A new story, battle improvements, new troops, and a ton of missions are exactly what Valkyria Chronicles fans were asking for.

Tales of Elastic Boy - Mission 1 requires that you contort your wrist in ways it wasn't meant to bend. Maybe the blistering tendinosis you'd likely develop is a sign that this game isn't meant to be played, either.

Despite some sticking points in the mini-game department, its quirky personality and replay value make Guilty Party one of the best multiplayer party games to hit the Wii.

The PS3 version of the Mafia II, however, features more content, due to the fact that all new copies ship with a unique code that will allow you to download a game add-on called "The Betrayal of Jimmy." It's this add-on content that makes purchasing Mafia II on the PS3 (if given options) a no-brainer.

Folks who love a decent mafia tale -- one of family ties, betrayal, and revenge -- will want to experience the world of Mafia II. Its competent game mechanics and absorbing narrative are enough to warrant a playthrough. But in the end, the repetitive nature of the game's sometimes mind-blowingly boring missions and lack of content will leave most gamers wanting more.

Its sometimes aggravating difficulty might not be for everyone, but anyone looking to bring back that warm, pit of your stomach feeling of playing Double Dragon for the first time needn't look any further

Folks who love a decent mafia tale -- one of family ties, betrayal, and revenge -- will want to experience the world of Mafia II. Its competent game mechanics and absorbing narrative are enough to warrant a playthrough. But in the end, the repetitive nature of the game's sometimes mind-blowingly boring missions and lack of content will leave most gamers wanting more.

Ninja Karakuri Den is too short and suffers from a dearth of content, yet it's enjoyable and cheap enough to just barely, barely, squeak by with a recommendation.

I think my biggest complaint is that there isn't enough of the game, which is often my complaint with short good games. You just want more!

I feel comfortable saying that Guardian of Light may be the most fun I've had with Miss Croft in 14 years; it's that good. Guardian of Light covers a lot of bases -- solid action, clever puzzles, nail-biting platforming, and remarkable cooperative play; it's not to be missed.

I actually cannot think of a single positive thing to say about the game, and the fact that I have been rooting for this IP from the moment the first game was announced just makes it all the more infuriating. I wished nothing but the best for Kane & Lynch as a series, but the appalling nature of Dog Days confirms to me that this franchise will never be what it deserves to be.

Again, don't expect Ys Seven to blow your mind. It won't. But you may be surprised at just how pleasing it is to play. I couldn't put it down after I got started.

Monday Night Combat has its flaws, but ultimately it's a game that looks great, has a lot of heart, and provides a fun, unique, and undeniably addictive multiplayer experience that's well worth the fifteen bucks.

Dancing on the fine line of making an eminently accessible game that's still deep enough for the hardcore fanbase is a tightrope-balancing act that often sinks lesser developers. But EA Tiburon has demonstrated that they're clearly up to the challenge.

I love this game. It pushes all the right buttons for me.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair looks gorgeous and has some cool ideas, but ultimate it feels like Castlevania Lite -- a stripped down version of a real Castlevania game with none of the depth or clever design.

I love getting a good value for my money. If a game can offer me 50 entertaining challenges to overcome and then multiplayer I can happily spend my hard earned cash. It only has a few shortcomings, one of them, being in the over-saturated racing genre, but new comers and veterans alike will enjoy themselves.

Arc Rise Fantasia is the perfect RPG to play "between" RPGs. Something to pick up before the next big AAA experience hits and scratch an itch that one gets during the genre's common dry periods.

A fantastic and fun fighter this is, anyone looking for a distinctly Japanese and over-the-top fighting game will want to check this out.

A fantastic and fun fighter this is, anyone looking for a distinctly Japanese and over-the-top fighting game will want to check this out.

Somehow, Blizzard has managed to make StarCraft II feel instantly familiar, while still keeping the entire game feeling fresh and new. The single-player is ridiculously fun, the multiplayer is as addictive as hell, and virtually every new mechanic Blizzard has introduced has helped to improve the game.

Limbo is as close to perfect at what it does as a game can get. It's artistic without being pompous, difficult without being cheap, and violent without being gratuitous. It gets everything just right.

Despite the issues of repetition and somewhat contrary design choices, Alien Swarm is an enjoyable shooter at an absolute steal of a non-price.

As a single-player game, though, DeathSpank really shines. The addictive nature of leveling up and looting treasure chests and fallen enemies is here in spades, not to be missed by fans of the genre. It's also one of the better-looking and most polished titles in the digital space.

