If you’re willing to loosen up and act silly, the end product can be hilarious, especially if you completely ignore the “director’s” instructions.

The game offers two different story modes that each last a couple hours, but aside from a thin combo challenge there isn’t much to do here other than test your might online. Still, fans of both universes are sure to squeeze hours of entertainment out of this package.

The game offers two different story modes that each last a couple hours, but aside from a thin combo challenge there isn’t much to do here other than test your might online. Still, fans of both universes are sure to squeeze hours of entertainment out of this package.

This game is stuffed with things to do, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that you’re just going around in circles. The gameplay fails to elevate this title, and players are unable to take advantage of the possibilities all around them.

This game is stuffed with things to do, but it doesn’t take long to figure out that you’re just going around in circles. The gameplay fails to elevate this title, and players are unable to take advantage of the possibilities all around them.

In a sport searching for the next big crazy trick, this game’s insistence on the basics only takes players so far.

Times change, and games must change with them. Animal Crossing, while still a charming and often engaging experience, seems stuck somewhere in the last generation of gaming.

Ultimately, what I remember most about this game is the wrist and neck pain.

Sacred II nails the unfettered joy of exploring a wide-open fantasy world and ties it to the always-amusing process of building a heroic avatar to meet the stiffest of challenges. To dismiss it merely because of its (dozens of) missteps is to lose out on the many things it does well.

Mirror’s Edge’s gameplay is adrenaline-filled and beautifully tailored, but the experience does end up feeling a bit hollow as the game runs out of new tricks to show the player. In the second half of the game, I started second guessing if I had already run across a particular section. I also became so in-tune with specific challenges that I could do them with my eyes closed...Regardless, this is one of those genre-defining games that everyone needs to see. DICE has pulled off a miraculous feat that hopefully will inspire other FPS developers.

Mirror’s Edge’s gameplay is adrenaline-filled and beautifully tailored, but the experience does end up feeling a bit hollow as the game runs out of new tricks to show the player. In the second half of the game, I started second guessing if I had already run across a particular section. I also became so in-tune with specific challenges that I could do them with my eyes closed...Regardless, this is one of those genre-defining games that everyone needs to see. DICE has pulled off a miraculous feat that hopefully will inspire other FPS developers.

The 360 version of the game is identical to the PC incarnation, but the control blows. [Dec 2008, p.113]

Annoying collect-a-thon aside, Nuts and Bolts is a rare delight that offers up big laughs and inventive gameplay. It also ends up being the closest thing there is to a virtual LEGO set.

If you sleep on Star Wars sheets, give it a try. If not, pretend it doesn’t exist – just like the animated movie.

The graphical style of the show works well on the Wii, and the fighters’ mid-battle banter adds some flavor to the action. I was even amused by the Lightsaber Clash minigames that occasionally interrupted the bouts, even though these sometimes falter due to poor motion control recognition. While these few gameplay elements help make the experience more digestible, it hardly matters because the basic mechanics are a mess.

While this game plays better on the pitch because AI teammates are smarter at taking runs, distributing the ball, and springing others with through balls, it lags behind FIFA in its feedback to the player and the fact that it has a better sim feature while you are on the bench.

This is a shameless cash-in on a popular formula. Don't give Konami the satisfication of duping you. [Nov 2008, p.126]

World at War finally gives us a reason to visit the Pacific Theater with its fun cooperative and multiplayer modes. But the “been there, done that” single-player missions and overall derivative tone keep this very good game from achieving the greatness of its predecessor.

World at War finally gives us a reason to visit the Pacific Theater with its fun cooperative and multiplayer modes. But the “been there, done that” single-player missions and overall derivative tone keep this very good game from achieving the greatness of its predecessor.

World at War finally gives us a reason to visit the Pacific Theater with its fun cooperative and multiplayer modes. But the “been there, done that” single-player missions and overall derivative tone keep this very good game from achieving the greatness of its predecessor. [Jan 2009, p.64]

It works well enough with a bit of practice, though, and 50 complete scenarios in the single-player challenge mode add up to plenty of time spent playing god. [Oct 2008, p.106]

SvR’s great right stick grapple system hasn’t changed much in the last few years, so it’s hard to say the series has evolved much on the mat. I’d still love to see a tutorial system to help newcomers ease into play.

SvR’s great right stick grapple system hasn’t changed much in the last few years, so it’s hard to say the series has evolved much on the mat. I’d still love to see a tutorial system to help newcomers ease into play.

For fans this is a no-brainer, but even those looking for a fighter or RPG with some interesting twists should give this a try.

The title’s relentless immaturity can grate after a while, though. Gruesome executions and grunted, testosterone-soaked dialogue sloppily plaster over the campaign’s heavy-handed morality play. While the plot makes sense this time around, its clumsy mysteries are old hat to anyone moderately well read in science fiction. Still, finding bad things to say about Gears of War 2 is like trying to hate on the ‘07 Patriots. The game is impeccably engineered to dominate everything it sets its sights on, and yet ultimately falls short of achieving true immortality.

Fans will probably dig the game’s cool set pieces and the story, but the save points are placed too far apart, many puzzles require too much random experimentation, and the dialogue system seems like an afterthought. [Nov 2008, p.118]

Console players interested in seeing what all the fuss about RTS is about are probably best served here rather than with the other mediocre efforts to date.

The persistent army customization is a fun hook to maintain interest, the ebb and flow of battle is more dynamic (fighting the AI quickly becomes a tedious slog through its long stream of reinforcements), and the usual RTS pacing metagame becomes something of a remedy for the tepid nuts and bolts of battle.