There’s nothing terribly great about it, and there’s nothing especially outstanding either. If you’re looking for a starter hardball game, then MLB 07 The Show is definitely a good choice, but one more season of lethargy and Sony will be caught stealing.

It’s a classic “jack of all trades, master of none” scenario and it’s easy to think of other franchises that do every element of Saints Row IV better than it does. That isn’t to say the game won’t keep you entertained, but hopefully the next Saints outing is as refined as it is irreverent.

Plenty of important things happen and there’s a lot of action, but none of it carries the weight that it should. Instead, “In Harm’s Way” is mostly a bullet point list of zombie-story cliches without many of the excellent character interactions we’ve come to expect from Telltale. It’s certainly troubling when characters get killed and the only thing you feel is indifference.

Quotation forthcoming.

There’s a lot of greatness within Sunset Overdrive, but it’s obfuscated by a lack of difficulty and an aggravating tone. Ultimately, it’s worth dealing with the game’s worst moments to enjoy the many things it does get right. When you’re darting around the world like a ninja in a denim jacket, there’s nothing quite like it. If there is a next time for Sunset City, and hopefully there is, maybe things will come together more smoothly than they have here.

The lack of any online functionality hurts the bottom line, but the series has never been renowned for its multiplayer components. This is the perfect chance to get acquainted with StarFox if you've missed out after all these years, but this classic game from the 90's is merely a good game today.

Despite throwing in some new bells and whistles, Pokémon Black & White 2 doesn't deviate from established formula.

The Darkness still packs plenty of gut appeal, with limbs being sheared and torsos torn asunder. Alas, players cannot sustain themselves on gore alone. Ultimately, the ultra violence will whet your appetite for bloodlust, but fail to slake your thirst for a truly great game.

It manages to deliver everything you'd expect out of a Pokémon game, and it's still a decent RPG, but it fails to take any chances or offer real innovation.

The Skylanders concept still feels novel and you get the feeling that there's a lot of potential waiting to be squeezed out of the experience. However, it's clearly being held back by the focus on peddling collectible toys. There's a decent game in here, but it's ultimately hard to justify the substantial investment you'll have to throw down for all the figures required to get the full experience.

While Proteus doesn't evoke a sense of lasting emotional impact, it provides a brief escape to zone out and let your senses soak in its world, whether you're following your nose in discovery or simply relaxing and watching the sunset.

UEFA offers a solid game of soccer with no glaring flaws, a slightly steep learning curve, and a deep amount of play options that should keep most players satisfied--at least until next year's installment hits the market.

Rather than encourage you to engage this striking world as a real place with coherent rules and consequences, you're asked to internalize its shortcomings and game them mercilessly. When it truly makes good on the open-world stealth thing, it certainly has its moments, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Contracts mode. But even in these cases, its flaws are merely papered-over. If you mean to accept this contract, bear in mind the numerous potential complications.

Wolfenstein: The New Order suffers from minor inconsistencies in nearly every aspect of the game from its storytelling to its action, but the good news is the game never feels consistently bad.

It's hard to recommend Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. It's too complicated for kids, and too convoluted for adults, If you're the creative type, you'll enjoy fiddling around with all the parts, but if you're looking for an accessible game that you can play in short bursts and make headway, then steer clear.

Case Zero makes a lasting impression when it comes to slaughtering the undead. However, given its short two hour duration and the oppressive race-against-the-clock structure, it's hard to recommend without qualification.

Rochard has a fair number of idiosyncrasies, including its off-key attempt at Southern, blue-collar comedy humor, but its heart is in the right place. It's not on-point 100 percent of the time, and it doesn't concern itself with optional modes or bonus content, but you'll mine more fun than frustration from this endeavor.

If you can overcome navigating pre-rendered backgrounds and enduring countless random battles, Devil Summoner 2 turns out to be an enjoyable experience.

UEFA offers a solid game of soccer with no glaring flaws, a slightly steep learning curve, and a deep amount of play options that should keep most players satisfied--at least until next year's installment hits the market.

