Dance Central 2 is better than Dance Central, though that margin will vary significantly depending on how dissatisfied you were with the original's lack of two-player support or a structured story mode to ease you into the experience. Personally, I was happy to just have more Dance Central, but what I got was better than that.

Call of Duty: World at War is a perfectly competent game with exciting multiplayer options and a campaign that's worth playing. But in most of the ways that actually count, last year's game was better.

While I admittedly became less enamored with Monaco as it ramped up its difficulty and turned some of its later missions into tedious exercises in trial-and-error, the vast majority of Monaco's content is simply a delight to play, especially when enjoyed alongside a rogue's gallery of your most deviously skilled friends. It may not best serve the solitary brand of player, but for a cooperative group of would-be thieves, Monaco can be terrific fun.

It's nice to see this series mature and evolve over time, and while Traveller's Tales will need to continue upping the ante if it intends to keep putting out new Lego games at such a rapid clip, for the moment Lego Pirates offers plenty of reasons to jump back in and mash a few plastic bricks together again.

It still doesn't live up to the unreasonable expectations set by those early Sony E3 trailers, but MotorStorm: Pacific Rift feels much, much closer to realizing that vision than its predecessor. As an off-road racing game, the format is simple, but the execution makes for a wild ride.

It's nice to see this series mature and evolve over time, and while Traveller's Tales will need to continue upping the ante if it intends to keep putting out new Lego games at such a rapid clip, for the moment Lego Pirates offers plenty of reasons to jump back in and mash a few plastic bricks together again.

While fans might have a hard time processing the dramatic change in tone, it's approached with a seriousness and conviction that I respect, and frankly, have come to expect from Rockstar.

It's short, sure, but it also doesn't wear out its welcome, focusing solely on the necessary pieces of an adventure that's often as challenging as it is thrilling. In Guacamelee!, DrinkBox has both provided a wonderfully crafted action game for old school and new players alike, and established itself as a developer very much worth paying attention to.

BIG HOPS succeeds because of the developers’ understanding of momentum, accessibility, and expression through movement: its systems constantly invite wacky experimentation with generous restarts, rather than punishing the player for failing, all of which reinforces a core philosophy of playful improvisation.

Tokyo Jungle is bold, well-designed, and very funny. One can't imagine Tokyo Jungle coming from anywhere but Japan, and it's a case where such a statement is an enormous compliment.

The roster is bigger and better, a large variety of fun stages has been added, and some cool tweaks like character customization make their debut. Spotty online offerings, the drawbacks of being on a portable console, and the lack of a substantial single-player mode hurt the overall experience, but not enough to tarnish the series’ name.

There is simply far more content by volume in this package than in the original. The core of Left 4 Dead may have lost some of its newness in the last 12 months, but the wealth of additions in this sequel ought to keep you blasting zombies and munching on brains for a good long while.

The new quests and areas, combined with a "best of" lineup of characters from the other DLCs and other parts from the main game make for a good, exciting mini-adventure. If you're at all interested by the idea of returning to Borderlands, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution is absolutely solid.

An intense, replayable multiplayer shooter that's fully worthy of both the Battlefield name and the price of entry.

What makes Just Cause 2 special is the way those parts are assembled for both the minimum amount of reality, and the maximum amount of fun, the law will allow.

It's unfortunate that it isn't easier to get into online matches, but overall, if you're looking for some more characters to beat around, play Third Strike. It's a good game.

The glitchy technical issues appear across the board in every version of the game. In that, Fallout 4 is universal. As such, a big part of deciding if you want to play Fallout 4 becomes a personal inventory of your desire to either revel in these glitches or your patience at dealing with them, should they appear. As someone who has really appreciated this line of games in both its Fallout and Elder Scrolls flavors, Fallout 4 was still harder to swallow than I initially suspected it would be. It's another one of those games, for better and for worse.

Insomniac gets back to what it does best with this smirking, fast-moving romp through a gleefully silly open world.

There will certainly be some players who find that the specific omissions in Halo 5 are extremely disappointing, and you'll see a rough edge or two, but all in all there's a fantastic big-budget shooter in Halo 5 with lots to see and enough multiplayer options to keep you going for quite some time.

