Imperial Glory feels like a giant step forward for Pyro Studios. Its scope and complexity is far greater than any of the previous strategy titles I’ve seen from them.

Imagine playing "Commandos" and having to fight the interface as much as the bad guys. It doesn't sound like a lot of fun -- and in fact it sounds like it might be too frustrating to waste time with -- but I sort of liked Cold Zero anyway.

The off and online modes of play are good concepts, but unfortunately have enough hiccups to make either one completely enjoyable.

Overall, Puzzle Agent 2 is something of a mixed bag. If you're a hardcore puzzle solver who misses the complexity of games like The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour, then Puzzle Agent 2 might not provide you with anything to get excited about. But if you're a casual gamer looking for something more charming than challenging, then Puzzle Agent 2 might be right up your ally, and well worth its $10 price tag.

The computer AI doesn’t cut it, the units do retarded things sometimes, and the multiplayer game is either too long, or too uninteresting compared to other RTS games available out there – I would much rather play "Warcraft 3" or "C&C: Generals."

The visuals are nice, but the majority of the puzzles are lightweight, and you’ll probably spend more time endlessly searching rooms for inventory objects than you will using your brain.

All this eye-candy comes at a price however, the game is plagued with clipping problems that are, at times, completely ridiculous.

Full Auto is a blast to play...at first, but it doesn’t have a lot of staying power. Before long you’ll have raced around every track, fired off every weapon and seen most of the car classes.

Obviously your enjoyment of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith will depend largely on your appreciation for the band’s music, but there are other factors, namely its price point, that make a purchase hard to justify.

For $50, players deserve more than a badly-programmed mish-mash of the Burnout series. It’s easily the weakest console entry in the series yet.

Alan Wake is ambitious, occasionally funny, and distinctly memorable; like I said before, I don't regret playing it at all. My abiding impression of the game, though, is of wasted potential. We've been waiting for the next great horror game since Silent Hill 2, and this could've been it.

The Conduit is a noble experiment. It's a great engine, and I look forward to future games that use it. The multiplayer, glitchy though it may be, is the real reason to pick it up, and it's fun enough to justify the purchase.

There's a really good Captain America game lurking in here somewhere, and if you gave them enough time, Next Level could probably make it. It's easy to imagine a sequel being successful, with slightly higher production values and a bit more development time. The combat is where it shines, but the rest of the game is flat and average. This still puts Captain America head and shoulders above most licensed games, but that's not saying much.

There's a really good Captain America game lurking in here somewhere, and if you gave them enough time, Next Level could probably make it. It's easy to imagine a sequel being successful, with slightly higher production values and a bit more development time. The combat is where it shines, but the rest of the game is flat and average. This still puts Captain America head and shoulders above most licensed games, but that's not saying much.

The overly simplistic gameplay, re-hashed visuals, unbalanced level design, and generic storyline all factor in to make this hybrid of yesteryears best selling, finest games, a low rent middle class knock off. Nevertheless, the sheer visceral excitement of blowing stuff up and witnessing ultra-violent, unapologetically brutal cut-scenes and road rage is hard to deny.

A fair presentation of a game that we’ve all played a lot of times before. I’d like to add the additional criticism here that I found the controls very sloppy for an FPS, and almost downright unresponsive during short periods when there was a big explosion or several grenades going off at once.

The game has a great look and feel to it, but the gameplay, while fast-paced, borders on being shallow.

As long as you don’t mind that the game doesn’t really have a campaign and instead relies on skirmishes, then it can provide you with a worthwhile gaming experience. I’d just recommend that you wait for the price to drop down to well under the $50 mark where it is now.

The overly simplistic gameplay, re-hashed visuals, unbalanced level design, and generic storyline all factor in to make this hybrid of yesteryears best selling, finest games, a low rent middle class knock off. Nevertheless, the sheer visceral excitement of blowing stuff up and witnessing ultra-violent, unapologetically brutal cut-scenes and road rage is hard to deny.

Initially fun, but it wears out its welcome pretty quickly.

There is no denying the overt level of difficulty that Commandos 2 boasts but thankfully, it isn’t completely unforgiving; you’ll have the option to save your game anywhere in a mission so that you don’t have to restart each time you bite the dust.

It's a solid basis for future 3D games, and the engine itself isn't flawed. This isn't a great fighting game, or even a great King of Fighters game, but I've had some fun with it. I just wish it had been tweaked some on its way to the Xbox.

