The developers have really done a good job in trying to make the game work with the inherent limitations of a gamepad, but once you're used to the superior mouse/keyboard arrangement, the gamepad is a let down.

It may not be politically correct, it may even be offensive to some, but when you come right down to it, Hitman 2 is an excellent game.

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 lack of a real multiplayer mode is a huge disappointment to us. What makes this omission even worse is how short the single-player campaign is.

An excellent basketball game, with more features than you can exhaust in months of play.

If your dream garage has side-by-side parking spaces for an off-road K500 Pro Baja Duneracer, a Williams BMW FW27 F-1 machine, and a vintage Corvette L88 Sunray DX, this is the game for you.

This year's game clears up almost any blemishes that may have carried over through the years, and perfects the package in a way that blew my socks off.

It's an enjoyable run through the world of demon slaying. It's significantly more fulfilling than the disappointing "DMC2" even if it's not quite the leap forward that "DMC3" was (or at least, the rebalanced Special Edition was).

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

On a very meaningful level, it gives complete newcomers access to the most exciting aspect of the game right out of the box. And should those players decide to sample everything that it has to offer, they will not be disappointed.

A brilliantly twisted love letter to the videogame medium, scrawled in blood and pixels.

Its kiddy facade hides some terrifically fun gameplay with a lot of meat on its bones.

While Civilization Revolution does a great job of introducing the concept and gameplay of Sid Meier's classic PC series to the consoles, it falls just short of true greatness due to a lack of depth in the AI and multiplayer options.

It may not be a perfect game, but truly innovative titles seldom are. Spore is a technological triumph that introduces a whole new way of tapping into a bottomless well of content.

A deep Dynasty Mode and some cool new gameplay additions ensure that you'll be playing the game for months to come, and while we can't say yet if the game will be able to gain ground on its biggest rival, we can say this: NBA Live 2005 is the best EA Sports basketball game ever.

Combines great graphics and kicked-up sound with, above all else, fun gameplay.

With high frame rates that won't quit, 52 stages set across eight different countries, an impressive array of environmental effects, multiplayer options in every mode, and all of the strengths of past installments of this series, Colin McRae Rally 04 is a worthwhile pick for any avid Xbox racing enthusiast.

Deserves praise for the innovative manner in which it presents its 3D locales.

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.

MvC3 tends to emphasize flash over substance... and that's totally cool, for some folks, as MvC3 is going to divide the fighting game audience, including series faithful. Some will like that it's more accessible (if a bit stripped down), while others will decry the dumbing-down of their favorite series and its lack of arcade sauce.

Oh, and it's taken three games, but the team at developer Guerrilla Games has finally provided players with the definitive Killzone multiplayer experience.

The formula it's created may be multiple years old, but DICE isn't just cashing in here; it's distilling its concept down to the core of what's important: fun.

A superlative action game with an absurdly high difficulty level. That's just the long and short of it, and this may be good or bad depending on your disposition. Personally, I found it equal parts satisfying and frustrating.

Far more interactive -- and, more importantly, far more entertaining -- than any puzzle book could ever be.

We're still reduced to a four-player split-screen mode for multiplayer, but the gaming is solid and fast-paced.

This is an addictive, gorgeous, and challenging game that shoves a pie in the face of those that continue to foster the notion that turn-based strategy gaming is dead.

This game delivers where it needs to, offering the most realistic NBA experience to date. Heck, even free-throw shooting means memorizing the shooting styles of different NBA players (a feature we really like, by the way).

There are definite improvements in the Xbox version, however, and despite its faults, this is an involving and disturbing, if incredibly short-lived journey into horror...nowhere near as impressive as "Silent Hill."