There are some notable feature differences between Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band, and the attitudes are wildly different, but a lot of that feels a little academic in the grand scheme. Guitar Hero has some catching up to do when it comes to the full-band experience, but all the debatable points shouldn't keep you from rocking out.

The new quests and areas, combined with a "best of" lineup of characters from the other DLCs and other parts from the main game make for a good, exciting mini-adventure. If you're at all interested by the idea of returning to Borderlands, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution is absolutely solid.

It's as though the team behind SSX were never quite sure how far toward realistic danger nor straight-up arcade ludicrousness it ought to veer toward, relying on the old school silliness of SSX's snowboarding gameplay to carry the load as the team built a gaggle of new mechanics and concepts around it--some of which don't really gel with that classic SSX flavor. The end result is an experience that can often be tremendous fun, though sometimes almost feels accidentally so.

The new quests and areas, combined with a "best of" lineup of characters from the other DLCs and other parts from the main game make for a good, exciting mini-adventure. If you're at all interested by the idea of returning to Borderlands, Claptrap's New Robot Revolution is absolutely solid.

It's as though the team behind SSX were never quite sure how far toward realistic danger nor straight-up arcade ludicrousness it ought to veer toward, relying on the old school silliness of SSX's snowboarding gameplay to carry the load as the team built a gaggle of new mechanics and concepts around it--some of which don't really gel with that classic SSX flavor. The end result is an experience that can often be tremendous fun, though sometimes almost feels accidentally so.

Uneven pacing and a handful of poor design decisions can't bring down Cradle's unique, sci-fi mystery.

Now, some of you are undoubtedly super-shy and would never dream of letting the world see you, in your bedroom, singing. That's fine. But if you're a little more extroverted and want a sanctioned location to look like a jackass, or if creatively creating 30-second videos to the delight or disgust of an online audience is up your alley, SingStar is kind of amazing.

A tightly designed downloadable game bursting with demanding traversal, surprisingly deep combat, and lush visual design. You can't be a fan of 2D action games in 2011 and not give this game a look.

A tightly designed downloadable game bursting with demanding traversal, surprisingly deep combat, and lush visual design. You can't be a fan of 2D action games in 2011 and not give this game a look.

More than just a checklist of familiar references, more than just the old stuff with a new coat of paint. It is a game that captures the feeling I had on that vinyl couch, watching those old animated machines on the screen and wondering what it was like to be so fast, so powerful, so invincible.

Really, this game is all about its personality and your willingness to lose yourself to its charm. For an enjoyable little jaunt that has more “awww” than “raaawwwwr,” The Maw is well worth the price of admission.

WWE '13 remembers when wrestling, and by proxy, wrestling video games were great. It remembers the pageantry, the silliness, and the death-defying stunts that made wrestling such a hot commodity a decade ago.

Nostalgists will have close to a dozen hours worth of matches and stories from one of the WWE's greatest eras to play through. It's been a long time since I've been able to earnestly recommend a wrestling game to just about any type of fan, but WWE '13 is most definitely worth such a recommendation.

A wonderfully pleasant experience that is best served in smaller chunks, which left me in my own personal nightmare: I was having such a great time that I felt like I wanted to continue playing, but I had used up all of my smarts for the evening, leaving me bumping up against puzzles that I wasn't even sure could be solved with the version of the tool I had at the time.

It's big, bold, and about making players powerless. Isolation wants to scare the hell out of you, and it will. And while the game may try to do that for way too many hours, it's far and away the most ambitious horror game from the big leagues in a long time.

It's familiar enough in spots, but the way the Veil powers function gives everything just enough of a tweak to feel exciting.

For the price, there's a huge value here. It's a great start for Runic.

Prototype is really all about player empowerment, ramping up the number and intensity of larger-than-life superhero abilities consistently as you go. If you've ever harbored fantasies about soaring over skyscrapers and going on destructive urban rampages involving wantonly thrown automobiles--and who among us hasn't, really--odds are you'll find a lot to like about this game.