There's still room for improvement, but for the first time in I can recall, I actually feel like I'm playing a college football game and not just Madden: NCAA Edition.

As a single-player game, though, DeathSpank really shines. The addictive nature of leveling up and looting treasure chests and fallen enemies is here in spades, not to be missed by fans of the genre. It's also one of the better-looking and most polished titles in the digital space.

I really like Toribash, but given that it's a downgraded port of a free game, I'm not sure how to score it. It's a really interesting experience no matter what platform you play it on, but there is no denying that it sucks to pay $10 for game that is arguably better and free of charge on Mac/PC.

Only the most jaded of gamers could play this game and not smile.

The game looks good and aims high, but the problem is it's just not fun. At all.

Ultimately, this game is a very sub-par offering that has no real reason to exist. Everything that is good about Crackdown 2 is already in the original Crackdown, and many of the problems in Crackdown 2 are unique entirely to this installment. In essence, all Crackdown 2 does is take the original game and make it worse.

Tournament of Legends isn't the prettiest Wii game, nor is it the most deep and engaging. What it is, however, is a good little fighter that makes good use of the console's interface and truly brings back the feeling of playing a fighting game in the nineties.

We loved it before and we still love it. This title would have sit very high on our recommendation list just as a straight PS2-to-PSP port, but the new additions make it appealing to both the new gamer and the seasoned Persona fan.

In all honesty, Soul of Darkness is a decent game that adequately captures the gothic spirit of the Castlevania franchise. Unfortunately, its failure to expand upon promising game mechanics, its criminally short playtime, the absence of any real challenge, and the lack of compelling replay value make it hard to recommend.

Puzzle Quest 2 is as fun as the original, and offers enough new content for old hands that they should want to revisit the series. Fair warning, though -- while killing that rat swarm is of the utmost importance, remember: you have people who love you and don't forget to bathe.

Realtime Worlds is so much better than this, and it's horrible to see that years of effort have produced this substandard, outdated, thoroughly pointless game.

Singularity is a game that manages to feel like its own thing despite being pieced together from previous FPS games, and if you want a great Summer shooter full of violent toys and silly super powers, then you won't get much better than this. Quite possibly the best new FPS of the year so far.

It's an amazing game, one that I see myself playing for years to come.

To take a game with so much promise, so much potential, and do absolutely nothing with it is a crime. Naughty Bear is a flat, dreary, completely boring game that relies on its core premise without doing anything to expand upon it. It desperately wants to be seen as irreverent, edgy and funny, but it is none of these things.

Much to my delight, Stainless didn't do just a one-to-one translation of the board game to your television. Clearly a lot of time was put into making sure Factions not only overflowed with personality, but was also able to capture the interest of new players. I can't recommend this game enough, especially at such an affordable price.

A rousing step forward for the franchise as it pertains to videogames. A thoughtfully crafted story mode, an intense multiplayer mode, online co-op and a full on horde addition makes this the most robust, lovingly developed and authentic Transformers experience you could hope to get on a home console.

Surprisingly good. It's definitely not as great in the gameplay department as War for Cybertron, with a lot less to do and a far more restricted format, but its superior narrative and decent arcade action is at least enough to make it worth picking up on its own.

Surprising introductory puzzle aside, it does nothing to innovate and barely feels like its moving the plot along. Much as I enjoy this particular series, They Stole Max's Brain! -- nothing personal, Sam -- is for the dogs.

Thank you, adorable shark toy. You (and this game) are pretty awesome.

I love this game. It's not quite a show-stopper like Metal Gear Solid 4, or the total package like Metal Gear Solid 3, but in many ways, it's the most progressive game in the Metal Gear Solid series since the original. There are some painful flaws to how Peace Walker plays, and a lot of the missions are forgettable though fun, but those issues weren't enough to keep me from having a great time with this game.

The package doesn't reach the bar raised by Harmonix's first single-band outing.

The package doesn't reach the bar raised by Harmonix's first single-band outing.

If you're still rocking a DS Lite and own all four GBA games already, then you might not need this collection, but if you missed even one of the Zero games in the past, you're sure to get your $30 worth.

Like Tiger before the scandal, the PGA Tour series is a paradigm of consistency. Year in and year out, EA Tiburon delivers reliably solid, if unremarkable, golf games. This year is no different: there isn't anything about Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 that will blow you away, but a host of notable improvements and additions make this a worthwhile upgrade for die-hard fans of the series and a great choice for golf lovers everywhere.

