Nexuiz is a smart, speedy shooter for a great price.

Lost Paradise may replicate the Yakuza series' format, but it's filled with a passion for FotNS that makes it fantastic all on its own.

Card Hunter's fusion of tabletop role-playing games and trading cards is easy to get into and hard to pull away from.

It is moody and oppressive, but rarely terrifying; it is a power fantasy, not a heart-wrenching death simulator that rolls deadly boulders at you as if you are a single, miniscule bowling pin.

While generally better than Spec Ops, Rainbow Six carries its own baggage, especially where the conflict of realism versus gameplay rears its ugly head.

The quintessential Sonic experience is made even better thanks to the inclusion of achievements and a strong, competitive multiplayer component.

Aces of the Galaxy is an exciting, beautiful game that captures the spirit of classic arcade space shooters.

Geralt deserves to be called a legend, of course, not least because he stars in one of the greatest role-playing games ever made. Perhaps we will join him in yet another adventure, but if Blood and Wine is the White Wolf’s final interactive appearance, he at least departs in style.

The first truly challenging expansion pack for The Sims... It adds lots of interesting and challenging new stuff that should keep any fan of The Sims busy for some time.

This great new expansion offers a significant amount of new content for veteran Medieval II players.

Even without the promise of future content, TrackMania is a rock-solid out-of-the-box retail product, so if you have any sort of interest or affection toward this type of racer, it's completely worthwhile.

A hectic cooperative mode and two new maps add more fun content for Uncharted 2.

Translating the lightning-quick close-quarters combat of the Bourne films into viscerally satisfying gameplay is no mean feat, but High Moon Studios has done it and done it well. The adventure is a bit short, and the solid gunplay becomes tedious the second time around. Still, the combat system alone makes this game worth playing, and the dramatic moments it creates are the real treat.

There's no denying that Warbirds is at once the most difficult, expensive, and ultimately gratifying online flight sim currently available.

This accessible but realistic driving simulation is both sublime and subpar.

Eye-catching visuals, a dynamic score, and a variety of puzzles make it easy to lose yourself in this magical world.

There is a real velocity to Three Fourths Home. It sneaks up on you, quietly at first, before suddenly becoming overwhelming. Its closest analogs aren't other games, but works like John Darnielle's novel Wolf in White Van or the haunting music of lo-fi artist Mount Eerie--art that rumbles and groans and then springs into action.

Deftly blending tried-and-true mechanics with a brand-new way to move, Hybrid is a fresh, exciting shooter.

In the end, Telltale's Game of Thrones succeeds in telling a violent, sad story that feels very much at home in the world of Westeros. By the finale, the danger feels real and your choices feel like they have mattered.

Smooth controls and a bunch of awesome tracks make this an exciting kart racer.

All in all, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 may largely give us more of what we've played in Insomniac's previous Spider-Man games, but that winning formula is still so damn fun that it really doesn't matter. The story's exploration of loneliness is fantastic, creating gripping new narratives for the two heroes, Peter and Miles, as well as the two main villains, Kraven and Venom. Spider-Man 2 unites all four characters in a riveting narrative throughline you'll want to see all the way through and has the gameplay hooks to keep you engaged the whole ride.

It's rare that a prequel truly works, where a story can captivate despite the audience knowing what's coming and where the path will lead. Life Is Strange: Before The Storm is one of those exceptional stories because it draws you in on its own terms. The only problem: You know it's building you up just to break your heart.

All in all, Cris Tales is the kind of RPG I traditionally love to play. It delivers a wonderfully satisfying story about a group of troubled individuals striving to save the world for their own reasons, and along the way finding a place to belong with each other. Hilarious characters like Willhelm keep things from getting too stressful, and Crisbell's powerful Time Mage abilities lead to some intriguing narrative choices, fun puzzles, and engaging combat. The game's final moments are not conclusive enough to tie everything up in a satisfying way, but the journey to get there is one well worth taking.

But when The Last Campfire captivates--which it does so often--it's difficult not to sink into its breezy pacing and satisfying puzzle-solving. It never overstays its welcome or stretches puzzle ideas beyond their limits, letting each one leave an impression despite their brevity. The Last Campfire's narrative contextualizes each of these with small anecdotes, letting your imagination fill in the blanks of its world between worlds to the backdrop of its colorful imagery. It's a consistently relaxing and pleasant experience.

Even more so than playing the N.Sane Trilogy, which literally remade the original Crash games from my youth, playing Crash 4 felt like getting back in touch with the series. It's an injection of new ideas into now-classic gameplay that surprises and delights, even as it feels like a homecoming. Truly, games like this are why we come running back to long-dormant franchises with open arms.

Playing a banana republic dictator in Tropico 3 might not be easy, but it certainly is rewarding.

Despite the lack of a defining new feature to attach itself to, FIFA 14 is far more than the sum of its parts. It's a fundamentally different experience to last year's game, and an entertaining one at that, moving the series ever closer to the realism it so proudly strives for. The only competition FIFA has this year is itself.

Rive is demanding, but it pushes the kind of near-thoughtless play that shoot-em-ups strive to achieve. When faced with an onslaught of enemies and environmental hazards, you'll have to think fast or die. Rive also doesn't run all that long, but what's here is excellent, top-notch action, and the game delivers some of the most memorable moments in a shoot-em-up in years.