Splatoon is simultaneously proof that Nintendo can still deliver tremendously entertaining experiences outside of its usual wheelhouse, and an example of how even the most leaden genres can be twisted to new and delightfully creative ends.

While this formula is as old as time itself, AQUIA does it in a way that few games have done before, and it does it with an interesting, underwater-themed look.

Though parts of Spirit Tracks are a little disappointing, most of those low points are offset by its terrific puzzle design and a great, fun story that feels noticeably different from the standard "save the princess" saga that series fans are used to seeing.

It's the perfect game to bundle with the hardware, since it gives you enough gameplay and variety to keep you engaged long enough for Sony to cook up something else compelling to do with your Move controller.

Credit then to Stoic for crafting a game experience that makes such gloom palatable, beautiful, and yes, even enjoyable.

Assassin's Creed III's methodical world-building and wealth of clever gameplay systems are impressive, even if they don't always confidently click together with all the other moving parts.

While I found myself disappointed with portions of the game, the sense of humor and green-screen madness on display make Comic Jumper something much, much more than a basic platformer, and it's this aspect of the game that makes it relatively easy to recommend.

Better fighting and deeper online support with a clan-like "fight camp" system make UFC 2010 Undisputed a better-playing game than its predecessor, but its solo side is a pretty dry.

Assassin's Creed III's methodical world-building and wealth of clever gameplay systems are impressive, even if they don't always confidently click together with all the other moving parts.

If you step back and look at the parts, there's a weird dissonance to Blur, and it doesn't seem like it should work as well as it does, even if it can be an imperfect experience. Bizarre Creations has always danced along the line between simulation and style, and this game only serves to further blur that line.

The game asks much of players but rewards with them genuine, earned satisfaction.

Despite some aging mechanics, I still had a blast whipping my Blades of Exile around ancient Greece once again. There's something visceral and rewarding about God of War's combat that manages to strike a nerve even after a lapse of several years.

MAG is a solid shooter and its leadership elements are intelligently designed, but it doesn't feel especially different from other big-team consoles shooters, like Battlefield: Bad Company. As long as you're not going in expecting the player count to make a dramatic difference in the way MAG feels and behaves, you'll have a good time.

It’s a welcome return to form for a franchise that felt adrift after Dragon Age 2, and is easily recommendable to RPG fans who have a spare few weeks to dedicate to a single game.

Feels like a genuine step up from its impressive predecessor. Everything about the game is better in only an incremental way, leading to the occasional feeling of excessive familiarity. But then, Trine was already so good that it's hard to argue with more of the same great game, right?

Some of the things surrounding the boxing in Fight Night Round 4 are kind of annoying, especially if you're planning on primarily playing the game by yourself. But the fighting itself is fantastic and the online feels sharp enough to substitute for local opposition.

It's a little hard to wrap your head around the idea that what's arguably the best exclusive game on the PS4 so far is sort of a pack-in freebie, but even at the normal $15 asking price, Resogun would be an easy download to recommend.

Feels like a genuine step up from its impressive predecessor. Everything about the game is better in only an incremental way, leading to the occasional feeling of excessive familiarity. But then, Trine was already so good that it's hard to argue with more of the same great game, right?

There are some elements around the edges that haven't aged all that well, but Burnout Paradise is still a fantastic racing game.

It's not a surprise that Fallout: New Vegas sticks closely to Fallout 3's structure and style. But if it weren't for the game's way-too-long list of technical issues, New Vegas would actually be better than its predecessor. Instead, it's a well-written game with so many issues that some of you might want to take a pass, at least until some of this nonsense gets fixed.

The suit abilities are easy and powerful, giving you just enough variety to let you deal with encounters in multiple ways. And though you'll recognize large parts of its multiplayer design and gameplay from, well, every other shooter released over the last three years, the suit abilities add enough of a new wrinkle to make Crysis 2 stand out in an incredibly crowded field.

The great training offered by Killer Instinct will help you get your feet wet, and it might just introduce you to some concepts that'll make you understand all fighting games on a slightly deeper level. That's a great touch.

