An area that kind of let me down was the audio; it features support for Dolby Pro Logic II decoders but it doesn't take full advantage of the hardware. Yes, there's mulit-channel support and the sound does come at you from all sides, but it's not done all that well.

A solid, well polished WWII strategy title using the venerable Europa Universalis engine. It’s deep, it’s complex, and just a bit overwhelming.

If you're big into the series then you'll probably want to pick this one up, as it's going to provide you more of the same fun with some new features that you're sure to love.

The sound track for the game is excellent and EA has done a great job of putting together a very listenable collection of music.

I think this game will appear to WWII or history buffs, real-time strategy fans, and anyone with a strong patriotic streak.

Yes, you're essentially playing through the events of Kingdom Hearts in portable form, but there's enough content here to make the experience seem new and fresh again.

As a low-budget title, it lacks pretty much everything including: multiplayer or online play, extendability, quality cut scenes or voice acting, and plot.

A near perfect expansion pack. It gives gamers more levels, more bad guys, and more multiplayer content. What else can you ask for in an expansion pack? Not much.

To those who are just beginning, and in need of a strong tutorial, I recommend "Chessmaster." But for the advanced player, Fritz 8 Deluxeis far superior. Fritz contains stronger engines and a deeper database. For those students learning opening books, or looking for move analysis, it is ideal.

Seems to take too much from too many other real-time strategy games, and fails to capitalize and to create its own niche.

Fans of the Blitzkrieg series will probably be pleased. There is a great deal of challenging RTS gameplay, and the WWII flavor is quite strong. Still, the more casual RTS gamer probably won’t be able to overlook the frustrating control and less-than-stellar AI.

And best of all, in this time of graphical resource-hogging, you don’t need a machine built by God to enjoy it.

A game by people that really know a thing or two about making a memorable experience, and some of the extra features will have you coming back well into the new year (especially if you have friends).

If you can overlook some control issues you’ll find quite a lot of game play that will have you going for months to come.

A crowning achievement for Valve and one game that I thoroughly enjoyed. A few problems do exist such as the crashing and minor engine quirks. All in all, a wonderful PC game and one that fans of the original will love.

To put it bluntly, the game is also riddled with bugs.

There are some problems with the mission structure, but the intense action and addictive online more than make up for the inane tank missions.

Sonic Team’s nutty sense of style and humor saturates every last inch of this game, and the unconventional appeal and concept will attract gamers and non-gamers alike.

This is a gaming thoroughbred that will demand you feed it over the holiday season. If your first priority this week is the DS, make your second one a copy of Spider-Man 2. It’s the game that will show your friends what the hardware truly can do.

A beautifully crafted RPG that provides the boost that the GameCube so desperately needed.

Until the sequel arrives, however, we now have even more GalCiv goodness, adding more addictiveness and content to an already insanely addictive game.

The only place I felt the game could really be improved outside of more realistic graphics was the control for the overhead view didn’t allow for very accurate rotation. If I wanted to see my zoo from a specific angle, it often took about a minute of adjusting the rotation.

It’s one of the best children-oriented titles to arrive in years.

With Jak 3 everything seems so passé and normal again, as if the well had run dry and the developers had lost their passion for the franchise.

The series was solid to begin with and it seems that the developers tinkered with a formula that didn’t need to be changed.

An amazing piece of technology that shows off what the Eye Toy is capable of. It’s the first Eye Toy specific game with mainstream appeal and one that is accessible to gamers of all types.

When you get past the poor AI, the messy controls and the poor recreation of the sport, you have the foundation for a very decent hockey game.

The single-player campaign is boring and ineffective, the action is dull, the level structure is bland and the overall game lacks the oomph and power of the original. HALO 2's multiplayer aspect fares a little better but it's marred by an ineffective matchmaking service and some poor judgment in the balance department.