Offers some of the best turn-based strategy we've seen in a long time, and adds massive, challenging real-time battles to the mix.

Thank goodness for the battle system, then, because it saves the game while you're wincing through the saccharine banter and waiting for the training wheels to spin off.

Ultimately, this isn't just a great zombie game. It's a great open-world game, a great action game, a great RPG, and a great co-operative multiplayer game. Being a masterpiece with a unique appreciation for zombies is just gravy.

These are the best games in the series by a considerable margin, and should provide you with entertainment for weeks to come, especially if you're planning on playing "Pokémon Battle Revolution" for the Nintendo Wii.

Pure Bond, perhaps even the best Bond, with something for everyone. The over-the-shoulder view is what 007 needed all along.

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

Last year, Take-Two won the Stanley Cup of NHL games hands down. With NHL 2k6, Take-Two is on its way to win the championship one more time.

Perhaps what's most amazing is that it plays like the work of a seasoned developer with a rare grasp on atmosphere and tone, a rock-solid set of technologies, and sophisticated ideas about game design.

A must-play for anyone looking for a fun, intelligent action/adventure game. Is it as great as its forebear? I'll say no. That said, Invisible War is still an excellent sequel to Deus Ex, which, while lacking its scope, smooths over many of its roughest edges and provides a decent conclusion to the current story arc. [Note: GameSpy's revised 5-Star conversion scale - see site]

The game knows about a dozen different ways to kick ass and just about all of them happen to be pretty entertaining.

A very well-thought out game that deftly avoids practically every pitfall and delivers a flat-out awesome gaming experience.

If you invest the time in tricking out your ride and mastering the more challenging difficulty levels, you'll be rewarded with an adrenaline rush that you won't find anywhere else.

It's also a perfect game for the entire family, being deep enough for adults to appreciate and visceral enough for kids to get a huge kick out of.

If you're looking for a lengthy (as in 100+ hours) RPG that blends quick and dirty gameplay with heaping plates of detail and sophisticated character development, no one else comes close to this series.

In a world where one of the most common gamer laments is there's no originality in gaming anymore, Psychonauts is an incredibly enjoyable breath of fresh air.

A living, breathing fairy tale in the purest sense. In this tale, the magic and wonder from Disney's pantheon of worlds and characters are merged with the interactivity and excitement of an epic Square Enix role-playing adventure. The result, in theory, may seem contrived or overly convoluted. But it works.

A fantastic racer for those that want tons of cool customizations and huge single-player challenges, but gamers looking for a more traditional arcade racer might need to approach NFSU with the following in mind -- it's tons of fun, it looks amazing, and it's best on PS2, but be prepared to witness a perceptive lack of variety, and one huge-ass single-player challenge.

The reason that Sins of a Solar Empire works is that it truly respects and celebrates both styles of strategy gaming. It marries the grand scope and Nietzschian will-to-power embodied by the best "4X" conquer-the-universe titles with the adrenaline-fueled immediacy and moment-to-moment decision making of a great real-time strategy game.

If you're interested in even half the songs, I can almost guarantee you'll find at least a couple more surprisingly entertaining. And that pretty much sums up Band Hero for me: It's not a revolution for the genre, but it is a surprisingly solid, well thought-out, and just plain entertaining game.

Unlike many console-to-PC ports, it's clear that the developers loaded up the PC version with as much high-res art as possible, which looks even better than the Xbox version.

Best of all, Bungie just announced that all of the new maps will be introduced to their Matchmaking playlists sometime next week. You don't want to be the only kid who can't play, do you?

Codemasters' Race Driver 2006 will hook you up with dozens of hours of both single and multiplayer gaming that'll test your wheel skills in just about every type of motorsport racing there is.

On its own merits, Madden 07 for the Wii is as exciting a development in sports games as I've seen in a long time, and should be experienced by anyone with even a passing interest in a good game of football.

Like Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Moriarty or He-Man and Skeletor, though, City of Heroes and City of Villains need each other in order to be complete. Having the whole package makes the City of... games what they were always meant to be -- one of the best massively multiplayer online games available today.

