Games as an art form are ready for that next big step, I think. We're ready for that true war game that explores all of a conflict's facets and ramifications, but for now we're stuck with drivel like Homefront that's still about Buff McRockHard fighting evil foreigners. Homefront is the most insidious kind of bad game-it's the kind that masquerades as something more special.

In spite of these less-than-stellar choices, I will say that Crysis 2's high points outshine the low ones. Frankly speaking, it's rare that I'm able to completely disconnect from a game's plot and remain interested enough to roll credits, but in this particular case, putting the Nanosuit through its paces was more than enough to keep me playing from start to finish. If the developers tweak a few things and put more emphasis on the free-form parts of play that shine the brightest, I'll be quite interested to see what happens when Crytek starts hyping Nanosuit 3.0. Rat

For a piece of DLC that offers so little, $7.00 seems steep. Save some hard-earned money and watch the videos of it on YouTube instead… the most relevant bits can be seen in a minute or two, and those Microsoft points can instead be spent on something more substantial.

The cover shooter genre has plenty of untapped potential. Vanquish hinted at this by kicking up the pace a few (hundred) notches, but Mindjack is perhaps the first to actively introduce truly new kinds of gameplay, and I had my fingers crossed for its success. Unfortunately, the finished product is about as botched as a game can get.

Ghost Trick is a masterpiece, made by developers who thoroughly understand the medium they're working in and the hardware they're working with.

I don't know what possessed People Can Fly to saddle such an exceptional action experience with such a terrible story, but being surrounded by monstrously stupid, foul-mouthed sociopaths actively lessened the gameplay experience for me. So long as a player can tune out the plot and characters, Bulletstorm is an unmitigated action masterpiece, but damn, does the story work hard to mitigate everything good about the game.

Defying all expectations, BioWare managed to take one of the most memorable Western RPGs in recent history and completely destroyed everything that made it so good.

While it may not be the right fireplace sim for film buffs or lit majors, Cozy Fire may be worthwhile for detail-driven fans looking for a little existential ascension with their fire stoking, and given the increase in agency over its competitors, may even let players learn something new about Themselves.

Dead Space 2 is pretty good at that, and the technical work is almost unimpeachable, but something essential has been lost.

Winning even as one loses is nothing new in gaming-at least, not in how I play-and the way Zettai Hero Project: Unlosing Ranger vs. Darkdeath Evilman implements it means that nothing the player does, no matter how foolish, is a waste. That implemention isn't exactly groundbreaking (while the game makes grinding for levels easier, it doesn't make it more palatable) but it does force players to think about failure in a slightly new way.

As much as I may admire the concept, I really can't recommend Lost in Shadow to anyone except those who crave simplistic, repetitive gameplay and an unnecessarily bloated running time.

Venetica has a few good ideas and a couple of characters that deserve further examination, but it just doesn't seem to be at all interested in them. That, I suppose, is why I wasn't all that interested by Venetica, either. Ratin

While JRPGs continue to flounder on the home consoles, games like this one prove that the genre is alive and well on handhelds.

Removing the harsh consequences for simple mistakes tears down a wall of inaccessibility that can alienate people from the genre and makes Nail'd the perfect point-of-entry for anyone interested in racing games in general, and the off-road subgenre specifically. I just wish the game had been polished enough that this innovation wouldn't have been such a major part of the experience.

Those who can't get enough of Red Dead's wild west action or zombies might want to give Undead Nightmare a spin. There's a lot of game here for 800 Microsoft points, and while it's rarely as compelling as the main title, there's still some fun to be had in watching John Marsten shoot zombies in the head.

People only be satisfied with "AAA" levels of production will likely gripe, but to be perfectly frank, none of the rough edges diminished my overall experience-the focus and design of Reality Pump's efforts just can't be denied.

Breach isn't terrible, but I don't see anything here that hasn't already be done better by another game, resulting in an instant recipe for mediocrity.

Its reach exceeds its grasp, but at least Disney Epic Mickey is reaching. Occasionally it brushes its fingertips up against something amazing that might have been.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II is just terrible.

It may be handsomely made, but that doesn't save Golden Sun: Dark Dawn from being a disappointment.

It was without a doubt one of the most difficult, draining, and stressful gaming experiences I have ever had, but it's also an absolute masterpiece.

From the top-notch characterizations to the ethical indecision of its cast, Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is a significant step forward for the series's maestro.

