While Halo Wars is a RTS that's been dumbed down exactly the right amount, it's still been dumbed down. While a good game, compared to some of the intricate tactics of its PC counterparts, it just feels rather thin, and with only two sides, battles always seem to follow familiar patterns.

Since the Total War series repeats itself as much as human history does, it’s not surprising to find that Empire: Total War doesn't substantively differ from prior iterations.

A fun ride. It doesn't bring very much new to the table, but it also works just fine and doesn't make you take your shoes off at the security checkpoint.

A fun ride. It doesn't bring very much new to the table, but it also works just fine and doesn't make you take your shoes off at the security checkpoint.

The King, it hurts me to say, has been de-throned.

Complementing the graphics is audio which simply must be heard to be believed for its sheer inspiration of awe.

There are DS games out there that I can only call 'must-have', and Peggle: Dual Shot is the newest member of their ranks—a rocking 'port' with faithful presentation (right down to the glorious burst of 'Ode to Joy' at the successful completion of each level, which really makes you feel like a by-God winner), a literal double-shot of two complete Peggle games with DS-exclusive coolness to boot... and all of it jammed onto the same tiny cartridge, with no compromises.

The new situations alongside the few additions to the survivor characters provide a lot of new and interesting challenges. In the end, whether you pick this up will be solely based on how many of the problems you are willing to ignore to enjoy it for what it is: an 800 Microsoft Points downloadable puzzle game.

Hopefully, the next expansion will bring some changes to the table that round out the game a little more, and strike a new balance. I’m tired of stalemates.

As for the controls, even ignoring how your character runs like he's trying really hard to hold in a fart at all times, the movement is slow and he turns like a tank in the original Resident Evil.

If the the old school Puzzle Quest is mega-addicting black tar heroin, then the new one is some brown weed that barely gets you high and leaves you with little more than a headache and a bad taste in your mouth.

If the the old school Puzzle Quest is mega-addicting black tar heroin, then the new one is some brown weed that barely gets you high and leaves you with little more than a headache and a bad taste in your mouth.

While I won’t try and tell you this game serves as a replacement for Mass Effect or Fallout 3, it is pretty well done on the whole. I hope this means Radon Labs will be working on further RPGs, as Drakensang is a series with great potential.

The whole package is so bland, boring, and unremarkable (and tedious - moving those guys around so you feel like you have a team that can win!) that it's similar to PB&J on white bread. Bad analogy? Well, it's just as imaginative as Blue Dragon Plus, so it fits.

With shallower gameplay, a dearth of content, and some very distinct repetition, the game feels more like a jumping off point than a complete release.

Street Fighter IV gives the series the slap on the back it needs to catapult into the current and shake the fighting genre to its core.

Street Fighter IV gives the series the slap on the back it needs to catapult into the current and shake the fighting genre to its core.

Building off an already impressive design set by its predecessor, this DLC pack only shows what awesome scenarios can be told in future content packs. Its story can feel disjointed at points, but it is contained between exciting missions and just about the exact amount of time you'd feel comfortable roaming around in a downloadable title.

A humorous, beautifully-presented, straight-up, side-scrolling, hard-as-a-Hero's-honker, silly spin-off action-platforming game that has some serious legs—even if its hero doesn't.

Also, this game is long. As of press time I wasn't able to beat the thing.

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon is a great entry in the series, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Whether you’re new to the series or genre or you’re a seasoned FE fan this is a great game. It adds just enough new material without making it too different.

If you played the first few FEAR games and you want to know what happens next to the faceless, characterless, protagonist then you could do a lot worse than FEAR 2: Project Origin. I really can’t recommend this to players that are new to either the series or the genre. The lack of reiteration of the first game’s story is rather perplexing.

If you played the first few FEAR games and you want to know what happens next to the faceless, characterless, protagonist then you could do a lot worse than FEAR 2: Project Origin. I really can’t recommend this to players that are new to either the series or the genre. The lack of reiteration of the first game’s story is rather perplexing.

If you played the first few FEAR games and you want to know what happens next to the faceless, characterless, protagonist then you could do a lot worse than FEAR 2: Project Origin. I really can’t recommend this to players that are new to either the series or the genre. The lack of reiteration of the first game’s story is rather perplexing.

For all the Blues Clues color palette, the flowers blowing in the breeze past dancing cacti, and a soundtrack that seems to recorded by the Alvin and the Chipmunks singing J-pop for a kindergarten show and tell on happy brownie recipes, it has the artistic polish that Sony is known for and a redesign that is nearly flawless for a sequel to a successful title.

Retro Game Challenge may not be as genuine as an actual 8-in-1 retro game collection by Namco or Atari, but what it lacks in authenticity, it makes up for by successfully bringing everything that’s awesome yet simple about the classics.

Why keep buying Genesis collections?

An amazingly funny game. It’s not actually good, but it manages to fail in such a stylish, over-the-top way that it’s endearing all the same. Although you’ll probably have no real desire to replay the game ever again upon completion, it’s a hoot the first time through and is absolutely worth a rental.