The game is designed to be the opening episode in a collection of related games, but its story is still self-contained and there’s no cliffhanger designed to compel you to buy the next episode in the series.

The mirror's edge in this game straddles excitement and frustration.

After playing the first game, it is noticeable that the characters seem more lively and full of charm in the first game when compared to the sequel. The characters in the sequel are still really good, but I just favor the original game’s characters. With the sequel now being on PS5 and Steam, it is highly noticeable that the game doesn’t have slowdown during town sequences. The Switch version struggled to maintain a consistent framerate while in towns, but the PS5 version has no problem with slowdown in those areas. If you missed out on Monster Hunter Stories 2 for Switch, definitely give this game a try on PS5 or Steam. You can’t go wrong with either the first game or its sequel. Both games are just as good as the other one and have their highs and lows. For me, both of them come out as being equally good. It’s hard to recommend one over the other.

FIFA Soccer 08 is a little overwhelming at first to non-soccer fans but with a deep control system, good graphics, and a bunch of modes, those wanting a full soccer game will be happy.

And one final word of warning ' Mortal Kombat is very liberal with blood and gruesome death, which is either a very good or very bad thing depending on your view of violence in games.

I found the novelty of the dark-ops modes to make up for the less than compelling play of the deathmatch modes, but I don’t find myself looking forward to the next time I can jump online with the game like I have with other online shooters.

All these years later, I always figured if Ryu Hayabusa died, it would be at the hands of a truly evil foe or rival ninja. I never thought he'd meet his end at the hands of a broken camera and an inefficient, amateurish and lazy programming team. For shame.

While I did enjoy some of the puzzles, I wish they were more challenging and employed a greater variety of mechanisms. Personally, I’d rather spend time thinking about how to solve a puzzle rather than looking for the triggers that I know are needed to solve the puzzles. Overall, though, there’s plenty of gameplay here wrapped in a good story and imaginative environment to please most fans of open world action games. It’s hard not to have fun with a game that has so much fun with itself.

Moves the series forward by giant robot steps. MechAssault fans will love the enhancements added to the game.

A solid tactical simulation of armored warfare 1975-1985 whose real value is in the multiplayer mode.

If you've got a Wii and think you are up to the challenge, Rage of the Gladiator should be at the top of your list.

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.

Car people will fall in love instantly, and the rest of us will have a simple game that can be enjoyed over and over, for 15 seconds at a time.

Given that Lost Ark is free-to-play, it’s certainly worth your time to have a look at it. Just don’t go into it expecting the second coming of Diablo or you’ll quickly find yourself disappointed by the underwhelming loot, milquetoast characters, and pedestrian story. If you can put that aside and have the patience to push your way through the game’s grindier stretches, you might find yourself enjoying the game’s combat animations, overall sense of style, and range of activities once you finally reach the end game.

Two bucks. That's all you'll need to grab this PSP Mini, and it is worth every cent.

Stick It To The Man is a great downloadable titles with plenty of actual laughs and some engaging gameplay to match. With so much that could have gone wrong, you owe it to yourself to check out the game that got so much right.

The game is packed with player animations with plenty of frames so the animation is smooth and realistic.

If you don’t like tower defense games, then Defense Grid won’t change your mind about the genre. However, if you do enjoy the occasional tower game or enjoy strategy games in general, Defense Grid is definitely worth your time.

Ghost Master can be frighteningly fun, but lacks the substance to make everyone a believer.

A must buy for Xbox Live players.

With 12 new fighters and tons of extras along with several tweaks to existing fighters Ultimate Marvel VS Capcom 3 is quite a value for $40!

A not-so-serious shooter for gamers that don't take themselves too seriously.

A good football game that could still be better.

Conan fans and MMORPG players looking for a change of scenery are well-advised to give it a try, but MMORPG haters will go on hating.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is easy to recommend to both casual and dedicated comics fans. It sticks pretty close to the time-tested formula for LEGO games, and I'm sure that most fans of the series wouldn't want it any other way.