All in all, ilomilo is a successful puzzle game that's sure to delight. Most challenges are fun and satisfying, while never quite out-of-this-world difficult. While the addition of the emotional element doesn't quite fulfill its promises, it's easy to overlook in favor of the careful presentation.

For a time-rich audience, I can see Lords of Shadow being well worth the investment.

While there's no getting around the fact that Splatterhouse feels like something that could have significantly benefited from another six months in the oven, it's not hard to see that the developers have solid ideas that are on the right track.

Saw II: Flesh and Blood is certainly a huge improvement of the first game in the series, but by no means is it perfect, or even especially good.

It can be said that the game is made for players to start over, but it doesn't seem like a fair or enjoyable trade-off that a person should be willing to go back to square one of the story mode as a result of experimenting with and enjoying the item-crafting.

At any rate, Dead Rising 2: Case West should please gamers who haven't grown tired of Dead Rising 2's incessant zombie slaying. It's puzzling as to why Capcom feels this DLC is worth $10 when Case Zero was more fun (and half the price...), but fans of zombie games and Frank West will probably feel right at home here.

The racing issue aside, Raskulls shines whenever the player is left alone to work through one of the ingeniously-designed puzzle levels.

999: Nine Hours, Nine Persons, Nine Doors is a good experience, and in parts it can be quite clever-I particularly enjoyed that the game made the existence of its multiple endings an explicit part of its plot. Unfortunately, the weak prose doesn't justify the time investment, and the puzzles don't hold up through the mandatory replays.

Sports Champions may seem devoid of personality, but spending some time with it shows that it is a deliberate, well-crafted piece of software. Those who have been waiting for a true realization of the potential of motion control can finally exchange their smoldering torches for florescent pink wands.

Tron: Evolution has too much going for it to write it off as another inspiration-free paycheck game, but I can't help but feel that if the developers had had another six months and perhaps a little more freedom to stray from the film's narrative, the end result would have been much better.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom doesn't fail because any particular aspect of it is poorly made, it fails because its components don't fit together.

This is a really big game for something found on a handheld, an epic yarn that offers up hundreds of hours of gameplay for those willing to invest the time.

With its uniquely approachable structure, highly-polished details, and a laser-sharp focus on fulfilling its own premise, it's a title that I'm glad to recommend to both adults and children alike.

The closest thing to a complaint I can muster up for Spelunker HD is that it has a sparse online community, but that's almost like criticizing a masterful painting because it hasn't been seen by enough people.

However, anyone who loves games like Zelda and Alundra would be well advised to give Oath in Felghana a shot. Falcom isn't trying to reinvent the wheel with these games-they're more interested in refining it to the point where it rolls even more smoothly than before.

Pigsy's Perfect 10 is exactly the sort of DLC that I love the most-it builds on a character in a way not seen during the main game, but of equal import, the gameplay offered was not only interesting, but substantial enough to stand on its own.

Viewed as a single-player experience, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a sizable addition that does relatively little to advance the Assassin's Creed story or gameplay. The multiplayer, however, is a unique and fascinating offering, a truly refreshing alternative to the plodding iterations of the market-leading shooters. F

Even if the tunes aren't all things to all players, that shouldn't hold anyone back from putting cash down and picking up one of the most original games to grace consoles for some time. DJ Hero 2 is sublime.

Due to the bugs, it felt at times like I was fighting New Vegas rather than playing it, and the weariness I felt at the prospect of that battle sometimes was not outweighed by the draw of exploring yet another minimalist location or mowing down more legionaries. That's a real shame, because Fallout: New Vegas almost manages to perfectly synthesize the different strengths of Fallout 3 and its predecessors. Had the world design and the code been as excellent as the writing, we might have had a masterpiece on our hands.

Housewives, students, grandparents everywhere, be warned: Bejeweled 3 is coming to snatch away your afternoons.

There's no real creative risk being taken, and while that might be just fine for sales figures, it doesn't bode well for Call of Duty: Black Ops' ability to stand out artistically in the immensely flooded FPS market.

Of course, And Yet It Moves only scratches the surface of possibility, but it is a journey absolutely worth taking.

Despite these minor miscues, Ys Seven proves that you can tweak a classic game series without ruining it in the process.

My highest possible praise goes out to Shinji Mikami and Platinum Games, and my sympathies go out to every third-person shooter that comes after Vanquish-it's an impossible act to follow

Rather than representing a revitalization of the Sonic brand, Sonic 4 is a failed, desperate grasp at recapturing its former glory.