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.

A fair presentation of a game that we’ve all played a lot of times before.

I like the idea of affecting a story experienced by thousands. Problem is, not all of us can afford six hours a day to earn that right.

The production values of the game are just fine. The train looks authentic, the voice acting is believable, and there are several quality cinematic sequences sprinkled throughout the investigation. But what you do in the adventure isn’t all that fun or exciting, and so I’m not exactly sure who would enjoy it.

A game that looks good and plays reasonably well, but is likely to test your patience more than your military skills.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about Evil Genius 2. It does a nice enough job of modernizing the original game, and it has far more replay value than the original game had (with four evil geniuses and three islands to choose from, where each choice changes the way you play the game). But the 60+ hour campaign is a slow slog, and it wears out its welcome so thoroughly that you might not even care about replay value by the time you finally grind your way through it. I could see Evil Genius 2 getting better after patching and DLC, but it’s tough to see how Revolution can possibly fix the campaign. And so Evil Genius 2 is a coin flip for me. Get it if you loved the original game, or if base-building / tower defense games are your cup of tea. Wait for patches and a sale otherwise.

A fairly entertaining game for the duration of the racing life mode, mostly because of the impressive pre-rendered sequences, but if you’re looking for a racing game with the simulation style goodness of "MotoGP," or the frenetic action of "Ridge Racer," you’d be well advised to look elsewhere.

I found the controls very sloppy for an FPS, and almost downright unresponsive during short periods when there was a big explosion or several grenades going off at once (seemingly independent of whether or not the explosion was actually in my field of view at the time).

Movie-to-game titles usually tend to be a lot less playable than this, so at the very least it is worth checking out.

One of those hit-and-miss games. It gives you some things to think about and the tactical missions work well enough, but those missions are too similar, and they just go on and on and on, well past the point of tedium.

I think it’s important that the developers allow players to drop the original vocal from the track. Not only does it make it difficult to hear yourself during playback, but it also counteracts the essence of the Freestyle Mode.

A fairly entertaining game for the duration of the racing life mode, mostly because of the impressive pre-rendered sequences, but if you’re looking for a racing game with the simulation style goodness of "MotoGP," or the frenetic action of "Ridge Racer," you’d be well advised to look elsewhere.

The saddest thing is that The Crew isn’t bad, it just underwhelms to such a degree that it’s impossible to recommend right now. If the UI gets a bit of an overhaul and there’s some tweaking done to make it more user-friendly, then that could change.

On the strength of its incredible visuals and excellent multiplayer I would recommend Shadow Fall to Killzone fans, but early adopters of the PlayStation 4 looking for a good single-player experience would do better to look elsewhere.

There are some mentionable problems with the game, like the sometimes-annoying camera system and overly simplistic gameplay mechanics, but overall this is an entertaining platformer that doesn’t feel like it was rushed out the door in the hopes of making some quick cash.

The premise and execution is solid and entertaining.

What it offers in terms of gameplay has been done before, and done better by the likes of "Rainbow Six," "Ghost Recon" and, to a lesser extent, "Full Spectrum Warrior." To put it simply, Close Combat is a little rough around the edges.

A great idea for a game, but it's a broken, uninspired mess. It looks okay, the music's fine, and upon first blush, it plays as well as you'd expect it would. The deeper you get into it, though, the less you'll find to keep you playing.

Each episode presents its own challenges, humour and fun -- and for the Sam & Max fan, it will be worth picking up and playing through. For those not familiar with the Sam & Max franchise, the game is probably of most interest to adventure game and puzzle game fans.

The gameplay is more than a little unforgiving, there are a handful of speed-decreasing roadblocks in the game’s physics, and Riding Spirits won’t be winning any awards in the graphics department either.

Sometimes fun and satisfying, but more often than not it is slow, boring and repetitive.

Isn't the greatest expansion pack around. However, it only costs $20, and although it only has 12 quests, those quests should give you 50 hours or more of gameplay.

It may not take long to beat, but there is a good amount of unlockable missions, time trials, and a fairly entertaining versus mode to be had once you do.

Sid Meier’s Railroads! isn’t a game I’d recommend for strategy fans. Most of the things that made the Railroad Tycoon franchise fun and challenging were either removed or dumbed down here, and the result is a game that might appeal to casual gamers who like trains... or it might not.