Every aspect of the base game feels designed to work well with every other aspect. The cars are fast and most of them drift at the tap of your brake, and there are sweeping curves ready to accept those drifts. The shortcuts lead you some wild places, jumping and smashing your way ahead of the pack. By comparison, most driving games feel like a compromise between trying to design a real city for you to race real cars in while also trying to make an exciting video game. Burnout Paradise evokes reality but never at the expense of gameplay. That's something that other racing games could still stand to steal from this one.

Most of what's great about Far Cry 4 is emergent in a way that doesn't need to be attached to a story or locale, so in most of the ways that matter, Far Cry 4 is more of Far Cry 3. But the little additions and co-op play do make meaningful differences, and on its own terms, Far Cry 4 is a great time.

I honestly think there are few developers today with both the technical and creative chops to establish such a specific tone as Monolith does so successfully with F.E.A.R. 2. Even though the ghost-story stuff ends up being about as threatening as a trip through The Haunted Mansion at Disneyland, and the tactical gameplay is softened up by an abundance of player-boosting pick-ups, F.E.A.R. 2 still puts on one hell of a show.

The clunky social integration and overabundance of games systems strata ultimately don't negate the old-school rhythm game fun in Rock Band Blitz, and if you're already invested in the Rock Band platform, it almost seems foolish not to spend the $15 to extend the life of your library.

It also runs great on PC, where the higher potential resolution and better image quality really stands out. That's the version to play, if you have a PC that's capable of running it properly.

It's a well-rendered world with a good draw distance and foliage that is as fun to hide in as it is to burn. It runs well on both PS4 and Xbox One.

A great little time-waster that's nice to have in your pocket, always at the ready. Two dollars for the package of two varieties is a heck of a deal.

A one-note experience isn’t necessarily a bad thing when it delivers on that one thing exceptionally well. Just Cause 3 has occasional physics problems and a lack of variety, but it’s fantastic if you just want to drop into a world and immediately start blowing it up.

If you’re aware of the game’s limitations and you’re still eager to blow an open world straight to hell, few games do it better than Just Cause 3.

Getting into online matches quickly and easily is probably Super Street Fighter IV's strongest component. It even seems to be faster and more reliable than its console counterparts, with none of the "unable to join session" errors that plague Capcom's other fighting games, but once a rush of domestic players get their hands on the system, it's anyone's guess about how that will change.

Nothing about Rise of the Tomb Raider is wildly original, but everything about it is executed with a high degree of quality and craft. The game nicely merges multiple styles of gameplay, tells a better story than the 2013 reboot, and leaves off with Lara Croft at the center of an expanding narrative universe that feels like it could become home to many more exciting adventures. The last game was a decent start, but for my money, this is where the new Tomb Raider really begins.

If you're yearning for solid, demanding 2D platforming and can look past some slightly misplaced motion controls, you could do far worse than Donkey Kong Country Returns.

While the career mode of Skate 2 lacks focus, the open-ended nature of it works out pretty well, and the additional online components really add a lot to the overall experience, as well. Some players may find the difficulty or the open progression a bit overwhelming at times, but the advances in the trick system and the new ways to play make Skate 2 a great sequel that further capitalizes on the concepts introduced in the original.

Across the three platforms, the PC version of Fallout 3 is the best, provided you have hardware that can handle it. The PC version has better lighting, a bit more graphical detail, and just looks better, overall. It's a Games For Windows Live game, too, so if you're dead set on playing the game with an Xbox 360 controller, you can do that on the PC, as well. Additionally, it has achievements, just like the 360 version, though they're kept separately--this means you could technically double up, play the game to completion on both the 360 and the PC, and have double the points as a result.

It's a weird mixing of genres that might leave diehard fans on either side of the genre line wondering if they'd even be capable of fully enjoying the game. But it ends up working out reasonably well.

If you honestly care about the universe and its characters, you'll probably take what you can get in whatever format you can get your hands on, but at times this story feels like it'd be better suited for a short manga series than a video game.

In the end, Empire's only blemish is its unresponsive units and pathing. For a game whose greatest thrills result from the specific gambles you make with your troop movements, it's a shame you're sometimes punished when that movement seems out of your control. Even with its flaws, though, the newest Total War is so breathtaking and immersive that it's hard not to recommend to avid strategy fans.

