If you’re a diehard gridiron fan looking for an accurate simulation of the sport, you’ll likely want to stick with EA Sports’ Madden NFL 2002. With that said, NFL Fever looks and sounds awesome, and plays fast, so if it’s an arcade football game with all the trimmings that you’re after, NFL Fever 2002 would be an excellent addition to your playbook.

For the hardcore gamer who likes a scary challenge, this trip down the rabbit hole will feel like home. For everyone else, it may feel more like a session of electro-shock treatment.

You're treated to an interesting plot, fun, sandbox-style gameplay, and atmosphere thick enough to choke a horse. It's honestly one of the most fun titles out there, and occasionally so over-the-top as to be downright hilarious.

Even with the technical snafus that sometimes plague Legends, this is still the best X-Men title ever produced. The Action/RPG elements are nicely integrated within an epic storyline with plenty of intrigue and a huge amount of gameplay that can take 20 hours or more to fully complete.

While LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes suffers from a few questionable design decisions, none of the them ultimately detract from what is an excellent adventure.

Overall, Tropico 3 is a fine city management game, provided that you don't mind that it's essentially just Tropico with a modern game engine.

It’s the margin of potential character advancement, simple yet strategic combat, endearing story and intriguing character interaction that makes a strategy RPG for me. La Pucelle has all that and more.

Even at this early stage (1 of 5), Tales of Monkey Island earns a full recommendation for adventure fans that are pining for the days when games had a strong mental challenge and the payoff was completely hysterical lunacy.

Provides an enjoyable hockey experience that’s easy to pick up and play, graphically sound and aurally interesting just like before. However, this experiment with more realism injected into the series lacks a certain amount of zip that diehard fans have come to know and love.

For a fifteen dollar indie game, Orcs Must Die! has given me more enjoyment than most AAA, sixty dollar titles. I wholeheartedly recommend people buy this game, hardcore and casual crowd alike.

While NBA Live 06 makes a couple of steps forward with the Freestyle Superstar Controls, it manages to make a couple steps backward at the same time.

Personally, I found myself enthralled with the video game, so much so that I pulled a couple of all-nighters going through the game over and over again and noticing new details each and every time.

Case Zero throws on a fresh coat of paint, brings survivors you don't want to strangle, and lets you murder zombies with a pitchfork strapped to a shotgun. It's a lot of fun.

While the gameplay is incredibly engaging and the 3D environments are amazing to behold, Lament of Innocence does bare the curse of being incredibly short.

For all those minor issues, my initial run through Until Dawn is still one of the more satisfying games I’ve played this year.

The AI can be forgiven because it has its occasional brilliant moments; the mission design is in worse straits, being entirely predictable, but if nothing else it gives an excuse to tour the Holy Lands, ambush a few more enemies, and clamber up a few more minarets.

Overall, LittleBigPlanet 3 is more of the same, but it mixes things up more then LBP 2 did thanks to the additional characters.

The bottom line here is that Prototype just doesn’t come together into a cohesive and successful form of interactive entertainment.

For all my complaints, I've probably put forty hours or more into it, and that's the best endorsement I'm able to give.

Final Fantasy and FFII has something that many games nowadays either lack or feature poorly: a well-developed, creative and engaging plot. If you’re into RPG’s in any way, get to the store and get a copy of Final Fantasy Origins. You’ll have over a hundred hours of play in your hands, and you won’t regret a single minute of it.

An improvement over previous titles in the series but there are still some glaring deficiencies to creating music on a console. Among which is a lack of importing and exporting options, and available source material.

Day of Reckoning's focus upon the dreamers and wannabes that are fighting day in and out at house shows is a creative spin for a wrestling game, one that will appeal to a number of wrestling fans whose ultimate dream is to be on that stage themselves.

Rochard takes the somewhat-familiar puzzle-platformer genre and puts a unique spin on it. The gameplay is very well-done, and the controls are usually great, with only a couple of issues.

If you’re a fan of Ridley Scott’s 1979 sci-fi horror film, it’s an experience you absolutely must try.

UMvC 3 is an outstanding game and an absolute must-buy for those who love the series but didn't buy MvC 3 for whatever reason. If you did buy it, then I would recommend waiting for a price drop unless you absolutely MUST recreate your favorite Strider Hiryu moments from MvC 2 - $40 is a fantastic price for those without MvC 3, but isn't so attractive if you already spent $60 on MvC 3.

