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.