This game has nearly everything you could ask for in a world conquest simulator, and if you plan to dive in it may be best if you let your loved ones know you are going to start writing a novel. Or training for a triathlon. Just pick something that takes a really long time and sounds hard. You're going to be busy for a while.

As long as EA Canada remains in charge of this title, I don’t think there’s a chance any other game can knock FIFA from the top spot.

Just as was the case with the episode before it, Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 2: The Siege of Spinner Cay's puzzles represent excellence on Telltale's part. Not only are they consistently intuitive and well developed, but are generally accompanied with hilarious dialogue that should make any fan of Monkey Island chuckle from beginning to end.

Unlike some past episodes, I didn’t find myself lost or confused at any time. It appears that Telltale has found its stride and hopefully keeps everything moving well towards an inane and cataclysmic end.

Dead Space is genuinely frightening, and should keep most gamers on the edge of their seat for at least eight to ten hours of gameplay time. After completing the game, a New Game + option is unlocked, allowing players to restart the game with all of their upgrades and equipment. This feature could be extremely fun, but the option to change the difficulty setting is absent, which makes it a little too easy, and misses the point of New Game +.

It’s fantastic, fun, beautiful, creative, and unique—pretty much everything you would want from any game and everything you would expect from a game that came with so many months of hype and excitement. With unlimited replay value and potential, you will probably be playing it for months—if not years—to come.

Strange Journey is easily one of the best RPGs to come out this year, which should come as no surprise to the SMT faithful.

Not only is DJ Hero 2 a better game, but it also has better music, better graphics, and is somehow even more addictive than the first.

The graphics are solid, the game plays incredibly well, and the story is reminiscent of the best summer action flicks. Add in robust online options and you have a title that belongs in anyone’s library.

Far Cry 2’s gameplay is solid, and it works as both an open world game and a shooter. Its plot is light, but dense, and will make you rethink the way you look at real world conflicts like the ones represented in the game. As with most sandbox titles, there is a huge amount of content, and there is at least twenty hours of gameplay in the single player alone.

Highly recommended for anyone even remotely interested in the sport, sports games in general, or even games in general. It’s that good.

The World Ends With You is definitely not a game for everyone. It takes chances, it's bizarre, it's different, and it's difficult to even explain. However, it's also one of the best new RPG experiences I’ve had in the last few years.

Ultimately, Civilization Revolution gives back as much as you put into it. It’s a wholly satisfying experience whether you play alone or online.

The game looks great, there are a ton of little nuances football fans everywhere will love, and most of all, it’s fun to play. Despite some issues with the AI, I think this is the first must-buy Madden for next-gen consoles.

Even taking the shortcomings into account, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better game than Yakuza 2 on the PS2 this year. I’m impressed with Sega being able to churn out a game of this quality, and wish they would do it more often.

There are a ton of new additions in this sequel making it more than worth the 800 MS Points, but somehow the game still felt like an add-on, and not a new game.

Challenging, intelligent, whimsical - Little King's Story is a wonderful game, and one that should be mentioned in the same breath as nearly any other game of quality on the Wii.

It just misses being the football messiah many Maddenites are claiming it to be, but Tiburon has found a way to take their successful formula to the next level, creating a football experience that’s not only incredibly satisfying now, but has me looking forward to where they go from here.

Is it still awesome? Is it still the best racing sim ever? Absolutely and absolutely. For many that ends the conversation. But taking a step back and just looking at it as a game, I have to say that in many ways it falls short.

Without a doubt, it’s one of the best games on the PSP and possibly the best-looking.

Additions fix some of the notorious flaws of the game, while others solved problems that most likely didn't even know it had. It's charming, simple, deep, and addictive, just like all of the games in the series before.

While it may not be the game of the year, it arrives just in time to at least contend for it. Who would’ve thought a fresh start on a new console was what this series needed?

A dream come true for many gamers of the 1990s, this is a remake done right, with the care and attention this property deserves. In fact, if other adventure games get the same treatment, I would likely re-buy all of them just to experience the new graphics and sounds.

This is the absolute pinnacle of baseball video gaming, and I dare someone to do better.

FIFA 10 also comes complete with an overhauled AI for the rest of the computer players, making them more reflexive and aggressive.

There’s no two ways about it, Muramasa: The Demon Blade is the most rewarding game to hit the Wii this year.

Ninjatown’s gameplay is solid and addictive, its style is wonderful and adorable, and its faults are negligible. It’s obvious that a lot of heart went into this game, and it shows by being one of the best titles on the Nintendo DS. That’s right, you didn’t misread that, Ninjatown is one of the best titles on the Nintendo DS. It’s perfectly suited for the system, the controls are impeccable, and it’s loaded with enough content to justify a purchase for anyone who owns the handheld.

The Beatles: Rock Band is definitely a fantastic journey through the career of what is possibly the world’s most beloved music group of all time.