THUG2 hangs on to the great gameplay of the previous games, makes a few minor tweaks, and wraps it all up in a new Bam Margera-centric package.

Entertaining highs and frustrating lows punctuate a Castlevania game that--in an effort to redefine the series--loses its identity.

An exciting and poignant journey that every fan of role-playing games should take.

Despite a touch of monotony, Age of Conan's atmospheric first expansion is an absolute delight.

Starseed Pilgrim makes saving the sky from a virulent blackness an especially rewarding challenge.

This gorgeous action platformer is fun on your own or with a couple of friends.

An uproariously fun and enjoyable post-Apocalyptic adventure that is a little too familiar at times.

Starfield has its moments, for sure. Its satisfying gunplay makes combat exciting, especially when it's integrated into setpieces within its better, more captivating questlines. And although limited in its conception of space exploration, there's a novelty in poking around the galaxy to see star systems up close and personal, and occasionally finding side content worth chasing. However, it struggles to deliver a cohesive and memorable RPG experience amid the seemingly boundless sea of stars. For all its reverence for scientific philosophy, its stories and characters paint a rather tame and sterile vision for what our spacefaring future could look like. When you strip Starfield down to its essentials, it relies on a tried-and-true, but well-tread formula while missing some of the depth of the games that came before it. Starfield is a game more concerned with quantity than quality, and leaves the experience at the surface level.

Killer storytelling and creative demon slaying make the haunting Alan Wake one for the books.

Just about every aspect of the game's design has undergone some type of change, from the radically improved swing interface and the use of 3D golfer animations instead of digitized motion-capture footage, to a powerful camera option that gives you unlimited access to the gorgeously rendered courses.

It retains enough simulation-style elements to appease those craving a realistic game, thus giving NBA Live 2003 a much broader appeal than its direct competitor, "NBA 2K3."

A cool piece of technology, and it definitely has the potential to be a lot of fun, especially in a crowd setting.

Delivers all the fun of the original game with enough extras to keep the gameplay fresh and the premise interesting. Fans of the first game should feel at home with the sequel, while those new to monster ranching should be able to dive right in.

Even the most experienced gamers will find a serious, rewarding challenge in the game's highest difficulty mode, yet the well-rounded design of Hitman 2 means just about anyone with a taste for the subject matter, or just a stomach for it, will really like the game and its distinctively cinematic style.

Developer Quantic Dream's Indigo Prophecy is a game that actually gives cinematic gameplay some context, as well as some real heartfelt meaning.

Transistor is always a good-looking game, but in these instances, it demonstrates a rare knack for combining its visuals and music to powerfully convey both narrative information and tone, driving the story forward with Red's own unwavering resolve. So in the end, yes, Transistor is a fun action role-playing game with a neat combat system, but beautiful moments like these make it more than that. They make it a game with a soul.

This new take on an old favorite adds new, exciting elements to the formula without getting rid of what made Pac-Man so good in the first place.

While Warrior Within's new combat and satisfyingly long campaign improve on last year's game, the now darker tone falls somewhat flat compared to the storybook atmosphere in "The Sands of Time."

Of course, it's fun to see your characters become stronger over the course of the game, but what gives makes Child of Light meaningful is the way that Aurora grows emotionally stronger.

Like an anime version of "Star Wars," this big, lavishly produced action RPG is another good reason not to shelve your PlayStation 2 just yet.

Small problems hold Infamous 2 back from greatness, but there's still a lot of electrifying fun to be had in Cole's latest adventure.

You'd have to have a cold heart indeed to not be charmed by the bright eyes and madly wagging tails of the wonderfully lifelike Nintendogs. The game's boisterous and affectionate young canines are impossibly endearing, making the tasks of caring for them, training them, and simply interacting with them a joy.

As a graphical showpiece, DiRT is an unbridled success. It also happens to be an entirely enjoyable rally racer.

Yakuza 5 makes up for its modest shortcomings with enthralling diversions and eye-popping settings that compel one to look at travel deals to Japan.

The drastic improvements made to No Man’s Sky in its Beyond expansion are the new gold standard for how to gracefully cope with a game’s flaws post-release. The game laid the foundation with its release, but it took Beyond to elevate it into something magnificent. Successfully transitioning to VR is a creative victory on its own, but realizing just how full and vibrant and rewarding an experience this game has now become is almost poignant. Beyond represents the courage of convictions, a concept that has not only met the lofty expectations it set forth, but transcended them.

FIFA 08 makes small tweaks to last year's game, adds some new controls, and introduces new gameplay modes such as Be-a-Pro.

MLB The Show 25 plays a typically excellent game of baseball. Ambush Hitting is lackluster, but tweaks to fielding make for a more well-rounded game. Meanwhile, Road to the Show finally gets the shot in the arm it's been crying out for with the inclusion of amateur games and a reworked progression system; free agency is more engaging in Franchise, and Diamond Dynasty smartly shifts away from the restrictive Sets and Seasons model while also introducing an enjoyable new single-player mode. Whether its additions are incremental or more significant, MLB The Show 25 makes enough positive changes to justify another year out on the diamond.

The most fun, addictive shooter released so far this year. While far from perfect, the intense sandbox warfare is something that you have to experience. Dice calls it tactical destruction. We call it explosive fun.