An involving graphic adventure, but it's noticeably hampered by its technical flaws and well-meaning attempts at action sequences.

Too bad it's so short, but there's plenty to do in the city of L.A. once the story is over. This is the first game that treats the "GTA" model as inspiration rather than a quick ticket to the bank.

The result will please gamers that are fans of the show or those searching for a simple fighting game, though fans looking for the next incarnation of "WWF No Mercy" will have to keep waiting.

While UT certainly does not break new ground, it makes a good transition from the PC and offers much with its unique game types and excellent multiplayer.

The lackluster multiplayer mode and lame character designs don't take anything away from the main game, though. The swinging play mechanic helps keep things fresh and allows for a lot of technique that you don't normally see in a platformer.

The biggest drawback of this game is the inclusion of Venom as a playable character. He draaaags. He can't web swing (but he can cover vast distances with his leaps), he relies on brute strength rather than finesse, and you must also devour people in order to keep the suit from killing the man inside.

As is the case with even the best action films, BLACK probably won't stay with you long after the closing credits have rolled. That's not to say, however, that you won't be on the edge of your seat from start to finish.

The game is short, explosive and downright slick and it's everything we hoped it was going to be.

Even if you make only one trip through LEGO Indiana Jones, it'll be a great ride.

There's no disputing that Quantum Conundrum has some great ideas here, and perhaps it's even something this creative team can build upon. I just hope they dial back the amount of first-person platforming involved to solve these puzzles the next time around, and create a more-compelling world that I actually want to explore.

Multiplayer options notwithstanding, Knights of Honor is a triumph of play balance, attention to detail, and a wealth of elements coming together to present a challenging and authentic-feeling simulation of medieval politics.

Fun, engaging, and very entertaining. Some will be drawn in by the story, some by the humor, and some by the sheer originality of the world that has been created.

Too bad it's so short, but there's plenty to do in the city of L.A. once the story is over. This is the first game that treats the "GTA" model as inspiration rather than a quick ticket to the bank.

If MMORPGing sounds like it might appeal to you, then you'll not be disappointed with Frontiers. It's a solid online RPG experience that works very well.

I like 'em fast and furious, not fast and frustrating. That being said, I fell in love with GT Advance 2 almost from the very beginning.

It's not a game that will redefine strategy gaming, but it is an enjoyable ride.

A refined version of an outstanding platformer series, and with games in this genre becoming more and more rare these days (especially good ones), it's hard to not recommend this title.

The real killjoy – and potential deal breaker – is the horrendous UPlay system's draconian requirement that you be connected to the internet at all times to play.

Easy to learn and a challenge to play, Enigma: Rising Tide is one game naval enthusiasts and non-simulation fans won't want to miss.

The new goodies aren't all winners -- the wingman concept didn't bowl me over, paying instead of playing to unlock extras bites -- but there are enough innovations that work to make this feel like more than just an updated version of an old and successful game.

Comes up short in a number of ways. Would you really notice a big difference between playing the last game again on a higher difficulty and running through the new one with your eyes half-closed? That's the $50 question, and it's one that unfortunately must be answered in the negative.

It's a bit rough around the edges, but powerful psionics, extensive gun combat, and a great story make up for whatever polish the game is missing.

Endless Space easily earns a strong recommendation to fans of this genre. But I also can't quite call it a great game, because it lacks the flavor that makes games like Alpha Centauri, Sins of a Solar Empire, or Civilization so great.

As a real-time strategy game, EndWar is an intimate and deeply nuanced experience.

An excellent puzzle title that takes more time to grow on you than many short attention-spanned gamers might be willing to invest. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining, fun, and challenging title that can truly be played in the sorts of bursts that are natural to handheld gaming.

It's deep, lengthy, and has a lot to offer to those who are willing to take the time to appreciate it.

At least The Thing starts out strong. It's the sort of game you don't have to feel bad about not finishing.

It's offensive, psyche-damaging, brutal, makes no sense, and is unforgiving and violent. And damn good fun.

It will alternately excite and frustrate you, but for the time being, there is no better baseball experience on the PS2.

It has plenty of meat to go along with the sweetness, and is part of your well-balanced gaming diet.

Though it's a fairly robust expansion, most of its content isn't immediately accessible, nor is it even readily apparent, especially for beginning players.

If you can survive some occasional stretches of lunacy from your board of directors (something all NHL GMs must learn to do eventually), there's a remarkably compelling hockey experience waiting to be had with NHL Eastside Hockey Manager.

Perhaps the worst aspect of this mode is that the difficulty level seems unexpectedly bipolar. Each challenge is either trivial or unreasonably hard.