It's not a flawless package; some of Paradise City's terrain could be easier to navigate with do-it-yourself waypoints, and the inability to restart a race is irritating. However, there's so much to do and wreck that you'll invest tens of hours in single-player before you even tap the d-pad to jump into the online experience. Paradise is undoubtedly the first must-own racing game of 2008.

It's easily one of the best games available for the PSP, and it might even earn the Blue Bomber a few more fans.

Although it's true that the QB Vision system changes the game dramatically, it's not always for the better, especially when you're still trying to learn how to use it properly. If you can get over the steep learning curve (and trust me, it's a doozy), you'll probably learn to love it, as it makes the game feel much more realistic.

None can deny that it's a huge step forward.

If you're a fan on the comics -- or the movies -- you'll be sucked in from the first frame of the visually stunning opening clip.

It has more of what made the first game so outstanding and contains several improvements over its predecessor. For fans of the first game, this is a nearly perfect sequel.

Despite all the references to this beloved material, I also felt satisfied as a gamer, challenged by its unique blend of exploration, action and strategy. While I was prepared for a thoroughly entertaining storyline, and was delivered one, I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun it was to wage war in and explore this lovingly-crafted world.

With its epic storylines, hundreds of combat scenarios, and open-ended structure, Gladius is one of the deepest games of the year. If you play strategy/RPGs because you're an anime fan, Gladius will bore you; if you play them because they're fun, Gladius will obsess you.

UC2 is trying to create a fun, arcade sensibility and atmosphere that takes the franchise and the genre in a sporty, flamboyant, enjoyable new direction. In this it succeeds admirably.

With both of the previous games and bonus content, it's a great value and it'll provide hours of entertainment. LSW veterans, however, might not want to dive in so soon, however, as you've played most of this game already.

It's so good and so easily accessible that it has replaced my beloved "Final Fantasy Tactics Advance" cartridge as my travel game of choice. And really, that says more than any score could.

One could easily say that Bad Company expands the genre itself with its combination of great story, destructible environment and surprisingly deep single-mode multiplayer. Throw in DICE's promises of future (free) content and this is one game that just might meet your wildest desires for both blowing things up and online competition.

Soulcalibur has never been broken, and while there is certainly room for some novel approaches in the fighting genre, I would argue that no game has of yet come close in terms of subtlety and inventiveness.

Not only is it a great action title, it may very well be the best superhero game for current-gen consoles.

While it would have been very easy for the developers at Rockstar Toronto to simply recreate the events seen in the movie, they've managed to craft a tale that actually enhances the film.

"Master of Orion" is dead. Long live Galactic Civilizations II!

FIFA 09 is jam-packed with new content, from clan-based player support to real-world stat updates. Although it feels more like an incremental update than a revolutionary overhaul, EA doesn't need to reinvent the wheel so much as smooth out its edges.

There's a surprising amount of depth as you work your way through the various difficulty levels, and the new songs, online leaderboards, and upcoming downloadable content make it the definitive version of one of the best games of the past few years. Now, if we could just get a new guitar...

It's -- in all likelihood -- the most stylish thing ever to prominently feature janitors, but it definitely doesn't lack in substance. So move over, rotund Italian plumbers of the world. There's a new blue-collar hop 'n' bop hero on the block.

Wailing on the guitar, I might add, is immensely satisfying.

The new title combines strong platforming fundamentals, Assassin's Creed's open-world structure, and some of Okami's wonderful aesthetic flourishes. What it introduces to action games is something truly wonderful.

Everything about the game's presentation is top-notch, from the washed-out stylized art design to the feature-film level soundtrack that pounds away from start to finish. And that's really what Gears is all about: it's a slick, polished action film that you happen to play on your PC.

The defense upgrades bring a lot of welcome strategy to the game, and the new AI is simply superb. Its amazingly deep, well thought out franchise mode is the best I've ever seen, while the basic gameplay still can't be beat.

It's one of the finest crossover titles I've ever played; mainstream gamers will enjoy it for its excellent use of the movie license, sharp visuals, and easy-to-pickup gameplay, but it also has enough challenge and variety for hardcore players to soak up.

Crysis 2's shiny graphics are nice and all, but the Nanosuit is the true star of the show. Offering a true sense of power rarely seen in modern shooters, it helps to make this one of the most exciting games of the year.