Your enjoyment of Eye of the North will depend largely on your own personal desire to collect trinkets and doo-dads while following a reasonably interesting story.

MLB 2K7 is absolutely gorgeous with thousands of animations and all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a modern hardball game. But numerous bugs and gameplay quirks keep it in the minor leagues.

An attractive game with a dark bent, and the pitches really bring the game to life.

Given that the elements designed around its collectability are the game's biggest hook, though, it's hard to recommend to those who'd play on the cheap. If you aren't willing to shell out for the plastic, then you should reconsider clearing some shelf space for this one.

If you enjoy creating your own shows, forming your own factions, and designing your own stable of pro wrestlers, you'll view WWE 13's creation suite as the best there is, the best there was, and possibly the best there will be, with options more diverse than Mick Foley's wrestling personas. Yet the gameplay, AI, and controls have not significantly advanced from last year's title, making WWE 13 more uneven than the "People's Eyebrow."

Alien: Isolation is worth experiencing, but at the same time feels like lost potential.

The most condemning thing we can say is the dream reminded us of everything missing in the episode; if only we cared as much as Lee and Clementine used to care about each other.

Aside from the original PS2 release, this is easily the worst iteration of Snake Eater. The lack of extras, the frustrating controls, and the overall performance issues hold it back from being one of the premier third-party games for the 3DS. Don't be hypnotized by this snake's gaze--this is far from the optimal way to experience this classic.

Sonic Rush Adventure more or less hits all the notes we’ve come to expect in a good Sonic game. It stays largely in safe, familiar territory, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

The franchise mode is one of the deepest you’ll find and it has extensive online play options. Unfortunately, the on-ice action and sub-par presentation serve to overshadow the good.

Apart from a few brief glimpses of hope, Sonic Colors is a bit of a disappointment. Haphazard levels and unresponsive controls have been the bane of 3D Sonic games, and Colors does little to address these issues. It attempts to mask its shortcomings with shiny new trinkets that only briefly distract you from the glaring flaws.

The game has a solid set of mechanics and challenging gameplay, but it doesn’t make much of an effort appeal to casual fans looking to get a taste of meticulous tactical maneuvering. If you’re thirsting for a challenge, you’ll find it. If you’re hesitant to join up, this isn’t your war.

If videogames are systems of learning, then Bangai-O is a scatterbrained professor teaching advanced calculus.

Ghosts is certainly not a bad game, but it offers few surprises. Although Black Ops II wasn’t always successful, it felt like it was conscious of stagnation and attempted to push the series forward through player choice in the campaign and the introduction of the 10-point system in multiplayer. By comparison, Ghosts seems almost afraid of screwing anything up.

The best rhythm games successfully tie gameplay and music in such a way that players feel like they're part of the song. Rock Band Blitz doesn't quite bridge that gap.

MySims Agents is a solid entry in the series filled with memorable encounters and characters. Fans of MySims Kingdom will certainly enjoy the change of setting. While older players will breeze through it and yearn for more things to see and do, younger ones will enjoy the minigames, agency customization, and quirky cases.

The lack of notable stars, the flat atmosphere, and the by-the-numbers career mode are disappointments. Yet, for better or worse, it's the control scheme that ultimately defines Top Spin 3. Once acclimated, you'll find that it brings you closer to the on-court action than any tennis game before it, but it’s also unforgiving.

One particularly frustrating aspect of the game is the inventory management system.

It's hard to see Nintendo Land becoming anywhere near the sensation that Wii Sports was. It requires too much equipment for the modes that last, and the rest can be quickly milked of their entertainment value. It proves that Nintendo is capable of creating addicting one-dollar games, but at 60 bucks, it's not priced to sell. As a pack-in for the deluxe version of the console it's a nice extra that shows what the Wii U is capable of.

