Broken Age: Act 1 is an amusing game, but it’s not a great game, and it’s a little disappointing given its pedigree. It has all the charm and personality in the world, but the puzzles are so lukewarm and obvious that they drag down everything with them.

The first hour or so is pretty dull, as you fight uninspired enemies in an equally as uninteresting old mine. Once you get into the town of Silent Hill, things get far more engaging, and everything gets better from there on. Downpour isn't the strongest installment in the series, but it is a very good old school survival horror game. If anything, it'll make you nostalgic for the days when finding that evasive red key so you could unlock that mysterious red door to find the blue key for the other door was the most important thing on your to-do list.

It’s far from perfect but High Heat Baseball 2002 is as good as it gets… for now.

A very good football game. It's not without it minor flaws, such as some clipping in animations, weird AI issues from time to time, and some awkward looking hits and collisions. None of these tend to affect the gameplay at all, however.

While the overpowered weaponry, somewhat repetitive track scheme and rubberband AI complicate gameplay, Jak X is still good enough for fans of the platforming duo to pick up and play with their friends off or online.

If only the battle portion were better and the management section more accommodating of large empires, Knights of Honor would give the "Total War" folks a serious run for their money.

If you’re a fan of the series, or have an interest in the medical genre, I can definitely recommend this game to you. If you feel that you’ve played the series out, however, then there just may not be enough quality, fresh content to pull you back.

It may not be for everyone, but for those that enjoy that kind of thing, and enjoyed past games, you’ll get your money’s worth out of Chrono Phantasma.

A couple of years ago, Red Faction would have been a stellar title but now, it’s simply a very good one.

All said, Conan the game, like the titular barbarian himself, is very one dimensional. It’s great for getting in a little much needed smashing time, and maybe for checking out some computer generated boobage, but after a run through or three of the story mode it’s pretty much spent.

If you are a fan of mini-games, then Rayman Raving Rabbids is easy to recommend. Though some games are repeated in different forms, and some controls problems are present, there is certainly plenty of fun to be had.

It's made complex because of the user interface, which is anything but logical and intuitive. There are too many instances where doing something simple can be needlessly complicated.

A good leap forward from 2D into the 3D realm. However, a few graphical and gameplay flaws, as well as its short duration, detract from the total overall experience, making it seem like more of an expansion pack than a full title.

Renegade Ops doesn't aim to push any boundaries or blow our minds in any substantial way; its sole purpose is to give gamers an incredibly fun game they can share with their friends. It might not be something you remember a year from now but this is definitely an experience you should check out, if only because there isn't anything out there with this level of polish or a personality this nutty and consistently fun.

RPG fans that are interested in a good laugh at their favorite genre's expense will probably dig this title, flaws and all.

Renegade Ops doesn't aim to push any boundaries or blow our minds in any substantial way; its sole purpose is to give gamers an incredibly fun game they can share with their friends. It might not be something you remember a year from now but this is definitely an experience you should check out, if only because there isn't anything out there with this level of polish or a personality this nutty and consistently fun.

If you bought the first one, save yourself the $40 and just pull out the old one again – you won’t be missing anything of consequence.

Nobody makes DLC like the team at Rockstar and The Ballad of Gay Tony is no exception. Like The Lost and Damned before it, The Ballad of Gay Tony offers up an 8-10 hour campaign for only $20. That is amazing value.

The bottom line here is that Broken Steel is more Fallout 3, and if you’re a fan that can’t possibly be a bad thing. Like with the other DLC, the story will probably only take you a few hours to go through and then you’re left with the goodies.

Metro 2033 has a lot going for it, but it has a cruel streak that I both dread and admire. It kept me playing to find out what happened next, but it was always a tug-of-war between my curiosity about the plot and my desire to keep getting brutalized by unforgiving game design.

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

Dedicating all your time, you can finish the game in about fifteen hours, which includes the completion of all Baumusu’s challenges, unlocking of arenas, and other rewards. This seriously decreases the replay factor.

The addition of the All-Star Weekend is something that was too long in coming, and manages to convey enough changes to warrant an upgrade for longtime fans of the series.

My early assertion that Skyshine’s Bedlam is a lot like The Banner Saga with a sci-fi setting is pretty close. The story in Bedlam is far thinner, but they’ve tweaked the combat and added some resources to balance and I think they’ve ended up with a better game.

EA deserves a lot of credit here for breaking the mold of Wii versions of core sports games. By altering both the gameplay style and the visual style, they've managed to create an experience that, while not as deep and involving, is inviting and enjoyable in its own way.