It's good to see the company broaden its horizons more and more; L.A. Noire plays its tropes well, and it's a fine exploration of the crime-adventure genre's flip side.

Aside from minor framerate niggles, DUB is one of the finest racers to hit the market in recent memory, and it's certainly the king of the tuner racer scene, without a doubt.

With the addition of online gameplay to the best soccer engine in the world, Winning Eleven 9 is worth a purchase, but it still somewhat feels like the American release of last year's "Winning Eleven 8: Live Wire" more than its own standalone game.

The thing that immediately struck me when playing the game was the amazing amount of minutiae that's been included for eagle-eyed fans.

Chrono Trigger is one of the best examples of what the Japanese RPG experience can offer. Its gameplay feels more unique and inviting to those who aren't enamored with selecting boring attack commands for their static sprites to follow.

Although it plays beautifully and realistically in some areas, others just don't and ruin the package as a whole. But remember, this is still perhaps the best football title in history. But as always, since the game is so damn good, those little quirks ending up being large quirks in the long run.

When I peer down that rabbit hole, however, what is essentially a whole new game emerges.

The inventive and highly entertaining competitive multiplayer mode just adds to the experience, and we're looking forward to seeing what Valve's got planned for the game's future. Out of all the titles that have shaped the Year of Living Cooperatively, this may be the best experience of them all.

The best skating game ever made, and while it isn't nearly as groundbreaking as the previous game, it takes everything that made it great and adds some new tricks and a dash of juvenile potty humor, leaving you with the best time you'll have at a skate park this year.

With its more strategic pace and multiple choices of characters, you can't go wrong.

It's a must-buy for anyone with even the slightest interest in the genre, presuming they can handle the lack of super-deformed character design.

Speaking of online, MLB 2K5 is one step closer to what we dreamed about for online sports games. You can play a full 162 game season in an online league, or stick to tournaments or single-game contests.

It's like watching a great fighter that's just starting his career. He's great now, he's surprising you with his progress, and you'll know he'll end up in the hall of fame. Fight Night Round 2 is another fantastic step in this hall-of-fame series.

It's hardly the dramatic revamp that RE4 was for the series, but it marks the first time that co-op play has been implemented. As a result, the overhaul makes it a good single-player game, but a great multiplayer one. Thanks to its persistent approach to weapon upgrades, it's well-suited to replay. It's a visually splendid game with gorgeous cinematics that evoke the same awe as previous games did in their time.

None can deny that it's a huge step forward.

A truly remarkable experience. And, while the game itself may not have broken any new ground, the world it introduces more than makes up for that. It will leave gamers hungry for more.

What's New, Beelzebub? is Telltale's development team at the top of its game and is a perfect way to end Season Two.

WildTangent deserves a huge amount of praise for delivering a remarkably addictive dungeon crawl, and at a mere $20, it's a fate anyone who enjoyed the solo portion of Diablo shouldn't hesitate to meet.

A great game and, in my mind, a fantastic value. It may not have a single-player campaign or a host of levels, but the content that it does provide is carefully made and really showcases the talent of DICE as a studio that knows how to create addictive multiplayer shooters.

One of the most entertaining and fulfilling experiences available for the Xbox 360...There are countless ways you can design a garden, and countless ways to enjoy the game.

The improvements in the gameplay department went a long way towards making this the most realistic footie game to ever grace a next-generation console.

The first title established him and set our expectations for Sucker Punch's universe, but the sequel expands it into a highly entertaining, thrilling, and responsive action game bursting with stout combat.

There's something compelling about the room-to-room nature of the single-player missions that rarely gets old, even after you've failed a particular mission a dozen times.

Even if MP is a little short, it is still one of the best PC games released this year. When you stack up the excellent storyline, awesome visuals, stellar special effects, and pulse-pounding gunfights, MP is simply one of the most fun action games on the market today.

The amount of content in the game is simply amazing and, like the console games, you'll find yourself playing even after you've completed the main story.

