Why would they do anything more than improve the game cosmetically, create a few new units while tweaking others, and leave most of the game alone? The answer is they wouldn’t, and they didn’t, not for Wings of Liberty, and not for Heart of the Swarm.

Dead or Alive 5 Plus is an incredibly accurate recreation of a modern console fighter, and suffers very little in the transition from the big to little screen.

Even though MLB 13: The Show may not boast any laudable improvements that will raise eyebrows, it is still, without a doubt, the best baseball game on the market.

While the controls are technically inferior to the 360 and PS3 version due to the lack of analog buttons on any Wii U control method, they still work really well and don’t make the game hard to control – it just takes some time to get used to controlling a modern racer with purely digital buttons.

If you can’t get past the flaws Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 Plus is rife with, you may find your ninja combat needs satisfied by another title with similar gameplay and a more polished and thought out presentation. That title is Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. Yes, that title, at times, is more Ninja Gaiden than this one or even the putrid offering that was Ninja Gaiden 3.

Mirror of Fate manages to make the once well-worn Metroidvania formula new again by using this reboot-based version of the franchise, and is a must-play for any fans of the series.

Tomb Raider’s whole is greater than the sum of its parts, and everything combines to make this the best reboot game on the market today.

Fuel Overdose is a huge disappointment and a sloppy game as a whole.

Overall, Revengeance is an exciting and unique entry into the Metal Gear milieu. It’s a perfect combination of Metal Gear stylings and Ninja Gaiden frenetic action.

The interface is a cumbersome mess, as if Cyanide Montreal, the game’s developer, had never played a real-time strategy game before. The offensive and defensive components of the missions don’t complement each other; they just get in each other’s way and disrupt each other. It takes a half hour or more to build up your dungeon so you can go on the offensive, but this part of the game is nearly identical for each mission, which is tedious.

You know how some games are so bad, they’re actually fun to play? Aliens: Colonial Marines isn’t one of those games. It’s just bad.

Even ignoring the common complaint that the developers moved away from the scares to a more action driven experience (something I don’t completely agree with), Dead Space 3 is still thrilling, terrifying, intense, and completely worth your time.

Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time is an excellent platformer/stealth hybrid, just like its predecessors, and something long-time fans of the series will love, but newcomers may be better off picking up the HD trilogy since it doesn’t do all that much new and gives you far more value for your money.

Omerta is the sort of game where if you want to play it at all, you should wait for it to drop well below the $40 price where it is now.

If you don't take Anarchy Reigns seriously, it's worth a look, and it's got a nice discounted price tag to boot. It's a big, colorful, ridiculous brawler about a bunch of cybernetically-enhanced idiots who don't realize how ridiculous they are, and while the single-player campaign's about five times as frustrating as it needs to be, the multiplayer's decent once you get a handle on it.

Potential players on the fence should give the demo a shot – it lets you enjoy a good mix of action and platforming, as well as displaying some dazzling graphics too. $60 may seem like a high price to pay for an action-platformer, but you've got a variety of difficulties to play through it with as well as numerous remixed versions that change things up fairly radically.

The puzzles are tough enough that you probably won't figure them out right away, but they're not so tough that they'll stump you for days at a time, either. For me, that's exactly where I want the difficulty of an adventure to be, and combined with the humor of the game, it makes Chaos on Deponia an easy game to recommend.

Absolution is a fantastic addition to a series that defined a genre last generation, and I can't wait to see what they come up with for our favorite bald assassin moving forward.

If you're a fan of the series, and have some friends or family to experience the game with on a regular basis, then there is certainly fun to be had with Rabbids Land, even despite its simplicity. The board game format is fun and adds a nice twist of competition, and the Gamepad does, at times, show potential for the future.

The story doesn't quite live up to the prologue and multiplayer feels tacked on, but otherwise Far Cry 3 is a sensational sandbox shooter that's a far cry better than Far Cry 2 (cue slow clap).

Treyarch did an amazing job, creating another high intensity experience that sets the standard for every other shooter to aspire to.

For $10, Black Knight Sword delivers a mostly good and entirely creepy experience.

Critter Chronicles took me about a dozen hours to complete, and I consistently found it to be enjoyable during that time. The puzzles work well and are sometimes challenging (at least on "Hard;" I didn't try "Normal"), the writing is amusing enough that the game is entertaining to watch as well as play, and the voice acting is once again terrific.

In the areas of visuals, features, mechanics, story, and such, it doesn't really do anything special. However, the tone of the game, and the sheer weight and dread that the player feels when trying to survive in this version of London is ZombiU's crowning achievement.

