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.

It improves on the format already established in the previous games, and the strategy level adds another dimension to the game. At the same time, if you've burned out on the series, maybe you should avoid it as it's still the same game.

It’s not super fast-paced (which could be regarded as a positive) and the gameplay might be a little too open-ended for those who like clear and specific goals. But for anyone who is looking for a game the whole family can play together, Viva Piñata will do very nicely, indeed.

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.

Gas Powered Games' version of a dream RTS--bigger, richer, longer, and more complex than just about any strategy game ever attempted. It is an audacious exercise in game design that in the main, works really well. It isn't as emotionally engaging as some games, but it does demand actual strategy and tactics, and it is a game that will take a very long time to master.

If you’re looking for a deep, interesting shooter, where the story goes a bit beyond the map description….then this game isn’t for you. If you’re looking for something a bit more in depth than the quick fixes Unreal Tourney provides, but not quite as sluggish as Battlefield, then feel free to open up your wallet, just don’t blow the budget on it.

The fast paced gameplay and looks of the original are still here. Also, the multiplayer and graffiti edit modes give it a good lasting appeal.

Ultimately, it may be a strong package from a technical standpoint, but one that isn't as well rounded or robust as it should be. Playing with 127 allies across a gigantic map is impressive, but its novelty is subject to wear thin without as-unique extra content to back it up.

It improves on the format already established in the previous games, and the strategy level adds another dimension to the game.

One improvement would be if players could interact more with the environment using common things to wreck havoc in creative and funny ways.

It’s more of what you’re used to with a few new bells and whistles.

It really is a joy to play a game that hasn't been done what can seem like hundreds of times.

For the first time in over a year I found an MMORPG I can stand to play for more than a few weeks.

If you've got a powerful computer, a fair bit of OCD when it comes to military realism, and a lot of time and patience, then Bohemia's ArmA II: Operation Arrowhead will scratch your itch in ways that Modern Warfare or Battlefield: Bad Company can't.

The game moves at a leisurely pace, and anyone too intimidated by the demands of the scenarios or the continuous play mode can opt to try the simplified sandbox game.

It's a testament to the Metal Slug series that the movement to the Game Boy Advance, a medium known for marginalizing and, ultimately, diminishing the play experience of ported games, has not lost any substantial quality in translation. The run-and-gun, cartoonish action is as abundant and entertaining as ever.

Those looking for grueling puzzles may not find complete satisfaction here, but if you're primarily after light-hearted humor with a bit of thinking in between, then I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Some parts of the game can drag a little, and the warfare system doesn’t feel fully fleshed out, but creating towns and ‘playing god’ is as fun as ever.

All of the aspects of a great game were there: Good graphics, good sound, great AI, and compelling story. However, the fact is that the gameplay really wasn’t fun at all.

An incredible game. I would say it’s a must have for every RTS fan out there. I haven’t enjoyed a game this much for quite a long time.

Its crazy-quilt story is balanced by stellar gameplay and visuals that sometimes clutter the screen, but usually do so with style and beauty. Bayonetta might not be the kind of girl you bring home to meet you mother, but she's a lot of fun to hang out with, flaws and all.

Apart from Metal Slug 3's extreme difficulty and short storyline, I found everything was well-placed together.

It is cerebral where most other sports games gaudily play up the gladiatorial aspects of pro sports. As such, it is an acquired taste. However, this reviewer encourages you take that first taste. It usually leads to a lifelong addiction to titles such as this much to the dismay of your free time.

But once you take it online and play team versus team the fun factor really kicks in. AT-ATs shaking the ground, Ties and X-Wings battling it out in the air and the sounds of explosions and blaster fire all around you, any real Star Wars fans doesn't stand a chance at putting this game down.

For the price and the quality of the game, Hearts Of Iron Platinum is the best WWII strategy simulation on the market currently.

Contains the same, insane amount of detail and dedication to military history. However, besides additional content in the form of animations, units and terrain sets, CMAK is pretty much the same game, lacking any apparent innovation.

A smart strategic addition to a solid, turn-based strategy game.

Although the single player campaign can get a bit boring, the multiplayer aspect of Future Perfect offers endless hours of mindless violence.

One of the sleeper hits of this year. Excellent gameplay, unique additions to the usual RTS style, sound that makes you want to turn up your speakers, and multiplayer mode that has major replay options.

