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.