If you enjoy this type of exploration game, ABZU is easy enough to recommend.

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

You'll have a blast with both the campaign and the great multiplayer support.

If you enjoy strategy games or RPGs, it's hard to imagine you not liking this game. In fact, it's likely to become your obsession for a while.

Westerado manages to combine the good, the bad, and the ugly in one spectacular game that provides depth and entertainment in a small package rivaling even the major A list developers. The only downside is that it is very short, but it's one of the best games I have played so far this year.

Overall, Cronos: The New Dawn is a fantastic survival horror that should be played by fans of RE4 and Dead Space. I was very impressed with the Silent Hill 2 remake and feel that SH2 remake is a better game than Cronos, but Cronos impresses me more since it’s an original franchise that Bloober didn’t have source material on. It would be awesome to see this as the start of the a new franchise for Bloober. Cronos definitely is a game that I’d like to see a sequel to down the road. Good job on this Bloober!

F1 25 is a polished, confident, and highly enjoyable Formula 1 game. It doesn’t reinvent the franchise, but it refines it where it counts—especially in driving feel and presentation—while expanding its appeal through story modes and F1 World.

The dawn of a new age of strategy gaming on the go.

A big improvement over the 06 version, but next-gen Madden still has a little way to go.

A saga indeed - long on story, short on gameplay - and as a gamer it's something you'll either love or hate.

With the experience of Season One under their belts, the developers have been able to launch Season Two in full stride and that momentum has carried through to the second episode.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2 once again takes us to the world of Ivalice and brings along the same addicting tactical gameplay from the last game with some new additions to keep it feeling fresh.

Up to 50 players can compete in a single tournament with the low score for the course taking the prize. Even though the tournaments are quite large it often feels like you are playing solo as you play each hole on your own.

Assassin's Creed: The Rebel Collection provides a lot of gameplay for your money, even though overall Rogue feels a lot like Black Flag reskinned and moved to a new setting from a gameplay perspective. It's easy to recommend The Rebel Collection to action game fans, especially those who want to turn their daily commute into an adventure on the high seas.

Card Shark isn’t a game for everyone. You’ve got to have some patience to both learn the controller combinations to successfully pull-off each step of the cheats and to repeat all of those steps several times during the course of a card game. You also need to enjoy games that are essentially a collection of mini games, and that don’t have much interaction between those games. If those caveats don’t bother you, then you’ll probably find the game’s unique look and setting charming and appealing, and enjoy your time swindling the French aristocracy out of their ill-gotten wealth.

Disney Infinity has come a long way since its first release, and while there's still room for improvement your kids will still have plenty of fun with the game.

If you’ve played the first three episodes, then by all means play Episode 4. It’s one of the better episodes in the series and will hopefully build some momentum for the series as it enters its final two episodes.

A great party toy and novelty, but not enough depth for long-term single-player gaming.

This is the way The Sims ends, not with a whimper but with a bang.

Most people will probably enjoy the game at first, but the amount of time spent grinding and losing will quickly cause them to lose interest. This is a game for masochists and those willing to spend hours upon hours of their time running into a wall based on the slim hope that just one more run is needed to break through.

Spider-Man 2 can feel repetitive at times, but the webswinging aspect is simply fantastic. It’s the closest you can come to being Spider-Man without being bitten by a radioactive spider first.

Condemned 2 is still a unique horror game with some nice enhancements but fans of the first game may not enjoy the new story direction.

If your eyes can take the color scheme, you're in for a top-tier shooter at a downloadable game price.

A lot of great presentation, movement moments, and action, but also a lot of repetitive and frustrating stretches.

Arcade gamers will find Space Invaders Extreme to be extremely fun.

Overall, LEGO The Lord of the Rings is easily recommendable to anyone who's enjoyed LEGO games in the past or who has a love of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It does such a good job of creating a LEGO version of The Lord of the Rings, that I can only hope that a LEGO The Hobbit is in the works to accompany the new film trilogy.