Pinball FX2 VR is sure to please existing fans of the series – but newcomers may want to just stick with the mainline game for now. The cost-to-value ratio on this game isn’t quite as high due to the comparative lack of content, but what’s here is very good. The table themes for the in-game world are outstanding, and do somewhat offset the lack of content.

All in All, Driver: San Francisco is a successful rebirth for the series.

Overall, I'd say Prototype 2 is a worthy follow-up to the original game. It improves on some key areas, has an intriguing plot, very good voice acting, and is a blast to play. However, its formula can get old after a while and there are some nagging control and camera issues as well. It's a bit lacking in replay value, but is a must-have for anyone who enjoyed the first game.

Considering that the original was a perfect balance of maneuverability and speed, this really turns TMB Online into an awesome title.

The game has one glaring hole that has to disappoint everyone who plays it, even long standing fans of the series, and that is the combat system.

A fun and satisfying musical experience, it’s just a somewhat solitary one.

It controls like a dream, has a catchy soundtrack that is enhanced by the gameplay, and is just flat-out fun to play.

If you’re looking for a game with a ton of depth, replayability and a solid storyline, look no further. Gladius is stockpiled with a ton of features that will appease everyone from the beginning adventurer to the hardcore strategist.

Monster Tale is a must-have for anyone who loves either the 2D Mega Man, Metroid, and "MetroidVania" games.

At points where the car’s unusable, The Following is just more Dying Light, which is still a fun but flawed experience, and those are also the points where the expansion is at its best.

Looking for that perfect escape from the daily grind of supermutants, synths, railroad activists, raiders, rust devils, and Brotherhood of Steel do-gooder types who parade around the post-apocalyptic Boston wasteland like they frigging own the place? Then welcome to Far Harbor, a lovely, picturesque, stupendously highly radioactive island off the coast of Maine.

First Dead Space and now Mirror’s Edge. Kudos to EA for continuing to diversify their portfolio with more original intellectual properties, and hats off to DICE for showing tremendous ambition in creating this Parkour-inspired action game.

It’s hard to play through Monolith’s F.E.A.R. 2 and not get a feeling of déjà vu. Between F.E.A.R., Condemned, and their sequels, this is the fourth scary, first person game that they’ve given us in a row, and unfortunately the experiences aren’t getting any fresher.

BLACK is the kind of gun opera you’d expect from director John Woo, starring Chow Yun Fat. It’s explosive both in its technical presentation and gameplay, but it’s a very short experience.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 delivers on its promise to right past wrongs, even if only marginally. While it still cannot be said that the series is back to the quality the name Final Fantasy is synonymous with, it can be said that FFXIII-2 is a lot more fun than its predecessor, and definitely a step in the right direction. It may take another title or two, but Square definitely seems poised to re-claim the title of the world's best RPG developer.

All in all, Rising Tide is a decent addition to Beyond Earth, and yes, it finally feels like a game that has achieved escape velocity and left the atmosphere and gravitational pull of planet Civ 5.

All the experience and toil Angel Studios went through for the Playstation 2 has created a thoroughly entertaining piece of work for the Gamecube.

Golden Sun is a very enjoyable game and one that remains true to the series. Despite the game's shortcomings when it comes to dialogue and pacing, Dark Dawn is fun while it lasts and a worthy addition to the series. Here's to hoping the wait for the next Golden Sun game won't be nearly as long.

It’s good, simple fun. It’s just that it’s tough to be too upbeat about a game that you might finish in a single sitting.

Shattered Galaxy has the best advancement system I have seen in an RTS game so far and it really makes you want to keep playing.

Luckily, it doesn't sacrifice gameplay for the sake of simplicity.

Without a doubt, the most revolutionary addition to the game is the inclusion of co-operative play.

I wouldn’t recommend Port Royale unless you’re looking for a slow-paced game that challenges your brain more than your reflexes, and unless you’re only planning to play an hour or two each night. If you play any more than that, the game will get too repetitive and too boring too quickly.

The part that will grow on you will be the interaction between you and the monster. The developers have instilled a lot of detail in rendering emotional attributes to the monsters.

Five maps for 1200 MPS is not a very good deal, especially when you can buy many enjoyable arcade games for the same price. The new zombie map -"Call of the Dead"- is, however, enjoyable and the best Call of Duty zombie map so far.

In the end, Rage reminds me a lot of Borderlands, another game that, while uniquely awesome in its own way, ultimately left me disappointed: same basic locale, same silent protagonist, same pseudo-open world, same focus on driving to missions, same side quest driven, bare-bones story. To be honest, the fact that Rage is a better shooter with much better vehicle controls is tempered by the lack of RPG elements that would allow you to invest in, or "own," your character. Instead, you're just sort of... there.