Scribblenauts Unlimited is the best looking and playing entry in the series to date. It's also the easiest, so if you didn't like the first two due to their difficulty, at least give this a rental.

This may not be game of the year, but it doesn't try to be. What it does try to be is an ode to Nintendo's rich history and an introduction to the Wii U's capabilities and control potential. In those efforts, it succeeds greatly.

In the end, LEGO The Lord of the Rings is fantastic – very possibly one of the best LEGO games made to date. The level design is ingenious and unique despite using the same tried and true techniques we've seen before. I like how different situations call for unique strategies. I also appreciated the risk taken since there is no central hub.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent with The Walking Dead. It's not a great "game" since its puzzles and action sequences are short and easy, but it has all the right elements - including excellent writing and voice acting - to make it an absorbing interactive movie. Plus, with about 15 hours of content, it's reasonably priced at $25. So if you've been trying to find the perfect Christmas gift for the zombie fan in your family, then The Walking Dead might be just the thing.

This review is getting long-winded so let's wrap it up. Assassin's Creed III is the biggest and most ambitious Assassin's Creed title yet, but a few missteps leaves it short of being the series' best. In spite of my excessive nitpicking, Assassin's Creed III is great game and a must-have for any Assassin's fan.

Trine 2: Director's Cut is an excellent game and an absolute must-own if you don't already have it for another console. If you've already got the 360, PS3, or PC versions of the game, I'm not quite sure if the additional content is worth $20 – that will really depend on how much you liked it. If you're a casual fan of the series, then it's probably not worth full price, and if you've got a good enough PC to run it, then your best bet is to stick with that unless you're dying for something to play on the Wii U. It looks and sounds great on the Gamepad, and is one of the most amazing titles to see running on the device.

PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale delivers some great fighting and hilarious comedy at the same time. It's a must-have for anyone who loves the fast-paced style of fighting popularized by Smash Bros. While it would be easy to dismiss the game for being a copycat, doing so would be a mistake as the game does quite a few things differently that help it stand on its own. It's a very well put-together game regardless of its inspiration and is worthy of at least a rental for skeptics.

In the end, Call of Duty Black Ops: Declassified is a pale imitation of its superior forebears. It's not bad for what it is, but it's not nearly as good as it should be.

Epic Mickey 2 leaves me feeling conflicted because it remedies the original's control issues to some degree and does something new with co-op that alternates between being very helpful and annoying, depending on how the AI is when playing solo and is hurt by distracting viewpoints when using it with another person. As a result, Epic Mickey 2 feels like only a partial step forward instead of the huge one it could have been if everything worked perfectly. It's still worth playing if you liked the first, but not something I'd recommend as a full-price buy.

If you're looking for a Silent Hill game or a deep RPG on your PS Vita, Book of Memories will only serve to whet your appetite for a title that will deliver.

I spent about 15 hours with Worms Revolution, and while I didn't especially enjoy it, I only played against computer opponents. I'm guessing that for the game to really shine, you have to play against similarly (in)competent human opponents. Given that it's so easy to miss with your attacks and accidentally blow up your own worms, Worms Revolution might generate a lot of good-natured heckling and work pretty well as a party game. Or not. But for only $15, if the premise sounds fun, then there's not much reason not to find out.

For me, the biggest problem with Liberation is the story; it felt underdeveloped and stands as a missed opportunity. Despite that shortcoming, and a few technical issues aside, I really enjoyed being able to take what is essentially a full-fledged Assassin's Creed game on the road with me. While not essential to the canon, this game is worth playing for anyone who is a fan of the series.

If you're a big LBP fan then it might be worth it, but if you've played ModNation Racers, I don't think the slight makeover is enough to warrant a full price tag.

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.

343 Industries had some very big Spartan boots to fill when took over the reigns of the Halo franchise from Bungie. All things considered they've done a tremendous job. Where they come up a little short is the campaign, which feels all too familiar gameplay wise to previous Halo installments. They played it safe and it shows.

Mugen Souls is the worst RPG experience I've had in a long time. I like that the game has two different battle systems, I just wish either was fun to use. Neither is able to hold your interest for very long, with one growing tiresome due to needless complexity and the other being too simplistic.

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

In the end, I have to say that Borderlands 2 serves as a wonderful example of how to make a sequel work.

NBA 2K13 is a love letter to basketball fans everywhere. 2K Sports continues to impress, resist the urge to rest on its laurels, and produce a fantastic product that innovates in unforeseen ways.

