The season-based nature of the Texas Heat events give you a reason to stick with it over time.

There's an unassuming thoughtfulness to A Boy and His Blob that, in an odd sort of way, has the feel of some of the better children's programming you might see on public television. It's not educational per se, but it values subdued atmosphere and elementary puzzle design over flashy, merchandise-friendly mascots with prepackaged catchphrases.

The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned is a solid addition for anyone who wants more Borderlands, but the lack of additional items or further opportunities for character building feel like a missed opportunity that could have given this content a lasting effect.

Borderlands 2 is a better game in most of the ways that matter, but some of that is brought down by the familiarity of the experience.

It takes the roles of poker hand ranks and applies it to the well-based puzzle game. Then it slaps on some good, evolved control mechanics. It’s a high-quality puzzle game that you should look at.

Dark Moon takes what was basically a really good sketch of a game in the original Luigi's Mansion, and fleshes it out into a more robust, and arguably far more entertaining romp, all while retaining the distinctive flavor of that first game.

As someone who went into Borderlands 2 with a sickness that I thought only more Borderlands could cure, I'm left feeling like I didn't receive a full dose this time around.

The slow start burns up a lot of levels with areas that aren't particularly challenging or effective as tutorial sequences to prepare you for the rest of the game. But if you've already made the investment in a 3DS and you're looking for something--anything--that resembles a must-own game, Super Mario 3D Land is precisely that.

In general, playing with other people is pretty much painless, even on PC, which now uses Steamworks across the board instead of that GameSpy nonsense. The PC version of the game is much friendlier overall, and the in-game menus for inventory are easily manipulated with a mouse. Playing the game with a mouse and keyboard feels just fine, but you can still play the PC version with a controller just as easily.

Overall, Halo Infinite is great but something of a mixed bag. Fans of the genre will certainly enjoy the additional mobility granted by the grappling hook while the rest of the gameplay delivers that well-polished Halo experience that shooter-heads have come to know and love over the decades. It's a bit of a shame that the story doesn't quite stick the landing, but add in the fantastic (and free) multiplayer and you've got a really solid foundation for whatever comes next, be that a story expansion or an eventual full-on sequel.

Trials HD is geared toward a specific kind of game player, one who can put up with the repetition and attention to minute detail required to master its courses. If you're that sort of person, you'll find a lot of satisfying gameplay here.

There's a lot to do in Far Cry 2, and if you can get a good handle on the quirks of the almost constant combat scenarios you'll run into, the weapons variety, stunning visuals, and originality of the story and setting make for a well-rounded and satisfying shooter.

As the story progressed and the combat grew deeper, however, I realized that this sequel is an improvement on The Stick of Truth in just about every way. That game gave us our first novel experience of playing through a world that’s virtually indistinguishable from the show, but this sequel is longer, deeper, and more surprising throughout. It may feel like a cavalcade of poop jokes and easy callbacks in the early hours, but the South Park humor and charm shines through more and more as the story progresses.

This game represents a terrific value, not just in terms of sheer volume, but the level of craft that is so often notably absent from trivia video games.

One of my favorite things about Hell's Highway is the fact that you can spend as much time commanding your squads as you do actually shooting enemies yourself.

On the PC, the game scales to fit a lot of different configurations, so you can essentially buy your way out of the console version's performance issues. On a proper machine, the textures look great and the smooth frame rate really goes a long way.

It's also got some of the most hard-hitting first-person melee combat in any game I can remember, and an optional cooperative element that really broadens its appeal. Dead Island constantly runs the danger of collapsing under its own weird, esoteric technical quirks, but when it's running at full tilt its charms are hard to resist.

Designer Shigeru Miyamoto once said "the first 30 minutes of a game is the most important," and Skyward Sword fails to pass that test. It takes several hours before you're given any sense of real freedom, which is too bad, as the game manages to merge the sublime openness of the sea from Wind Waker (without the Triforce madness!) with the directed fun of most other games, as it's easy to just keep moving forward without much fuss. And by the time you start seeing what the designers really have in store for you..., you actually don't want it to stop, even if you're able to constantly, cynically predict when the game will ask you to find just One More Thing before it's all over.

The speedier pace of combat and the addition of Injustice's background interaction are just two of the things that make Mortal Kombat X a better-playing game than its predecessor. Also, MKX feels like an attempt to move forward into new things, whereas MK9 was one large, albeit rebooted nostalgia trip. And it looks fantastic all the while. All of this is enough to make up for the game's handful of rough edges around story mode and some of its other options.

It's also got some of the most hard-hitting first-person melee combat in any game I can remember, and an optional cooperative element that really broadens its appeal. Dead Island constantly runs the danger of collapsing under its own weird, esoteric technical quirks, but when it's running at full tilt its charms are hard to resist.

There’s something thoroughly satisfying about getting to play out your prankish schoolboy fantasies, though it’s the game’s excellence that makes the technical shortcomings specific to Bully: Scholarship Edition on the Xbox 360 so heartbreaking.

Mortal Kombat X moves forward with a snappier version of the previous game's fighting and some cool new characters, but the story and other features around the edges feel a bit rough in spots.

While I'll always have a fond place in my heart for the original version of Lode Runner and the way it looks and sounds, this is a strong reinterpretation of the original game that pulls off the same tricky balancing act between thinking and running.

It's also got some of the most hard-hitting first-person melee combat in any game I can remember, and an optional cooperative element that really broadens its appeal. Dead Island constantly runs the danger of collapsing under its own weird, esoteric technical quirks, but when it's running at full tilt its charms are hard to resist.

NBA Jam has always been a game that lives and dies by its core gameplay and your desire to play that game at length, and that part hasn't changed in 2010.

The finishers in Mortal Kombat X are more gruesome than ever.

Nothing in The Darkness II's story line feels out of place or unnecessary. It doesn't digress needlessly into side missions or other time-wasters designed to just keep you playing for longer stretches. Instead, Digital Extremes believed in the strength of both its combat system and Jenkins' script to inspire players to play through it again once the credits roll.

Some late-game issues not withstanding, Dadliest Catch is a charming, bizarre, genuinely likable little game.