If you’ve played Slayaway Camp, Killer Puzzle feels extremely similar to that game, but with updated graphics and much more gore. The game does have a PG mode for those that don’t care about all the gore. Besides the main story, there is also a Daily Kill and a Survival mode. The Daily Kill gives you a new puzzle stage every day and the Survival mode challenges you to get as many kills as you can. I highly recommend this game to horror fans and puzzle fans. With its value price, it’s definitely a steal you won’t regret!

If you like complicated war games with Everest-sized learning curves, then this is the game for you.

Guardians of the Galaxy is fun to play because it has fun with itself. It’s clever, fast-paced, and never takes itself seriously. In other words, it’s the kind of game the Guardians of the Galaxy deserve.

A very, very solid RPG for the Cube. Don't let the card based battle system scare you off if you're not into that sort of thing. It's done very well and adds a nice change of pace from the normal RPGs.

An average shooter wrapped in an entertaining story.

At times it can feel a little repetitive, but NFL Street can provide for some fast-paced and exciting sports gameplay especially when played online.

The Spec Op mode is challenging and I like that it gives you so many tactical options, but at times it can feel a little too much like a horde mode. Multiplayer is as solid as ever, and the new tech enabled by the new game engine brings the graphics and sounds of the game to a whole new level. Gunfight and Ground War are great new additions to the mix, and now you can easily find a mode that fits both your playstyle and the amount of time that you have available to play.

Pure is just what the name implies, a game about pure fun.

Overall, God of War Ascension is another good game in a good game series.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 is like a drive that lands on the edge of the fairway. It’s a good shot and you’ll certainly take it, but there’s still a little room for improvement.

Darkstalkers Resurrection is a great compilation of two of the most unique fighting games that have ever been made by Capcom.

Quiz TV is not quite ready for a prime time slot, but it wouldn't have any trouble being picked up in syndication for an afternoon slot.

The swan song of Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4 couldn't be louder with this fantastic release that improves upon so much from previous titles.

Pixel Junk Eden is innovative and visually intriguing, but there's not enough to it to keep you playing for very long.

Arcade Edition adds more variety to an already near perfect 2-D fighter, but there is really not enough added here for the less hardcore fighting game fans out there.

A quirky clown adventure of happiness.

If you love a lot of real-time strategy in your real-time strategy games, then Ground Control II is for you. It’s a great looking game that delivers some exciting real-time strategy action for gamers who need a break from base-building and resource collecting.

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

A brutally awesome world filled with gameplay that's a little less than awesome.

If the environments were more open, if there was more variety to the puzzles, if the game lasted longer, if ..., then you could have had the best game of the year here.

Immortal Throne takes an enjoyable game and ratchets up the fun a couple of notches, which is exactly what an expansion game should do.

Overall, Metro Exodus is an enjoyable shooter. Taking Metro out of the Metro is a good move for the series, but the game still provides plenty of claustrophobic locations for those who enjoyed the dark tunnel crawls of Metro games past. The ammunition system is still limited, but it feels better managed and more forgiving this time out, although I can still see it as being frustrating to some players. If you haven't played a Metro game before or were put off by the games in the past, give Metro Exodus a chance. You can catch this train running and enjoy the ride.

The developers really did a great job in optimizing this game for the Switch. I do recommend the other versions of this game for the full experience, but the Switch version of Zombie Army 4: Dead War is a great choice if you want portability or just to have the game on your Switch console.

SpellForce 2 is sure to satisfy action-RPG gamers.

Trine is a near-miss attempt to revive the 2D puzzle platformer of old.

The almost nonsensical story and some poor mission design aside, you can have some fun with Ace Combat 7. It will take some patience to get through the sequences with poorly defined objectives, but you'll have fun with the action-packed aerial combat and enjoy testing your skills against other players in the multiplayer mode.