The game never strays from what captivated audiences more than thirty years ago, and provides a rich experience that gamers simply won't be able to refuse.

The characters are sweet but the story is bland. The battles are sexy but sometimes overstay their welcome. The graphics are great but the music is forgettable.

Great stuff, with the most intense dogfighting and most spectacular production values I've ever encountered in a flight-action game.

Either way, unless you despise RPG combat to the point of cursing the heavens and hitting your eyes with rusty nails at the sight of active-time battles, you'll have nothing to regret after spending a few hours in Tycho and Gabe's company.

If Donkey Kong Country 3 was released today as an original title, it would redefine 2D platform gaming.

Hopefully, some day in the future, id will see fit to give gamers a more robust multiplayer experience worthy of the DOOM name. Until then, the single-player campaign is still strong enough to carry the title and provide action junkies more than enough to satisfy their itchy trigger fingers.

The game's fighting mechanic was a little thin to begin with, and without an online version to lend it some legs, it gets old real fast. Playing with the GameCube controller isn't too hot, either.

It may not have every team, every stadium, every tournament, and every player out there, but there's plenty enough in its gameplay to satisfy any video game soccer fan.

It's not exactly a stellar game, but the capable story and unique battle system make it a solid addition to the GBA library.

Every bit better than the original, and in many shiny ways. The multiplayer is a blast, it looks great, the game modes are expanded exponentially over the first, and the game dances on the fine line of being fairly realistic without being too over-the-top crazy.

Definitely not a game for everyone... but it's an intensely satisfying and mind-bogglingly replayable game for those gamers willing to wallow in Asian history and pure strategy.

The physics provide a near-perfect blend of arcade and simulation sensibilities: It's not so over-the-top that it's still believable, but it's also not so realistic that you'll need an intimate level of knowledge about tires, engines, and gear boxes.

A greater challenge wouldn't have hurt, but this is a fun game.

For console owners, it's simply not worth the bucks to upgrade your PC to play this game -- Enjoy it on your console. On the other hand, if you've got the hardware for it (including a gamepad) and don't own a console, I'd recommend getting your hands on this game in an instant.

Perimeter certainly has its share of problems, from a bizarro-world storyline and ho-hum multiplayer support to lackluster artificial intelligence. But playing the game is just so much fun that it's almost impossible not to recommend.

The generous helping of missions and otherwise familiar and entertaining RTS action are commendable, but poor AI, limited maps, and some interface problems hamper the gameplay.

The best Battle Network yet.

An excellent virtual-T&A delivery system, the best simulation of v-ball on the Xbox, and a guilty pleasure that kept me playing for much longer than it should.

Speaking of tacked on, the way the brief (roughly an hour) four-player co-op campaign mode is wedged into the story cheapens the entire thing a bit, even if it is pretty entertaining to play.

The off-the-wall humor is wickedly pointed and the characters are simply hilarious; the gameplay is deep and engrossing but clunky and far too close to what the developer's been doing for the past several years, just more so.

Thanks to one of the best storylines we've seen in quite a while (as well as a heaping helping of good old-fashioned violence), Gun isn't a gaming experience that we'll soon forget.

Luckily, the space content is very much on point when comes to aesthetics. If you're a Star Wars fan, you're likely to be delighted by the sights and sounds, even seven hours into a TIE-killing grind.

Despite my picky complaints, I still really enjoyed my return to Shining Force, and couldn't stop until I got all the way through it.

If you're looking for a quick action fix, and don't mind a shallow story or weak multiplayer, there's several hours of outstanding entertainment here.

Having #Reload on the go is a tasty proposition, one that 2D-fighting fans would do well to consider.

The graphics aren't all they could be, and the game suffers from a few crashing bugs, but it boasts a solid story, interesting characters, and diverse puzzles. You even get the first Law & Order game, "Dead on the Money," free in the package.

For shooter fans, the combat is still outstanding, and you'll get a great eight hours or so by the time you reach your final encounter with Alma, although fans of the first game may feel like they've done this before. In many ways, F.E.A.R. 2 feels like the middle chapter in a trilogy, and there's certainly enough momentum here for at least one more run.

That's what LEGO Star Wars is all about: a great time. Whether it's the nostalgia or the cuteness that hooks you in, the gameplay makes it worth sticking around.

Pushed to the extremes of an MMORPG, even the commendable highs of its unrelenting focus on combat run out of steam long before you even reach the level cap, and that's a terrible fate for a game that otherwise shows so much promise.

Hamilton's Great Adventure is a good, solid puzzle game that's a refreshing midpoint between mindless casual tile-matchers like Bejeweled and antagonistic platform games like Super Meat Boy. Hamilton can hook you, but the routine of dealing with slow restarts and fine-tuning the camera to your liking puts a hamper on your quest for fortune. Then again, what's a great adventure without a few setbacks?

