The fact that this game could transform me from a stony-faced, veteran gamer into someone's over-enthusiastic, flailing uncle who doesn't understand how controllers work is itself proof of how Sumo Digital's synthesis of sight, sound and play has resulted in a uniquely intense and compulsively playable experience.

I could go on, but over the course of this review I've already described a litany of qualities that should win over players who appreciate mature RPG experiences with quality commensurate to the amount of time spent in them. However, there's no getting around the fact that first impressions will likely turn a lot of potential adventurers off.

A larger budget might have saved the driving physics and improved the experience of the town, but no amount of money could repair the terrible writing and wrong-headed design that really sink Deadly Premonition.

Ragnarok DS's problem is that decisions that are forgivable in a free MMO are really grating in a single-player game that costs money.

In the culmination of this story BioShock 2 outdoes the original and establishes its own worth, with a closing sequence that hits every note perfectly.

Regardless of the things that I found unsatisfactory, I'm quite glad that Atlus took a big risk in bringing Shiren the Wanderer to our shores.

For once gamers can honestly believe the hype. Dante's Inferno lives down to expectations in spectacular fashion

Thankfully, with their powers combined, the sister modes of the game conspire to lift it above its shortcomings and transform it into a worthwhile, if scatterbrained, experience.

Players who can look past the lack of drive, annoying decisions, and a general stripped-down, dumbed-down feeling can (thankfully) still look forward to some truly spectacular moments and unforgettable action before credits roll.

Here we have a game that has streamlined itself, stripped away every inconvenient impediment to mass appeal, and in that cleansing has lost something vital

It's not a terrible bargain and certainly not the outright robbery that some DLC can be at times, but Return to Ostagar can't compare with the quality of The Stone Prisoner or Warden's Keep DLC missions.

For Wii owners jonesing for something besides the usual batches of brightly-colored shovelware and tired flagship franchises, The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces fresh take on dog-fighting along with a healthy dose of anime-inspired storytelling is just what the doctor ordered.

For adventurous players willing to remain undeterred by warts and wrong turns, Divinity II is something quite special—an RPG with a flavor all its own, and one not to be missed.

Take away some of its flaws, and the bar would've been raised higher than most games could ever hope to surpass. In lieu of that, we have Kamiya's latest, a breakneck, top-tier example of the 3-D action brawler.

PixelJunk Shooter is one of those instantly-intuitive games that only takes a minute before completely clicking with the player—once the controller is in hand, everything makes sense and flows effortlessly.

What The Saboteur lacks in innovation it makes up for with solid design and implementation.

Shattered Memories is an uneven mess, most favorably described as a kernel of greatness wrapped in a husk of wrong-headed design and iffy implementation.

While earlier installments had more interesting interaction between the characters, Rise of the Pirate God ends the series on a high note, gameplay-wise.

Skipping my usual witty remark or pun-laden ending line in closing, let me just say that Clash of Heroes is an absolute winner from start to finish. Any gamer worthy of the title needs to have a copy of this cart in their library. Buy it. Ra

Although it's possible to rattle off a list of bullet-point features that imply Assassin's Creed II is head and shoulders above the first game—more missions, more story, more collectibles and extras—I simply didn't find them to amount to much.

If the player were disappointed by this scenario in the original, he'll probably be disappointed now too. However, with a wealth of new content and lots of other welcome additions and tweaks, Left 4 Dead 2 continues to focus on what it does best, and it's damn good at it.

NSMBW isn't unfun. It's uninspired. Like the games that came before it, New Super Mario Bros. Wii evokes concepts and imagery presented in its predecessors. Unlike those games, it makes no effort to expand upon any of those ideas.

The holiday season is noticeably bare, and Modern Warfare 2 stands tall, with its brilliant, value-packed missions, maps, and promised endless nights of thousand-yard stares and slack-jawed home entertainment

All told, Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble is a solid, attractive addition to the PSP library for fans of beat-'em-ups.

Despite my qualms about the combat engine, graphics and the amount of minor bugs on display, it's a testament to BioWare's craft that Dragon Age: Origins is as intensely addicting and as ultimately satisfying as it is.

