There is a tremendous amount of fine detail everywhere you look. Character models are varied to the point where it seems no two people look the same.

BattleBlock Theater is without a doubt the strongest XBLA game in months and well worth the four-year wait. Deep platforming mechanics hold up in short bursts, but marathoning the game ends up robbing the activity of some joy. Find a friend and fight for your new Cat masters.

Lords of Shadow is one of the best games I've played all year, but its technical faults hamper the experience.

Just back-to-basics, old school pocket monster capturing and training. The bad news, however, is this: these two new games are exactly what you would expect in a new Pokemon RPG. So no, you’re not having a drug-induced flashback to the crazy times you had playing "Pokemon Ruby and Emerald." It’s, well, pretty much the same game.

It overwhelmingly asks the question: “Why fight?” It can’t be for the rewards, which are boring. It can’t be for the story, which is non-existent. And it really can’t be for pride, since without any online multiplayer, you are confined to fighting only people who probably have never played before and who might not enjoy coming over to your apartment solely to get their ass kicked.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 is one of the best games ever made.

Even if you are just slightly into adventure games, The Tomb of Sammun-Mak is sure to entertain, both creatively and comically for an extremely affordable price.

UFC Undisputed 3 takes no prisoners. Even though the franchise remains as imposing as ever, it's nigh-impossible to claim that this installment is not a staggering improvement. Short of bludgeoning and bloodying us over the head, UFC Undisputed 3 will handily convince its hardcore audience of its new conditioning.

It’s bigger, longer and smarter than The Two Towers.

The graphics and sound may have more flair than the original, but the guts are the same. Revisiting it for the second time is fun because MGS itself was great, though it’s still just revisiting a game many of us have already played.

By virtue of its impressive new control scheme and solid delivery, Fight Night 2004 doesn't really have any peers and by default can be declared the unanimous champ. However, it still needs a much better single-player Career mode before it can stand toe to toe with other, deeper sports games.

And while the gameplay and puzzles are streamlined, the unlockable content massive, and the flying modes excellent, the best part about the game is its snarky humor and feel-good satire.

Mortal Kombat XL is a fantastic addition to the base game, adding characters that somehow fit extremely well in the roster.

The only trouble with Brave New World is its opening price point of $29.99, which is on one hand worth the cost but on the other is a bit high considering that this expansion is more about refinement than anything else. Some of the AI behavior can still be strange as well. That said, those of you still loading up Civ IV because you find Civ V "broken" will find Brave New World to be the fix they've been waiting three years for. Time to advance to the next era!

A game that equals the movie's cultish charm and, in some ways, surpasses it. If you don't believe us, come out and play.

This re-imagining of the original has just the right blend of enjoyable gameplay features mixed with tight controls and impressive visuals, sprinkled with a liberal amount of jocularity.

Big on feature, major in community activity, and strong in replay ability, this year’s Show certainly has done well. For Sony, like EA’s Madden series, there are few to no challengers to the genre so success lies within their own hands. So the question is, if it ain’t broke, will they still try to fix it, or if it is broke, do they still care to fix it?

While FFIV has a geriatric story and presentation - the 3D graphics and enhanced soundtrack are impressive for the DS but they still look old - its challenging battles and nerve-wracking bosses make up for it.

Kirby and the Forgotten Lands may not quite be up there with the greats of the genre, it’s an incredibly pleasant experience with a great degree of thoughtfulness put into it, from the charming touches littered throughout its overgrown and unkempt world, through to its unabashed emphasis on fun as best evidenced in its hub world. This is a great Switch exclusive for players of all skill levels.

Taking the 2D online brawlers in the marketplace into account, Marvel vs. Capcom 2 is easily the friendlier of the bunch in terms of new players jumping in.

In fact, with all the additions, it's the definitive version of Mortal Kombat. That's not bad for a handheld port.

If you’re willing to put in the time, you’ll find a complex experience that’s satisfyingly tough to get a grasp on and equally hard to put down.

That new price tag on an old game gives us the willies, but we love the gunplay, the new mode, and the creepiness.

Even with the improvements to the A.I. and enhanced multiplayer experience, the game feels more like an expansion pack than a stand-alone product.

Far Cry 4's lavish environment and solid shooting mechanics are stifled by a mediocre story-world that's a hair too serious and an iterative design that's a bit too obvious.

The real joy of this expansion rests in sowing the seeds of discontent among the residents of your Sim neighborhoods. Hot Date gives the gamer some great tools for creating angst-ridden relationships, as it introduces more than 40 new social interactions...The most worthy of the Sim expansions.

I would have liked a bit more story to the game, and a bit less of killing things, and quite a lot less jumping, thank you.

An uneven mixture of gorgeous graphics, upgradeable street racing vehicles, variety of race modes, unique customization, lack of opposition, repetitive tracks, and no law enforcement presence... Involving and fun, although not quite as engrossing as "NFS:HP2."