I like what's been done with the campaign, both in terms of bringing in the multiplayer-like loadout features and in taking the story in a thought-provoking, Science Fiction direction, and I love that so much replay-ability is built into it.

Mr. X Nightmare makes Streets of Rage 4 a near perfect beat’em up. At this point, Streets of Rage 4 is the game to judge all other beat’em ups by from now on. Mr X Nightmare is not even a cherry on top, it’s like getting an extra cake to go along with the first cake (the main game). The DLC is also available at a bargain price – only 1/3 the cost the of the main game itself, so it’s a steal. If you have Streets of Rage 4 and want to breath some new life into it, buy the Mr X Nightmare DLC and you’ll be playing it for quite a while. The survival mode alone will keep you busy for quite a while so just that mode alone is worth the purchase.

The best platform game available on the PS2.

A strategy game for the ages.

It’s a far cry from anything that you’ve played before that will simply blow you away.

Let yourself get the itch, and you'll be constantly amazed as the game's hour count ticks higher and higher with no end in sight.

What do you get when you put together solid controls, a fun story, great action, beautiful graphics, and a game oozing with character? Jak II, one of the best PS2 games of the year.

Never has a game so difficult been so rewarding.

A second visit to the Unova region doesn't quite hit 100 percent perfection with this series veteran.

A thoroughly enjoyable game and it also feels sort of good to be able to succeed in a first person shooter without having to kill every person that you come across.

It gives ME vets everything they wanted in the game's ending, namely a return on beloved characters and some effect on what their choices thus far hath wrought.

If you've ever enjoyed UFC, fighting games or even games in general, give this game a look. You'll thank me later.

Resident Evil 5 digs deep into the series' origins with its overall story and slightly enhances the overall addicting gameplay that left its mark with Resident Evil 4.

This is still Patapon at its best, but it doesn't measure up to the first two. Regardless, don't expect me to play much else besides this game for quite some time.

The ultimate action-RPG.

It is indeed a legendary game.

A second visit to the Unova region doesn't quite hit 100 percent perfection with this series veteran.

An outRAGEously fun shooter.

The combat in this game may have achieved a perfect balance of what is possible when two un-armed humans engage in combat. Throw in an addicting career mode and you have a new standard in fighting games.

In addition to the single player story mode, which, by the way, runs longer than the story mode in many full-priced games these days, let alone DLC expansions, there's a new multiplayer mode included in Undead Nightmare.

Shadow of Mordor is without a doubt the best The Lord of the Rings game that I have ever played, and quite probably the best game I've played this year. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys a great action game.

A benchmark game that future games will both try to imitate and be judged against as well.

If the whole games as art thing is close to your heart, you are looking for a puzzle platformer or semi-Metroidvania experience or you simply want something a little a different after finishing Doom, Mario Odyssey or Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Teslagrad is one of the best options available on the Nintendo Switch.

PGR2 just doesn't make sure that you meet a race's goal – it will watch how you race and reward good moves.

Uncharted 3 delivers a compelling story and backs it with some great gameplay.

There are plenty of other touches at work in this game that make it something special in the worlds of survival horror and shooter games.

Bon Appetite!

Resident Evil 5 digs deep into the series' origins with its overall story and slightly enhances the overall addicting gameplay that left its mark with Resident Evil 4

Modern Warfare 2 is a complete package and one of those games you'll be playing for a long time to come. It's not only one of the best shooters of the year; it's one of the top shooters ever to appear on a console.

This is one mash-up that will have Portal and Defense Grid fans singing with glee.

The grandmaster series of strategy gaming spawns another game for the ages.

Darksiders is a complete game experience, and if you have even the remotest of fondness for action games you should make a point to play it.

The biggest extra you’ll find, though, will come after you’ve completed the game. You can then re-enter the game and as you play through the second time you’ll notice the addition of some floating icons. Clicking on these pauses the game and plays designer commentary about the design and development of the level.

What once was old is now new again and it still maintains that same classic gameplay that helped it to achieve its legendary status.

Limbo shows that there is salvation for an industry stuck in sequel hell.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 pulls off one of the hardest tricks of all – providing a game that will appeal both to those who have fond memories of the original and those who are playing a skateboarding game for the first time. The controls are tight and responsive, the animations smooth and realistic, the levels are a joy to skate, and on Xbox Series X|S, the game is on a whole new level graphically. The game is a true and fitting tribute to its legacy, as well as a skating game for the new generation.