Thanks to one of the best storylines we've seen in quite a while (as well as a heaping helping of good old-fashioned violence), Gun isn't a gaming experience that we'll soon forget.

A good game with very cool camera options and great use of a 3-D engine but it could have used something a little more original in the gameplay area to truly set it apart from the rest.

A worthy sequel.

Even if you've never played any of the DOOM titles, if you like first-person shooters and you own a Game Boy Advance, DOOM II is an absolute must-have game.

A successful translation from 3D action with great GameCube interactivity.

A great third-person action title with a neat squad twist. Sometimes the missions might get a tad repetitive, and it might not be the biggest revelation in terms of gameplay you've ever seen, but throw in some friends and you'll have a blast.

The game is short, explosive and downright slick and it's everything we hoped it was going to be.

During its best moments, it's certainly one of the most exciting and engrossing games I've played in a long time. It's just unfortunate that the apparent cut corners take the wind out of its sails sometimes.

The most astute comment I've heard about Battlefield 2 still applies to Special Forces: everything about it sucks except for the actual game.

But New Blood's single-player experience has all of the frustration of the original without the promise of eventual success. It's all stick and no carrot.

Even if you make only one trip through LEGO Indiana Jones, it'll be a great ride.

The single best bargain currently available for the Wii.

A slick and graphically upgraded version of an already strong PS2 title. It shares some of the same problems as that game -- namely a very difficult base running mode -- and has a few of its own in the form of some of some graphics hiccups, but overall, it's a solid debut.

Easily the most forward-thinking DBZ title we've seen. It captures the speed and style of the show and wraps it into a very playable presentation with fantastic character designs.

Brain Age is a remarkably accessible game that just about anyone can pick up and get something out of.

Other than a few new monuments and industries it's really just more of the same, but if you couldn't get enough of Pharaoh, then you will definitely love Cleopatra.

Underneath the technical problems is an innovative, creepy, and intense experience.

Probably the best single-player dungeon crawler we'll see on the DS for some time. Game balance is great, the game looks beautiful, and there's even some really fun writing hidden beneath the youth/casual storyline.

A fun but underwhelming title thanks to a lack of replay value and miscellaneous quirks.

The lack of visible competitors in the single-player modes, combined with the relatively slow pace, can make the game a dull affair. There's just too little sense of speed, danger, or excitement, and that bodes ill for a racing game.

Unless you're a fan of repetitive beat-'em-ups that require dozens of hours of devotion to unlock every last item, level, and character, RotK won't have much to offer.

Madden NFL 07 is more than competent; in fact, it's very good, but unless you've waited all this time for a football game for this platform, with only a few weeks left in football season, you may want to just wait for next year's game.

The game is brutally violent, unapologetically vulgar, and simply a hell of a lot of fun to play.

It's a beautiful, poetic game that inspires creativity, despite its technical struggles.

After years of living up to the name of evolving the beautiful game, Konami's latest Pro Evolution Soccer effort is an embarrassment for a series that has served as the dominant title in the genre.

Glitches and control scheme issues aside, I had a tremendous amount of fun playing through Renegade Ops. Variety of vehicles and playstyles, tons of cool powers to upgrade, and the online features make it a solid offering for PC gamers who are fans of twin-stick arcade shooters -- especially if you like some '80s action-flick machismo thrown in for good measure.

The downside to this aspect of the game is that (as mentioned) it can be downright frustrating to get to the point where you are actually even a minor 'player' on this regional stage.

As an arcade racer, it's very easy to play, but doesn't have the shortcuts and environment interaction that makes it a blast to play.

All the ingredients were in place, and the resulting concoction isn't totally worthless, it's just that between the freaky game design decisions and poorly thought out content, this is a meal some gamers may not have the stomach for.

It's just too bad that the second game in the series turns out to be a bit tarnished instead of the exemplary hobbyist tool it deserves to be.

Those who have mastered the LEGO Star Wars titles will discover that this game has a much greater emphasis on puzzle-solving than its spiritual predecessors had.

With sluggish controls and passable graphics, the only thing that saves FIFA 2003 is its license and awesome sound.

It's a huge step in legitimizing surfing games, much like how THPS was for skateboarding games. The graphics are very impressive, the controls tight, and the wave physics accurate.

May not be as flashy graphically as "Live 2002," nor as polished technically as "NBA2k2," but it stands a solid middle ground between the two as an enjoyable game.

Handling, whether batting or fielding, is remarkably simple, rendering the action accessible by just about anyone.