Midway might have the best game out there if you base the game on fun and action alone. The game still has that feel right out of the movie "Slap Shot" with the mix of the more realistic hockey of the other guys.

The mouse takes the place of the analog stick and really smoothes things out. It's much easier to aim your gun at cameras, light bulbs and human heads, and you can make Sam run faster than ever before. It all comes together to make Splinter Cell one of the best action/stealth games to ever grace PC.

That isn't to say SCII isn't a fine upstanding product; it is in spades. It just happens to be more than a little predictable and without sounding unappreciative, it's more or less like the excellent Dreamcast verison released back in 1999.

TOCA Race Driver 3 may not be the perfect racing game in terms of physics and feel but there's no other game that can match the outrageous number of different racing styles at such a consistent level of quality.

One of the most entertaining games I've played in a long time. It has a ton of injoke humor, action, car chases, explosions, violence, adult situations and language - it's what adult videogames are all about.

It's not just the best Godzilla game ever, it's just a great game, period.

Despite the aging conventions of the genre, Guitar Hero 5 gets nearly everything right. There is a ton of gameplay packed into a decidedly user-friendly/hardcore-friendly package.

The game was designed to put control into the player’s hands and it succeeded. I thought the concept was incredibly epic and it didn’t leave me with that “I wish I could do this” feeling I get from some games. The power to play the game how you want is also a bonus. Also, if you’re looking for a game with a ton of replay value, Watch_Dogs will definitely do it. While I figured Watch_Dogs would have been a more sophisticated version of GTA, it isn’t. It can be frenetic at times and sometimes, that’s all you need to have some fun.

While Human Revolution was a promising title with some glaring issues, Mankind Divided is the work of a mature development team that has had the time to fix their weak points and improve on their strong ones. The result is a quality cyberpunk spy adventure with strong visual and level design, true opportunities for players to exercise choice, and some really cool cybernetic toys to play with.

The dynamic Wii-mote allows you to really become involved with "family business" like never before.

The tone of the story is, after all, quite a departure from the franchise's previous two outings. However, the amusing dialogue, fun gameplay, and delightfully absurd missions make this a must-buy for everyone, whether by download (in which case it requires a copy of GTA IV to run) or on disc with The Lost and Damned.

Nintendo has really stepped up to the plate on this one and hit a homerun. If you like the original Pikmin, you'll pee in your pants with delight when you play Pikmin 2.

The attention to detail is painstaking with perfectly weather wood, rich rustic colors, dense and varied vegetation and of course the odd and highly imaginative creatures that make up Oddworld. The animation is smooth and fast.

Although it borrows from other gaming experiences in certain places, you haven't ever played a game like Ico. Highly recommended!

What you do get is Mario, Luigi and Peach as playable characters and your own Mushroom Kingdom court to play on. This is a fun novelty but it begins and ends there. Novelty. These characters just don't fit in a basketball game and their appearance is somewhat unsettling.

This game is so good it can even give some of the PC games a run for its money.

Portal's blend of first-person, action, and puzzle elements marked by wry psychology and facetious dialogue make for a one-of-a-kind experience. Bolster this package with Still Alive's 14 new, more difficult levels and this is a game that shouldn't be missed.

Rock Band has one thing going for it: the necessity to having friends to play and the willingness to work together. It may not be enough for everyone to drop 170 bucks on the game and equipment, but I can say if you even remotely have thought about this game, it is worth it.

Deception has everything an MK fan could possibly want from the heavens: more gore, more fatalities, more characters, traps, more modes and online play.

Bit.Trip Runner pulls out ahead of the competition to give fans more great gameplay at a ridiculously low price.

An exquisite experience for strategy junkies. PC purists may turn up their noses at it, but I dare them to play through multiplayer with a pair of headsets on and not get giddy.

This isn't a game for young kids. It's rated Mature for a reason. It's filled with adult situations and references. So grow up and grab a copy.

The level of graphic detail is astonishing. The dogs are fully rendered in 3D and display incredibly realistic animation as the puppies frolic and tumble all over the screen. It's hard not to get attached to these mutts for crying out loud.

Bigger, better, more realistic and more difficult than Command & Conquer: Generals, Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour, is the expansion pack that keeps on giving.

It's nice to see that developers taking the time to make this game true to Tom Clancy's vision.

Clearly, Dead Rising 4 is rebooting the series. It’s an entertaining beat’em up, albeit one where I haven’t had a chance to play online ahead of launch. I still think it’s a great way to spend the holidays, but people who appreciated the earlier games may want to watch some gameplay videos or try a demo first.

Ice Station Santa is definitely one of the longer episodes of the batch, and it may easily become a fast favorite. Still, even with the hints turned completely off it will only take you a handful of hours to plow through this gem.

A few bugs and balance issues aside, it genuinely feels like its single-player predecessors rather than a cookie cutter MMO, and that in itself is enough to draw back in the weary crowd yearning for something fresh from the genre.