Shovel Knight is an exceptionally well-made action platformer, one worthy of being celebrated far beyond the nostalgic foundation it's built upon. Shovel Knight won't be the last old school game made in the modern age, but it's unlikely many others will be as much fun.

Yes, it's most certainly "just" more of the Pikmin we came to know during the GameCube era, but after nine years on the shelf, coming back to a Pikmin game this solidly designed quickly reminded me why I had such affection for this series in the first place.

It's equally silly and serious, a frivolous adventure that becomes infinitely more meaningful as you trek deeper and deeper into it. And yet, I can't quite call To the Moon a great "game," exactly, because for as much as To the Moon is something you play, its attempts at interactivity are often relegated to the sidelines in favor of pure narrative.

Fable II comes packed to the gills with content to keep you busy. While there are definitely some issues with the user interface and the occasional NPC freakout, they are easy to stagger past whilst getting drunk on the world.

If you're strictly a solo player, you'll probably find Skate 3 to be a sterile, temporary environment that doesn't feel as inviting as the previous game may have. But if you've even dabbled in the online world of Skate 2, you'll surely enjoy what Skate 3 has to offer.

Maybe the best addition is the Vault, which ties into the in-game achievements/trophies but extends well beyond them with extra challenges like "beat this game using less than 18 continues" or "finish every level with Guy."

If you played the first game to death and are absolutely ready for more, Vegas 2 is right up your alley, but all those similarities mean that you’ll probably burn out on this one a bit faster.

Katamari Forever also has online leaderboards and a local two-player option, but the game's at its best when you're just sort of rolling around, semi-aimlessly, grabbing anything and everything in your path.

Adam Jensen's return is largely successful, even if the conspiracy surrounding him could've been a little more engaging.

An exciting and lengthy adventure with interesting characters and a host of items and features that make its mix of combat and puzzle-solving very attractive. It's better if you also played the original game, but even if you didn't, Darksiders II is definitely worth looking at.

I'm left with the feeling that a sequel to Human Revolution could've told a more engaging story, but at the same time I had a really great time crouch-walking through Prague. It might not be an especially surprising sequel, but it all comes together quite nicely, with solid side missions and a mix of action and stealth that lets you mess around and find your own way of doing things.

A smart, original evolution of the previous game's concepts with plenty of new things to see and do, from its new protagonist to its faster combat and engaging loot system.

Ultimately, technical gaffes and issues of design repetition weren't enough to stop me from appreciating Mafia III. The writers and voice actors turn in the strongest work, crafting and performing a story that manages to rise above the conventional open-world structure it's working within.

Adam Jensen's return is largely successful, even if the conspiracy surrounding him could've been a little more engaging.

The technical side of Darksiders II isn't as laudable, especially on consoles, where the frame rate gets rough when the action picks up and little things like shadow detail are noticeably drawing in as you run around.

My time with Gears of War 4 left me with a feeling that the game could have been a little more ambitious in spots. It feels a little too safe and too unwilling to ditch some of the traditions of the initial trilogy. But the ways it plays around with and reintroduces the characters from those Gears of War games is expertly handled, making for some great moments along the way.

An intense, replayable multiplayer shooter that's fully worthy of both the Battlefield name and the price of entry.

It might not stick the landing, but Gears of War 4 puts the franchise back on the map in a big way, and large parts of it are a great time.

It's hard not to let the experience of the first MUA color the expectations for MUA2. By those standards, MUA2 isn't as exciting a game, largely due to the choices it makes with the fiction. On its own, though, this is still an enjoyable action RPG romp that makes good use of the Marvel Universe in its own way.

A nicely executed, nostalgic way to keep Master Chief active in the public consciousness on an off year.

It may not reach the sublime heights of its predecessor, but Doom Eternal is bursting at the seams with hellacious action.

It has its issues, but its the world, the setting, and the story that make Human Revolution great. These aspects of the game are so solid that I happily waded through the game's low points in search of the next hackable terminal or other flavor-filled bit of dialogue or text. That stuff is so strong that, unless you're an extreme stickler for the above-mentioned problems, you'll more than likely be able to look past the game's weak points as well.