While Lair of the Leviathan is still my favorite chapter so far, The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood still has plenty of everything about the Tales of Monkey Island series that I like: quality writing, loveable characters, and challenging puzzles.

The bosses in Ratchet & Clank however had always seemed on the cusp of greatness, but never quite reached it. That changed with A Crack in Time. While most of the game's bosses are fairly nondescript, the final two are exactly what I was waiting for. Fast-paced, multi-faceted, and grandiose in scale, these battles were, in a word, awesome.

Fairytale Fights would have been starkly disappointing as an XBLA or PSN download-only title, but as a retail game taking up shelf space, it's absolute failure.

Nostalgia cheerfully opts to evoke our memories of other RPG experiences, most notably Final Fantasy X and Skies of Arcadia, but because it lacks the coherence and originality of its predecessors it never develops an identity of its own.

All told, Trine was a stylish, clever game that certainly manages to establish its own identity.

A port of a six-year-old PS2 title might not fit the profile of a platform defining title, and it might be more than a little ironic, but the fact that the game manages to accomplish this so far out from its initial release is a testament to its quality.

Although Borderlands seemed ready to be one of the next big things, the overwhelming focus on grinding and gun-collecting can't carry the entire game, in either co-op or single-player.

With a brilliant musical score, gorgeous artwork, solid adventuring mechanics, and a ton of other generic positive reviewer comments I can heap on it, Machinarium is elevated from merely good to gaming greatness, and I can only hope that the minds at Amanita produce some more masterpieces like this one

Topatoi Episode 1 delays its payoff for too long, and in the end exists mostly as a suggestion of a game that might be good to play when (and if) it makes its way to the PSN store. Add the fact that the characters of Topatoi lack any of the charm or personality of your typical platformer cast—their in game models look a little revolting even—and it's a hard game to recommend.

Although some may be put off by the ease with which the game can be completed, I didn't see that as a negative at all. Games of this sort tend to lean towards being esoteric and frustrating as a means of delivering challenge, and in this genre, I'd much rather play something that invites me in and makes me smile rather than something that has me running to the Internet for an FAQ.

Given the length of the game—around 12 hours or so at Normal difficulty—Brütal Legend gets more tiresome the further in you go. Stage Battles (the official name for the RTS sections) kill the pace, and the side missions are repetitive and boring. Somehow, all these negatives don't counterbalance an amazing artistic style. R

Among Thieves is far and away the best game that I have played this year, and one I will likely come back to time and again.

It's extremely smart, has a great sense of humor, a bold design and fantastic art direction.

Although appearances may be deceiving, don't judge too soon—Critter Crunch is a high-quality addition to the PSN library, and a must for PS3 puzzle fans with an internet connection. Just be ready to grit your teeth a bit towards the end.

Without question, Demon's Souls is one of 2009's finest titles, and an amazing, challenging journey without equal.

What little the game does add to the saga is forgotten by everyone at the end. Disney fans will be most disappointed of all: Disney's characters barely put in an appearance, and Disney's worlds are just window-dressing for a killzone.

Lair of the Leviathan is, I think, the best chapter of Tales of Monkey Island so far.

Persona takes everything that made the original so memorable (the demon-fusing, the storyline, the atmosphere) and streamlines/updates it while restoring things that were cut from the original as well.

Despite those shortcomings, though, Wet's experiment is a mostly successful one. It's a game entirely devoted to appearances, never asking the player to kill people, but rather to kill them as spectacularly as possible.

NHL 10 could very well be one of best hockey video games since the immortal NHL 95, and that in my books is a great comparison.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 basically accomplishes what it sets out to do, but doesn't move the series forward in any significant way, even feeling like a minor step back in certain aspects.

In every way save the graphics, I found Muramasa: The Demon Blade to be a failure.

Although I'll be the first to admit that online multiplayer is usually the least interesting aspect of any game for me, Section 8 did a great job of making it easy to learn and easy to take part in. That facility combined with the excellent abilities of the armor and fast-paced nature of play make for a solid experience that 360 owners should certainly take note of.