The definition of survival horror genre today - grown more beautiful with age.

The only thing insane here would be your failure to download this game.

Lich King is an impressive addition to an already compelling game.

If you're even the slightest fan of the original then you owe it to yourself to pick up this downloadable title.

The multiplayer aspect is fairly average, but you’ll enjoy the single player game so much that you won’t care.

An adrenaline-packed rush of a ride.

Personally, I would have preferred more challenge, but overall I found the game to be so much fun that I was able to looked past that.

Dragon Age: Origins might have a few clichés here and there, but for those looking for a RPG to lose themselves in, you need not look any further. Dragon Age: Origins is a winner.

So, in short, Dawn of War II is not Dawn of War, nor is it like a traditional RTS game. What it is, though, is a fast-paced, tactics-focused game that's a lot of fun to play.

ToD is every bit a Ratchet & Clank game, well, except for the missing multiplayer game, and a great start for the series on the PS3. This one should be in every PS3 owners collection.

Aside from two small control issues, this Goldeneye is every bit as good as its classic predecessor.

Modern Warfare 3 is the elite of the elite shooters.

Jade Empire's unusual setting and deep, rich story should make it appealing to RPG fans. Other gamers will appreciate the more action-focused combat and shorter game length – about half that of typical RPGs.

A Crack in Time is simply fun to play. The puzzles are well-designed, the platforming fun without being frustrating, and the battles are a blast ... and it all takes place in a humorous and imaginative galaxy that's a joy to explore.

A masterful blend of storyline, exciting action, and freeform gameplay that will keep you hooked for hours on end.

The BioShock games are one of the top series in gaming, and if you haven't played these games before you owe it to yourself to pick up this collection. Even if you have, it is worth your time to revisit them and play your way through them again. I found that I picked up on new elements and some of the more subtle aspects of the stories the second time through, giving me a greater appreciation for how well-crafted the stories are.

God of War and God of War II are gaming at its best and this collection is recommended to anyone who missed the games the first time around.

If for some reason you didn’t like the original Guitar Hero, then there’s probably nothing new here that will change your mind about the game. For everyone else, new songs, new animations, and the new practice and co-op modes make Guitar Hero II a no-brainer.

I'll be honest: Saint's Row: The Third really surprised me. It had all the strikes against it: I didn't care for the first two games in the series, I'm not a huge open world crime fan and I've been feeling less positive toward games that are shocking for the sake of being shocking. Somehow, the game's huge ability to entertain and bewilder the player forgives all that in my book, and even after finishing the main game, I'm still having a blast just bouncing around Steelport.

I was very pleasantly surprised by A Plague Tale. Don't let its setting or theme cloud your judgment and keep you from playing this game. It's a fun and rather unique game, and one that will compel you to keep playing it until you reach its end.

A blast to play, even for those who are not big fans of racing games. It's easy to pick up and play, and the variety of modes and tracks keeps things interesting for a long time.

Uncharted: Drake's Fortune is a very solid game and Naughty Dog has really worked a bunch on this one during its development.

An exhilarating and addicting arcade racing experience wrapped in some great looking graphics.

It's still GTA IV, but there's plenty that's new and plenty that’s fun to do. This is a ballad worth listening too...

If you're a fan of classic platformers, Ms. Splosion Man is going to steal your heart.

Much like Gears and Halo for the 360, or Metroid Prime 3 and Twilight Princess for the Wii, Phantom Hourglass should be "the" game every DS owner has in their collection.

It's a feature-rich game backed by solid gameplay that will keep you playing long after bowl season has ended.

DOOM left an amazingly good impression, and became my favorite shooter since... hmmm... Black or the Killzone trilogy? That sounds right; first-person shooters or games that are violent simply for violence's sake fell out of my favor in my 20s, so it is rare than one gets anything more than a passing "meh" from me. But DOOM is really something special. It's faster than 95% of the shooters I've played, and more intense than nearly all of them. The exploration, huge stages and mountains of collectibles and upgrades set it aside from the average "kill everything, move on" shooters, and the glory kills make dispatching bad guys as satisfying a treat as it's ever been in any other game before it. The in-game map is a huge pain and the multiplayer is a GB-hogging snoozefest, but those are literally the only downsides I see. Every adult Switch owner except for the most squeamish, should have DOOM in their cartridge slot or installed on their SD card. In a whirlwind year for the Switch and AAA releases, DOOM stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the big boys, and missing out on it would be a crime.

