Heavy Weapon's arcade-style shooting is incredibly appealing, especially when you get into the ridiculous action in the multiplayer modes.

The core one-on-one fighting action is easily the best part of the game. It's gory, intense, and quite complex, meaning it captures much of what has made MK an institution among fighting games.

It's a basic dungeon crawler at heart, but Summon Night: Swordcraft Story has enough fun with the formula to make it worth playing for role-playing fans.

A good enough game, though barely anything has changed. It doesn't feel like it has been rushed, since it isn't buggy or broken in any way, but there's definitely a lack of proper maturation here that hinders the overall product.

One of the best traditional RTS games to hit the PC in a number of years.

The Adventures of Shuggy is a cute platform puzzler that pushes the envelope with a deluge of gameplay ideas.

Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012 offers fast, fun games of Magic: the Gathering, and the PC edition is the best, thanks to its mouse-driven control scheme.

Xenonauts is an unlikely success, a challenging clone of a beloved classic with enough tweaks to entice fans and newcomers alike.

Hitman's a veritable playground that will delight you with its open-ended design, comical NPCs, and contract creation tools. These qualities, and the flexibility to be as hardcore or laid back as you want, are much appreciated, even if they don't disguise Hitman's lesser qualities.

Won't win any new converts to the strategy genre, but it's a good game that ought to please devotees of the series.

Rallisport Challenge for the PC even has a few key bonuses that weren't in the Xbox version, including noticeably sharper graphics and the ability to play online.

Could have been ported over a lot more gracefully. Yet this is such an unusual, intriguing, and shocking game that despite the rough translation, it still makes for a one-of-a-kind experience on the PC.

Delivers a high-concept sci-fi setting, a load of innovative gameplay, and beautiful graphics. And though it falls short in a few areas, it's still a breath of fresh air in a genre in need of it.

While all the other pieces come together flawlessly, the lack of replay keeps the game from achieving greatness.

A high-quality real-time strategy on the GBA--that's Mech Platoon in a nutshell.

If you've never navigated a Battle Network before, the third installment in the sharp collect-and-battle series is a great place to start.

A pretty good game, though it could have been much better.

Levels are linear and predictable, focused on ushering you from one straightforward encounter to another so that you can go crazy with those deranged arms of yours. If you are a fan of the original game, bear this in mind: The Darkness II is a fun, very short FPS without the authentic atmosphere and subtle touches that made its predecessor so intriguing. Still, if you've got a lust for virtual blood, The Darkness II leaks enough of it to satiate you.

Even though it feels like worn territory, Makai Kingdom is still a charming and intelligent game with enough depth to sustain the gameplay long after the story is finished.

Madden NFL 10 on the Wii makes some great strides in differentiating itself from its counterparts, but it also neglects the major aspects that make those other versions so engaging.

The experience just doesn't last long enough to be savored. Gun's main story missions are exciting, but the main plot is over so quickly that the whole thing just ends up feeling rushed, and the various side missions aren't compelling enough to hold your interest after the end credits roll.

From its odd mechanics to its captivating presentation, Headlander's parallels to Metroid bubble under the surface; it's the game's fresh qualities that grab your attention and make it one of the most delightful takes on the well-worn formula in years.

With an uninteresting world and dull combat, the survival horror game ZombiU is a weak link in the Wii U's launch lineup.

Although it offers newcomers two brand-new species to play as, Jump to Lightspeed (like so much of the content added to the game in recent updates) has been designed to reward dedicated, hardcore players rather than appeal to new ones, and that's exactly what it does.

If you consider yourself a fan of the strategy-tactics RPG genre, you're not going to mind that the graphics are a little outdated or that the audio has some hissing and popping in it. Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon is just too good to pass up.

Bad Blood introduces new mechanics that fit snugly within an already fully-featured world. It's these qualities that make Bad Blood an essential purchase for Watch Dogs fans.

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.

What seems at first glance like a fairly standard genre game, Toukiden 2 ultimately offers an interesting setting, imaginative creature designs, story- and exploration-driven gameplay, and unique combat elements. While its flaws are obvious, it’s not hard to forgive them when you’re in the heat of battle, chopping off a hellish spider-demon’s legs one by one and watching its life force disappear with every slash, shot, and punch.