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.

While Impostors is a blast to play for a good several hours at least, it lacks those few rudimentary building blocks that gives PC games the types of communities that last for years. It's unfortunate, too, because this game deserves better.

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

If you're into the idea of experimental "games" pushing the boundaries of the medium, you might like Dear Esther, but if you're looking for a detailed story of Event A causing Event B which then naturally led to Event C, then this is not for you.

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.

UFC Undisputed 3 is an all-around major improvement over previous games in the series.

Kingdoms of Amalur is good, but it offers an uneven experience. There's a wealth of exciting combat and unique RPG options, but it takes place with characters that are largely forgettable in a world that just isn't terribly interesting.

Complementing the dynamic gameplay is a twisty story that will test your psyche as much as your trigger finger, terrific voice work-including another wicked good performance from Mike Patton as the Darkness-and a stunning graphic novel-inspired art style brimming with rich detail and expert use of light and shadows.

While I'm mildly disappointed in the linear and rather limited single player mode here in Soul Calibur V, the simple fact that Namco caught up to Capcom's feature sets in the online department is a pretty big deal. I'm far from a pro player, but I do think that SCV offers fast, offense-oriented action without the ridiculously frenetic pace and utter chaos of the Marvel vs. Capcom series.

If you're sick of WoW but don't mind a game that doesn't fully reinvent the grinding wheel, this is most definitely worth a shot. If you're a KOTOR fan who doesn't care for MMOs but wants to see a continuation of the story, you'll find quite a bit of it here with plenty of references to the original game's plot and characters - but be aware that it's not nearly as easy to play this game solo-only as you might like.

Flatout 3 does wind up having one mildly redeeming feature: it won't screw up your computer when you inevitably delete it in disgust.

Despite a few small issues and the disappointment at the lack of multiplayer of any kind, I still found Waves to be a highly entertaining twin-stick shooter with some really interesting rules to keep the formula fresh.

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.

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.

The Run's attempt to use a cross-country road race to break free of conventions comes packaged with a few crippling flaws, the biggest of which is simply that even with its tense moments and high-powered supercars, it's just not as exciting as it should be.

It's tough because Ultimate MvC3 is a great game and a solid improvement on the fundamentals in the original.

There were some issues to be found here and there, but most of these unscripted bits of broken action make the game better and funnier - even if they are bugs - and make the whole thing an intensely amusing, high-octane action game that makes it seem like the whole engine's barely holding up, but it's generally doing just fine.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim may not deliver on every hope, wish or fervent demand you've been formulating ever since you realized how many flaws Oblivion was carefully hiding with its immense charm, but it most certainly lives up to the name Elder Scrolls and will easily qualify for millions of gamers' best-of-the-year lists.

Despite feeling some fatigue with the reuse of this same formula repeatedly, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 still winds up being everything I expected, and it even includes a few extra additions and improvements I didn't expect.

Despite some problems, Battlefield 3 delivers right where it counts: online play. The single player mode looks great but is rather limited, and the competitive multiplayer might be a bit buggy and doesn't pull in all of the best features of every past Battlefield game, but it still lives up to the hype - and for those that were disappointed in the beta, it might even exceed the hype - and gives us a wonderful online experience that is unlike any other in the FPS world.

While Orcs Must Die! doesn't really bring forth any entirely new ideas - Sanctum on PC does the FPS-meets-tower-defense thing, too - it does give us a really fresh combination of them, and along with the fantasy setting and legitimately funny jokes and fun ways to kill orcs, this is definitely one of the better XBLA/downloadable games you can buy this year.