The game plays well, and although the character abilities aren’t particularly original (elemental attacks, etc.) this is more a criticism of the whole genre, and Kult has a refreshing system to learn and use them. The story is a strong point too, which for an RPG is probably the most important aspect for most players.

Penumbra: Overture will surely strike a chord with fans of adventure and horror games.

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.

Tight controls and an overall engrossing story told through equally as compelling direction and action make Dead Space: Extraction a benchmark for Wii shooters.

Although the ending seemed rather abrupt, there’s still plenty to do once you’ve rid the world of crime.

My expectations may have been a little high, because I’m left wanting more. I wish the developers had implemented things like loops, and that they had added more cars, more levels, and just about more of everything.

While Karaoke Revolution Party certainly is the biggest karaoke videogame to date, the perhaps overly varied song list and gimmicky game modes detract somewhat from the game's obvious greatness.

The visuals are absolutely breathtaking, whether it is the incredible lighting effects, lush environments, or the fine details that are often overlooked by other games, XR delivers.

Overall, Zendoku is an interesting and amusing take on a Puzzle Fighter-style game.

To inspire any future attraction from older gamers, the developers must consider making adjustments to the game’s response system and also the overall action speed—even though Slamming Charming into the castle never gets old.

Simple, direct, and appealing in its 3D platformer delivery, and it successfully harks back to a time where gaming could be fun without having to annihilate an entire alien race in the process.

I loved its originality and thought process. Sure the graphics weren't the greatest but with dead on audio and an amazing premise for a game, it just can't be beat.

As usual, Multiplayer is where it’s at. There’s just too much good stuff balled up into one package here not to have two or more humans at the helm, bashing their heads against one another in an RTS royale cage match.

Simple, direct, and appealing in its 3D platformer delivery, and it successfully harks back to a time where gaming could be fun without having to annihilate an entire alien race in the process.

Realistic to the extreme meaning it’s almost impossible to land your kickass tricks and do those combos that can blow the competition out the water.

Certainly a step in the right direction to a good 3D Pokémon game.

Overall, Gameplay is excellent, yet at many times, it can get tough.

A decent platform adventure game for the PSP. The diversified environments and vast array of puzzles require you to think at times, but there’s a little too much recycled material.

Act of War is polished, but it's not polished enough to hide the bad acting, disjointed and unrealistic storytelling, and most of all, the complete lack of inspiration or innovation.

Questionable unit AI prevents No Man’s Land from swimming in the same pool as the big boys.

An absolute blast to play, if you can forgive it for not offering anything especially new to the franchise, and only if you can truly invest the time that it requires.

The game is not easy and might leave some players mad and tired of constantly getting fragged while playing against skilled human opponents, but I guess that's what keeps the players striven to practice their skills off-line against AI and then taking it back on the real battlegrounds.

After paying off the kids with more junk food I spent a few hours with the game myself. I found it ridiculously easy, except for the dancing segments, which were fairly difficult.

The controls simply ruin the overall experience.

The possibilities are not countless but so numerous that I doubt that more than a handful of selected SWG players could really name them all. But this is at the same time the game’s weakest point – the diversity and depth of gameplay you have to master to make any real progress is breathtaking in the beginning and maybe even too much.

While the flawed camera system and occasionally awkward attack mechanics can make the gameplay a little troublesome at times, on the whole MediEvil is a thoroughly fun title.

The land and its Story, the content, and the very promising features that are already implemented and will be implemented make this a game very well worth playing.

I have a feeling in a few years gamers may look back to see what an influential and groundbreaking game it really was.

In the end, the prettiness of Runaway: The Dream of the Turtle does not entirely make up for its average sound and gameplay, but despite some of its flaws, it is still an entertaining game, and fans of the original, or those seeking a nice looking and light-hearted adventure game, will more than likely appreciate this sequel.

A thoroughly impressive package in terms of visual and audio, and is extremely reminiscent of the better Ubisoft shooters.

Nothing that will be memorable and lasting, but definitely fun for a while.

I found myself loving this game and playing until the sunset. The gameplay has few flaws and is packed with action and strategy. The game's simplicity should not fool you into thinking the game is easy.

The single player experience is enjoyable, but not mind blowing. The real gem here is the online play which seems to offer something more complex then most console FPS's and definitely something I would recommend.

All of this high polish is tarnished by the significant, game-stopping bugs that are currently present in the game. If Paradox is able to clean up these bugs, I could highly recommend this game.

I liked it a lot without being blown away by it, and it's the extra flavour that kept me going more than anything.