Despite those issues, there is no question that Cursed Mountain is not only one of the finest titles currently available for the Wii, it's a welcome detour from the well-worn survival horror path that so many developers seem only too happy to tread.

Simply put, this game effectively captures the gameplay experience of being its main character better than any other comic-based title I have ever played, but surprisingly the character development side feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

It was pretty short, I forgot it had a story, and the interface needs some work. It wasn't bad, though. It was just Sudoku.

If The Siege of Spinner Cay has a weakness, it's that the game's secondary characters aren't as rich or as interesting as they were in the first installment.

I think it's pretty clear that I hold Mass Effect in the highest possible regard, having nothing but the utmost respect and affection for it, but I need to be honest when I say that Pinnacle Station is not only a complete waste of money, it's an insult to Mass Effect itself. I can't imagine why this shoddy cash-in was even released at all, except for a quick infusion of ill-gotten income from all the suckers like me who bought it on faith.

Looking a little deeper as someone who's been around the block, it's disappointing to see that so much of Shadow Complex feels utterly bereft of inspiration. It's certainly a job well done, but really, this job's been done before.

It's tempting to write off Osmos as a "been there, done that" experience. While all of the mechanics in play here certainly aren't new, the team at Hemisphere Games does a wonderful job of wrapping them up in a cool, calm, and collected package that makes it feel new and refreshing.

With a notable level of craftsmanship and clear focus on its subject material, Trials HD is going to be endlessly addictive to the right kind of player. I wouldn't have guessed that player was me, but no matter how many times my bike crashed, I kept thinking I could do it if I tried just one more time, and I was constantly hungry to get it right.

Beautifully stylized, beautifully implemented, and a true joy to play, NyxQuest: Kindred Spirits is another excellent title in Nintendo's already-impressive WiiWare library.

Although it's unavoidable that some players won't be able to get past the graphics, those that do will be treated to an entertaining and worthwhile experience for a system that currently boasts the highest shovelware-to-keeper ratio I think I've ever seen.

If Mothership Zeta had been half as long and available at half the price, it might have been worthwhile simply for giving players a quick peek behind the origins of the main game's enigmatic alien wreckage. As it stands, this dog-leg jaunt into outer space ends up a giant could-have-been without any real reason to recommend it, save completion for completion's sake.

Every time I came close to defeating it, my game would freeze up (no pun intended) and I'd have to reset. After half a dozen interruptions like this, I gave up.

I strongly suspect people will pick up Wii Sports Resort on name recognition alone, and be mystified by the odd white attachment inside. If enough WMPs are sold, and enough developers pay attention, it may just work.

I could mention the razor-sharp graphics, cleanly minimalist design and absolutely phenomenal soundtrack, but there's really no point... Shatter is easily one of the best offerings available on the PSNetwork even without taking any of those things into account.

It's visually attractive, tuned to perfection, and presents a classic formula that never goes out of style.

And Guybrush is so likeable-in that pestering, caddish sort of way-that I want to know what happens to him. That, really, is what a serial game should accomplish; to leave players hungry for more.

Despite Techland's efforts, the Western genre is still wide-open for someone to ride in and claim it.

Instead of the friendlier, less-confusing version of Armored Core this UMD could have been, it's a bitterly disappointing also-ran that's in severe need of a tune-up.

Something like Infernal: Hell's Vengeance might have gained a minor following during the last generation (and that's a big might have) but it simply doesn't have any place in today's environment. It's technically weak and showcases no forward-thinking in terms of design, and the conceptual side is just as stale.

The writing is strong, its unconventional take on the standard SRPG formula shows creativity, and there's just no denying the fact that this series keeps putting out top-quality game after top-quality game.

Overall, this is the largest and most fully-realized expansion yet produced for Fallout 3, and it's an order of magnitude better than any of the previous installments.

My hat is off to Terminal Reality... they may have just created the best movie game of all time.

At the end of the day Vertigo seems to be a decent core idea for a game wrapped in a lackluster package. There have been other successful games in this genre but for me, Vertigo doesn't live up to that legacy.

Let's Tap!, with its bright, accessible aesthetic and peppy, J-pop soundtrack, has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, I can only evaluate the game as it exists, and Let's Tap! has a few shortcomings too many to wholeheartedly recommend.

