Suffers from a host of rather serious flaws, including an overall lack of polish, which can end up making the game disappointing more often than enjoyable for some players. These problems veil what's an otherwise captivating and immersive role-playing experience.

Heat offers a brutally honest driving experience, but with simplistic damage modeling.

This is simply one of the richest, most well-put-together classic compilations ever made, and it manages to not only refrain from sacrificing key elements of gameplay for the sake of making the hardware transition process easier but also makes improvements that are not only great but practically seem like common sense.

Makes good, solid improvements over its predecessor and stands on its own as a great version of The Sims for consoles.

Imperfect as it may be, Helldivers' focus on the cooperation of a small team looking out for each other against oppressive waves of enemies elevates it from what would have been a fun and challenging shooter, to a game that now sits at the top of my list of how I plan to spend many future evenings: with a gun in hand, my allies at my back, and a broad smile on my face.

If you're someone who has steered clear of Layton previously, Azran Legacy isn't going to convert you. This is a series that sticks to what it knows: challenging puzzles alongside a thoroughly charming adventure.

If you think you can surmount the game's learning curve and whip a squad of like-minded recruits into shape, you'll find that PlanetSide offers a unique and potentially very enjoyable challenge.

The bleakness is so overbearing, in fact, that A House Divided steps perilously close to monotony. Every kindness is rewarded with brutality.

Each second spent in its world teaches you something about the characters you're shepherding and the Borderlands universe at large. Episode Three is definitely the best we've seen of this series so far.

Certainly becomes tough later on, but once you learn to master all your force powers and get a good grip on your lightsaber, you'll feel unstoppable.

Kingdoms of Amalur's combat and character advancement are fantastic enough to overshadow how bland everything else is.

You will find success early and often in Tiger 06, and though that may not sound like such a bad thing, it isn't necessarily true to the spirit of the sport, where triumphs--however minor--need to be earned, not simply offered to you for the taking.

Insomniac Games has crafted an excellent game in Sunset Overdrive. It's not without a few niggling issues, but you'll be too busy enjoying yourself to care. You can compare it to games like Crackdown, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Ratchet and Clank, but by combining the best elements of those games into a single package and injecting it with an anything goes, rock and roll attitude, you'll never think of it as anything but a singular achievement that stands tall on its own merits.

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is, fittingly, a loving tribute to the superhero side-scrollers of old. Experimenting with different teams in each stage offers a good amount of replay value, even if the same stages and enemies can grow tiresome after a while. The collectibles and challenges in each stage offer some nice extra incentives, and the depth of the source material will appeal to Marvel fans, new and old. The only thing Marvel Cosmic Invasion is missing, really, is Colossus's "whoooooaaaaa" sound effect from X-Men: The Arcade Game--though I suspect players will be saying "whoa" plenty of times while playing this terrific retro romp.

This beautifully presented WWI-themed tower defense game will have you coming back again and again.

There is light that developer Deck Nine just never allows darkness to touch, and there is joy to be had in being able to play some small part in making sure they all do better. But the disconnect between that vibe and the turmoil that brought Alex here to begin with is tangible, and the game would achieve brilliance if those two concerns could connect. Dropping by Haven Springs is still time well-spent--but it's simply a pleasant visit, rather than a powerful, emotionally resonant one.

Telltale has crafted another entertaining chapter in the always-growing Walking Dead story. The Ties That Bind Part I takes the series in a welcome new direction with the Garcia family while still staying true to the moral dilemmas and zombie-chomping action that made the first two seasons so compelling. The New Frontier is off to a great start, and its troubled cast's harrowing journey is just getting started.

Fun combat and a steady flow of rewards make this journey a massively enjoyable one, especially with some fellow mercenaries along for the ride.

SSX is a terrific evolution of the series that delivers extreme snowboarding thrills like no game before it.

Crysis comes to consoles, and four years after its release on the PC, there's still nothing quite like it.

Crysis comes to consoles, and four years after its release on the PC, there's still nothing quite like it.

Children of the Sun's unconventional approach to sniping is consistently thrilling and wholly satisfying. It might be full of gruesome blood spatter and cracked skulls, but it's also the thinking person's shooter--more of a delightfully macabre puzzle game than anything else. It's admittedly short, and the game's longevity will largely depend on how hard you fall for its inventive and bloody puzzles. That shouldn't be a problem when it's so difficult not to. And even if it's relatively one-note, Children of the Sun plays that note with such morbid aplomb that it's easy to recommend.

Crazy stunts, a huge gameworld, and a playful attitude make Just Cause 2 a lot of fun despite its annoyances.

A rousing tennis game for the Game Boy Advance that's thick with bells and whistles in every regard.

Rage creates an engrossing world full of dazzling detail and entertaining shooter action.

This Napoleonic strategy game isn't as revolutionary as its namesake, but it still improves upon previous Total War offerings.

The pure joy of commanding a small army of malicious minions more than makes up for Overlord's minor shortcomings.

By focusing almost exclusively on extremely intense one-on-one competitions, Table Tennis more than compensates for its lean set of options.