For all of its compelling gameplay, stunning visuals and enjoyable story, Heavenly Sword is definitely worth the afternoon you will spend completing it. Whether those six hours are worth ten dollars an hour is up to you.

Dragon Age II might stir up a little controversy for the radical changes BioWare implemented in the series, but many of them were done to make the game more accessible. It's still the Dragon Age many of us know and love, it's just growing up a bit. If you're looking for a fantastic adventure with incredible dialogue, vastly improved visuals and visceral combat, this game won't disappoint.

If you like the puzzles, then you’ll like the game. If you don’t like (or can’t complete) the puzzles, then you probably won’t. Since I’m guessing most people will fall under the latter category than the former, Uru isn’t a game I’d recommend you purchase.

The radical game imbalance makes this one for the FPS hardcore gamer or the Sci-Fi player who loves futuristic titles.

Escape Plan Bravo in particular ends with a massive cliffhanger, and I’m probably going to end up replaying it just to see the other side of that.

The pets do add a new dimension to the game, though, and so does Old Town.

The expansion's adventures are fun, the settings are interesting to explore and the new monsters are enjoyable to fight. Any serious EverQuest player absolutely must look into the Lost Dungeons of Norrath expansion. The hours of dungeon crawling are worth the price of admission.

While Carcassonne isn’t quite as deep as Catan, it’s certainly an easier game to grasp.

The career mode and the concepts behind the single player game are definitely innovative, and are a solid addition to the racing genre. However, a somewhat tenuous connection between modes, a lackluster inclusion of a trick system and a limited number of tracks keeps Mototrax stuck at the gate for all but the most enthusiastic Motocross fans.

So, while I continue to like the Trine series and the unique game mechanics, and especially the artwork, this entry seems brief, a little rushed, and generally not up to the standard set by the previous games.

Overall, Burnout Paradise Remastered is the best way to experience the game. While it does have some rough edges caused by time moving forward and work not being done to better-modernize it, the game is still a riot. It’s a must-own for anyone who likes fast racing action, and hopefully leads to more Burnout games getting re-released on modern platforms so more players can enjoy them.

That isn’t to say this is a bad game. Even a bad Gears game is a good game; it’s just unfortunate that this series has to end – on this console generation anyway – not with a bang, but with a whimper.

Easily one of the best fighting engines in a hockey game to date.

The only way you shouldn't get Twisted Metal: Head On is if you're deathly afraid of entertainment.

An outstanding remake – and one of the best examples of a full-on remake that we’ve seen in quite some time. It’s an early example of an open-ended platformer, and its minor mixture of RPG and platforming works nicely. It’s definitely a game that has aged, and the core game may not have aged as well as something like the original Sonic or Super Mario Bros. games, but it is still very well crafted.

Somebody at EA needs to stick a post-it note on the producer's door that reads "Dynasty Mode." It's a mess.

It’s hard to play through Monolith’s F.E.A.R. 2 and not get a feeling of déjà vu. Between F.E.A.R., Condemned, and their sequels, this is the fourth scary, first person game that they’ve given us in a row, and unfortunately the experiences aren’t getting any fresher.

An unbelievably fast-paced, fun, and multi-player friendly mountain biking simulation that won't soon be usurped in the extreme sports genre.

Speaking of the missions, they’re both well designed and interesting.

It's a well-polished RPG that plays out well on the GBA and is none too frustrating.

Despite the prosaic setup and run of the mill RPG methodology, Lunar makes up for it in charm.

A very nice expansion pack for a very mediocre game. The additions are numerous and well designed, and they give you a lot of new options while playing the game, but they don’t really change how the game is played.

Anyone who enjoyed EA UFC should give this a shot because they’ve fine-tuned everything that made it great, while those who missed out should give the series a shot here.

First Dead Space and now Mirror’s Edge. Kudos to EA for continuing to diversify their portfolio with more original intellectual properties, and hats off to DICE for showing tremendous ambition in creating this Parkour-inspired action game.

Is Civilization XX worth $59.99? Note that I use XX to illustrate a random Civilization series entry, and not, dear God, Civilization 20. Except for the hardcore Civ folks (and there are a lot of them), the question often seems to result in the answer, no, keep playing Civilization XX-1 and wait for the price to drop, and in this case, as a $29.99 expansion pack, I feel that Rise and Fall does too little to merit going full price. It won’t drag me away from Civ V, but for people who liked VI, Rise and Fall does succeed in prolonging the sweet middle game competition between the early it takes me 20 turns to create a settler and I own the world and just need to wait to finish conquering everything.