Even for those willing to invest the time to learn all there is to know about ArmA 2, the glitches and the bugs are currently too much to take. Maybe once they've patched it up, there will be something more playable. We look forward to that day, because there's really something special in ArmA 2, cheesy voice acting and all.

Perhaps unwittingly, Shadows of the Damned accomplishes what it set out for, by providing a B-level experience in video game form. It has more than its share of groan-worthy one-liners and irritating gameplay mechanics, but there's enough oddness and variety for it to pull in a cult following.

Enemies are practically defenseless in the face of your super-powers, and the puzzles never advance beyond the basics.

Transformers Devastation is short, lacks depth, and can be a bit repetitive, but Platinum’s tight combat paired with the old-school aesthetics keeps it fun. It may not be the dream Transformers game that some imagined, but it’s worth a play, perhaps after it goes on sale.

It’s a game torn between two personalities, and it shows. The new Strider is at its best when it’s delivering arcade-style action moments, but sadly these come too infrequently and too late for its own good.

The Gunstringer is short, has some control issues, and isn't especially deep in modes and options, but if you're looking for something substantial to play with your Kinect there aren't many better options.

ZombiU does deliver a distinctive survival experience, albeit one stymied by awkward meanderings and dull undead. It's not likely you'll die of boredom per se, though the good sections are strung few and far between. More than anything else, ZombiU feels like it was rushed to launch, which is too bad--a little more time in the incubator and it could have been something special.

There's no mistaking that Tales of Graces was originally released on the Wii, and it seems that little effort was made to bring it up to PS3 standards.

It's an intriguing alternative to what has certainly become the high-action norm of the genre. If you can get past its fundamental shortcomings, you'll find that there's indeed something to this fresh, yet flawed experience.

The sporadic moments of greatness, when you’re storming enemy walls or have finally brokered a peace agreement, are swallowed by tedium. With patience, your inner imperialist is satisfied as you skillfully cultivate a sprawling empire. It’s too bad you have to put up with so much to get there.

Yet great strides have been made in creating a more realistic-playing game, especially when factoring in the assortment of sliders that can adjust the action even further. There are still areas that could use additional polish, but the overall experience is a step in the right direction.

If you're looking for combat, in-depth crafting options, or a true survival simulation, then Miasmata's limitations will likely be disappointments. Yet if you are the type of player who enjoys exploring, cartography, and the danger of being hunted by a creature you cannot defeat, then Miasmata will prove a to be a highly memorable experience that's equal parts exasperating and thrilling.

If there’s anything that sticks out the most in Penny Arcade Adventures’ presentation it’s the art, and rightfully so. Mike Krahulic’s trademark style looks great with the in-game portraits, and even better in motion thanks to the game’s bevy of gorgeous animated cutscenes that seamlessly work your avatar into the action.

The Club is a lot like junk food—it initially tastes good but it won’t leave you satisfied for long.

The impulse to go back in time for inspiration serves this SideScroller well in creating an attractive visual identity. But failure to properly consider what makes shoot'em ups fun, past and present, holds this PixelJunk project back from greatness.

Players new to the formula may enjoy it for a while, but the uninspired random levels quickly get monotonous even for first-time dungeon crawlers.

It's all clearly aimed at kids, but if you let yourself, you'll find it easy to get sucked right in alongside the young'uns. Toy Story 3 is full of non-corrupting sandbox play that's genuinely addicting. As for as movie games go, you can do much worse.

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimension lacks the variety to sustain its 10-or-so hours of length, and the imagination to truly make good on its multiple-worlds concept. The experience is serviceable enough, but it won't inspire you the way that the best superhero games can.

Episode two puts The Wolf Among Us in an awkward place. Telltale shows enough of its hand to interest players in the rest of the story, but the unevenness of this second episode deflates the enthusiasm that first worked so hard to earn. It's difficult to tell how strong the series will become, but right now, it's tough to accept good when you're used to great.

