When all has been blown up and collected, Saints Row: The Third is a fun romp that doesn't take itself too seriously, made up with memorable extrusions of pop-culture.

Nevertheless, there are two ways to look at Gears of War 3: it's the best of the series; and, it's not a disappointing ending.

Many of Space Marine's shortcomings are somewhat understandable should this (hopefully) be in for a long-run franchise. There might be breakout hits, but Relic's new shooter appears to be focused on getting key features nailed down on its first pass, rather than spreading itself thin with totally useless aspects.

Here and there it's in need of some attention, but as a first attempt from a new studio, at a crowd favorite nonetheless, the groundwork is certainly there to build upon.

Like the grindhouse films it draws inspiration from, Shadows of the Damned might not be for everyone. It's mature sexual content (and immature sexual humor) that's woven together with gore-splattered gameplay set to a unique and refreshing sense of style. Nonetheless, it's an enjoyable experience that never flags.

While we won't be seeing Dungeon Siege III on anyone's "Best of the Year" lists, it's still a well-made hack-and-slash game, and one of the better examples of the genre on this generation of consoles.

Though its gameplay is less successful or interesting than its presentation, LA Noire definitely advances the art of digital storytelling.

DA2 is certainly a well-acted and better-looking game by dropping its ported qualities, but without the thoughtful structure and fully realized world like that of Origins, it's one that exists in the hyphenated space of "action-RPG" where the first 5 hours are almost identical to last 30. The demo was a good taste of what Dragon Age 2 could have been, it's just a shame it never goes anywhere beyond that.

Rift looks fantastic, and is a lot of fun.

For fans of Fight Night, everything they know and love about the series is still here, looking and controlling even better. For everyone else, the Champion mode is the game-changer, and it's hard to imagine anyone who is a fan of good storytelling not getting pulled in deep. Clichés or not, Fight Night Champion scores a KO.

Though its story lacks imagination and its one-note pacing cries out for greater variety, Killzone 3 looks fantastic and contains an incredible wealth of detail and excellent action. It plays every bit as good as it looks and a compentent multiplayer component guarantees an extended life beyond the single-player campaign. The story may disappoint you but squaring off against the Helghast is still remarkably satisfying.

Bulletstorm's frantic action and M-rated, blood-drenched gameplay harken back to earlier generations of shooters, but its richly detailed design, outstanding visuals and the innovative Skillshot system mean that the game easily transcends its "return to roots" vibe for an experience that's easily one of this year's best.

As a sequel, de Blob 2 doesn't change much of the formula from the well-received-yet-under-the-radar Wii game, and a greater variety of platforming will be needed to continue to make the franchise a success. For now, however, there's just enough quirkiness and unadulterated playfulness to make it an enjoyable game.

There's a lot to love for longtime franchise fans and new challengers alike with fighting that's excitingly frantic.

As with any newly-minted MMO, the game now is probably not what it will become, and whether there is enough depth and content to sustain the monthly subscription price is an unanswered question. For certain though, fans of the beloved DC comics, action gamers, and MMO veterans will all find something to enjoy in DC Universe Online.

Priced at 15 bucks, Vietnam occupies that middle ground between a full-blown sequel or expansion, and a less ambitious map pack.

Though some cutscenes still use their original assets, making for grainy, pixelated graphics and distorted sound, and you can't switch between series games without completely exiting from the disc, The Sly Collection continues to exhibit why good, older generation titles do well to bundle together in quality remastered editions.

At around 10 dollars, Pigsy's Perfect 10 will remind fans of what they dug in Enslaved, not all that long ago. Clever, entertaining, and generous, I only hope that Ninja Theory continues to create DLC as strong as this.

Acclaimed for their Burnout work, under the Need for Speed banner, Criterion Games shows they can double-dip in a category and succeed with telltale execution.

Though it sold millions of copies on release, and it's an entertaining, entirely competent game, Call of Duty: Black Ops would benefit from a little more ambition and outside-the-killing box thinking.

Gothic games have been bemoaned for their graphical bugs and sloppy code but things are a lot cleaner and tighter this time around. Gone is the open-world of previous titles, replaced by mundane, rote, disappointingly shallow RPG that lives and breathes in an engaging, beautiful, and invitingly realized world. But for an RPG-as in life-just being pretty isn't enough.

Ghost of Sparta may not deviate from the usual God of War experience, but it certainly presents those core concepts which made the series a standard exceptionally well and with nearly untouchable graphical and auditory prowess on the handheld format.

In a time when some are clamoring for long, drawn out stories and unfitting multiplayer options, Vanquish shows how its possible to avoid both and deliver a strong, albeit surprising, performance.

Not every aspect of the game is a masterpiece but Enslaved surprised me in a very good way and most important, made me care about what happened next.

Castlevania: Lord of Shadows succeeds because of it's stellar art direction, beautiful visuals, and tight, polished gameplay. Sure, it cribs, borrows, and steals from other games, but in the end, it still moves a classic in a great, new direction.

As a Halo game it rivals the nostalgia Combat Evolved instilled in us nearly a decade ago due to fully realized online multiplayer components and customizability; as a shooter, however, it feels almost as dated in so much there's little separating the core experience from past iterations.

The game's a bit muddled in terms of strengths and weaknesses, but if you're in the mood for a playable story where your characters aren't overblown stereotypes and you can invest in your protagonist, it's easy to sink a few hours into the follow-up to one of 2002's greatest hits.

The company's philosophy-demonstrated again with StarCraft II-is that innovation and experimentation are less important than taking what's already successful and bringing it to near perfection.