The execution and the boring gameplay coupled with the heavy handedness of the humour combine to make the game a true exercise in tediousness.

The mech combat is fast paced and brutal, but once that veneer wears off you find that under the hood is a slap shod mix of broken balance, goofy game mechanics, and an abject lack of the tactical gameplay for which the franchise is known.

NBA Jam is a delightful return to a classic game, and a bizarrely perfect fit on the Nintendo Wii.

It's unfortunate that the story you're controlling the character through is so uninspired and vanilla, but the multiplayer, simple yet effective combat and cool item fusion makes the game worth a look for fans of the genre.

Unfortunately, with the issues the game has in its short singleplayer campaign and the lack of originality in the multiplayer, Medal of Honor is a decent enough shooter and reboot of the franchise, but isn't the blockbuster that EA was aiming to deliver.

The bottom line is that this game is strictly for younger fans of the property, all others need not apply.

Like Resident Evil 5 and Lost Planet 2, this Dead Rising is no mere comfort food. It's skillfully made-to-order for people who are hip to zombie mythology, who don't think of Doom or Daikatana when they hear the name "Romero".

The only leg it has to stand on is its cartoon style that will certainly attract less demanding gamers as well as the merely curious. If that's worth $15 to you, more power to you.

Def Jam Rapstar has some pretty impressive speech recognition under the hood and a great start with its community site but at the same time, some track list omissions and a career mode that feels somewhat tacked on makes this game a good start with plenty of room to grow.

As a puzzle game, Professor Layton and the Unwound Future is an excellent offering, however, as a Professor Layton game it is simply extraordinary.

There are other modes like the new My Player which allows you to live the life of an NBA player, giving press conferences and rising thorough the ranks from D-League to NBA Superstar and the aforementioned Jordan Moments but really it's the gameplay that sells NBA 2K11. It's a huge step for basketball fans and every other game that comes out is going to be inevitably compared to it.

With its latest offering, Ninja Theory has proved it is capable of pulling off an engaging, enthralling and – dare I say it? – enslaving action game.

It's great to see some real competition for THQ in this genre and MMA fans shouldn't hesitate to pick this one up.

I can tell the game is really trying hard to be something fantastic, and maybe for the Russian side of the market, that's how things have actually turned out. For us Americans however, I'd recommend taking the money you might spend on this game, and instead blowing it on an awesome discount joystick (if you don't have one already) and copies of Freespace 2 and the Independence War series. I guarantee you'll have a superior experience.

Hegemony otherwise does a good job of capturing the nature of war in this time period.

Mercurysteam had been developing the title before Konami proposed that Lords of Shadow would be the new Castlevania game. It really shows that this is very much their vision of Castlevania without fealty to fan expectations or demands, and I think it absolutely paid off given that the goal was to revitalize and modernize an aging brand.

Hydrophobia isn't a great game, but it certainly has its moments, not to mention an entertaining storyline. It's also extremely short, with roughly five hours of gameplay before a sudden "To Be Continued" message flashes across the screen. That's not a lot of payoff for 1200 MS Points ($15).

In all, FIFA 11 accomplishes exactly what it set out to do in that it's a much better game than FIFA 10.

Don't get me wrong, Borderlands is still one of the best co-op experiences in gaming and the mix of player classes and relentless stream of enemies is very easy to slip back into, however with the ability to play more than one playthrough of the main game and all of the DLC packs, if all you want to do is shoot high level dudes, you don't need to pay another ten bucks to do so.

This Guitar Hero game is no different than its predecessor, which is both a positive and negative. On one hand you'll still enjoy the game if you like the set list. Then again, with the tantalizing introduction of keyboard play in Rock Band 3, I get the feeling that the Guitar Hero franchise will experience the final curtain call with Warriors of Rock.

Civilization 5 remains a threat to my productivity and household happiness. Though not quite the complete triumph it could be, Firaxis has shown how a twenty year old design can still be tweaked and improved in the hands of a team unafraid to break things in the interest of progress.

Lapses like the holds in pit-lane, the AI nuisances, and lousy rules enforcement prevent this game from reaching its full potential.

If the first two games left you wanting more, more is exactly what the third game in the series offers.

Cladun gives you more for your $20 than many games give you for $60 and does so in such an endearing fashion that you won't want to put it down. It absolutely should not be missed.

Halo is still a superlative multiplayer game, and with a group of friends, there's nothing quite like a well-tuned game mode or a white-knuckle finish to a Firefight. It's a shame that Halo: Reach couldn't add $60 worth of improvements to it.

There's almost nothing to like about Sonic Adventure. It's clunky and awkward at best, painfully buggy and broken at worst. Its most unforgivable sin, though, is that it's just not fun.

I love the synergy of all these different play mechanics. On their own, these different bits would become stale very quickly, but together each compliments the other to create what I think is a brilliant game.

In any case, Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an unforgettable survival/horror experience, one that should not be missed.