The unique controller is fun for a while, and if nothing else, it might inspire a few players to pick up the real thing. There's some novelty to the peewee experience, and the pared-down gameplay makes a lot of sacrifices, but hockey devotees will find little more than a passing diversion here.

When played in short sessions, Hyrule Warriors is mindless fun that celebrates the rich history of the Zelda series. However, your long term enjoyment of this game boils down to how much you like Dynasty Warriors, or hack-and-slash games in general, and whether or not you care about exuberant amounts of Zelda fan service. It more than delivers on both these points, but if either one of these is a turn off, this likely isn’t the experience for you.

It's a decent enough showcase for the hardware, and most of the games are genuinely fun, especially with friends, but it's hard to recommend without reservation when you consider how much it'll all cost.

A respectable roster, goofy but generally fun fighting, and the bridging of two universes with an actual coherent story line makes MK vs DC appealing for casual players. But if you're looking for a true Mortal Kombat sequel or the next super-balanced tournament fighter, this watered-down, crossed-over spin-off isn't your game.

It’s a shame the issues that plagued Shadow of Chernobyl are still largely present in Clear Sky because the premise is great and the design is far more interesting and ambitious than your average shooter. But ultimately, the bugs, technical issues, and brutal difficulty are tough to stomach. If you’re looking for a challenge, then this is your game, but the average player will tire of its shortcomings long before things even get started.

NBA Live 09 is still not quite ready to bang the boards with the best, but it's the most user-friendly hoops game on the market. The pick-up-and-play control scheme, vibrant visuals, and improved action will appeal to those who feel the NBA 2K series is too complicated.

Despite a distinct look and feel, Hohokum doesn't live up to its more ethereal aspirations.

Jazzpunk ends up being scatological and surreal, but it’s not sublime. Like Meatloaf says, two out of three ain’t bad. But when’s the last time anyone listened to Meatloaf? Jazzpunk is funny in its own peculiar way, but that’s about all it is.

Ridge Racer has enough content to keep you busy, but despite the visual depth, the gameplay is too shallow to hold your attention for long.

The Adventures of Kai and Zero lacks the innovation of the original Elebits, but the obstacle-laden gameplay is engaging throughout and there are some fun boss battles for players to look forward to as well. It’s not the brightest adventure on the DS, but it does have enough juice to provide some kid-friendly enjoyment.

If you’re looking for a deep single-player experience with a lot of modes and cutting edge presentation, leave All-Pro Football 2K8 on the bench. But if you’re simply looking for straight-up solid football to play online or with friends, All-Pro Football 2K8 answers the call.

On one hand, Smackdown vs. Raw 2011 is a serviceable sequel that genuinely tries to stretch the limits of its design, but lackluster new features, poor follow-through, and gameplay that has yet to evolve past its prehistoric husk make it clear that the series has some serious thinking to do.

A game that has definite charm. Just don’t count on its effervescence to produce a long-lasting result. Despite its pretty package, many of the game’s strongest points are marred by incongruities that keep it from excelling in a genre where excellence has already long been established.

Fenix Rage isn’t for everybody. Some fans of Super Meat Boy, Flappy Bird and other challenging platformers may want to test their mettle in a new arena, but conquering its trials results in a hollow sense of victory.

Shank sure sizzles, but it isn't much more than a flash in the pan.

It’s a tale of give and take. Echoes of Time is meant to be played with friends, and if you don’t, it can be incredibly frustrating.

Lacking some of the magic that made Beatles Rock Band great, Green Day Rock Band by comparison feels like a pedestrian effort.

Hydro Thunder Hurricane doesn't make a huge splash, but riding the waves and boosting for shortcuts make for some good, cheap summer thrills.

Lego Star Wars III has some interesting, innovative concepts that sound great on paper, but they ultimately fall apart the moment the game gives you control. What you end up with is one of dullest entries in the entire series.

While X-Men Origins: Wolverine is clearly undercooked, it's still genuinely fun, and most importantly, it delivers the kind of visceral, untamed experience that fans expect from the character. It's been a long time coming. Just like Logan, it's a beast on the outside, but it has a good heart within.

