A great surprise. It takes the game in an unexpected direction, offering another round of fresh variety to keep the standard point-and-click adventure mechanics from growing tiresome.

With a new story, a plethora of multiplayer modes (both online and off), and tons of unlockables, there is considerable value to Goldeneye on the Wii.

I will warn you that you can beat this in an afternoon. Take your time and go for the prizes.

I have beaten this game four times in two days … and I am still playing it. There's just so much enjoyment to be had in building the perfect character and then showing it off online.

A definite improvement over Shadow of Mordor. People who played the first game and wanted to see serious growth will be pleased. There are times when it can feel a bit repetitive. I feel like I would have enjoyed it more if I could have spread the experience out over weeks, picking away at segments and really building up to those major sieges. But the Nemesis system does feel stronger this time around, with orcs that can be rather delightful as you continually fight them or prepare them to serve your own purposes in your army.

A solid set of new missions. The real benefits come with being able to fix the ending and explore more of the world afterwards.

Patapon 2 certainly doesn't reinvent the winning formula, but it improves it substantially by beefing up the campaign, throwing in a few perks, and refining some of the weaker elements in the first title.

A surprisingly excellent game that is bound to piss off a lot of people. However, it's refreshing for adult gamers to have access to such interesting and mature (immature?) fare on Nintendo's console.

A delicious shooter that teaches everyone that killing can be tons of fun as long as it's presented in a light hearted manner.

Final Fantasy XV is imperfect, but the high points of this journey outweigh the messy bits. I recommend you learn to go with the flow, spend some time with your bros, and really get lost in the game. Don't try too hard to be a completionist, but don't forsake the open-world adventures and cling too much to the main storyline. It's in the balance between the two that this tale is at its absolute best.

Unfortunately for PS3 fans, the SIXAXIS controller is vastly underused.

You'll always be busy and it can be a lot of fun if you don't take it too seriously - just like your real life which you waste playing computer games.

A must-buy title for gamers interested in following an excellent story. The wonderful visuals play a major role in the experience and easy controls and open level design will suck you right in. This is not a game for everyone and misses a perfect rating due to pacing issues.

If you haven't gotten completely burned out of Borderlands' shoot-'n-loot hijinks or are looking to pick the game back up, taking a relatively new character through the perils of The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned is certainly a worthwhile endeavor.

Birds of Prey shines brightly as a solo endeavor in large part due to the extreme level of authenticity and attention to getting the flight mechanics just right.

All in all, I’d recommend a purchase of MLB 14: The Show, if only to get in on the ground floor of Year to Year saves. However, you might want to wait for the PS4 version of the game to come out, just so you can have the definitive baseball experience. Other than that, I had a good time with the game, and I certainly crammed a lot more baseball into that time than I had with past releases.

Overall, I would say that Civilization: Beyond Earth was fun, at least as fun as Civ 5. It just wasn’t mind-blowing, which is a shame because all the Alpha Centauri fans out there were kind of hoping for that.

Immensely enjoyable. Almost endlessly so, in fact. If you haven’t played it yet, you’re missing out on a very clever 2D crafting/survival game that wears its retro influence on its sleeve. If you’ve already spent hundreds of hours in this world, there’s some new stuff to see in this version of the game.

Although it shows that it is a launch title with its graphics (faces), the controls and gameplay are excellent. This is the most excited I have been about a Madden game since "Madden 2001" for the PS2.

The single-player modes are fun, but the local multiplayer download play clinches the deal.

LostWinds is a solid WiiWare title. For game adventurers, it's certainly well-worth the money and the experience.

It could easily be my pick for the best DS game this year because it seems to have all the right ingredients: A great story, unique gameplay, killer visuals, and a fantastic score. All of these elements combine to create the best gaming experience on the DS this year, and it's no wonder that this precious gem came from the folks at Square-Enix. It's an absolute joy to play, and I can't overstate my satisfaction with this game.

It's still fun, the characters are still bursting with personality, and despite my misgivings about the style, the story is still memorable. It's not a complete departure for the series, but the move away from classic characters may be indicative of the series as a whole turning away from its roots. And that may be something to worry about when we finally get around to talking about SoulCalibur VI.

The single-player mode has plenty of content and the challenge modes add plenty of replay value. Creating levels can be fun, but the cumbersome sharing system limits the game's lasting appeal.

Just the next game in a long line of great games. If you are content with the version you already have, then there isn't enough staggering new content to warrant an upgrade. However, this is the best game in the franchise to date, and I'm glad I made the switch.

The one area where MvsDK lacks slightly is overall challange for hardcore players. It won't take much effort to get through each level - maybe, two or three tries at the most.

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

It's a surprisingly long game, since it offers two different storylines and endings with two different characters. There are also challenges scattered throughout, as well as an incredible amount of swords to forge or collect.