The new and improved game modes make this year's installment of The Show a grand slam for any sports fan.

If you have a nostalgic love of Crash, then this game collection will certainly bring back a lot of memories. There were plenty of "hey, I remember this level" moments for me as I played. Like me, though, you might not remember the controls being quite like this, especially since you'll find that you've evolved along with platform games over the past twenty years. If you've never played a Crash game before, then you may find the level design constricted, the basic enemy movements somewhat simplistic, and the controls too unforgiving. The developers have done a really good job of bringing the game's visuals up to date while retaining all of the game's original charm and humor, but platform games have simply evolved over the past twenty years, and even though the game has a modern look its gameplay is strictly old school.

The Assignment is the first piece of Evil Within DLC and it makes the season pass seem very promising.

Any gamer that hasn't had the chance to experience BioShock should heavily consider grabbing a copy of the collection. For starters it comes with all three games, including DLC, and is easily some of the best, unique, and memorable experiences in FPS gaming in the last ten years. For those that have played the series, you will probably have a high school reunion reaction like I did. You'll see new faces (better graphics), potentially new things to talk about (behind the scenes look at the creation of BioShock and playing all DLC you may have missed), or avoiding it completely.

This game perfectly captures the feel of the Aliens movie from the perspective of a marine squad dealing with xenomorphs. Fans of survival games that enjoy some super intense battles should give this game a try. If you’re an Alien fan, definitely give this game a shot. I’m not really too big of a fan of real-time strategy games, but this game pulled me in as I learned more and more about it. It’s very hard from the start but as you start to learn it, it gets a bit easier, but you’ll never have a truly comfortable time with all the different situations that keep popping up and that is what makes this game fantastic!

If you don’t like word games, then you should stay away from Birdigo. If you do, though, Birdigo adds some unique twists to the standard scramble gameplay formula that you’ll probably find both novel and challenging. You’ll also appreciate the game’s visual style and animations, which give the game a lot of charm and will bring a smile to the faces of bird lovers. Spread your wings and give the game a go!

NHL 14 delivers a solid lineup of improvements and much appreciated tweaks to the franchise. It's not without some lingering issues, but luckily most of those are contained to the off-ice portions of the game and are trumped by impressive amounts of polish.

The original generation of 8-bit gamers will love this collection.

The multiplayer game really is something different from other RTS games you’ve played online, and if you’re an RTS multiplayer fan it is well worth your time to give Dragonshard a try.

A must-buy in every sense of the phrase. A high challenge level, two games for the price of one and some very rewarding unlockables make this one of the best PSP games to date.

An incremental step forward for the series, but the new Titan mode is sure to appeal to many of the series' veterans.

If the combat were handled a little better, then Bloodlines would be a real RPG benchmark. As it stands, the battles will prove a bit frustrating to both RPG and action gamers.

0-D Beat Drop is more of a variant on games that you've probably played before than a unique experience

It's nothing revolutionary as far as Dawn of War II goes, but six excellent campaigns and great gameplay make this a must for both Warhammer 40K and RTS fans.

Anyone who enjoys pinball will probably be very happy with Zen Pinball and should definitely take the game for a spin.

Cloning Clyde is a great game for those times when you’re looking to squeeze a small gaming session into your schedule. In fact, most of Cloning Clyde’s levels can be completed in under five minutes.

More of an interactive demo than a game, it will hold your attention for about the same amount of time as a short demo will.

It has a few problems, namely the advanced AI's preoccupation with power-ups, lack of a good storyline to go with the monsters, limited combos, and a lack of online play. However, the great environments and the sheer level of destruction that can be wrought will make this the favorite of a lot of gamers.

A little short and a little frustrating, but it's still more of a thrill ride than any other Metal Gear game to date.

Darkwood truly puts the "survival" in survival horror and is a game that all survival horror fans should check out.

Tiger Woods 08 is a decent enough golf game, but the overly touchy analog swing control and forced level progression will turn a lot of people off.