Ultimately, Heavy Rain is an experiment that both succeeded and failed, when it could easily have been a total success if the brains behind it weren't trying so hard to be smart, and cared more about providing a sensible plot as opposed to a shocking one.

Suffers from being compared to other comical racing games like Mario Kart, and it is unlikely that you'll prefer it over those games. However, it manages to bring enough of its own flavor through its design to make it feel like a strong competitor.

Last Rebellion is underproduced, underdeveloped, unrefined, unpolished, and ultimately forgettable. And yet, it possesses the foundations of something, that originally intended to strike for greatness.

To put this DLC’s quality in concrete terms: I’ll be hard-pressed to hoof it back to Fyrestone after getting a taste of the superior T-bone Junction.

Somewhere, hidden in foreboding mountain peaks, deep under a gloomy cave, or in the back of a forgotten whorehouse, there is fun to be had in Risen. To be honest, I'll probably keep looking for it -- but I'll do so armed with a walkthrough and the knowledge that playing Risen might be a game of diminishing returns.

As a self-proclaimed non-game, Endless Ocean: Blue World is a charming diversion and comes recommended to anyone looking for something unlike anything else out there.

All quibbles aside, Lost in Nightmares still does a lot to correct the things that I didn't like about Resident Evil 5, and I hope it's an indicator for where they may take the series in the future. More of Barry Burton headbutting Saddam Hussein look-a-likes until their faces explode would be a good thing.

There is absolutely nothing in this industry that can compare to how weird and wonderful the whole experience is. Judged as a piece of entertainment, as a game that consistently surprises and amazes and leaves jaws hanging, I have no choice but to say that Deadly Premonition goes above and beyond. This game is so bad, it's not just become good. It's pretty close to perfect.

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is like a good pie, the kind mothers used to make. It's warm and satisfying with a near-perfect consistency throughout. It might be appealing to try and devour all at once, but trying that may leave you with a bit of an ache. No, savor it. It's likely to be one of the best damn pies you're going to enjoy this year.

I have to deal with what I have in my hands, and what I have is a single-player mode with some noticeable highlights and a multiplayer mode with too many problems to remain enjoyable, despite all its promise.

I have to deal with what I have in my hands, and what I have is a single-player mode with some noticeable highlights and a multiplayer mode with too many problems to remain enjoyable, despite all its promise.

A truly great game, let down only by the fact that the PSP version existed for long enough to steal some of its thunder.

If you can handle the game's intensity enough to stick with it for prolonged play sessions -- or if, conversely, you're perfectly fine with sporadically playing it for a few minutes at a time before switching it off -- then maybe Galcon Fusion is for you. If not, maybe you're better off picking it up for the iPhone.

If you're playing BioShock 2 for its multiplayer and not its narrative, then you're doing it wrong. Think of it as nice-to-have bonus materials in the pocket of a DVD you've been waiting for. You will enjoy it and it does add some value, but I doubt you'll often come back to it.

Die-hard, devout rougelikes may feel the urge to gripe about the fact that you can reload from last save when you die (on Easy mode), but I think most gamers will be glad that this game is more player-friendly overall.

You're not going to find a wholly original gameplay experience with Dante's Inferno, but that doesn't mean it's not a hell of an entertaining package -- it's one that fans of action shouldn't miss.

You're not going to find a wholly original gameplay experience with Dante's Inferno, but that doesn't mean it's not a hell of an entertaining package -- it's one that fans of action shouldn't miss.

When a game comes along that is this visually, audibly, and mentally pleasing, it's not something to ignore. I recommend checking Chime out. For five bucks, it's really not bad, you're supporting a good cause, and maybe we can get the sequel that would really make Chime ring.

Given the short main game length, a lower price point seems like it would have been more appropriate. If you're on the fence, I'd recommend a rental first. This may not be what you're expecting.

While not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, it is one of the better video pool games I've played and certainly worth a look if billiards is your game. With its robust online options and excellent physics, Hustle Kings is excellent if occasionally frustrating fun.

