As an iOS title that offers literally dozens and dozens of hours of engrossing entertainment, it is hard not to recommend Defender Chronicles II: Heroes of Athelia to avid fans of the tower defense genre.

My very minor disappointment with the story aside, Sine Mora is an outstanding shooter that excels in every other area-the design, aesthetics and mechanics are all top-notch, and couldn't be a better fit for the Vita. For players who own Sony's machine and have an appreciation for games of this sort, they honestly don't come better than this.

It's different, it's solidly built on a smaller scale, and it delivers an easy-to-grasp, focused concept. It also earns praise for being a streamlined and problem-free RTS without falling into the pitfalls that have doomed so many others before it. That in itself is no mean feat, and Targem Games makes it look easy.

Sure, it might not reinvent the wheel as built by Diablo II over a decade ago, but Runic deserves props for perfectly recreating the formula. Many others have tried to bring their own take on Diablo to the market-and failed. Runic didn't, which makes Torchlight II an essential purchase for anyone who loves to crawl through dungeons while scoring phat loot.

As it stands, Pid is a misguided platformer that is set to quickly disappear from memory.

The Testament of Sherlock Holmes's execution is ordinary, and its flaws elementary.

In Guardians of Middle-earth, console players finally have the chance to investigate a hitherto unknown area of gaming, and it's arguably one of the most positive experiences I've had in the genre.

Those searching for the traditional Silent Hill experience on a portable (story? What story?) should stay far, far away. However, players who enjoy dungeon crawling and aren't afraid of a little difficulty will find that Silent Hill: Book of Memories gets it pretty right-it's just a shame that an FAQ is required to enjoy it.

At least the petty indignities of the multiplayer are optional and situated around gameplay that's solid and unique, if frustratingly stagnant. In the single-player campaign, however, it's impossible to escape the ham-fisted manipulations of the Assassin's Creed III development team.

When the elements of Orgarhythm come together, it's transcendent-raging music fills the ears, the tapping gives a tangible connection to what's happening onscreen, and watching the multi-colored army dominate the opposition is a singular experience. That said, the small amount of content, low production qualities and general lack of polish make Orgarhythm come off more like a proof-of-concept demo. I absolutely love what it does when it pops, but there's more work to be done here.

The Unfinished Swan isn't without its charms, and there were moments in the abandoned city, with the vines overgrowing walls and bridges in all directions, that I almost loved it. However, in its very short runtime The Unfinished Swan introduces too many different ideas and doesn't sufficiently explore or refine any of them-not even the bad ones. That might suit the theme, but it makes for a game that feels frustratingly incomplete.

While there are a few sequences that thrill the way a proper Hitman should, like stalking a dark cornfield or combing Chinatown without being dressed as a chef, these brief glimpses of 47's predatory roots are outnumbered three-to-one by kludgey segments more about duckwalking towards exits than they are about killing professionally. I would imagine that the goal of Hitman: Absolution was to take Agent 47's detailed, methodical gameplay and make it appeal to players more familiar with modern action/stealth hybrids, but all the devs have done is eviscerate their unique franchise with poorly-implemented mechanics and left him to die an awkward, humiliating death.

From the rousing space battle at its beginning to the surprisingly intense firefight at its end, Mass Effect 3: Omega is just the sort of add-on that I would want for a game of this kind… apart from the fact that it's a bit mindbending to revisit a virtual time and place that had such an unforgettable final act. I might still be trying to wrap my head around it, but I enjoyed my time with Aria and Nyreen just the same.

All complaints aside, Lee and Clementine are characters that will stay with me for the rest of my life, there's no question in my mind that The Walking Dead is a milestone that should be recognized and honored for the achievement that it is.

As much as I found myself groaning through the parts I knew I would dislike-namely, the grinding and overwhelming sense of repetition that emanates from combat and time management-I grew to respect Persona 4: Golden. I can't say I completely enjoyed my time with the game, but I'm not the kind of person who would be interested in buying it. Those who are will find an admirably polished JRPG and a welcome addition to their burgeoning Vita library.

So, is Darksiders II: Argul's Tomb worth playing? It's only about an hour long, and the exclusive weapon contained within is a set of armblades that drain Wrath with each hit. While they're pretty effective when partnered with the scythes that drain life from opponents, running out of Wrath was a problem that never really came up in the course of the game, so-perhaps ironically-nothing in the Argul's Tomb proved more valuable than the club I acquired by dealing with Argul himself. For players who can't get enough of Death beheading monsters, Argul's Tomb will be a welcome addition, but anyone who completed the main game and set it aside without further thought won't find anything worth slotting the disk back in.

While trying to revitalize the Zelda formula with modern developments is an admirable goal, Darksiders II's developers just can't seem to get a handle on how to make such a thing work. For two games now they've tried adding hi-octane combat, a Western-style story, and ability trees, but it's never managed to gel. The things that made games like Zelda, God of War, Prince of Persia, and even Shadow of the Colossus great are all on display here, but the Darksiders series still hasn't figured out how to use them effectively enough to stand on its own.

Overall, the entire endeavor is extremely costly and a good chunk of playtime is necessary to amass enough money to trick out the small mansion after blowing thousands on the initial structure. Yet this is perhaps the true quality of Hearthfire-the ability to simply get players back into the world of Skyrim after abandoning it after exhausting the main quest or slaying through the Dawnguard expansion.

When all's said and done, Ragnarok Odyssey takes almost all of its major cues from the leader of its genre, and then flatly fails to deliver a commensurate level of depth in combat, quest design, and equipment tinkering.

With just seven levels-three of which have serious problems working with the current control scheme-it's not like the game has a wealth of content, and its hostility to new players prevents me from recommending it to any but the hardcore.

Aesthetics aside, there's a certain level of patience and stubborn belligerence that will probably be needed to best Kung Fu Strike: The Warrior's Rise, even on Easy difficulty. The target audience, those that love old school brawlers, would probably be happiest here, but the sharp difficulty will certainly turn off anyone looking for a casual affair.

With a host of bugs, a fundamental lack of gameplay variety, and a key mechanic that doesn't serve the purpose it should, Ravaged is profoundly not the Mad Max game we've been waiting for.

It may be a lot more of the same, but it's prettier, smoother, longer, and filled with more stuff.

While the question of whether it's a good idea to put players in the role of a dead-eyed mute psychopath is open for debate, it's undeniable that Lucius's developers have captured the feel of their inspiration perfectly. There are missteps that keep the game from truly excelling, and the story is serviceable at best, but Lucius provides a unique horror gameplay experience, and any hardcore fans of the genre owe it to themselves to give it a look, provided they have strong stomachs.

Without the kind of stage this story requires, all players are left with is an amusingly iconoclastic oddity, worth trying out, but not falling in love with.

Rather than preaching, Hotline Miami asks the questions and forces the player to confront the answers himself, without exculpating its own creators. That's the real mark of maturity.

While I still call myself an XCOM fan and was thrilled to see the property return after so many years, I couldn't commit to XCOM: Enemy Unknown wholeheartedly. Although I appreciate the update for modern audiences, the game comes off as a bit undercooked and stumbles on things which should be airtight. On the other hand, it's still a very welcome addition to a genre that's gone a bit stale-just be prepared for a little probing when dealing with these creatures from another world.

Without technical accomplishment or a compelling narrative, Natural Threat never rises above the crowd to distinguish itself in any meaningful way. There are better ways to spend time hunting pixels.