Although Prototype sports several great ideas and a main character that wows, imagination, inspiration, and a strong guiding hand were lacking in every other aspect of the game.

Perhaps this game appeals less to adolescent and adult males than most games do: Starfy is more Kirby than Mario. But it does what it does very well, and I hope that this title is merely the beginning of Starfy's legend in North America.

Knights in the Nightmare struggles under the weight of its own complexity but the bizarre melding of divergent gaming subgenres make it a title I'd recommend to anyone bored with gaming's status quo.

Was it a time-suck for me? No. But for a few hours, it forced me to solve problems in a new and challenging way.

Red Faction: Guerrilla scores, and it certainly adds a nice twist on the established open-world game formula.

It never feels as though it's doing much more than going through the motions, and as a result, neither did I. Lacking the joy and spirit intrinsic to truly inspired projects, inFamous may have painted by the numbers correctly, but technical success is not the same thing as creating a brilliant masterpiece.

The word "original" may not apply, but the level of production and care taken in crafting Crimson Gem Saga is certainly noteworthy, especially in conjunction with the pure, reductive nature of its game design.

For those who like the "get as big as possible" mechanic or are simply intrigued by having to eat their way to glory, this game is definitely worth a look—especially since it's only $30 brand new.

All in all, Steal Princess is a game the likes of which I haven't seen for years, and it manages to feel fresh and familiar at the same time.

Terminator Salvation is abject in its failures. I almost wish there was something I could give it credit for, but as it's impossibly short and incompetently made, there's just no reason to ever play Terminator Salvation.

Putting aside expectations of what some uninformed writers may think it should be, I was quite glad to take Bionic Commando for what it is—an absolutely faithful reimagining of an undisputed classic, smartly crafted and brought elegantly into the current generation.

That small matter aside, Atlus once again proves that they are the publisher who takes care of their fans—Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner 2 – Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon is another more addition to a long string of superior RPGs, and a solid reason to stay in the last generation just a little bit longer.

That said, those are extremely minor concerns—Broken Steel is an absolute necessity for any Fallout 3 player and certainly justifies the cost of the download.

Despite that beef, The Dark Spire is a pleasing throwback to an era when games were actually hard and beating them felt like a legitimate accomplishment.

Like many Atlus titles, this isn't a game for everyone. Lone players can enjoy the colorful art, the humor and some of the table-turning ruthlessness, but Dokepon's journey is meant to be taken with friends.

The Godfather II's failure is that, outside of the most utilitarian sense in which it is a smoothly-playable game, it doesn't accomplish anything at all.

Although Hammerin' Hero doesn't run as smooth or as long as I would've liked it to, it remains one of the most enjoyable PSP titles I've come across in quite some time.

Those searching for traditional third-person action should probably keep looking, but players interested in exploring a nine-hour interactive ninja flick packed full of the most insane action ever choreographed need look no further.

The gameplay lacks any redeeming qualities, and would have been behind the curve in the 16-bit era. Today, there's just no place for a game like this at all.

The Pitt doesn't offer a lot of impressive loot to score, collecting items for that last achievement is more trouble than it's worth, and the struggle-with-a-twist to free Pittsburgh's slaves (or not) is over before you know it.

Although I personally wasn't too impressed with this offering, I will say that my son (age 7) absolutely fell in love with it.

Despite the minor flaws, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is an excellent experience.

Players curious about the recent activities of Albert Wesker and the legacy of the Umbrella Corporation can dive right in and enjoy without fear; those new to the series might be surprised at how dated it feels once the high-polygon glamour wears off.

I definitely like the ideas that Crystal Dynamics are flirting with here, it just seems disingenuous to ask players to pay so much for this small taste.

If only the rest of the game had offered some fraction of this scene's inspiration, Eat Lead might have even been worth buying, rather than just taking up space in the budget bin.

Although I got a few good laughs out of the first hour or so, the appeal of calling men in turbans "bitches" while plowing through repetitive environments ran out long before the credits rolled. I walked away from the game bored and left it unfinished, having no regrets.