Shattered Dimension was an interesting experiment, but on the whole I'd have rather just played Spider-Man Noir.

It's a beautiful title with many nice moments, and I want to extend my congratulations to the team for such a noticeable step up. That said, neither the gameplay nor the plot and characters were strong enough to put it over the top.

While it may feel painful, grueling, and even outright sadistic at times, there's no denying the skill and craftsmanship that went into Super Meat Boy.

After playing through both The Signal and The Writer, the biggest impression I'm left with is that these two chunks of game (hateful combat aside) are better than anything that came on Alan Wake's retail disc. They illustrate Alan as a character, they immerse him in a world of his own internal madness, and they play to the strength of the premise in a way that actually makes sense. I can honestly say that if these levels had been included in the main campaign, my overall evaluation would've been significantly higher.

Like any scientific breakthrough or new invention, Hydrophobia does represent a significant achievement in its own right. We're just going to have to wait until someone does anything worthwhile with it.

Aside from the misstep of the stunted co-op mode, every other aspect of Etrian Odyssey III has been vetted and manicured to ensure that the game provides the highest quality dungeon-crawling conceivable.

In a game absolutely packed with embarrassing relics of the first Halo-silly Covenant vehicle design, the Spartans' ridiculous looking low-G jump existing alongside a modern physics engine, the return to one gun at a time-Bungie chose to fix only a multiplayer game mode.

I came into Recettear expecting a simple sim game with some spoofy self-aware humor, but it's so much more than that. The sheer amount of depth is staggering, and the game is extremely good at throwing the player something new every now and then to keep things feeling fresh.

Any way you slice it, Plants vs. Zombies is a win.

Shadow Broker is the best Mass Effect 2 DLC by an interstellar mile.

Annoyances aside, Batman: The Brave and the Bold is a fun romp through corners of the DC Universe, in terms of both characters and characterization, that have been underutilized.

For such a short game, there's quite a bit of fun to be had in Dead Rising: Case Zero. This is a definite improvement over the first title (plus you can actually read the font on a standard definition TV this time around) and has me completely excited for Dead Rising 2.

The innovations are few, and the unskippable story is outright destructive of the series' heritage.

In rudely flipping Gunblade NY & L.A. Machineguns onto store shelves for some quick cash, Sega has shown that they can't be bothered. If that's true, then why should anyone else?

Mafia II is every bit as soulless and dull as its bland sociopathic protagonist

While Ivy the Kiwi? is an incredibly cute character and makes a valiant attempt to bring back a style of game that few developers have attempted in recent years, the core concept never quite finds happy coexistence with the player interface. For project as simple and straightforward as this one, that particular barrier proves too great to overcome.

While many players won't initially be able to experience the game the way it was intended, once the online patch becomes available, I would recommend it without reservation to anyone who's got at least one game-playing friend.

There isn't much else to say about the four-hour experience. Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days would probably feel like a better game if many other games never happened, including its own prequel.

Monday Night Combat may not come with as many of the bells and whistles of a bigger game, but the sweet, bacon-filled core is tasty enough on its own-even if it is a bit lean.

StarCraft II is not ground-breaking. It will not have the same lasting impact on gaming that its predecessor did. There's no way it ever could. It will, however, be remembered as a worthy sequel to one of the all-time greats.

After playing through both The Signal and The Writer, the biggest impression I'm left with is that these two chunks of game (hateful combat aside) are better than anything that came on Alan Wake's retail disc. They illustrate Alan as a character, they immerse him in a world of his own internal madness, and they play to the strength of the premise in a way that actually makes sense. I can honestly say that if these levels had been included in the main campaign, my overall evaluation would've been significantly higher.

Limbo is without question a visceral, virtuoso performance of the kind that grips a person from start to finish.

The art direction, the approach to combat, and the writing create an ideal presentation for a character that I just didn't care about. If you're in a similar boat, then DeathSpank will provide little more than several hours of basic hack-and-slash gameplay in a uniquely whimsical setting. If you find yourself genuinely laughing at this character, however, then DeathSpank will be a wonderful comic fantasy romp.

I certainly understand that it's unrealistic to expect a developer to fill an entire "universe" with stunningly unique content, but while DarkStar One's heart might be in the right place, it needs a top-down overhaul before I can recommend that anyone climb aboard for the journey.