There is some fun to be had totally ravaging towns and cities, and, what the heck, it’s only $20. But if you’re looking for a game that’ll be more than a weekend fling, look elsewhere.

The lack of difficulty levels, imbalanced gameplay mechanics and lack of multiplayer support reduce this game from being much more than a rent for anyone other than the most hardcore flight fanatic.

Anarchy, lacking that amiability, coupled with the slow pacing, will find it tough to hold a wide audience. However, there's no denying it exhibits some signs of an uber-hit.

In some ways, Cleopatra: Riddle of the Tomb feels like a family-friendly, casual version of an adventure game. It's engaging, it's simple, and it's short, and it has a premise that's easy to identify with.

I wouldn’t really recommend it, unless slow-paced, frustrating adventures are your cup of tea. Or unless you really want to play a conspiracy adventure, and your only other choice is "Legacy: Dark Shadows."

So, overall, Battle Slots might be a useful diversion for you, depending perhaps on how much you like slot machines.

The game is simple and easy to play, the campaign is short (maybe 10-15 hours) but you can play it multiple times, and developing characters is fun. But the game is also a little sloppy.

A difficult game to control as you try and keep the camera and all your units going in the right directions with the mouse and keyboard.

From what I understand, Ino-Co is going to add more campaigns and missions in the future, and so possibly the game will eventually work well and be worthwhile if you stick with it. But in the meantime, I wouldn’t really recommend Elven Legacy unless it receives a bargain bin price and you really like tactical strategy games.

It’s too short, too flat, and too plain.

Plays to fans of the series and delivers them a package crammed with more perks than most devotees of a long-cancelled program this side of Star Trek could reasonably expect.

One of the worst interfaces I’ve ever seen in an adventure game.

Overall, Dungeons 3 was a mixed bag for me, mostly because I found the campaign to be sort of a chore. It took me 30 hours to finish its 20 missions, and while the humor was great, the lack of challenge took away any sense of tension or excitement, and I knew at the start of every mission that I was going to win after about 90 minutes. I was also sort of surprised that the focus of the game is way more on the surface (where everything interesting happens) rather than the dungeons (which all look about the same), when it should have been the opposite. So while Dungeons 3 isn’t a terrible game or anything, it’s certainly a title where I’d recommend that you wait for a sale before purchasing it.

I was not, I recall, overly enamored of the first game, and while inevitable, I don’t see that the sequel adds anything that anyone was clambering for.

Without a linear storyline to back it up, Share the Pain brings a limited amount of its humor to the multiplayer world.

Novice gamers or gamers who don’t really like games where there are objectives (such as fans of "The Sims" or "SimCity") might like Zoo Tycoon 2.

I’d only recommend Risen to people who really enjoyed the Gothic series, or perhaps similarly flawed games like Two Worlds or Dungeon Lords.

The lack of difficulty levels, imbalanced gameplay mechanics and lack of multiplayer support reduce this game from being much more than a rent for anyone other than the most hardcore flight fanatic.

The problem with Rock Manager is that once you create the song, there aren’t that many things to do, and what you can do doesn’t change much from scenario to scenario, and so it gets repetitive.

Though the game does have its high points, a fair collection of flaws and technical shortcomings hold the game back from being anything but a second rate game for only diehards of the genre.

The lack of difficulty levels, imbalanced gameplay mechanics and lack of multiplayer support reduce this game from being much more than a rent for anyone other than the most hardcore flight fanatic.

This is definitely a single player title first, multiplayer title second. Even in the former, it lacks the material to vault it into the stratosphere and turn XIII into a classic. Style and visuals can only do so much for a game.

There are some great elements and firefight sequences in Conflict: Vietnam but you just don't see them enough. And when you do, it's sometimes offset by other factors that ultimately mire Conflict: Vietnam's better traits into gameplay quagmire. Instead of an exciting battle, you find yourself slogging through the game.

Fracture makes all the mistakes of the generic shooter and hangs onto the hope that its one gimmick is enough to bail it out. It isn’t. In fact, it’s not even close.

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.

In the overall impression of Tomb Raider: Underworld, I believe somewhere under this mess lies an actual good game you can play and enjoy. Unfortunately the lack of polish and refinement that could have done to fix the awful camera and frame rate might have saved the enjoyment of Lara Croft’s newest adventure.

