If you are hungering for a good tycoon game, keep looking. The Movies won’t butter your popcorn. But if the idea of making your own short films sounds even remotely interesting, the creation tools and capabilities of the game can provide hours and hours of fun.

The interface problems, with the help of poor unit AI and netcode, are the key reasons for our frustration with Generals otherwise outstanding gameplay.

You’re not likely to find another game that lets you skip the pansy levels and move onto the dragon-smiting immediately.

The thick atmosphere, the AI which uses (and forces you to use) Sun Tzu's principles, the great graphics and sound - it's an amazing work of art.

The most important thing we can say is that we had a whole lot of fun playing it - and that's what matters, isn't it?

SimCity 4’s biggest flaw is that it’s not a SimCity. It’s some third-party interpretation of what SimCity should be like, with some grand new features. The new features are implemented but the designers totally missed what makes a SimCity.

BFV's lack of originality can't be excused - not only isn't it all that much different from the original, it isn't even clearly better than the Desert Combat mod.

Quake Wars just has too much going on to fall into a rut, not counting a couple of choke points on certain maps. It has all the characteristics of an excellent hardcore game except the performance, and that’s a shame. Hopefully upcoming patches will address this and the voice comms issue.

Though the game progression is linear, replayability exists in running through the game again just to see if you missed any of the subtle humor, and to finish the game as a different character, since each has its own ending.

The brightest point about all this, is that if Microsoft wants to spend the money, all of these problems can be patched away. A better chat interface is easy – even color-coding messages would help tremendously. Co-op is a long-term project but not impossible.

I utterly hated the singleplayer aspect but enjoyed the multiplayer.

Easily the best 4X game right now and the best that we’ll see for years to come. The AI of this spectacular title alone will keep gamers talking long after its moment in the spotlight is over.

Even with its replayability and late-game problems, Silent Storm is really the best turn-based tactical game ever. Yes, it doesn’t have the strategic aspects of X-Com, but no game has such advanced combat.

Orcs Must Die! is a blast, offering a fun, fresh twist on one of my favorite genres of all time. While its unique defensive structures will be appreciated by the more creative strategist, I'm sure this title would be especially enjoyed by those that might be bored by the more detached nature of traditional tower defense games.

Where the game falls short is in not providing enough for the player to do, so its lack of depth becomes apparent. In the GTA titles the player was kept too busy to worry about the limitations of the world; in Fable there aren’t nearly as many options or missions. The storyline is also poorly crafted though engaging with its chilling touches of darkness.

Though it bears similarities in style and setting to its predecessor, at heart is a new game with incredible depth that is accessible to any dedicated strategy gamer now, thanks to the completely overhauled interface.

While the original Icewind Dale was a very tight, focused product, the sequel is very rough around the edges, and though the aesthetics are superior to the original, the game itself is undeniably inferior.

Looks outstanding, plays well, has authentic sounds, and is fully customizable to fit your flight sim needs. It's not perfect, but it's likely the best World War II era flight sim available.

A solid entry in the series but doesn’t really advance it meaningfully in any way. Indeed, in some ways – the brevity of the campaign, the so-so missions – it’s a step back from previous games.

It will scare you silly and make you dizzy and when you finish the game you will likely not forget some of the things you encountered for some time. Again, we wish it was a longer experience and we feel not enough was done with multiplayer but on the whole it’s definitely worth picking up.

We loved the graphics, sound, game play, to put it simply -- everything. Crimson Skies is bound to bring some ray of light to your tortured existence. If not with its campy humor, then possibly with its incredibly fun game play.

L.A. Noire is an ambitious and brilliant game, carrying a new vision for the adventure genre. Sadly, it tries too hard to appeal to the mainstream by taking away control of your actions too often.

Everything was handed to the development team on a platter – a working engine, complete with all basic content (textures, models, terrain) and this is the best they can come up with?

Just one of those strange games that has it all on paper, executes the design properly and yet doesn’t capture the imagination.