A challenging game with some handling issues that bug me at times and framerate problems that bug me every time they crop up. However, the overall greatness of the game easily overshadows those comparably small complaints.

Ιncluding Doom and Doom II, the remastered version of Doom III is a very good opportunity mostly for home console gamers to see what the forefathers of the FPS genre is all about, although stiff competition and natural evolution of the genre may put off a large chunk of modern day gamers.

Overall, I've got to say that once again Firaxis has proven itself to be a house of very smart game developers. They've grabbed a great franchise that has lay dormant a very long time, and done an excellent job modernizing it while staying true to the original vision. Whether or not modern audiences flock to a game of this kind of difficulty level of course remains to be seen.

If you've loved the Forza series before, you'll enjoy this, and if you thought it was a bit too stuffy but wanted to get into it, this is the perfect starting point for you. There's a ton of content here, and thanks to its lack of an online pass, it actually makes for a great rental as well.

As good as PES can be, and the moments of magic are arguably better than those on FIFA, it has fallen so far behind the competition in so many aspects that it's difficult to make a serious comparison. I know I've come across as a FIFA fanboy here, and PES 2013 isn't without its merits, but if you can only play one soccer game this year, I'd go with the former rather than the latter.

I'd argue that Marvel Super Heroes is worth the price of admission here, but like I said, it's one of my childhood favorites and it's possible I'm biased. Marvel vs. Capcom, despite its sequels, isn't anywhere near as good and I could've done without its inclusion.

A lot of imagination, work, and care has gone into it, and your best bet is to slow down, explore it, and see what you can find. It's one of the better games this year, and will probably still be discussed ten or twenty years from now.

Resident Evil has become an entity bigger than any C-Virus creature. It is undeniable that the quality of its past titles has lead to countless sequels, side stories, films (both theatrical and animated) and a general expansion of the lore far beyond the "B-Grade Horror Film" roots of the original title. Gamers are willing to forgive a single misstep, but if Capcom wants the series to continue to be the success it has been for the last fifteen years, Resident Evil 7 should focus on a single artistic vision… perhaps even going back to the "root of all evil."

While Media Molecule is no longer directly in charge, the trio of new developers took the LittleBigPlanet spirit and ran with it. You wouldn't even know it was made by a veritable conglomerate of companies. I'll be honest, they should all be commended for making what could be the best LBP yet.

The gameplay and atmosphere in NHL 13 is something every hockey fan should experience for him/herself. If you haven't already, go out and pick this one up. After all – unless we see some progress fast, it may be the only NHL action we get this season.

If you're a fan of the beautiful game then FIFA 13 is a must buy, once again!

Overall, Dead or Alive 5 is not only the best entry in the series yet, but my favorite fighting game this generation. It's got the smoothest gameplay of anything out there now and delivers the goods online more often than not. It also raises the bar for graphics in fighters and has some great animation too. The story mode's a blast to play through and provides the right mix of drama and B-movie wackiness to make it fun to get through despite its epic length. If you've ever loved the series before, make this a part of your collection ASAP, and if you've been turned off by it before, at least give it a rental – I'm positive it'll win you over.

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.

This Dark Souls: Prepare to Die Edition is not only the worst console port I've ever played (and I play most of them), it's also one of the worst designed. I mean literally, this game is one step above my character having "lives" and when I run out of those, I'm told to jam quarters into my PC to continue playing. If this is what constitutes a "good console RPG", then I'll sleep soundly at night with the knowledge that I'm not missing a damn thing by not owning a PlayStation 3. I guess I'm alone in understanding this, but supposed difficulty is not a substitute for intelligent design. Dark Souls proves that.

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 is a very good game overall and gives you a ton of fighters to play as and many ways to play with them in the game. It's the fastest-paced entry in the series and will test your fighting game mettle very quickly both online and off.

For $15, there's a lot here, and if you're in the mood for stunt racing, this is the game for you.

Double Dragon: Neon hits more than it misses, and is a must-buy for anyone who loved beat-em-ups in either the late '80s or early '90s. This game was made for the 25-to-30 crowd, and is right in my wheelhouse as a result. If you loved that time period either literally or ironically, you'll find something to enjoy with the game's sense of humor.

All in all, Fractured Soul is a really well-crafted and polished game that manages to do justice to both side-scrolling action platforming and shooting. Anyone who loves the Mega Man series will love it, and I'm sure shooter fans will as well.