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 a solid exercise program and something that fully demonstrates the EyeToy's flexibility for gaming, fulfilling the concept of player/game immersion.

It's fun, but I'm not sure it's forty bucks worth of fun.

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.

While it might not have a lot that players will find in replay value, the story and in-game action, particularly those of the interrogations, makes The Punisher a title that a number of gamers will enjoy.

GoW lacks the sort of awe that I found in Bioshock, and it doesn’t really immerse you in the plot the way that Half-Life did, and it’s not so completely out-of-the-box like Portal, but it has a certain visceral Doom-ish quality that many of the more intellectual FPS games don’t.

I come away from this game with nothing but mixed feelings. Pretty much every aspect starts by exciting you, giving you hope that an RPG is finally going to be all the things you want it to be. But at every turn, it mocks you with "Just kidding!", ripping the rug out from under your feet and making you taste cold reality again. This back and forth relationship makes playing The Witcher 2 tiring. Everything is a battle against good intentions turned sour by fatal design flaws. It's one of those games that I don't regret having played, but I also wouldn't recommend it to a friend, either. And since that's exactly where the first game left me, I have little hope that the Witcher universe will ever be a place I feel at home.

I wound up loving the downloadable version of Daytona USA. If you grew up playing it in its heyday, or enjoyed it as Sega Racing Classic recently, definitely give it a shot. For $10 on XBLA or $7 on PSN for a limited time, you'll be able to play one of the finest arcade racers whenever you want against anyone in the world.

DOOM 3 BFG Edition is basically an appetizer for the main course that is DOOM 4. Still, it's a fantastic bundle for any horror enthusiast or DOOM fan, or even anyone looking to relive one of the better games of the last generation. It's flawed, sure, but there's almost a bit of charm in that

It's imaginative, it controls well, and the puzzles are solid and challenging without being repetitive. It's simply that a basic weakness in the engine makes The Haunted Mansion a far more frustrating experience than it really needs to be.

A mediocre game with an excellent story and audio design, based on a classic suspense film of the late seventies.

If you are one of those people who played XCOM2 to absolute distraction, over and over and over again, by all means War of the Chosen is no doubt for you. For people like me, who enjoyed XCOM2, but wandered away from it once the plot was done, I’m not sure this is enough to bring you back to full throttle. There’s no question that I’m enjoying War of the Chosen, but the oh-my-God let me just play one more turn, complete one more mission, wait until this room or that research project is finished, is greatly diminished.

I wound up loving the downloadable version of Daytona USA. If you grew up playing it in its heyday, or enjoyed it as Sega Racing Classic recently, definitely give it a shot. For $10 on XBLA or $7 on PSN for a limited time, you'll be able to play one of the finest arcade racers whenever you want against anyone in the world.

You’re buying the Chronicles pack for Shadows Over Mystara, with Tower of Doom as a sort of optional curiosity. It’s a fun way to pass a couple of hours and the online play is generally solid (at least, it is on XBLA; I’ve heard nothing but bad things about the Steam version), so this would be a great pick for those of you who’re looking for a four-player party game.

Its quality bar is way lower than you might be used to. It’s the best $20 worth of GTA you could ask for, and it will serve as a nice stop-gap title before GTAIV sees the light of day.

If you can look past the iffy graphics, Drakengard 2 has a lot to enjoy. The fighting is fun and has enough variety to avoid monotony, so give it at least a cursory look.

If you enjoy (and have time for) hour-long tug-of-war matches with a huge array of vehicles and weapons, then it’s hard to go wrong with Frontlines: Fuel of War.

A strong game, but it succeeds kind of in spite of itself. It would've been nice to see a lot more originality in the game, but Area 51 is a fun ride, regardless.

Overall, The 40th Day, which is an awful name by the way, is actually a great game. Is it as much of an improvement over the original as we might’ve hoped? Not really, but there is a ton more content including a hefty arsenal of weaponry for you to pimp out and an expanded multiplayer that makes this game well worth playing.

A great re-creation of the arcade classic. The best part is the fact that the addictive gameplay, which made the original so popular, remains the same.

NCAA Basketball 10 is a very good game of basketball. Gameplay is engaging and fun, the college atmosphere is alive and intense, and Dynasty mode will still keep you busy for hours. But if you already have NBA Live 10, it will be hard to justify a purchase. The omission of any type of career mode is a real shame, and you won’t be able to shake the feeling that this is NBA Live with a fresh coat of paint. For any college basketball fan that does not own NBA Live 10, I can recommend this game without hesitation.

All in all, I found that Midnight Club: L.A. is an incredibly enjoyable, but flawed racing game that succeeds at offering an excellent virtual L.A. and a great deal of fun racing action, but also requires you to jump through far too many hoops to fully enjoy the game.