Just remember to keep the lights on…and invest in rubber underpants.

It combines the best elements of "Jagged Alliance," "Commandos" and the original "Postal" game into one neat package.

I don’t like the randomly spawned enemies, who pop out of nowhere, the bugs, the somewhat tedious levels that you get stuck on every other minute but there’s something about the gameplay that just works.

KOEI will doubtlessly continue to pump out these hack-and-slash titles into the polluted genre pool, but it remains to be seen whether they will ever venture into clearer, deeper water or rather remain where they are now, which is treading water in the oddly yellow tinted shallow end.

Its weaker links – graphics, battle structure, tactical depth – balance out pretty evenly in its strengths of story, voice acting, character development, and atmospheric maturity.

The save system could have been better designed and the multiplayer is nothing special as well, but it is still amusing when playing with the right people.

Loaded with enough features to keep a serious space simulation nut busy for a long time, however, its steep learning curve and surface dust can cause many a casual gamer to shy away from it, opting out for something along the lines of Freelancer instead.

It does not offer an overly satisfying experience, for while it is rife with large-scale battles, containing literally thousands of units, it also contains a lot of superfluous micro-management that just does not quite fit in a game of this variety.

An above average action game that fans of the movie are sure to love.

A very well made game with great graphics, great customizations, great extras, and good sounds. The only reasons I can see someone not wanting to buy SRS is if A). You hate to see good-looking women dance in front of you, or B). You dislike songs about prison sex and god.

The story and visuals are nothing short but spectacular and the sheer amount of voice work put into the game will certainly please fans. Then again, Moment of Silence revolves almost completely around dialogue, so patience will be a necessity.

While the voice acting is atrocious and the card system can really anger you when it doesn’t work in your favor, overall Fuzion Frenzy 2 is unmistakably an admirable party title.

For the multitudes with little or no background in the genre, this is a good, solid primer, which gives a good enough primer to leave you feeling less intimidated by the big boys.

Surprisingly pleasant.

The first thing you notice when playing, is that the speed of the game is much slower than in other basketball games. Using turbo to get to the basket from your court side is not as easy either.

With the fast-paced battle combat, vast array of playable characters, and intuitive battle system that yearns to be perfected, it's hard to not find anything to like about this double disc collection.

There are some people who truly do love Galleon, but most of those have gone beyond the not that spectacular graphics and invested a few hours into it. The gameplay can at times be quite dynamic and enjoyable, but there are also times when it feels like a generic 3d platform game.

A somewhat weird addition to the already weird Dark Age of Camelot.

Comes across as one of the most involved strategy games for the Playstation 2. Unfortunately, the audio and visual performance delivered was done poorly, so this game will not appear to be as great as it really is from the start.

Its mixture of platformer and third-person shooter holds considerable potential, but unfortunately there isn’t a whole lot of gameplay development throughout the relatively short single-player campaign.

All in all, MX vs. ATV: Reflex is a solid entry in need of expansion: the bare-boned framework is there for what can be a stellar franchise in its genre.

Interface is everything in a large-scale simulation and TPB2003 provides pretty good access. It’s not entirely intuitive, but it is sufficient and somewhat streamlined.

Even if you've never played a Metal Slug game in your life, but you do like classic 2D shooters, you won't be disappointed. There is a reason this series has been around so long and when you play through any one of these games you will understand why.

The learning part becomes a strain after finding that barely missed evidence or clues is the main trademark method Lights Out utilizes in order to create a challenge, instead of good, old-fashioned logic. I’m not above a little hunting, but the margin of error is excessive, and that knocks the points down on gameplay.

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.

A weak song selection and poor audio quality make On Tour a good travel-friendly game, but not a standalone franchise maker.

The game lacks multiplayer which I think is really a shame; it would have been great to play with several friends and roam the Caribbean trying to sink each other.

Though this game offers the old-school aspect, this game didn’t even do so well throughout the years it was released so the appeal may get you to try the game but in the end it is, truly a let down.

While the idea is there, and it's great to see a director and studio trying new things, the execution unfortunately falls a bit flat.

I enjoyed playing the game even though it is more Diabloesque than like Final Fantasy.

In the end, Ghostbusters: The Video Game is a standout licensed product; one that every movie-game tie-in needs to learn from.

It's fun, but it's not the Rock Band experience.

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.

Offers enough to amuse some friends on a Friday night, and more than enough to please hardcore fans of the original anime.