I found Dragon Age II to last about 27 hours for my first playthrough, split almost evenly between its three acts (though the last was a bit shorter). This was disappointing compared to Origins, which took more than 50 hours, considering both were fully explored at a fairly leisurely pace...With that said, DA2 is still a pretty darn good game.

Fallout: Tactics isn't just one of the better squad-combat games out there. It's also a decent action game, and has strong roleplaying aspects.

A management nut’s dream. It doesn’t have quite all the depth options of Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 (better known as "Football Manager 2006"), but the number of options and the veracity of the simulation are staggering compared to anything that EA or 2K Games have come out with.

There's no way it's worth the $59.99 they're asking. Based on the length of time you'll spend playing, it's comparable to being charged double- or triple-price for a movie ticket, when you may already be hesitant to pay the regular amount as it is! If you want to play it, rent it for 360 or PS3.

It’s balanced, it’s fun, and I can’t wait to get to level 140 again!

Random hilarious run-ins occur frequently, many times when they aren't even scripted. And for a show that has virtually nothing to do with driving, it's impressive to see a Springfield with seamlessly integrated wacky vehicles, destructive driving (Canyonero! - it's in the game, baby), and unexpected donut theft.

Quake 4 just isn't notably better than "Quake III" in multiplayer, while having the single worst server browser known to man.

The stake gun and painkiller are simply useless in multiplayer, and they’re your starting weapons. This is as poorly thought out as id giving the blaster as the weapon in "Quake II."

People have different styles of play to go along with different tastes and preferences. You now have some choice as to which RPG is for you. I could never really say which is better than the others are since they are so unique, yet so common.

Metro 2033 is like the eastern European Half-Life – a must for fans of post-apocalyptic settings, narrative shooters, survival horror, or any combination thereof.

Vehicles, weapons, bases, and factions are all inter-woven into a system of balanced and sophisticated combat, even if it does feel like fighting for fighting’s sake.

Fast, fun, and unapologetically crass, this is the best game I’ve played in a long time, and is truly deserving of the moniker “role-playing shooter.”

Red Orchestra starts bright but fades rather quickly. The exact cause was difficult to pin down, since the game is truly excellent on most technical levels, yet the whole doesn’t seem equal to the sum of its parts, never mind better.

To really make the game more than a 5 minute thrill ride, dedication and study and going to have to be a large part of the game for you. Fighting against opponents in Flanker is very challenging. Lowering the realism will help quite a bit until you feel ready to notch the realism up some.

Treyarch really stepped up this year by putting out their best Call of Duty game to date.

Not just a fun adventure game on its own but also an impressive example of how the growing episodic game trend could evolve.

Mirror’s Edge is a lot of good ideas mucked up by poor implementation and an apparent lack of play testing.

Raven has done a fantastic job honing in on the strengths of Jedi Outcast and eliminating its weaknesses. Shoddy, confusing, and dull level design has been dropped for a succession of catchy, focused missions that carry you along for hours.

The only thing really missing from Ghost Master is the wow factor. There's no feeling of ever being overwhelmed with how cool the game is, nor do you 'wake up' from a Ghost Master marathon at 6am and realize you have to shower for work, because there's no chance of having a Ghost Master marathon.

It's got a fascinating and complex plot that's based on real history and legends, so playing the game is in many ways, an "educational" experience. However, when you get down to the core, Gabriel Knight 3 is a solid, but not earth shattering adventure game.

While it does refine the genre, Dungeon Siege II doesn’t really offer anything truly new. Sure, we can take issues with the graphics or the somewhat uneven difficulty level, but the real trouble comes in the lack of meaningful addition.

If you think you'd like killing a LOT of zombies in huge and varied open-world environments, finding boat-loads of randomized loot, customizing your character and weapons RPG-style, or all of the above, you will love Dead Island. Bring some friends along for the ride and you virtually cannot go wrong. Just don't expect much in terms of story or quest depth, and be sure to mod the game just the way you like it.