Overall, it's a better game (probably the best it's ever been), but the experience still isn't what it should be.

Overall, Deponia has some pluses and minuses. The story doesn't make any sense, and the ending is terrible (nothing gets resolved; it's all a set-up for the presumed next title in the franchise), but the world is colorful and the dialogue is well-acted, and the situations are more funny than not. Given its mild $20 price point, Deponia is a reasonable adventure to try out.

Darksiders II does what every great sequel should do; it takes everything its predecessor did well and improves upon it, while adding a ton of new features and content.

Though the undercarriage of the game has not changed, EA has done a tremendous job of adding features, tweaking gameplay, and providing visual touches for NCAA Football 13. Heisman Challenge mode really puts this one over the top, providing a new experience and hours of gameplay outside of the well-known modes of play. Even if you have NCAA Football 12 sitting on your shelf, this is a must-own for any virtual football fanatic.

Overall, Sleeping Dogs is a remarkable game. The storyline is my favorite one yet for a sandbox game and is wonderfully-acted. It's hurt slightly by being a bit rough around the edges in places and not really doing much new, but what's done is mostly done very well and there's a lot of variety in both missions and extracurricular activities.

But overall, BOUT is a pleasant and enjoyable adventure game. It's funny and well written, it's colorful both in tone and appearance, and its voice acting is about as good as you're going to hear in a game. On the downside, the puzzles aren't especially complicated, and there are perhaps too many of them, but these aren't serious detractions, and I don't have any reservations recommending the game, especially at its $20 price point.

FRL isn't worth its $50 asking price, but might be worth a purchase from Ferrari die-hards just to race in so many cars throughout the company's history. Everyone else will likely be satisfied racing in many of the company's most popular cars in other, more exciting racing games.

Overall, the Amazing Spider-Man succeeds at offering a great story, but fails at accomplishing its goal of making you feel like Spidey.

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.

Starhawk simply is a blast to play. The campaign is negligible, and serves as training for the multiplayer action, so it needs to be said that this is an experience you get for online play – period. The second disclaimer is that this is not a casual game. You will need to spend some time and commit to learning how to build and work within a team, as well as utilize the vehicles to your team's advantage. All that said, if you're all about a strategic yet fast-paced online shooter with innovative building mechanics, this game is a must-have.

Quantum Conundrum, thin plot and kind of bland atmosphere aside, has some great puzzle action to it. For the bargain price of $15, it is well worth the price of admission.

Even by Bethesda standards, Dawnguard is just riddled with bugs, many of them game-breaking. I came across audio issues, missing textures, missing NPCs, broken dungeons, and much more. This is a fun expansion, even if its content is a little disappointing, but I highly suggest waiting for a patch (or three) before you jump in.

If you love Civ (and if you are reading this, the assumption is that you do), buying this expansion is simply a must. The people that are waiting for a sale before buying, I pity, because they don't know it yet, but they are playing half a game.

Gravity Rush has some rough edges in it, but the game as a whole is incredible. The storyline is intriguing with some interesting characters, and the scope of the world is pretty remarkable for a portable adventure. Sadly, some control hitches make me wish this was just on a console where they couldn't shoe-horn in some functionality that doesn't work well for the game. Thankfully, there aren't many problems, and they're largely negated by the amazing graphics and catchy soundtrack. Any Vita owners longing for a really exciting adventure-platformer should snatch it up as soon as possible.

Inversion is not a good game. It's an unpolished game with a single good idea, the Gravilink, and that's really not enough to carry the entire experience. The multiplayer alone makes Inversion worth a rental, but I suggest skipping the intensely boring campaign.

In the end, DiRT Showdown is an outstanding game and probably the most polished demolition-style racer out there. Online play is surprisingly smooth, and outside of relatively small issues like needing login data for Youtube and Codemasters' own Racenet service nearby, there isn't much I didn't enjoy about the experience as a whole. It's definitely a worthwhile purchase for either fans of the DiRT franchise or of demolition racers in general.

So if you like adventures and have $10 to spare, do yourself a favor and purchase Resonance -- and keep an eye on Wadjet Eye Games in the future, since their recent history makes them the best adventure game publisher around.

In the end, Dragon's Dogma is an average hack-n'-slash RPG with a great gimmick that falls short in execution.

Overall, though, the biggest problem with Lollipop Chainsaw is its length. There's no way to justify picking it up at a full sixty dollars unless you're going to get absolutely one hundred percent of everything in it, from achievements to high scores, and that might take you a week.

