It builds on one of the most solid foundations in recent gaming history, expertly incorporates the second screen, puts the stylus to good use, tells a decent story, and magically transforms your dust-collecting Nintendo BS into the powerful and creative Nintendo DS we had been promised all along. Talk about playing with power.

Neither multiplayer scheme makes or breaks the game because the single-player is better than both of them, offering a fast-paced, good-looking first-person fragfest for either system.

The original Dungeon Siege was a study in gameplay refinement, introducing a multitude of simple concepts that really changed PC role-playing for the better. Though some of that is still here, it's not so thrilling anymore. Dungeon Siege II is so streamlined that it has lost its hardcore edge.

This is a tired, dull platformer that only manages to avoid the pitfalls of purgatory by way of its groovy style and decent character design.

Deathmatch and Capture the Flag are online stalwarts, but the unpopular Soulhunter game - which has you collecting soul marbles around the map - is the only new addition. It all feels a bit bland.

It certainly has something going for it with the unique possession mechanic and clever puzzles, but the linear gameplay, mediocre delivery and short story makes it a house more cursed than haunted.

At least the game makes you feel more like a quarterback than ever before, and that's reason enough for one hell of an end-zone celebration.

At least the game makes you feel more like a quarterback than ever before, and that's reason enough for one hell of an end-zone celebration.

At least the game makes you feel more like a quarterback than ever before, and that's reason enough for one hell of an end-zone celebration.

We’d like to give credit to Graffiti Kingdom’s designers for sticking with a daring concept, but then they went and surrounded it with a mindless action shell. Overly repetitive, simplistic gameplay dominates the landscape, and only the monster creator saves this game from running out of ink completely.

While not a spectacular failure, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is just another ho-hum first-person shooter, offering a big multiplayer canvas but little else. I wouldn’t call it as unattractive as a live grenade, but I wouldn’t go jumping on it, either.

While not a spectacular failure, Delta Force: Black Hawk Down is just another ho-hum first-person shooter, offering a big multiplayer canvas but little else. I wouldn't call it as unattractive as a live grenade, but I wouldn't go jumping on it, either.

Actually, it’s just bust. While the game's heart is in the right place, its head is severed by incredibly repetitive, basic gameplay and a control scheme nastier than Nero. Rome wasn’t built in a day, but Colosseum probably was.

I just about guarantee you’ve not experienced a game like this before, and while it stumbles in its gameplay, it soars in its style and whimsy.

I admire the daring look and crazy design of Flipnic, but the sparse tables and occasionally frustrating missions dull its polish.

It’s silly to think that a team like USC, with so many returning stars, would have the same number of impact players as Cal. Instead of picking a lucky number and binding every team to it, the designers should have bound the number of impact players to some transitional stat, like returning upper-classmen.

It's silly to think that a team like USC, with so many returning stars, would have the same number of impact players as Cal. Instead of picking a lucky number and binding every team to it, the designers should have bound the number of impact players to some transitional stat, like returning upper-classmen.

We admire the effort and love the style, but we expect our video games to be first and foremost good games, not good art. That's a bonus, not a foundation. Despite our appreciation for those that push the boundaries of game design, Killer 7's lofty ideas come crashing down in a flurry of bad gameplay decisions, proving that sometimes weird isn't quite enough.

Coded Arms is such a weak rendition of a first-person-shooter, it makes us wonder whether such a thing is even possible on the single-analog PSP.

The clunky control and pathetically simple gameplay just doesn’t cut it, and so little effort went into the decent “changing history” angle that it winds up falling flat.

Though it doesn’t quite match the intricate strategies of Lumines, it isn’t supposed to. Meteos manages to be interesting and engaging without feeling like just another Tetris clone. Not bad for a new drug.

Tough aiming, repetitive gameplay and totally uninspired story elements send the game into a downward spiral, one that ends with a very short single-player mode and few extras. This cop should be kicked off the force.

While the DS is a very versatile machine that can adapt to different play mechanics thanks to its stylus and touchscreen, there are some things it obviously shouldn't attempt. This is one such thing. Avoid like a trip-wire.

Even though kicking enemy butt can be satisfying and there are a lot of big, menacing monsters to face, Fantastic Four is merchandising at its finest, a hollow game that's beatable in eight hours and isn't replayable at all. We don’t expect you to enjoy it.

What’s here isn’t really worth the insane load times. While it manages to emulate the console version in terms of content, Midnight Club 3 comes to a screeching halt in its technical problems and overly simple racing.

Even though kicking enemy butt can be satisfying and there are a lot of big, menacing monsters to face, Fantastic Four is merchandising at its finest, a hollow game that's beatable in eight hours and isn't replayable at all. We don't expect you to enjoy it.

Even though kicking enemy butt can be satisfying and there are a lot of big, menacing monsters to face, Fantastic Four is merchandising at its finest, a hollow game that's beatable in eight hours and isn't replayable at all. We don't expect you to enjoy it.

While there’s some good stuff here, its sense of humor and playful vision doesn’t extend to its repetitive gameplay.