A better game than Deus Ex, but it’s a lesser experience. It is far less ambitious, not as complicated and about a third as long.

We’d be tempted to give the game another editor’s choice award, actually, but what holds us back most is that the expanded timeline and the cataclysmic war between the Allies and Warsaw Pact is really only for those who love the burden of taking on such a massive conflict.

The game artificially creates work for the player - ie, having to switch a sniper to shooting mode is patently ridiculous.

Most of the challenge may be in timing the super combos correctly, but there’s an elegant simplicity to the gameplay which endures throughout.

Yes, yes, no doubt Valve will release more maps soon and the community is already churning new content out, but are we expected to pay for an updated mod that was free which offers less content than the original but that’s supposed to be ok because the community will fix it? Huh? That’s logic I can't wrap my head around.

To be truthful, Titan mode is really the only significant addition to the game. This could just as easily have been an expansion pack for Battlefield 2, featuring Titan.

Where the developers chose to, they pulled off a great first-person RPG complete with sneaking, combat, dialogue, an interesting story and of course role-playing elements... On the other hand, its combat is not that strong and yet for some reason someone at Troika or Activision saw fit to include multiple prolonged sequences of it. Furthermore, the balance of the game is really thrown off by those fights.

With only minor flaws like somewhat poor AI and brevity, and only one major missing feature in multiplayer, it’s hard not to like this game.

The game is much more accessible and deeper at the same time, but doesn’t force too much simplicity or complexity on anyone. In those regards, it’s perfect.

While I typically look upon design appropriation negatively, Divine Divinity’s conciseness and irreverence set put it an uncontested step ahead of the opposition.

A surprisingly charming title. It’s simple enough to be liked by casual gamers and deep enough to have some appeal for the hardcore player.

A good game and graphically far superior to Silent Hunter III, but a couple of weeks more in beta, and some outside testing to tell the designers to stuff their interface where the sun doesn't shine would have done wonders for the game.

Assassin's Creed was scheduled to be a trilogy from the outset, so hopefully Ubisoft will take a fresh look at some of the problems here and correct them in the future. Right now, though, this is more of an almost-there concept than a fully realized game.

The adventure is too buried under the business sim, which is a bit too inelegant for its own good, and the strategy is hobbled by a really lame combat system. At least it's better than Bethesda's recent "Pirates of the Caribbean."

Monolith could’ve done so much more with the nuked city in regard to level design, instead you find yourself still exploring generic offices and buildings like you did in F.E.A.R. And come on now, no mouse side button binds? Seriously? How hard could that have been to implement.

Just keep in mind that this isn’t "Baldur’s Gate," that the focus of play is far removed from the tactical combat mechanics of yore, and that you’re mostly adventuring solo.

Hopefully Ubi shakes things up for a third instalment however, because the current trend is going to result in something downright style and mediocre for Vegas 3.

In the area of goofy fun, this game lives for eternity.

If you can get past the brick-handed interface and get into the game itself, odds are you'll enjoy it.

Complete with in-game cinematics, amazing cut-scenes and great speech-conveyed plot (moments), this is as close to an interactive movie as the Roberts boys have ever been.

There certainly is potential in the game, but too many things about the game make it feel unfinished: the lack of distinct monsters, the degeneration of the level design as the game progressed, and the small amount of gameplay in the box.

A lot of great ideas with poor execution. The premise for the story is good - a lone gunman rebelling against an oppressive corporation - but the storytelling and characters are so thin that you're never drawn in.

Bottom line, if you're looking to get sucked into a game and feel like you are a part of its world, this one is not going to cut it.

Zeno Clash is a welcome game from the veteran mod team of ACE. We honestly can’t wait to see what this team can accomplish in the future, especially with their focus on creativity in design and game play.

This is definitely a faster-paced and more action-oriented SupCom, and while some people will like that, I would count myself with those that were hoping for more substance in the sequel to one of the deepest strategy games out there. As such, color me unimpressed.