All in all, Disgaea 3: AOD is a wholehearted recommendation; a fun, challenging time that will last as long as a player wants it to.

But Warlock is colorful and entertaining, and it's budget-priced, so as long as you can stand some bugs and quirks, and as long as you don't mind that it doesn't break any new ground, then Warlock might be a game for you to consider, perhaps after waiting for a patch or two to come out first.

As a whole, VF 5: Final Showdown is one of those games that I think of as top-shelf, but all the secondary factors like DLC and available options for it put an asterisk next to that when it comes to recommending it to others. If you love the series, you'll get whatever amount of money you spend on it back in sheer enjoyment. If you don't, then at least try the free PSN version or XBLA demo and see if it changes your mind.

It really comes down to what the player expects or wants from the experience. If you are a fan of the show/books and you simply want to inhabit two random men as they make their way through the Game of Thrones universe, this fits the bill quite nicely.

Mad Riders has a few faults, but none of them are major. The core racing game is outstanding, and one of the best off-road racers on the market. It's worlds better than the MX vs. ATV games, and about as good as Pure. It's one of the few XBLA releases that is easily worth its full asking price, and is an easy recommendation as long as you liked Pure. If you did, then you'll adore this, if you didn't, then give the trial game a shot and see if it wins you over.

Joy Ride Turbo isn't perfect, but does wind up delivering a more satisfying racing experience than its predecessor. It controls far better with an actual controller than without it and is delivers a lot of fun. The only qualms I have with it are the sterile world, busy work caused by searching for car parts, and forgettable music.

Telltale Games did a nice job in introducing the characters and the world, and in giving them depth, and while I found the gameplay elements to be a little bit easy, that might be because Episode 1 is an introduction, and the difficulty will ramp up as the season progresses -- or at least I hope so; otherwise The Walking Dead might end up being more an interactive movie than a real game. But regardless, I thought the story was strong enough to support even an easy game, and so I'm optimistic about the season as a whole will turn out. The game's $25 suggested retail price looks more than reasonable.

So, Diablo III, a very good game. It doesn't break new ground, but covers old, action-y, RPG-ish, addictive clickfest ground very nicely.

When the game is actually Max Payne, when you've set up the perfect shoot-dodge and you're sailing through the air putting holes through people, everything lines up and it's the greatest game in the world: amazing graphics, great voice acting, a funny and deftly written script, a memorable soundtrack, the whole nine yards. It's just a shame about all of this other extraneous modern crap that Rockstar's bolted onto it.

Yakuza has always been known for its high-standards, weird humor and, most of all, insanely fun brawling. All of that is gone here. One could safely say that the zombie outbreak of Dead Souls has decimated Kamurocho of everything that would make anyone want to travel there, both literally and metaphorically. Spare yourself this dreadful misstep and play through Yakuza 4 a second time.

Overall, the Xbox 360 version of Minecraft is an excellent port. It lacks many of the features its PC sibling has, but those are expected to be implemented in the game's free updates. If you're looking for a fun, highly addictive way to relax and let your creativity run free, or if you want an entertaining game to play with some friends, this won't disappoint.

If you've never played these games before, having the first three titles all on one disk is very nice, especially considering the price point.

OOTP 13 is easily the most realistic baseball simulation that I've ever played, and it's a game that I expect all baseball fans will enjoy.

Despite all the problems, I actually had a few genuine moments of utter nerd glee as I sliced my way through a group of enemies. When it worked as it should, Kinect Star Wars was tolerable. Don't get me wrong, it's still laughably bad... and some of content is borderline insulting to Star Wars purists (especially the new song lyrics), but the fact is that I never felt like a Jedi, which was, of course, the point.

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.

Supremacy MMA: Unrestricted is a rare example of a handheld release being given some pretty major improvements compared to the console version. The developers clearly took the criticism of the console versions to heart and made an honest effort to improve things. They didn't fix everything, but I do appreciate the improvements to submissions and cage movement. However, it's still a lackluster game overall, but does have some really good ground and pound animation, and some other redeeming features that make it at least worth renting. It's definitely not worth its $40 asking price though.

Overall, I enjoyed the time I spent with Tropico 4: Modern Times. The add-on is lighthearted and breezy, and with all of the new buildings and edicts, you now have even more ways to build and run your perfect Caribbean island. Plus, since the campaign takes about 35 hours to complete (with sandbox mode adding more time to this), and since the add-on only costs $20, Modern Times is even a good deal, and so it's an easy game for me to recommend.

Outside of the graphical issues, this is a well-made port overall.