitalized the isometric action-RPG and made this classic genre fresh and cool all over again.

Those who see past the blocky graphics to bring out the fun of Minecraft, especially with their friends, will find that this game is well worth the money.

But if you do make the plunge, you will know where that money went, as MK on Vita is a damn good example of how future ports to Sony's handheld should go: dial back the eye candy if you need to, but do not compromise your gameplay or remove features just because it's hard to make them work on a mobile system.

The story is excellent and original, and the game can take you dozens of hours to complete depending on how much you dig into the side quests. My original skepticism about the viability of a game like The Witcher 2 on consoles has been blown away, but of course it's up to the Xbox 360 gamers out there to make it a success.

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's certainly the best Lumines since the first, but I can't help but be disappointed that one of the PSP's most iconic games is merely good, but not great, on Sony's newest portable.

What Reverge Labs has done with Skullgirls is prove that even an independent developer can make a slick, fun, and unique fighting game amongst the eight-figure budgets seen in the rest of the genre.

Overall, I find the base game to be priced rather attractively, and right now a good bargain is hard to find on Vita - period

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.

If you get some good players together in a house to just play, that's where Cross Tekken (as I've heard it called more than a few times) does its best. If you're an online warrior, stick with what you've got and wait to see what Capcom does with its online issues.

It may not have the sheer landmass of their just-released MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic and it might not stand the test of time quite the way simpler, more focused games like Knights or the original two Baldur's Gate titles did, but it's still a wonderful game with tons of content, great production values, a masterful eye for humor and drama, and a cast of lovable characters that BioWare has been carefully slow-playing for the last four-plus years.

EA has put together a great effort in this revival of SSX, one that's not only worthy of the name but also brings the game to new heights (literally and figuratively) in quite a few ways.