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.

Overall, I found Lost Horizon to be a pleasant experience. The game engine works well, the sights and sounds are fun to watch and listen to, and the dialogue is well-written and entertaining -- and while I found the puzzles in the game to be a little easy (Lost Horizon is one of the rare adventures where I never had to consult a walkthrough), that might or might not be a detraction depending on what you're looking for.

The game does deserve some respect because, admittedly, despite its shortcomings players are likely to be compelled enough to finish it. The fun that the game does deliver when it decides to is nail-bitingly entertaining and, as stated above, the storyline is fantastic.

Technical merits aside, there are a couple of hiccups that complicate the game. The first, and perhaps greatest issue, is why the hell are the deaths censored as much as they are in this game?

Despite its flaws, for $10 (or $8 for PS+ members), this isn't a bad deal since the core game is still a blast to play and replay thanks to its addictive nature. The loss in licensing doesn't hurt as much as one might think, and despite over a decade passing since the game's initial release, its gameplay has stood the test of time.

Should you buy Retribution? It really depends. Are you a fan of either the previous games or the tabletop game on which they're based? If so, then chances are, you will enjoy this entry enough to justify the modest $30 price tag. For those new to the franchise, however, I would advise getting Dawn of War 2 instead, which is by far the better experience and often cheaper, as well.

The game does deserve some respect because, admittedly, despite its shortcomings players are likely to be compelled enough to finish it. The fun that the game does deliver when it decides to is nail-bitingly entertaining and, as stated above, the storyline is fantastic.

Daggerdale, as these things go, isn't bad, and you do get a lot of game for your money here, particularly if you go through it cooperatively. There are never quite enough co-op dungeon crawlers on the market, and while this isn't a particularly pretty or intuitive one, it allows you to kill a whole boatload of monsters while stealing all their money to spend on ways to improve your ability to kill entire boatloads of slightly tougher monsters, and that's pretty much all you need out of this kind of game.

The game does deserve some respect because, admittedly, despite its shortcomings players are likely to be compelled enough to finish it. The fun that the game does deliver when it decides to is nail-bitingly entertaining and, as stated above, the storyline is fantastic.

Daggerdale, as these things go, isn't bad, and you do get a lot of game for your money here, particularly if you go through it cooperatively. There are never quite enough co-op dungeon crawlers on the market, and while this isn't a particularly pretty or intuitive one, it allows you to kill a whole boatload of monsters while stealing all their money to spend on ways to improve your ability to kill entire boatloads of slightly tougher monsters, and that's pretty much all you need out of this kind of game.

If you’re the kind of person who does not tend to play online, I can’t in good faith recommend this game – there’s just not enough meat here. However, the online crowd is going to appreciate all the new stuff, and if that’s you, then go for it.

For those of you who have already played Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation, you don't need to pick this up, because it's the same thing.

Hunted could really have used another couple of passes just to tighten things up, but what's here is perfectly playable. There are a lot of puzzles and secrets, multiple endings, a design-your-own-dungeon mode, and two different playable characters who fight in entirely different ways. This isn't a bad game, but it's one that could be vastly improved.

Finding better weapons and skimpier clothing is all rewarding enough to keep going, and hacking up big bad guys with even bigger weapons is entertaining.

While the inclusion of the Race for the Heisman mode was an incredibly ambitious move, along with some of the other tweaks made to the game, NCAA Football 06 manages to carry them off rather well.

Hunted could really have used another couple of passes just to tighten things up, but what's here is perfectly playable. There are a lot of puzzles and secrets, multiple endings, a design-your-own-dungeon mode, and two different playable characters who fight in entirely different ways. This isn't a bad game, but it's one that could be vastly improved.

Avoids the action overdose that plagued the film and manages to put up a solid but not incredible first person shooter experience.

I would recommend that anyone who likes the Metroid style of exploratory gameplay try it out though - you'll probably enjoy it a lot.

While the fundamentals are all great, my caveat emptor is: If you're not willing to fight for every inch in this game, do yourself a favor and concede defeat before you head to the checkout line with the game.

One of these days, Hudson's going to get its act just a little more thoroughly together, and a Bloody Roar game is going to be the sleeper hit of some future year. That year's not now, though, and Bloody Roar 4 is only decent.

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.

Despite its flaws, for $10 (or $8 for PS+ members), this isn't a bad deal since the core game is still a blast to play and replay thanks to its addictive nature. The loss in licensing doesn't hurt as much as one might think, and despite over a decade passing since the game's initial release, its gameplay has stood the test of time.