Although the campaign storyline isn't nearly as engaging as the one seen in "CoD4," there should be enough memorable set pieces and intense sequences to keep you riveted throughout. The addition of a co-op mode brings a great deal of replay value to the proceedings, especially once you start throwing the death cards into the mix. Ultimately, it's the multiplayer and co-op action that will keep us coming back for more.

Though it may appear that the game is aimed at a young target audience, Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime has it all: a great sense of humor, solid gameplay, awesome tank battles and a charming story.

Add to this equation a staggering variety of weapons (with accompanying cryptic icons) all capable of reducing your fellow competitors to fused hunks of flaming track detritus, a masterfully produced techno soundtrack and some clever online features and you've got a game that has essentially taken up permanent residence in our PSPs.

Far Cry doesn't just boast cutting-edge technology and a surplus of breathtaking visuals, but also pulls off the amazing triple play of open-ended gameplay far beyond the standard A-to-B-to-C of most shooters.

You'll likely never see a better utilization of the DS' touch-screen, nor will you play a pseudo-sim this engaging.

Legend of Grimrock is a strong debut for Almost Human, and I'm excited to see what other dungeons they put out and the mods that players create.

Warhawk is an extremely well-designed online multiplayer game. We're sure that once the initial rush at retail has settled down a bit, regular fans of the game can look forward to a solid online experience with the great potential for future downloadable maps, skins and so on.

The squad-based combat is handled elegantly, from the simple control scheme to the ability to switch out to a birds-eye view to strategize, and injects some life into a genre we thought had been milked for good.

It tries really hard to please both jaded vets and exuberant fanboys, and for the most part, it succeeds, even if the story mode's a little short and on the easy side.

Tiburon outdoes itself and gives players the best college football game ever made.

The production values in Final Fantasy Tactics A2 are top-notch and Square Enix has really punched up the graphics and sound.

If you are a fan of action, strategy, RTS, or just like to see beautiful battles rendered in 3D, this one's for you.

There's enough content and replay value to keep you busy for hours -- even more if you hook up with friend. Factoring all the elements this title offers makes it a no-brainer for anyone who's wanted a fighter that's simple to play, entertaining, and offers long-term value.

Masterfully blending some spectacular action sequences and a unique sense of humor with elements of stealth games, first-person shooters, graphic adventures and even RPGs, the end result is a title that tops the original in every way, and stands out even among 2002's amazing crop of PC action games.

A must-play for anyone looking for a fun, intelligent action/adventure game. Is it as great as its forebear? I'll say no. That said, Invisible War is still an excellent sequel to Deus Ex, which, while lacking its scope, smooths over many of its roughest edges and provides a decent conclusion to the current story arc. [Note: GameSpy's revised 5-Star conversion scale - see site]

It's one of the finest crossover titles I've ever played; mainstream gamers will enjoy it for its excellent use of the movie license, sharp visuals, and easy-to-pickup gameplay, but it also has enough challenge and variety for hardcore players to soak up.

Try it and you'll probably end up like me, telling your friends to play the game not just because it's a stylistic novelty, but because, like any good pie, it has both a delectable crust and a delicious filling, which make P.B. Winterbottom a memorable treat to enjoy.

Although there are a few problems with the Freestyle Superstar system, it's still one of the most innovative elements we've ever seen in an NBA game.

The level designs are outstanding and take great advantage of all the powers that the Biometals grant. The game is also extremely challenging.

How exactly did they manage to make Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 a better game? By making it more varied, and thus, more replayable. By far, the biggest upgrade to the game is the new GameFace II system, which allows you to create a player who looks like just about anyone you could possibly imagine.

What's perhaps most impressive is the way you'll feel about Snake by the end of the game (be sure to watch through the credits!). His character is fleshed out here more than any of the other games combined, and seeing him during his quiet moments with Otacon and Sunny gives him a lot more depth than we previously thought possible.

It's still fun running around and laying bombs with a bunch of friends, all huddled around a powerful light source and connected by link cables. That's what Bomberman, is all about.

For $15 (or $25 for two copies) Orcs Must Die! 2 is a fantastic deal for a terrifically entertaining game.

While the additions might not be enough for longtime Tony Hawk fans and gamers that played the hell out of "THUG2," there's no denying that this is the best action-sports game ever seen on a handheld system.