The ridiculous stereotypes, somewhat offensive writing, and ho-hum gameplay all manage to come together to be something worth playing.

Costume Quest is a bit shallow and repetitive, but if you're looking to get into the Halloween spirit with a bizarre sense of humor, it's not a bad pick for 15 dollars.

Where the original was intriguing for its gratuitously unhinged take on sandbox-enabled chaos, Prototype 2 feels like it's just going through the motions. The series badly needs an injection of creativity if it's to merit another installment.

Patapon maniacs will find a lot to keep them interested: this is a long game, especially at $20, and there's a lot to the online if you can deal with its rough edges.

It doesn't quite reach Ico's levels of quality, but it emulates the formula well enough. This is one friend request you should give careful consideration to.

Naruto Clash of Ninja Revolution basically just pays lip service to the fans of the series. It’s got a bunch of characters and voice actors from the show all wrapped up in an uninspired fighting game engine.

In all, Titan Souls is for people who don’t mind struggling to overcome a challenge, but there’s little else to grab your attention. It doesn’t carry the same weight or intrigue as the games that inspired it, but there’s a fun set of battles to test your reflexes.

The best thing Valley of the Yetis has going for it is the inherent fun that comes from using Far Cry 4’s skills, weapons, and vehicles. Everything else feels wasted.

Its truncated length is a deterrent to a full price purchase, and its head-to-head options are unique yet limited.

MX vs. ATV Reflex is a bit of a mess. There are some good tracks to race on, but the control scheme is overcomplicated, the visuals are ugly, and the motorcycles are the only vehicles worth spending any time with. Determined players will find some value in it, but for everyone else there are much better racing options available.

The infrastructure stands and the game is fun, which is most important. But the additions can grate, and most of the minigames strike out, though multiplayer anything that requires people to make foolish gestures has some merit.

It’s great to see Formula 1 come back to the North American gaming scene, and Championship Edition is a very solid entry. But it’s a bit disappointing that, outside of the shiny new PS3 graphics, F1 still has all of the same problems we were seeing in these games years ago.

It’s an audacious game that takes risks and embraces experimentation. When so many franchises seem content on retreading the same ground, Hotline Miami 2 feels like an important, if often frustrating asset.

Though better than most, Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces doesn't quite have the lasting power or polish to set it apart from the high fliers in the genre. For most prospective pilots, it's a decent rent, but if all you care about is smooth controls and shooting down bogies anime-style, then this is your bag.

The gameplay is sound at its core, but suspect AI, plodding boss fights, and a heavy-handed plot all stand out as flaws that should have been eliminated before mass production. As is, this interesting prototype could be worth examining--just don't expect it to attain peak performance.

Rapstar is a solid singing game that would benefit from more fleshed-out features in future installments. More on-disc songs, more video display options, a more robust career, better editing functions, and an improved presentation would go a long way toward moving this title from an "on point" rating to "off the chain."

It’s competent but bland, lacking the imaginative missions of Blazing Angels, the glorious melodrama of Ace Combat, and the joyful air ballets of either.

While the mesmerizing patterns and fast-paced combos provide brief bursts of excitement, Galaga Legions DX lacks the challenge and variety needed to maintain interest beyond a single play-through.

The inclusion of superstar fighting styles and the struggle submission system is a step in the right direction, but it’s still difficult to recommend Smackdown vs Raw 2008 for a purchase to anyone but the most ardent fan.

Fans of zombie survival, open worlds, and first-person shooters will find things to enjoy in Dying Light, but it’s a rough ride. The contextual movement and realistic time progression suggest that Techland wants to immerse you in Harran’s apocalyptic plight, but the game’s realism takes a hit at almost every turn whether it’s the graphics, the enemy AI, or the mannequin-like demeanor of the souls you’ll attempt to save.

Spend an hour or two with Power Stone Collection and you’ll wonder what the big deal is.