A beauty to behold and play. The AI may prove to be too great a challenge for some beginning players, though. Otherwise, there is very little I can find to complain about. This is a genuinely well-designed, fun to play game that stands out from most of the other games out there.

If you didn't enjoy GTA IV, then The Lost and Damned won't change your mind about the game. If you did, however, you're going to love this downloadable expansion.

Who would have thought that combining a platform game with an online shooter would have been so much fun?

I can sum it all up in one sentence: If you’re a gamer and a fan of rock music, then you owe it to yourself to play this game.

Smart and sexy, just like its heroine. It is a thoroughly enjoyable, tongue in cheek romp through the world of 1960s espionage.

Among the best in the Valhalla of strategy gaming.

Need for Speed SHIFT managed to hook me to the point where I was looking forward to my next session with the game. Not all games can do that, and especially not all racing games, and that tells me that the designers did something right with this one.

Far Cry 3 is a very impressive game, one of the best of 2012, and will certainly make the list of most memorable games that I've played on the Xbox 360.

Overall, I can easily recommend Legacy of the Void to any current StarCraft II player, and if you're new to StarCraft II then now is the perfect time to jump in and experience the full story arc. Blizzard has once again managed to add to an already great existing game, making it better and more complete without breaking anything that made the game great in the first place.

Gears of War is one well-oiled machine.

To really enjoy the game in all it's glory, though, you'll need to play it in dynasty mode.

Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts does what every expansion pack should do: take a great game and make it even better.

As if the a great single player experience wasn’t enough there are some incredible multiplayer games happening here.

The Sims 2 takes your sims to a whole new level, making them even more fascinating to watch going about their lives and interacting with other sims than they were in The Sims.

The moment at which my endearingly annoying robot companion Claptrap fashioned himself a Mohawk out of some animal fur I collected he earned a spot on my all-time favorite robot list.

As for control, it is fluid and precise.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 pulls off one of the hardest tricks of all – providing a game that will appeal both to those who have fond memories of the original and those who are playing a skateboarding game for the first time. The controls are tight and responsive, the animations smooth and realistic, the levels are a joy to skate, and the game is a true and fitting tribute to its legacy.

No Mass Effect 3 player should be without this DLC.

If there is a knock against Forza Motorsports it's that the game does not have much personality. The racing is great and the cars look sweet, but there's not much going on in between.

If you've ever liked Naruto, fighting games or any kind of arena fighter, this should be next on your list. Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 is definitely the biggest, best Naruto game, and one of the best anime fighters I've ever played. Get this game.

The game is as fun and challenging as it was back in the day, and the updates and additions are sweet enough to make even stingy DMC fans shell out.

No matter your feelings on how things turn out in the end or the addition of multiplayer, Mass Effect 3 is the trilogy-capper we've been waiting for, and its an experience that can easily be recommended to nearly anyone.

If you want to lose yourself completely in a game or need a reminder of why you enjoy gaming so much, Half-Life 2 is exactly what you need.

If you're a college football fan, you can't go wrong with this game - you'll love it.

Call of Duty 2 is like a good war movie, it may not be a realistic portrayal of war but it is dramatic, compelling, and epic in scale.

As close as you'll come to starring in an epic war movie.

Fans of tactical shooters or those who enjoy some challenging and enjoyable gameplay should definitely take a trip to Vegas.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will compete for online shooter players' time with Modern Warfare 2, but I’m not going to declare one of them better than the other. I had fun with Modern Warfare 2, I had fun with Bad Company 2.

Great fun – so what are you waiting for? Grab your sledgehammer and have at it!

I loved the remake of Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap. Everything I remember is in place, only with updated - beautifully so - visuals and sound. The whole original game is included and an integral part of the package, and this is the kind of remake that drives fans absolutely wild. Newer gamers may shy away from some of the old-school issues that all games from back then seemed to share, but those willing to look to the past with fresh eyes will find a gem of an action platformer that was nothing short of amazing for its time. Old fan or new gamer, make sure you give Wonder Boy more than a passing glance.

If you're even the slightest fan of the original then you owe it to yourself to pick up this downloadable title.

Echochrome is the epitome of great puzzle design in that a few simple rules are used to create a challenging and rewarding experience.

The most advanced military shooter available on any system, bar none.

Overall, Rise of the Tomb Raider is easy to recommend. The gameplay is compelling and the tombs are a joy to explore, but Lara herself is the star of the show.