The fluid systems -- the navigation, the combat, and the quick-fire missions -- combine to make Mass Effect 2 an RPG that challenges the genre conventions. The superb emphasis on character development, the gripping plot elements and big-budget presentation aren't too bad either.

It's extremely well crafted from beginning to end, and rarely (if ever) sacrifices fun for delivering a message. No More Heroes 2 still makes me laugh, scream, think, and violently wank, even more so after the first play-through. That's more than I can say for almost any game this generation.

A better game than its Japanese counterpart, with more characters, improved balance, and online play. Due to the slightly uneven graphics and the occasional downgrade from the original version of the title, I can't say it's a perfect game, but it's damn close.

Massive Action Game delivers on the promise of its name. It's certainly massive, and there is more than enough action to go around. MAG's biggest draw, however, is that it's perfect for both hardcore multiplayer FPS fans and newcomers alike.

Dreary and annoying in equal parts, this is a game best left avoided.

A good, but entirely forgettable experience. It's worth a quick play if you've got nothing else to do, and a weekend rental would serve you very well. However, it's definitely not something you'll want to keep on your gaming shelf for very long.

The game pleasantly surprised me with a smart (but difficult to master) control scheme, combat that was fun, engaging and difficult, and some great visuals.

Beyond a breath of fresh air, it will provide a chuckle for some and a tear for others. Well done, Vicious Cycle. Well done indeed.

Beyond a breath of fresh air, it will provide a chuckle for some and a tear for others. Well done, Vicious Cycle. Well done indeed.

Darksiders is one of the best action-adventure games of the current generation. Everything in it, you've played before, but never has such a collection of game mechanics been stitched together so well, not to mention feel like part of a coherent game world.

Ultimately, Bayonetta is a great game that fans of hardcore Japanese action games should be incredibly satisfied with. It looks amazing and can feel great to play when combos are rolling, Torture Attacks are earned and giant demons made out of hair are summoned to crush bosses.

That design flaw and the synth-y soundtrack are my only real problems with Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth. Otherwise, it's a great game (superb, even) and is sure to satisfy any and all people who like this sort of thing.

The Magic Obelisk has so many things going for it. It has really unique light-based puzzle game play, super cute graphics and characters, and a fantastic price tag. The clunky control does let the game down a bit, but I still think it's certainly worth your time and your $5.

The Crystal Bearers gives me something the likes of which I've never played before, and in the end, I think it can stand proudly along side other risky, underappreciated Squaresoft classics like Brave Fencer Musashi and Tobal 2. Ask someone to buy it for you for Christmas/Hannukah/whatever, or pick it up used down the line. Just don't write it off as nothing special.

As a home console game, though, it has a lot of trouble justifying its own existence. An old friend of mine had a way of describing games like this. She'd say (with a really entertaining British accent), "It's sort of like the later work of Phil Collins. It just sort of washes over you, occupying your attention, but eventually leaves you completely unaffected either way."

PixelJunk Shooter is still an absolute blast (no pun intended) to play, with enough charm and originality to make it another strong addition to Sony's already solid downloadable game library.

The Saboteur is not just one of 2009's biggest surprises -- it's THE big surprise of 2009. Despite its humble promotion, the lament that it was sent out to die, and the death of developer Pandemic, The Saboteur is a terrific experience deserving of more accolades and attention that it will ever receive. It looks terrific, it has a fun story with a wonderful main character, and addictive gameplay that allows you to explode Nazis again and again and again.

While Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is a total departure in every way from what Konami proper had started, it manages to reinvigorate the series. This "re-imagining" could have been a story rehash, instead we get a brilliantly deep game with subtle subtext and surprising symbolism.

Yes, many of the puzzles were kind of underwhelming, and yes, some of the most dramatically important scenes were severely undercut by Telltale's technically limited engine (the episode 4 finale is so almost-incredible it actually hurts), but hey -- it's Monkey Island, man. A pretty significant part of me can't help but love it, despite all its flaws.