Stoked doesn’t have all the pizzazz of other snowboarding games but it does a pretty decent job of recreating the mountain feel.

Wolfenstein is a mediocre title from a franchise known to be innovative and exceptional in their offerings.

A decent foundation for a possible series. Unfortunately, lackluster navigation, combat maneuvers and repetitious sound effects, amongst other slights weaken this game significantly.

The upgradeable weapons and map editor are welcome features, but the convoluted plot, repetitive indoor levels, predictable AI and visual quirks hinder its best intentions.

The superfluous story mode, unbalanced custom versus mode and technical issues relegate this title to a definite rent before you buy game.

If you're willing to forgive a game some flaws in exchange for a memorable plotline and interesting characters, Syberia has those in spades.

Ultimately the brevity of PaRappa the Rapper is what makes it such a tough game to recommend.

You should take my opinion on this with a grain of salt, if you weren’t doing that already. This has never exactly been my franchise, and I picked up Monster Hunter: World after hearing from a number of people that this was supposed to be a good jumping-on point. It is, but only by comparison to the games that came before it. If you’ve already put in the time with previous Monster Hunter titles, and especially if you have a crew to run with, Monster Hunter: World is going to be everything you’ve ever wanted. If you don’t have that experience, though, this game is a slog, and I’m having a hard time finding the fun here. Call it a 70% or so from me, but a fan of the franchise is gonna still be playing this a year from now.

Targeted at the younger audience, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is a decent game overall, but it doesn’t live up to the potential and grandeur of the Harry Potter legacy.

Shadow the Hedgehog has a couple good ideas that are ruined by sorry gameplay. What happened?

While the original plot and movie footage are an interesting look into the backstory between The Animatrix, Reloaded and the original film, the lackluster action, replayability and glitches severely hamper this title from truly being great.

I don’t know if I’d buy Street Fighter V right now unless you plan on being a part of your area’s competitive scene. It’s not particularly casual-friendly and that’s mostly by design.

So I guess I’m still looking for that perfect old-school D&D experience, something that pays homage to the way those games used to play while at the same time integrating some newer gaming facets to smooth over the roughest edges and sharpest corners of the old gaming world. M&MX is not that game.

While TimeShift is perfectly adequate for killing a few hours, as a rental perhaps, it never elevates itself from merely okay, and if you only buy one shooter for the holidays you can do much better than this.

The Serpent’s Curse might be a little bit like the recent Veromica Mars movie, where if you’re a fan of the series then you might be happy enough just seeing what George and Nico are up to. But for everybody else, there isn’t much to get excited about, and there are probably better options out there for your gaming time and money.

The audio effects are disappointing but everything else is up to par. Unfortunately, it fails to become really meaningful and memorable, thus making it a good space action title but not one that will be talked about years later.

It's fun, but a shallow fun, based on shallow characters – maybe the perfect game for the kids from "Clueless" or "The OC."

The low price point and solid gameplay are fine excuses to pick this game up, but compared to other AAA Xbox games, Night of 100 Frights blends inconspicuously into the crowd.

Some games grow on you the more you play them, as you get used to the little idiosyncrasies and learn to appreciate the finer points. Far Cry 2 is at the opposite end of the spectrum, a game that makes it harder and harder for you to like it by placing more and more junk between you and its best features.

It has all the form of a great epic game but when put to the test, misses the chance to capture victory.

It's not badly done action. I only wish it was arranged better. Not in need of more explosions, not utterly boring and certainly not bad-looking; it's just, regrettably, dry.

But right now the Guitar Hero franchise is doing real damage to the genre by diluting the quality of its games in the attempt to cash in quickly on a formula that sells. It’s sad, and moreover it’s incredibly shortsighted.

Contains many of the trappings found in bad science-fiction media -- poor dialogue, poorer voice acting, cool-looking firearms, and a story that seems cobbled together simply for an excuse to blow things up and spill some blood.

If you never purchased "Superbike 2000" and you're a fan of motorbike racing, Superbike 2001 is a game you don't want to miss.

Unfortunately its also plagued by some rather serious design flaws that could've been solved if Capcom had taken a look at what the competition was doing. If you can look past that than you'll enjoy this game, but you might have to deal with some frustration along the way.

If it had free no-holds-barred multiplayer, UaW would be a very good game.