Hotline Miami's thrillingly brutal gameplay is stretched to the point of breaking in this aesthetically pleasing, but otherwise disappointing sequel.

If you don't like Green Day, and you don't want to play their music in a Rock Band game, you're not going to get a whole lot out of Green Day: Rock Band.

While I found most of the single-player modes to be a bit of a drag and the way things get unlocked for single-player could have been handled a bit more smoothly, the online multiplayer is what earns Hydro Thunder Hurricane its keep. It's a fast-moving and thrilling online race that offers just enough content to fit with its downloadable-sized pricing.

Once the game stopped stunning me with new outrageous depictions of slaughter, the repetition of the combat started to set in, and I started noticing some of the game's other shortcomings, like the dodgy frame rate and buggy collision detection. These issues aside, if you've come to see Wolverine at his most brutal, this game does not disappoint.

The standard gameplay in NBA Jam is insanely entertaining, and if you've got a group of players ready to play at your side, you'll easily get $50 of enjoyment out of it.

This is an easy game to lose yourself in for as long as it lasts, and, by the end of the adventure, all I could think to myself was how much I'd like to see these characters again come next All Hallows' Eve.

Its cooler moments are offset by a long list of missions that aren't engaging at all. You're a man with an ever-increasing list of insane powers, but the tasks you accomplish with those powers are usually pretty ho-hum. Add to all that a script that makes you want to turn the sound down and a dose of awkward control quirks and you've got a run-of-the-mill open-world game.

While some will definitely enjoy the sandbox nature of the game and the variety of units it provides, others might be put off by the arcadey gameplay and simplistic strategy. The game provides a decent amount of replayability through its multiplayer modes but it's hard to tell if there are enough gamers online as of this writing to make that a sure thing.

Though the setting may sound a bit edgy, in practice Medal of Honor offers a brief campaign with little story and a smattering of technical issues that range from annoying to decidedly disappointing. It also delivers a multiplayer component that feels like it's desperately trying to split the difference between Modern Warfare 2 and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. There are flashes of excitement peppered across the game's modes, but it's hard to get too excited about any of that when it's been done better elsewhere.

Funny games are still something of a rarity, so even though these episodes of Sam & Max originated on the PC two years ago, they still totally stand up against more recent releases. Also, with six different episodes to move through, you'll probably end up spending something like eight to 12 hours playing through them all.

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.

Madden NFL 25 doesn't represent enough of a leap forward to make it either a technical showpiece for your new console, nor a more exciting football game than what EA already put out a few months ago.

Where Hotline Miami felt lithe and creative, Hotline Miami 2 often feels sluggish and inflexible. There's fun to be had with this sequel, but it's the kind that only the original game's most ardent and obsessive fans will find in great supply.

By looking to its own fiction for inspiration, Relic has crafted a fun, exciting shooter that effectively differentiates itself from other games in the genre.

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.

Some of the trimming around the outer edges is shaky, but the core of Def Jam Rapstar is rock-solid, and the community video feature is sure to provide a lot of entertainment on its own.

If you're looking for anything other than a solid fighting game with strong netcode, you should probably hold off until the game sees a few more updates.

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.

It's a technically competent shooter with co-operative play. For some, that's plenty. But if you're more discerning about your shooters, you'll probably get bored of this one before you've seen the end credits.

An intro into the Warhammer universe that'll make you want to dive all the way in. Gothic organs blast as you and three other friends blast through hordes and hordes of decaying enemies. [Unprofessional Friday]

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.

I'm a sucker for a good mob story, but Mafia II's is merely decent.

The smart players will rise to the challenge and feel like they've been appropriately rewarded for their prowess. The campaign gives you a great look at an interesting world, though its abrupt, too-clean ending feels out of place. It's a somewhat disappointing reward for an otherwise exciting adventure that puts a terrific and fun spin on first-person shooting.

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 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.

PlayStation All-Stars makes a couple of design decisions that make the whole thing feel a little more awkward than it should. Also, for a game that's supposed to bring together the greatest heroes of the PlayStation platforms, it's missing too many key figures.

I'd lean toward recommending the Xbox version because, well, I like achievements, and because it's half the price of the DS cart. But whether you want to play on the couch or on the go, Puzzle Quest 2 is a great way to wile away a few minutes, or a few hours.

As a game following in the footsteps of the Galaga legacy, Legions doesn't do a very good job. Other than the ability for ships to capture other ships, nothing about this game feels much like the original game.