There is an abundance of strategic options, so there is depth in that way, but not all of them work as well as they should.

A game with so much potential and so many great ideas, but, despite being a sequel, it doesn't have the polish necessary to deliver a compelling game.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine is probably one of the best examples of how Wolverine was meant to be portrayed beyond the comics: brutal, bloody, and violent as hell. But that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. The game plays it safe too much in terms of gameplay, afraid to stray from the tried and true action formula that has sustained other series’ like God of War and Devil May Cry.

It's got almost enough gameplay to rival "Battlefield 1942" as the definitive team-based action game, but with a much smoother, more ambitious, and ultimately more effective engine.

On the one hand, I love the flight models, the graphics and the challenge of multiplayer. On the other hand, there's no escaping the conclusion that this is really just a spruced up "Forgotten Battles" with carriers and more American-Japanese planes.

There is a lot of work that needs to be done with patching, and an SDK wouldn’t hurt. Hell, players might go ahead and fix everything themselves, a la Oblivion and Fallout 3. Right now, it’s certainly not worth full price, even if it is $10 less than usual.

The level design is fantastic with an eye not just on good looks, but good gameplay as well.

Battles are fast and furious, but you never feel overwhelmed or pulled in too many directions at once.

They replicated a lot of the surface that made the original so good but F.E.A.R. Extraction Point ultimate feels hollow when you finish it, thanks in large part to a storyline that’s less of an expansion and more of an extended ending to the original.

The bottom line is that Unreal 2 is saddled with unmemorable weapons and enemies, disappointing AI, a dull lead character, underdone level design, and a lack of technical polish, all wrapped around the same old stuff you’ve seen in so many first person shooters, most of which are better than this game.

If you value a good story, engaging combat, and convincing vocal performances in an RPG, you will most certainly find Two Worlds II to be lacking. However, if you appreciate the journey itself and don't mind a game that's rough around the edges, you might want to give it a try.

There are a lot of little reasons to get Black & White 2, but none of them comes together with quite the synergy that would make them more than the sum of their parts.

If Ritual can improve the plotting of future chapters, add more variety to the enemies and weapons and maybe make the game a tad longer per episode (we would have preferred six to eight hours for the price) we could see this becoming a successful new way to present PC games.

I really did enjoy the game, but I can't help but wonder what it would have been like if Volition didn't have to make sacrifices for the sake of the console versions.

I have no desire to punish myself repeatedly trying to beat a game. On the other hand, if you do crave that kind of challenge, I cannot think of a game better suited to deliver than Shadowgrounds.

Though Kingdoms addresses all of the original criticisms of Total Annihilation, it continues to suffer from extremely high system requirements.

Unfortunately, all of this is marred by a buggy game (even after the v1.1 update) and incredibly stupid computer AI (which controls your teammates).

Not terrible. Not stellar. Just average. There’s quite a bit to like about this game, but there’s just as much that makes you say, “meh.”

It’s a great recreation of the old Marvel comic book to which geeks like myself will quickly warm, and the best use of a movie license in at least a couple of years.

The multiplayer just isn't interesting enough to bother with while the single player game offers no replayability to speak of.

The game itself is remarkably well put together. Graphics, sound and gameplay come together to create a terrifying yet intriguing experience. You'll be on edge of your seat and scared as you play even during "safe" areas, just because of previous experiences or the feeling that something is about to happen.

The ability to be the cop and call up backup such as the chopper and spike strips is a noble attempt but just not enough. They are fun to use but a few tweaks do not make a game.

Oni does present a truly awesome hand to hand combat system, certainly the best on the PC.

One of the key features, the Crusades, are utterly broken in this reviewer's opinion and the game would be much better without them enabled.

Dark Crusade had done everything already, but the two new races and better campaign are a decent addition when the price gets down to a decent level, that is.

This game has so many good things going for it that it hurts to rant about the shortcomings. To start, the controls are severely jacked.

Doesn’t live up to its illustrious predecessors. So many changes has cost the game its identity.