Torchlight is proof positive that it’s often the simplest games that can be the most addictive.

If you liked the movie, you'll probably like the game, as it's a near-perfect blend of classic gameplay with the production values and design of the film.

Intermittent AI detection, graphical issues that affect core gameplay and length issues truly diminishes the impressive nature of this game. Fortunately, the impressive multiplayer game salvages this game from simply being a quick rental without replay value.

So there you have it, the current-gen version of Battlefield 4. To be honest, it’s not a huge leap forward over Battlefield 3. It looks slightly better but performs slightly worse.

NCAA Basketball 10 is a very good game of basketball. Gameplay is engaging and fun, the college atmosphere is alive and intense, and Dynasty mode will still keep you busy for hours. But if you already have NBA Live 10, it will be hard to justify a purchase. The omission of any type of career mode is a real shame, and you won’t be able to shake the feeling that this is NBA Live with a fresh coat of paint. For any college basketball fan that does not own NBA Live 10, I can recommend this game without hesitation.

All considered though, Mercenaries 2 isn’t a complicated game to assess. It’s a stupid action game in a long and storied tradition of stupid action games.

It’s one of the more surprising, thoughtful games to come out this year, and while there are several half-baked puzzles, it’s still a clever and memorable experience.

Dead Nation is a long, somewhat overpriced co-op dungeon crawler, and within that extremely narrow niche, it's a good time. Do not play it alone, as its solo campaign is one of the single most frustrating games I've played this year.

Although the game relies heavily on conventions and standards of an era long gone by, it’s still a load of fun. Experienced RPG gamers may view it as a short and easy way to pass the time until the next big thing comes along and takes up another eighty or so hours of their lives.

ME3 is a tough game to love, but a pretty easy one to like.

Kinect Sports Rivals is a good game. The controls have their issues, but in my time with the game, as long as you perform the motions in front of the camera in the way the game instructs you to, there are very few hiccups with motion detection and how your character responds on-screen.

Sega Rally Online Arcade offers up a streamlined version of what made Sega Rally Revo great, while also providing the same addictive gameplay that's made the series so revered for a decade and a half.

Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 is an improvement on the original that offers some fun gameplay elements unique to this sequel. While those new to the series might pass it over, it's still a fun game that is both charming and enjoyable. It is not necessary to be familiar with the original game as mk2 will quickly bring you up to speed on the unfolding events. Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2 is highly recommended for fans of the original and for RPG fans looking for an engaging, humorous and one-of-a-kind experience.

Pure is essentially NFS for the ATV crowd, which I think is a pretty good thing.

It's as seamless and clever as it could be in a title like this.

On the heels of Unity, Syndicate is an easy recommendation for Assassin’s Creed fans and a step in the right direction for this long-running franchise.

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.

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

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

It has a unique look and premise, and while some of its gameplay mechanics are a little shallow, everything works well enough together to make it a worthwhile purchase, especially at its $20 price tag. So put on a mask and prepare to go gambling, but beware of talking fish. They have evil hearts.

Players that can't carry a tune or adapt to the in-game renditions will be hampered, and the novelty can quickly grow stale after a few hours. If you like singing, you'll definitely want this game.

If you’re looking for puzzles, then there are any number of adventures better suited for you. But if you like the idea of hanging out with Gil Grissom and the rest of the “CSI” team, then Dark Motives can provide a weekend’s worth of enjoyment.

I thought the gameplay was good enough to make up for the deficient engine, and I found Arcanum to be a worthy successor to the Fallout series.

With an addictive soundtrack and a near verbatim translation of the story and gameplay, you'll find that all the praise Jet Grind Radio got for the Dreamcast is well deserved.

BF1 isn’t exactly forgettable, but it adds little that’s new to the genre. I could probably, literally dig up my review of the very first Call of Duty, and 90% of it would apply to this game as well.

As sequels/prequels go, S:CS is a good one. It introduces a new engaging storyline, adding some features but by and large leaving the good things about the first game alone.

if you’re looking to take your tactical skills online, Island Thunder breathes new life into the multiplayer experience, and the promise of additional missions in the coming months via Xbox Live is icing on the cake.

It's imaginative, it controls well, and the puzzles are solid and challenging without being repetitive. It's simply that a basic weakness in the engine makes The Haunted Mansion a far more frustrating experience than it really needs to be.

It is unfortunate there isn't a free campaign mode in this game like Rome: Total War or any of the Total War series. Such a feature would have taken this title to the next level and mitigated the shortcomings of an overly rigid single player campaign and a reduced multiplayer component. Still, it is one of a kind.