Double Impact is a good package, featuring two of the greatest co-op arcade games of all time. Final Fight is really showing its age now, but it's been twenty years, so that may have been inevitable. Magic Sword has aged a great deal more gracefully, and of the two, it's the one that I've been going back to.

A solid storyline, the inclusion of co-op play and plenty of unlockable items and abilities go a long way in extending the life of this game. However, the contradictory AI and sometimes abysmal camera angles can complicate the gaming experience.

Succeeded beyond my wildest dreams to create a fast-paced indoors arena sport that is easy to learn and fun to play; the two most important elements when you deal with fantasy sports.

A solid script, good gameplay and a huge dose of humor makes this game stand out as a nice platformer. Unfortunately, technical issues prevent this game from truly standing out as exceptional.

Madden 12 does a lot of things very well. I can say without hesitation that the new and improved presentation, animations, movements, and overall NFL atmosphere of the game are enough to warrant the new purchase. Superstar mode was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I cannot justify too much of a hit due to this, as Franchise mode is the cream of the crop for Madden fans – and Franchise mode really does shine. If you are a Madden fan and/or football fan, don't hesitate to pick this one up.

Muramasa Rebirth is about as good a remake as one could realistically hope for on the Vita and a must-buy for anyone who enjoyed the original release but wished it controlled better than it did.

Elite Force ranked solidly OK as far as I was concerned, and, with very few changes to it, Elite Force 2 is OK as well. I would have liked to see some improvements for a game that was this close to something special.

Bound in Blood certainly isn’t without its flaws, but for fans of the genre I definitely suggest picking it up and giving it a try.

Offers up a serving of both what was great and frustrating about old-school gaming. This is likely to divide players, but me? I liked it.

I love the color. I love the creativity. I love the intensity and the barely controlled mayhem. But over it all, there’s no denying that Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is more or less a glittery skin thrown over Borderlands 3. As a DLC maybe (and when I told some of my friends that I was reviewing Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, several of them asked, oh, is that the new Borderlands DLC?) something limited to the 10-15 hour or less realm (and the $20 or less price tag), this might work. But as a new thing, that really isn’t anything different from the old thing, Gearbox really needs to find something to freshen up this formula, and I don’t mean top-flight voice talent.

The load times are pretty bad, but once the game is loaded it's a pretty good time.

If you were enamoured with Doom 3, and especially if you have a group of like-minded friends, you might be willing to bite the expense.

Yakuza 4 is everything you would expect from the series. The shift to a four-main-character storyline is the most welcome change it offers, and one that adds an entirely new flavor to a city already familiar to fans. Its brazen Japanese lifestyle mixed with ridiculous street brawling and lives of crime suck you in and make you want to stay. Despite it's flaws and its last-game (and in some cases, last-gen) presentation, Yakuza 4 is worth the odd missions one would have to complete in order to secure a loan to buy it.

Just like the first one, but there's more of it...It isn't going to win any new fans over to the genre, but it is very good at what it does.

I really enjoyed Shattered Soldier and I highly recommend that you grab a best friend and tear through this game some Friday night.

The Sims 3 succeeds on all counts, despite some technical difficulties.

Madden 12 does a lot of things very well. I can say without hesitation that the new and improved presentation, animations, movements, and overall NFL atmosphere of the game are enough to warrant the new purchase. Superstar mode was a bit of a disappointment for me, but I cannot justify too much of a hit due to this, as Franchise mode is the cream of the crop for Madden fans – and Franchise mode really does shine. If you are a Madden fan and/or football fan, don't hesitate to pick this one up.

When you get right down to it, Lost Odyssey plays like a mediocre Final Fantasy game, which isn’t so bad really. Hell, some Final Fantasy games have played like mediocre Final Fantasy games, and if you’re a 360 owner who loves classic RPGs you’re going to want to play it.

While WWE '13 has a lot of problems, I think it's a far better overall game than WWE '12, but still lacks the polish that SvR '11 and past series entries have had.

The bottom line here is that Prototype just doesn’t come together into a cohesive and successful form of interactive entertainment.

The weapons themselves are extremely overwhelming to the enemy soldiers.

If "SOCOM" and "Max Payne" had a baby, it would be The Thing...A rare exception in a genre where movie-to-game titles rarely succeed.