What it comes down to is that one word I've been tossing around throughout the review: fun. Joe Danger is simply fun. I can't see how I could possibly say anything better about the game.

Any game that makes me listen to P.O.D.’s “Boom” every damn time someone kicks off (and Refused’s “New Noise” at the beginning of every game) is going to draw my ire. For all its lifelike hits, Backbreaker simply isn’t fun to play.

It's disgusting that a game in this forsaken a state is asking for a single thin dime, let alone sixty bucks. Even if it was free I wouldn't recommend it.

At the end of the day, there's no justification for a game that forces two loading screens on you before it even begins.

If they make light trax 2 with a little more to do, a more consistently fair camera, and a versus mode, that game could get a 10.

Viral Survival is pure arcade score attack action. What you put into it is what you get out. If that's not your thing, that's not your thing. However, I believe there's just enough depth and variety to hook someone looking for quick bursts of fun. It's challenging, addictive, and just plain ol' dandy.

They poured in the same creativity and imagination that made me fall in love with games like Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World. To me it feels like they finally felt the freedom and comfort in 3D platforming to get back to that Nintendo magic that we all remember. The end result is a galaxy of surprise after surprise, all coming together in a game that tops even my past favorites, making this the best Mario game Nintendo has released.

Anything it could do to irritate the player is quickly made up for with a consistently striking character, intriguing cutscene, or thrilling stand-off against an encroaching force of possessed and gibbering mountain hicks. Alan Wake wears its own anomalous sense of style with pride and that alone earns enough credit to spend on inefficient dodging or unfair ambush attacks.

A stellar title. While I have some issues with the story and characters, the simple joy of interacting with this world more than makes up for those complaints. Add in a compelling multiplayer component and you have one hell of a game.

If you liked the Trauma Center games, you have to try Trauma Team, as Atlus has evolved the formula so much that its predecessors look pretty primitive. For those that didn't dig older Trauma Center games so much, know Trauma Team is a much improved experience, many times over.

The reality-television fiction that is Split/Second delivers a brilliant first season, Disney Interactive Studios has published what is undoubtedly just the beginning of what is sure to be an outgoing series. If you hate racing games, you'll love Split/Second. Don't wait around for the season finale, tune in now.

While it misses the mark of nailing the same sense of magic and wonder of the original trilogy, fans who had missed this style and approach in 2008's Prince of Persia offering should welcome this new-yet-familiar adventure with open arms.

Everything is pretty clearly laid out for you and none of the puzzles are excessively challenging or logically obtuse, leaving you free to enjoy the humor and absurdity.

Like BEAT, it caused me to marvel at the the creative use of economic game design to create an experience that inspired both comfort and anxiety, familiarity and wonder.

It's downright frustrating, actually, as with even the slightest tweaks, Lost Planet 2 could have been another winner for Capcom, and the epic sequel fans had hoped for. As it stands, Lost Planet 2 is a shell of a potentially great game, brought down by bizarre, dated, and counterintuitive design decisions. And that's a shame.

And custom content is really where Skate 3 shines. EA has provided a massive toolbox for creating and sharing elaborate skate parks using the title’s new skate.Park feature.

t's a shame that 3D Dot Game Heroes does not have the lasting power required in order to be truly special. As it stands, this homage/plagiarism to/of The Legend of Zelda is an enjoyable little adventure that will give PS3 owners the retro fix they need. Unfortunately, and I hate to say it, 3D Dot Game Heroes may have benefited more from being half the length and coming out as a digital title.

Dementium II is the best FPS game I've played on the DS to date, eliminating many of the interface problems that have plagued previous attempts at bringing the genre to Nintendo's handheld. It's not the most original of games, and as in fact quite formulaic both in terms of its mechanics and its horror premise, but it's good at what it does regardless.

My Lord 2 includes everything worthwhile from its predecessor and builds on top of that grand foundation; there's simply no need to go back to the first.

The game never really takes off, relying on very few tricks to support itself from beginning to end.

The story is bombastic and gratuitous and level design can be needlessly frustrating, but the strength of the combat and Shadow’s stealth largely compensate.

Rarely has a game straddled the line between brilliant and dismal as much as Nier has, and rarely has it made for such a difficult review.

Capcom could easily have charged $59.99 for this, and I would have bought it in a second. At $39.99, it's a crazy deal. Any Street Fighter fans, even those who quit playing the original and moved on, should be picking up Super.

The lack of a viable “Be A Pro”-esque mode is noticeable -- especially in light of the cheaper FIFA 10’s robust single-player -- but World Cup’s core game and online modes are top notch, a few missteps notwithstanding.