Ultimately, this is what you need to know: for ten bucks, you can buy the videogame equivalent of a bag of Cheetos and a porno mag, except the Cheetos are zombies and the naked people are driving cars with flamethrowers attached to them.

If this game is any indication as to the quality of the movie, then it's safe to say that this is one trip to the theater that you do not need to take.

Fundamentally, the game offers a similar amount of content to 3 on 3 NHL Arcade (playing the computer, playing a friend, playing online), but it costs 50% more, and the most logical assumption I’m left with is that EA figured they could charge an extra five bucks just because the hallowed Madden name is attached to this product. Madden Arcade isn’t bad, but I would’ve had a much easier time recommending it if it were priced at $10.

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is a great purchase for both fans of the series and newcomers. Those who have grown up on modern shooters may find the primitive design and simplistic objectives a bit jarring, but the purity of the gameplay simply has to be respected.

Blast Off is a super approachable, crazily addictive little game. Well, it's not little, as it's going on 50 playable levels. But the file size is nice and small, and so is the price ($2.99).

The old school charm quickly wears off and gives way to a game that simply does not want you to have fun. It's absolutely tragic, because I was just starting to really get into it before the game basically slammed the door in my face and said "f..k off." So I fu..ed off.

Whether or not if you have heard of the BIT.TRIP series, this is a great game that will entrance and entertain Wii owners of all ages.

It can be needlessly frustrating at times thanks to the control, but it's a good little game that demonstrates exactly what PSP Minis should have been doing from the outset.

The game's variety and length come across as nothing more than smoke and mirrors, the endless, grinding busywork that contributes nothing to the overall gameplay is inexcusably plentiful and mind-numbingly repetitive, and to top it all off, the game can't even compete in the visuals department and somehow looks worse than the original.

Games like Darkside Chronicles and Dead Space Extraction are evolving the genre in a fantastic way, and that's something you might not want to miss out on.

In theory, Tony Hawk: Ride could have been an interesting and fresh gaming experience, and Activision and Robomodo should at least be commended for taking a chance. But in execution, Tony Hawk: Ride falls flat in nearly every aspect.

The original premise has proven more versatile than I ever would have imagined, and the new modes, new Infected, new Campaigns and new items make it feel like a completely different experience. What's more, the Southern setting has made the game even scarier, with the redneck look of the Infected creating a more unnerving bestiary of creatures to contend with. Ultimately, this game is bigger, better and more crazy than the last, and if you loved the first game, you really do need to pick it up.

If you haven't played them, know you're getting an amazing value for you money -- two shining examples of excellence in a genre for less than the cost of a single next-gen title.

In the end, for all its talk of being "gratuitous," Gratuitous Space Battles is actually quite a lean, mean game with a unique premise and singularly charming personality. If you're even marginally interested in seeing heavily armed tin cans tear each other a new hull breach with beam lasers and torpedo missiles, give it a try.

Despite being feeling and looking somewhat familiar (which is definitely a positive in this case), New Super Mario Bros. Wii is one of your safest and best bet on the Wii this year.

If the campaign's story was shaped better and made more sensible, and if the online Perks were just a tiny bit more balanced, this would be a near-perfect game, no shadow of a doubt. As it stands, however, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is an utterly stellar achievement that knows exactly what its audience wants, and delivers in abundance. Truly, this is the biggest game of 2009.

Other than the SD graphics, variations on multiplayer, and pointer controls, this is still Modern Warfare. It's still the first game in the most popular series that this particular genre has ever seen. Not enough has changed about the game, for better or worse, to make a dent in that.

If you're looking for innovation or depth, you'll have to look elsewhere. This is a game that does not take itself seriously. Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is all about mindless fun, and we think that's pretty badass.

Creature Defense, with its blend of card collecting and tower defense, was a great idea. It could have benefited from a more thought out execution, but it works fine as is, and can be a lot of fun. And again, really addictive.

