Bodycount is fun enough but seems to come off more as a late summer diversion; something to keep you busy until a "real FPS" game arrives. It has its moments, along with an awkward control scheme and a glitched grenade system, but Bodycount sadly ends up being just another disposable FPS, released at the wrong time, and destined for the budget bin.

FIFA Soccer 12 is remarkable. It is addictive. It is fun. It is the closest a videogame has ever come to the real thing and it easily gets my vote for sports game of the year.

Ultimately, Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure is a joy to play and a surprising treat that is destined to be the most talked-about game of the holiday season.

X-Men: Destiny is a budget-priced offering wrapped in a full-priced package. By no means is it worth the $49.99 MSRP – which is a real shame given the excellent source material Silicon Nights had to work with.

All told, X-Men Destiny is both a damn shame and a massive waste of potential.

RailWorks 3: Train Simulator 2012 has a lot to offer those that have a diehard passion for trains of all types. It definitely adds some new features to the series that they will appreciate.

I have to say that I highly enjoyed Dark Souls. I'm a huge RPG fan and this is one of the truly exceptional pieces of hardcore gaming available for the console. This is not a game for everyone as it can be quite brutal and demands a lot of time to fully enjoy it.

Ace Combat has finally returned and it's awesome.

If you're looking for ultimate detail and resolution and perfect framerate then stick with your PC version of Crysis, but if you don't play PC games, or your PC was never able to play Crysis in the first place then the 360 version of Crysis is a fantastic port that uses their latest engine to deliver great graphics and sound and superior controls, all for only $20 in the On-Demand store.

Despite having no real online or real-time multiplayer, Burnout Crash is totally addicting and lends itself perfectly to that "just one more time" mentality that kept me up one night until sunrise.

I literally had to force myself to play this game, grumbling throughout the first 2-3 stages, but eventually the Castlevania-style gameplay and unique stylized graphics overcame my shattered expectations and I started to appreciate the game for what it is – a kick-ass, old-school platformer that will deliver hours of challenging fun regardless of its title.

Despite its nods to other genres, Rage is a solid FPS. It might not quite hearken back to the oldest days of id, but it points towards something even better. I just hope that it won't take them eight more years to make their next game.

That said, NHL 12 is a serviceable hockey game with excellent presentation value. I wish it were a bit faster and more fluid, but the increased control that comes with slower gameplay is nice as well. Owners of NHL 11 may want to skip this year's offering because the changes are not all that much different from last year's model – but if you were one of those clamoring fans asking for goalie fights, then your prayers have been answered.

If you were to pick SkyDrift apart you would be hard pressed to find any individual gameplay elements that have not been seen before – but as an entire package SkyDrift is a surprisingly fun and unique take on the racing genre and worth every penny of its $15 cost.

Sadly, The Gunstringer is rather short, clocking in at around 5-8 hours depending on your skill and dedication. There are plenty of reasons to replay the game, chapter modifiers, optional commentary tracks, and a host of unlockable bonuses, so you won't stop playing even after you've won.

This is virtual reality without the goggles and the gloves, and if you own a Kinect you should at least experience it once.

The level of challenge and degree of difficulty ramps up smoothly over the course of the game, and all passage of time will slip by, as you become immersed and even hypnotized by the dazzling graphics and stunning music in Child of Eden; one of the most original games I've ever played this year on the PS3 and certainly a perfect fit for the PS Move.

Rotastic is simply not worth the 800 Microsoft points it'd take you to buy it. With graphics, presentation, and gameplay comparable to a $1 game on a mobile phone, and with some of the most amazing, creative, beautiful games ever to grace the Xbox Live Marketplace available for 1200 points, there's no way this game is possibly worth what they're charging.

Nippon Ichi did a great job at creating a classic world with good old fashioned gameplay.

Whether you're a die-hard Spidey fan or just looking for the next great action-fighting game, Edge of Time excels in every aspect of game design with solid combat, fun navigational puzzles, and one of the best cinematic presentations of any Spider-Man game to date.

Whether you're a die-hard Spidey fan or just looking for the next great action-fighting game, Edge of Time excels in every aspect of game design with solid combat, fun navigational puzzles, and one of the best cinematic presentations of any Spider-Man game to date.

Rage looks like a launch title for whatever system Xbox is planning for us next. I still can't believe my six year old Xbox 360 is capable of delivering the graphics and the gameplay I've been enjoying for the past week. Rage is much more than just the best FPS experience I've had in 2011; it is a pivotal and redefining moment for the future of game design that will push your console further than anyone though it could go. You don't want to miss this.

As I said before, it may not be perfect, but it's a step in the right direction for the genre. It'll be interesting to see what improvements come to the game as the minor bugs are ironed out. And even more interesting will be where we go next, now that Nuclear Dawn has shown us what a game is capable of doing.

Overall, the amount of different play modes both online and offline are staggering. There is something for just about everyone and when you get tired of one mode there is something different to explore.

For the low price of $10 though I can look past the issues with Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 and play it even as is just for the pure bloody fun it was. If you want to relive your childhood then this is one of the arcade packs I suggest you buy before any other because let's face, everyone wanted to be Liu kang or Sub-Zero at one point or another, and this is as close as you're going to get. Not counting the brand new versions with HD graphics and killer X-Ray moves.

I stopped having "true fun" about halfway through X-Men: Destiny and sadly finished out of obligation and a curiosity to see how the story would unfold. Hopefully, if you're a bigger fan of the X-Men franchise than I am you'll have a better time. Casual gamers should probably skip – this is one for true X-Men aficionados.

I stopped having "true fun" about halfway through X-Men: Destiny and sadly finished out of obligation and a curiosity to see how the story would unfold. Hopefully, if you're a bigger fan of the X-Men franchise than I am you'll have a better time. Casual gamers should probably skip – this is one for true X-Men aficionados.

Until then, Driver: San Francisco is without a doubt, one of the most entertaining, innovative, and challenging racing games you can play on your console or PC.