Quite honestly, I would recommend the first game over Crackdown 2 with no hesitation, and based on what's actually here, it seems to me that positioning the effort as a piece of $15 DLC would have been far more appropriate than trying to pass it off as a $60 retail release.

Guru players posting how-to videos on YouTube might not get a lot of it, but those craving a fighter that doesn't require slavish dedication will find Tournament of Legends to be a very welcome offering, and one that comes at a budget price, to boot.

This release does a fantastic job of appealing to the core fans of the series while also making the experience accessible to a new group of players.

Singularity is the very definition of average, and the lack of subtitles knocks it just below. It is the gaming equivalent of white rice, the Ford Focus, and black coffee. Its taste is decidedly bland, but it'll do its job.

Ultimately, any gamer who loves Harry Potter is going to enjoy themselves immensely with this game. While older gamers might not find many reasons to give it more than a good weekend's worth of play, the younger ones will have hours and hours of spell-casting fun.

It's light, accessible, and almost hysterically funny at times.

For the genre fan, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor will be a sublime, smoothly controlling treat. For the novice, it's a fairly gentle introduction to a classically hardcore experience. For Treasure, it's a great chance to addict a vast new audience to their style of game.

Between the vomit-cam, the absurd level design, the serious lack of content and the simplistic gameplay, it's clear to see that the developers have created something that should never have left the drawing board.

Players who enjoy the adventure genre in its most traditional format will likely be pleased with Secret Files: Tunguska, but my take is that this type of approach is simply past its time.

They Stole Max's Brain! accentuates Sam's own special powers. While Max was away, I came to appreciate Sam on a whole new level.

I very much enjoyed the thought and balance that obviously went into the creation of this new mission, and as a true Mass Effect fan, this attempt to return to form is probably the most welcome thing I could possibly imagine.

Duels of the Planeswalkers is a faithful, if watered down, representation of a classic game that excels at drawing in new players and reigniting the old fire in seasoned veterans.

We both agreed that what the game achieves for kids is the ability to transport them into the world of Woody and the gang. For adults, it's a venture back to their own childhood.

Although I can genuinely say that I have great affection for the Disgaea characters and I had a blast going through the game once, the drive to unlock every ending evaporated almost immediately. Watching a game made of cut-scenes isn't bad if they make you laugh and bring a smile to your face, but watching the same scenes over and over and over and over and over because you can't figure out how to get to the new ones isn't an appealing proposition.

For the most part the simplified controls work like a charm, allowing the player to zip around the map, easily locating their prey. It's the maps themselves that are the problem-they're far too small for the number of players that regularly compete on them.

Flawed in its conception, impoverished in its design, and thoroughly inept in its execution, Alpha Protocol is an unmitigated disaster

ModNation Racers has a core of creative multiplayer fun, but it's sadly mummified beneath an irritating career mode and layer upon layer of load times.

For those who thrive solely off of the thrills of putting points into stats and watching numbers go up, Hexyz Force leaves little to be desired. For the rest of us, Hexyz Force has equally little to offer.

Still, stellar gameplay trumps all, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 has that in spades.

Alan Wake puts up a front of being cerebral and deep, but it simply doesn't do the legwork to back it up. I had significant difficulty becoming invested in the events and found it very hard to care about anything that happened from start to finish.

In keeping with developer Rockstar's cinematic approach to game aesthetics, Red Dead Redemption succeeds in allowing the player to inhabit, in some measure, the Westerns on which it is based.

Great presentation, (mostly) great gameplay, and an above-average set of characters combine to deliver what I see as the most diverse, entertaining Trauma game to date in a series that really doesn't have a weak link.

The most clever innovation isn't the puzzles or even the characters, as well-done as they are. The most clever bit is the framing of the game as a film.

Ultimately 3D Dot Game Heroes does exactly what it sets out to do. It's a nostalgic look back at the classic Zelda games sprinkled with some commentary on gaming history, and a great example of retro gaming done right, even if it does keep the flaws along with the goodness.

I can't say that the developers totally nailed it, but with solid mechanics, a strong sci-fi theme, exciting action and tons of large-scale watercooler moments, I do recognize it as an experimental step forward that succeeds far more than it fails.

It may not explore much new territory in the horror genre, but what's here is one of the best small-scale chillers that's been turned out in quite a while.

Although Nippon Ichi didn't develop What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord!? 2,-NIS America just published it-the game is still a natural, if steep, Nippon Ichi-themed progression in teaching me to think for myself.