A lot of work clearly went into crafting the Story Mode, but that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a different package for the same old Rock Band setup: play songs, buy stuff to outfit your band with, and travel to other places where you play more songs.

It has a great story, high production values, and one of the most immersive worlds ever created in a videogame. Tragically, Origins' considerable high points have been squandered on a frustrating, unbalanced combat system, and a customizable A.I that's just too broken to adequately customize.

Forza Motorsport 3 is the new king of racers. I can safely say that I've never played a better racing game. Scalable difficulty lets anyone play, making sure that everyone from novices to pros have a good time. Drop-dead gorgeous graphics will satisfy anyone's car lust. But it's that lovingly crafted and exceptionally realistic control that wins me over.

For those of you who've never embarked on an adventure with the furry-faced hero and his brainy metal friend, you've got a lot of catching up to do, but it'll be worth it -- Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time is easily one of the best in the series.

With tons of weapons to find, a great co-op system, fantastic art, and a whole bunch of exploding bodies, Borderlands is worth your money. Even when I feel that the game is starting to get repetitive, there's something about it that keeps me playing.

Fantastic idea after fantastic idea, let down by failed implementation after failed implementation. It's a confused and messy experience, though it's not because the game itself is sloppy. It's very well made, but it seems that the developers tried to make it do so much at once, that it manages to achieve nothing successfully. EyePet is like a quadriplegic genius. You know he's brilliant, but he's thoroughly useless to society.

Look, it's mahjong. This isn't the next big thing. It's a fun, casual game that will fill in the gaps between your action games and hardcore role-playing games in your PSP library. It's a great road trip game, with its 100 game boards and various game modes. I can wholeheartedly say that it's worth the $3.99 asking price...if you like mahjong.

Definitely pick this up if you liked the original. It will likely stay in your DS for quite some time.

The game is simply an absolute joy, and while I would have liked a few more boss battles here and there to lengthen the entire thing out, I can hardly complain about anything else.

So, here’s the deal: if you want a recreation of the Magic experience without having to fuss with booster packs or shuffling, or if you need a refresher on the M10 rules, Duels of the Planeswalkers should be a game to consider.

Some hiccups notwithstanding, Machinarium is just plain one of the best adventure games ever made.

It's with a heavy heart that after almost 15 hours of play (including multiplayer and single-player sidequests), we have to report that it simply doesn't deliver the way we had wanted it to. For fans of metal, there are enough inside jokes and nods here to make you smile, and even casual observers of the culture will find enough to hold their attention. But ultimately, the game disappoints, with some "been there, done that" gameplay mixed with some potentially interesting concepts that either fall flat, or sometimes feel like like a chore.

There's no other game in its genre that even comes close to it on any other platform. Whether or not that makes Among Thieves the system seller Sony's been looking for remains to be seen, but it's without a doubt among the best exclusive games found on any console this generation.

It's definitely not for fans of what survival horror games have become, but fans of old-school, "defense-free" games in the genre or fans of ghostly horror films should give the game a shot.

If you love RPGs, you'll love Half-Minute Hero. If you don't love RPGs, you may still love Half-Minute Hero. Fans of the genre will love the jokes and parody, while haters of the genre may love it for the very same reasons. Even moreso, the puzzling gameplay is addictive and perfectly suited for portable play.

The idea has merit, but the actual end result is a boring, ugly mess that offers little.

The only thing that really differentiates it from similar Wii games are the Squeeball characters, but even they aren't enough to make Squeeballs Party worth picking up. Plowing through the 150 mini-games can be done in a day or two, but after a few hours in you'll find yourself not wanting to continue; most of the challenges stop being fun at a startling rate. The repetition is a killer, here.

With solid gameplay mechanics and the iconic character designs of Biggs and company, it's a game that belongs in any puzzle fan's digital library. Even if you could resist the adorable allure of Biggs, the price might stop you in your tracks. At only $6.99, Critter Crunch may very well be one of the best values in puzzle gaming you'll find this year.

