I concede I played more than I should, enjoying the guilty pleasure.

The Next Big Thing however is not half decent; it's only the best adventure game I've played in the past few years.

Portal 2 is fantastic. Its single-player provides ample amounts of genuinely funny and compelling narrative and some great puzzles, while the co-op takes the game's mechanics and pushes them to their absolute, playable limit. You're only getting around 10-12 hours after delving into both halves of the game, but it's a concentrated thrill, where its weakest moments are still standards that most developers can barely reach in the first place.

This is an AAA title, a big gun; it goes up against recent hits like Rift and holds its own.

The rich, luscious colors somehow make the world a lot more believable than games like Crysis 2 could ever be.

It's an interesting game. It lacks deeper mechanics and intricacies that could've given the game more layers, but it'd sap much of what makes Fate of the World such a unique product. You don't have that kind of control, because in reality, you wouldn't have it. It's hard to really knock it down for that, but at least know that this the best 7.5 game ever.

By far one of the shortest campaign experiences that I have played in some time.

It is refined, lean, smartly designed, and still an epic, where tales of your conquests can be so exciting that that alone could warrant a purchase.

The total effect of the expansion pack is still positive (multiplayer is still fun; even the single-player has its uses) but there are a few worrying signs – the introduction of hero units and special abilities and the inward-looking nature of the entire game (SP as preparation for MP).

Rift is a good game but also a perfect example of this problem – and here's to hoping that it either grows into an answer to that plight or a marker for the end of an era.

For a rushed product that is still battling bugs, the currently offered product still provides 40 hours of challenging and engaging gameplay. This combines to provide a good, but not great gaming experience.

Gameplay is pedestrian, ultimately annoying and not as replayable as a Sims title should be.

The game is really little more than a glorified browser game for which you have to shell out $6.

Bulletstorm is a real looker through and through.

If you're looking for the one expansion pack to play for Majesty 2, then this is it. But if you're tired of Majesty 2 already, picking this up isn't going to make you love it again.

3D is very helpful for squeezing metro stops in between buildings and examining your spaghetti mess of underground metro tunnels.

It's addicting and it might make it well worth the $60 if you're trying to justify a purchase by calculating overall playtime. You think about that, but I'm telling you, Dead Space 2 is pretty damn good.

Five new maps, thirteen new weapons, and a setting that gives those 200+ hours Bad Company 2 addicts something new, Vietnam is just about one of the safest purchases you could make.

Obsidian has made an outstanding game and someday, they'll crank out a product that isn't barely holding itself together, but until that day, New Vegas has so much of what makes RPGs so great – influencing the events and people around you, the joy of discovery and playing a role in a world that matters.

So what you are left with is a harder (more grindy) retread of something you may have played twice already before.

Visually I was left with the impression of an old engine updated with a few modern tricks in an attempt to bring it back to life.

Quotation forthcoming.

While that may be one thousand words of criticism, overall I would recommend Mafia II. It's hard to deeply explain the positives because I'd hate to give away some of the more jaw-dropping ain't-that-cool aspects to the game.

Saying that it stands head-and-shoulders above all of the scant competition for grand-strategy kingship almost goes without saying.

Despite some graphical setbacks, Singularity overcomes its inadequacies to present a solid and worthwhile experience for fans of story-driven gaming.

From the beginning of the game, till the ending, I was relatively pleased with how important and impactful the decisions I made were.

If you’re a fan of the series and are able to swallow Ubisoft’s fulsome addition to Blue Byte’s game, I’d definitely recommend The Settlers 7.

Still, when distilled down to its core, I did enjoy Awakening a little bit more than I did Origins.