Held back from being an EXCELLENT game by the fact that it features no really interesting characters or roleplaying, it only has a few simple quests, its story is paper thin, it has a few technical issues, Battle.net is unreliable, and the gameplay is ultimately shallow and repetitive.

SSX is special. And the reason for that is the incredible replayability and the pure game design it offers.

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.

Not even a terrible introductory sequence can take away from what is otherwise a fantastic game. Sure, the story is goofy, and at times the fighting is offensively clunky. The world isn't as colossal as the first Witcher's, and the ending is a bit of a tease. But in a time when I rarely bother to finish single-player games, I'm happy (and slightly embarrassed) to say that I'm already several hours into a second playthrough of Assassins of Kings. And I can't think of a better compliment than that.

Underneath its cutesy veneer Plants vs. Zombies is hardcore. Well done, PopCap. Well done.

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 simultaneously innovative and derivative, and it's a game, I suspect, that gamers will either love or hate, with little space in between.

Purists may scoff at some of the on-road physics and the ability to play with time, but there aren't too many games that deliver as intense of a racing experience.

It's a huge improvement over the first title in nearly every area. In fact, it nearly makes the first game obsolete.

It's at once entirely expected and a crying shame that this game won't catch on in the same way that, say, Street Fighter IV did, as BlazBlue packs what may be the best online play ever seen in a 2D fighting game (it is -- at worst -- neck-and-neck with the amazing Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix in this category, though the option to replay ranked matches certainly gives it a tantalizing edge).

Amazingly, this rally racer also happens to be the best-looking game on the Xbox. The car models are bleeding-edge realistic, with licensed decals and aftermarket streamlining. The collection of tracks is wildly diverse, with feet in nearly every continent.

Even though it's a text simulation without flashy graphics, realistic ball physics, or signature batting stances, it's approachable, accessible, and downright fun. If you have never tried a text sim, OOTP6 is an ideal starting point.

If you've never play MC3 before, or if you're the best MC3 player in the world, you owe it to yourself to snag Remix, pimp out some rides, earn some phat cash and experience one of the best racers for the Xbox. It's really quite that simple.

For those willing to take on the still-steep learning curve, however, and for whom diplomacy is more than just trading Ironworking for The Wheel, EU II is possibly the best historical strategy game there is.

The gameplay is easy to pick up, yet has lots of depth due to the feat system. The graphics and sound are excellent. And there's plenty of replay value, especially for Forgotten Realms fan boys.

The new multiplayer, when it works properly, makes a very cool addition to the Splinter Cell franchise. Pandora Tomorrow's single-player campaign plays it too safely, though, mostly offering more of the same.

When one considers the lackluster quality of many console-to-PC ports these days, it's truly refreshing to see an experience that comes jam-packed with so many bells and whistles and such exceptional visuals. If you're a PC gamer who's never burned out, Burnout Paradise: The Ultimate Box serves as a fine introduction to the series.

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.

Jeanne manages to capture perfectly what we want from a tactical RPG: to make us care about the characters through a well-done but not distracting story; to give us enough choices in customization to make preparing for battle and spending our resources meaningful; and in providing us with battles that feel like certain doom from the first turn, even after we've won dozens of them.

It's kind of like DICE has trained for a game development biathlon, resulting in its first game where the single-player mode is just as good as the multiplayer -- and that says DICE has what it takes to be among the best in the business.

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.

If you're a college football fan, NCAA Football 06 is the game you've been waiting for your whole life. It might even be the best football game ever made, professional or collegiate, which, given the competition for the title, is really saying something.

While it's not without its flaws, Fight Night Round 4 is still one of the most entertaining games of the year, no matter what gaming category you think it belongs in.

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 can buy into the idea that the ending you get is your ending, and that your characters are really your characters, then you just might find yourself feeling moved by a videogame.

Where MechWarrior 4 really shines is in combat. The fluid movements and the greater detail in the battles are almost as much fun to watch as they are to engage in.

The pace is slow, but it's a lot of fun and very rewarding. However, the game suffers from unattractive graphics, bad sound in places, and a few bugs. If you can get past those points, however, you'll find a whole lot of deep gameplay.

They don't win points for innovation, but this is still one of the best multiplayer games you can buy.