Lacking the intuitiveness that the game demands, Lucidity is a product that feels incomplete, despite the polish on the visuals. Perhaps with a patch the system can be salvaged, but until then, it’s best to steer away.

Ultimately, South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! is a disappointment. It's not exactly a bad game -- the Tower Defense gameplay is competent enough -- but it fails to do anything that makes it worth being considered anything more than simply "alright." There are ultimately far more charming and addictive Tower Defense games out there for your money, ones that are guaranteed to entertain more than this one does.

Oh yeah, I did lose weight by playing these games for two weeks -- about 1.5 lbs, with no other exercise, no change in diet, and not much noticeable discomfort. Not a big deal, really, but people seem to care about this stuff, so there you go.

Ultimately, Thexder Neo has no point. It's a below mediocre shooter that shouldn't have been brought back if the developers had no intention of improving it.

Again, PixelJunk Monsters on the PS3 was already a great game, but this PSP update is the ultimate version. Both the original and the expansion are included, as well as online play, new stages and new weapons.

Sure, Dead Space Extraction tells a good story, but at its heart, it's still an on-rails shooter, warts and all. Fans of the genre, or of the Dead Space world in general, will definitely want to add this game to their permanent collection, but everybody else may want to go with a rental first.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is worth checking out for PS3 owners who like hardcore action games and have never played the Xbox 360 version. The new additions, however, simply aren't worth replaying the game for if you have the original version, and the removal of the blood has done the game a significant disservice.

Undead Knights is not going to appeal to everyone. Its combat is unrefined and the hack n' slash mentality will get old for those who demand a bit more depth and strategy to their games. However, those just looking for a replayable and ridiculous portable action game won't go far wrong with Tecmo's latest offering. It's got buckets of blood, armies of loyal zombies and characters that feel like complete and utter badasses.

This latest chapter is a good follow-up to an otherwise disappointing second chapter. The back-to-basics dialogue choices, Insult Sword Fighting style of puzzles, as well as the confined interactions, make for a much more pleasant experience.

At a relatively low price of around $10, those who get their kicks out of zombie massacres will find that Zombie Apocalypse is a good time. But for those over the whole "zombie thing" it's unlikely Zombie Apocalypse will change your mind, despite Nihilistic's solid arcade framework.

It can be fun, but the pacing is annoying and the difficulty will frustrate all but the devoted.

If you are that rare somebody who has always been interested in Katamari but never made the plunge, this is a strong recommendation.

Overall, Firefight is a blast and one of the most refreshing experiences with a Halo game in a long time. Firefight is almost worth the purchase of Halo 3: ODST on its own. It encourages teamwork and it’s a feature that games need more of in this day and age.

For both new and old series fans, it's really fun to see how one of the most popular role-playing game series started out.

I really like this game, despite the fact that it can get a little repetitive and the Fallos look sort of ugly.

WET is successful in translating the feel of a b-movie to a videogame format, and it is what it sets out to be -- a fun, gore-soaked, action-packed good time. If you're on the prowl for the popcorn flick of gaming, look no further that WET.

NHL 10 is EA Sports’ best hockey title yet, offering considerably improved gameplay and another hour-eating mode in Be A GM.

There are those who will pick up Scribblenauts and love it completely. However, I fear that there are those who will hate this game, because once you look past the brilliant gimmick and innocent charm, you see a rough game with bad controls and a sense that things just could have been done much better.

Puzzle fans, expect to be engrossed. One of the best and most addictive puzzle games ever has now become even better and even more addicting.

Inside Story is also incredibly beautiful, possibly among the best looking DS games ever made.

Darkest of Days is the worst first-person shooter of this generation.

Harmonix has treated the band’s music, art, and history with a respect and reverence that sets it apart from other similar collections. The question is, how will anyone held responsible for a full band game -- Harmonix or otherwise -- ever really be able to clear the bar that’s been set?