Although Red Faction rarely outstrips the games it draws inspiration from, the fact that there are times when it shows them up at all is pretty impressive.

Still a great college football game, but longtime fans will have trouble shaking the feeling that the series isn't quite living up to its awesome potential...The PlayStation 2 version of the game is the one to get--for now.

Basically, Bungie left no stone unturned in its quest to improve an already solid product. As a result, Myth II is about as good as a computer game can possibly be.

The gameplay is excellent and probably comes closer to mimicking the actual sport than any other soccer game currently available on the Xbox.

If you're a casual college football fan and you already own last year's game, then there really isn't a huge reason for you to buy the Xbox or GameCube versions of the game, especially since neither features online play. But if you're a hard-core fan, then you will certainly enjoy all of the new features.

A spectacular follow-up to last year's NHL 2K3, building upon all of the best aspects of that game and correcting the bulk of its flaws.

May very well be the best split-screen multiplayer-focused first-person shooter ever created.

Fortunately, there's enough new content here to justify it for players looking for another spin in Firaxis' gripping tale of alien invasion.

Much like going from a rustic shelter to a statuesque castle, Minecraft: Xbox One Edition will only offer more in time, with future updates adding even more hours to a game already brimming with near-endless potential.

Cuphead has been a longtime coming, and it's great to see that it lives up to its initial promises. It's beautiful to look at, and with a pitch-perfect soundtrack, it flawlessly captures the era its developers so clearly revere. It's also an intense action game that pulls no punches. It could benefit from a few tweaks, and two-player co-op doesn't feel like the valuable addition you might imagine, but Cuphead remains a rare, unique game that truly stands out.

Because it nails so much about that original Tony Hawk experience, it's really hard to be mad at Pro Skater 1 + 2 for any of its downsides. The load times aren't enough to keep you away from the plethora of satisfying combos, and the lack of level goals for every skater isn't enough to keep you from jumping back in with a new character. Playing through the newly remade levels is immensely enjoyable, and that on its own is enough to call Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 + 2 a success. However, smart additions and an engaging challenge system make it an experience that's more than just a brief skate through Tony Hawk's past.

Overall, though, Horizon Forbidden West does a lot more right than it does wrong. It might be jam-packed with stuff to see, do, know, and remember, but when its many systems come together, it can be a beautiful, exciting, and delightful open-world experience. The story that drives you through the frontier is often well-told and does well to center actual characters rather than audio logs, and while the map is littered with icons, it's much more often that they're fun, skillfully crafted diversions than random busywork to fill a checklist. There's a huge amount to do and see in Horizon Forbidden West, and the great majority of it is worth doing and seeing thanks to strong writing, great visuals, and some marked improvements to the series' underlying ideas.

If you're a Ninja Gaiden enthusiast, you'll want to see the new chapters, reworked levels, and slicker graphics. And if for some reason you missed it before, this is a must-play game. The action is intense, focused, and certainly not for the faint of heart. It's also among the most satisfying in all of gaming and remains as awe-inspiring as ever, three years after its original release.

This great pinball game gets better every time another of your friends starts playing it, even if you're not playing together.

War of the Lions proves that even a decade-old game can pack quite a punch.

NHL 11 is the best hockey game to date.

The gameplay is tight and varied, the graphics are detailed and bright, and the sound is second to none.

Though the individual aspects of the gameplay aren't always very satisfying in and of themselves, the sum total of all that there is to see and do in Morrowind is nothing short of remarkable.

The spin sensor feels less like a gimmick and more like a tightly integrated feature that makes the entire game feel inventive and unique.

Pokemon X/Y isn't quite a mega evolution of its numerous predecessors, but like a dark move played against a ghost- or psychic-type pokemon, it doesn't disappoint.

Call of Duty: Black Ops bears the series' standard superbly, delivering an engrossing campaign and exciting competitive multiplayer.

Deathloop is a game where observation and dynamic thinking go hand-in-hand with shotgunning goons in the face and snapping their necks ... it delivers bombastic thrills and wince-inducing kills with intelligence and elegance in equal measure.

The single-player mode is good. It's...good. It's pretty good. But with the faint-praise damning out of the way, you'll be happy to hear that the multiplayer game is outstanding.

It's important, however, not to mistake Ori and the Blind Forest for being simply beautiful. It certainly is--but it is also unceasingly clever. It consistently surprises you with new tricks: gravitational divergences, new ways to move through its spaces, and carefully designed levels that require you to think quickly and respond.

Lots of games are about the possible end of the world, but I can't remember playing one that thought about that end, or made me think about it, as much as The Talos Principle 2. As we live through what can often feel like a slow-motion apocalypse, it's been fascinating, heartbreaking, and hopeful to consider things like our essential humanity, the things that make us who we are, and the choices we have made and can still make. And also, the puzzles are really good.

By once again capturing that electric atmosphere in NCAA 07, and combining it with an ever-evolving set of control tweaks and gameplay modes, EA Sports has created a game that no fan of football video games--be they college or pro--will want to be without.

While Shogo's makers aren't Japanese, it's clear that the people who made it have a fine grasp of the subtleties of Japanese animation, as the game combines the conventions of furious action and vivid characterization within a conventionally first-rate first-person shooter.

So while Madden 2002 isn't reinventing football on the PlayStation, it is really the best you're going to get on the system. Arguably, it can even provide a more enjoyable experience than its big brother on the PS2.