Urban Trial Freestyle may throw in the occasional little tweak, but they aren’t enough to elevate the game past the level of a flattering wannabe. If you're into the idea of a platforming-heavy motorbike game, stick with the tried and true Trials series.

This impressive graphical fidelity takes a serious hit in the transition to multiplayer. Though Crysis 3 has some of the better-designed maps in the series, the muddied textures are a far cry from the jaw-dropping visuals of the single-player campaign, especially on consoles.

Though it’s still saddled with the plot baggage of its predecessors, Crysis 3 is at least the most cohesive story in the series.

Crysis 3’s evolutionary enhancements don’t move the needle for the series very far, but the core nanosuit-based gameplay is still thrilling. If you have a rig that can run the PC version of Crysis 3, I strongly recommend you go this route. The high-resolution textures, realistic lighting, and detailed facial animations gives you a taste of the graphical fidelity we expect to be standard in next-generation consoles.

If you have any hopes for this story building on Metal Gear lore or giving you a chance to reconnect with characters you care about, you will be disappointed. The new characters are uninteresting and poorly developed, and the old characters are practically non-existent.

This title isn’t Bayonetta wearing a Metal Gear skin; whether you are hoping for a meaningful expansion of the Metal Gear universe or a gratifying action experience, Revengeance falls short. Brutalizing cyborgs and hacking giant mechs to pieces is fun, but the restrictive design and lack of precision keep Raiden from capturing the best of both worlds.

The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth lures you in with the promise of a strategic city builder, but once you’re on the hook, the fun dissipates as you are repeatedly penalized unless you keep a steady stream of costly mithril flowing through your city. I like strategic city-building games, and I like Tolkien’s universe. I don’t like The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-earth.

Stick To It is a fun experience, but it ends quickly and tends to be on the easy side of things. It won’t be much of a test of your problem-solving or platforming skills, even if you are trying to get the star on each level. Despite this, you can do worse if you’ve got $1.99 to spare and are looking for a breezy and cute iOS title.

If you’re looking for cheap multiplayer, buy an older Call of Duty or Gears game. As is, there’s really no reason for Special Forces: Team X to be a must-have for any shooter fan.

Unfortunately, the result of the long wait is something that feels like an abandoned mod.

Take away the Aliens license, and you’ve got a shooter that has no reason to exist.

Aliens: Colonial Marines’ odious mess can be smelled from low orbit, and only the most ardent Aliens fans will find anything redeeming.

The Brain Age series has a certain charm about it, but this installment is easily my least favorite. If Devilish Training were some unlockable throwaway mode, I’d be OK with it. As the main new concept in a series, however, it makes the experience more annoying than it is entertaining or educational.

After playing so many shooters in recent years, Thieves in Time’s old-school platforming is a breath of fresh air. While it doesn’t innovate, its subtle craftsmanship and varied gameplay reasserts what we’ve always known: This genre still has something important to add to the game industry. I hope this game meets with the success it deserves.

Dead Space 3 is still creepy, but this entry is more action-packed than previous games. That’s a good thing. Isaac’s intuitive new dodge roll makes avoiding the larger nercromorph attacks more manageable.

Dead Space 3 evolves the winning formula into a title not only befitting of the fantastic series, but also one of the best games of this generation.

ZeptoLab continues to set a high bar with its presentation and gameplay, but Pudding Monsters comes up short in the innovative puzzle department. I ripped through it very fast, and though there is the promise of free additional puzzles in the future, I don’t think I will be returning to stick more blobs together.

Omerta fails to close the loop that XCOM managed so adroitly by having a strategic layer so simple as to be a pointless afterthought, with no simulation depth to make up for a game world that turns the other cheek to the most egregious of criminal offenses and a combat system that doesn't rise above basic adequacy.

Gamers would be hard pressed to find a more unique, engaging puzzle game.

Book of Shadows holds plenty to love if you enjoyed the first game, but the wavering quality holds it back. Think of it like a good book; you turn the pages with fervor, awaiting the next big reveal, but the problem is you're yawning through boring parts just as much.

During my time with Awakening, I always had a reaction to what was going on around me. My heart raced as I watched enemies close in on an injured character, and I found myself devastated if I executed an action that cost me the match. Awakening made me scratch and claw for victory, and I savored every moment.

Crimson Shroud takes the RPG formula and boils it down to its essence. The story reads like a novel, the characters are tabletop miniatures, and instead of exploring dungeons, you select areas from a map to enter and roll dice during combat. It's a blessing for old-school RPG fans who love managing statistics, but it also showcases why some old RPG mechanics have been abandoned.

Exploring Knytt Underground's vast world and learning about the eccentric cast of characters and surprisingly deep lore can be fun – just don't expect any kind of rewarding conclusion to be awaiting you at the end of your adventure.

At least you don't have to solve solo; The Cave supports up to three players working together on a single TV, but falls short of letting players split up, so you still have to switch back and forth as puzzles demand characters in different locations. Still, that cooperative vibe echoes the way many players first encountered the genre – a group of friends gathered around a screen, laughing at the crazy solutions required to slip past a perplexing blocked path. In replicating that novel experience, The Cave succeeds.

That cooperative vibe echoes the way many players first encountered the genre – a group of friends gathered around a screen, laughing at the crazy solutions required to slip past a perplexing blocked path. In replicating that novel experience, The Cave succeeds.

Hello Games has successfully boiled down all the major elements that made the series fun on consoles, making this handheld version just as entertaining as its console brethren.

Despite my preconception that handling baggage at an airport is not enjoyable, I wanted Aero Porter to surprise me. Unfortunately, it didn't.

It's the kind of strategy game that I love; it lets you visualize and execute your best-laid plans, even if they can go down in flames. [Feb 2013, p.92]