While it has its problems here and there, many of which stem from the fact that it's produced by a small publisher, it is in fact a good point-and-click adventure at a very solid price.

For $50 ($60 with the Classic Controller Pro), Monster Hunter Tri provides a World of Warcraft-quality experience without the $14.99 monthly subscription. That makes Monster Hunter Tri the best value going in MMORPGs today. Add to that a more-than-adequate single-player mode, and you get a...[90].

An excellent package combining two great arcade classics. The niggling annoyances don't add up to any real detriment to the title and the bonuses are pleasant.

Gratifying predatory battles, a unique visual exhibition, and a variety of engrossing game modes makes Conviction an absolutely solid experience that nobody should feel disappointed in.

All I can say is that it looks as if they at least tried to make an effort, but their attempt to create a digital, small-scale version of Gears has been an absolute failure.

If the more mundane parts of Heavy Rain left you unenthused -- and if they didn’t, that’s even better -- you’ll enjoy this exhilarating condensed experience.

Again is a mediocre game that provides nothing. Its story is nowhere near good enough to justify the interactive novel approach, the "spot the difference" psychic gimmick is miserable and sleep-inducing, and the characters themselves look like they've all escaped from a mental hospital and are playing around in the costume department of a community theater. Hotel Dusk this isn't.

Sakura Wars is a game apart. It is a niche game within a niche genre, and is quite proud of it. The open-minded and unafraid will find a cheerful experience that is happily free of more contemporary obsessions with maturity and grit, content to be silly, fluffy, quirky and madly "anime".

There is no reason for this game. It's not fun to play, it's not sexually exciting, it's not ... anything. You're actually an idiot if you can orgasm while playing this. Now let's never speak of it again.

Having D.I.Y. Showcase means I can play F*ck Face on the big screen. It's purely a vanity thing, but it's still amazing to hold a controller in your hand, look at your TV, and play something that came out of your own brain. That alone was worth my $8.

Still, the pros far outweigh the cons in this game. Making your own WarioWare game is even more fun than it looks. It's especially cool to download the game's multitudes of free DLC microgames.

Gratifying and empowering, Red Steel 2 is simple, unpretentious fun.

As far as Nintendo DS role-playing games go, this is my new favorite, hands down. But then again, I'm a huge fan of both dungeon crawling and Atlus' Shin Megami Tensei series games.

Cave Story is an incredible game that I'm sure I will be playing again and again for the rest of my life.

With some very serious polishing, tweaking, and rebalancing, I think this game could have been quite enjoyable. As it stands, it's a waste of time, far too frustrating, and absolutely not worth $49.99.

Without question, God of War III sets the new gold standard for action games, clearing and then raising the near-impossible bar that was set by its previous installments. For many years to come, this will be the game by which all others in the genre are compared, and I suspect we won't see anything like it for quite some time.

Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is beautiful. I thank the developers for making it. I resent the developers for not making it good enough.

About the only desire it does not quite satisfy is the one for a heavy, involved plot.

While it is, at its core, the same game that you've played many years ago, it still manages to feel new and the updated features bolster the original experience in a manner that never intrudes and only enhances. Put short, this is a lot of fun and something that a huge amount of DS owners should look into.

While it is, at its core, the same game that you've played many years ago, it still manages to feel new and the updated features bolster the original experience in a manner that never intrudes and only enhances. Put short, this is a lot of fun and something that a huge amount of DS owners should look into.

It takes more than graphics to make a game, and Final Fantasy XIII offers very little else other than eye candy. Ultimately, this latest addition to the Final Fantasy series is a pompous and masturbatory affair, created seemingly to promote the developer's ego first, and the player's enjoyment second.

A miserable little game that does nothing for anybody.

I can only say that the majority of this game does not live up to all it can be, and seeing the creativity and challenge that some of the levels in the third world show off only highlights this fact.

Toy Soldiers is a great tower defense game for fans of the genre, and a pretty solid experience even for those who normally don't like such titles. Well worth checking out and could easily provide a day's distraction at the very least, with potential to become addictive for those who just love watching plastic army men burn.

As hyperbolic as this may sound, Bad Company 2 provides some of the best team-based multiplayer around. It's an utter shame that the single-player is only decent at best (even that is being generous) -- otherwise, we'd have a real winner on our hands.

While MLB 10 The Show remains the best baseball videogame money can buy, it’s no longer light-years ahead of 2K Sports’ effort. Is it better than MLB 09? Definitely, but not by a wide margin.