Exactly what Battlefield fans most likely wanted: a chaotic, gorgeous multiplayer game with small, but important tweaks to what already worked in past games. That it includes a short, somewhat mediocre solo campaign and some hit-or-miss co-op action does not detract from the fact that, online, this is the best Battlefield game yet.

Exactly what Battlefield fans most likely wanted: a chaotic, gorgeous multiplayer game with small, but important tweaks to what already worked in past games. That it includes a short, somewhat mediocre solo campaign and some hit-or-miss co-op action does not detract from the fact that, online, this is the best Battlefield game yet. The PC version's online matchmaking tools are way ahead of the curve and a good example of how to do social networking in video games the right way.

House of the Dead: OVERKILL Extended Cut so relishes wallowing in its own filth, that at a point it's easy to start questioning whether the stuff that's terrible about it is that way on purpose. (Spoiler: some of it is, some of it isn't.) It's the most shameful of guilty pleasures, brain-dead and proud of it, best suited for those with a lust for the minutiae of cinema's seedier side.

The Just Dance series feels like it's headed in the right direction with Just Dance 3, but it still has a long way to go. If you were satisfied with the Just Dance experience on the Wii, and you find the soundtrack to Just Dance 3 appealing, you probably won't be disappointed. But you should know that you can do better.

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.

The only thing that might surprise you about Uncharted 3's relentless roller coaster ride is that it doesn't advance the standards for video game action like its groundbreaking, mind-blowing, superlative-generating predecessor did. But it certainly does match them. There's a slight sense of "been there, done that" in the way this game hews so closely to Uncharted 2's masterful blend of puzzle-solving, parkour, and dizzying action scenes.

There are moments of multiplayer thrill to be had here, but they're infrequent, and sometimes tough to get to.

Enemies don't require much strategy in All 4 One. Especially towards the end, crowd control demands the game boil down to endlessly cycling between rockets and grenades. Yawn.

A streamlined front-end and more clearly spelled-out progression would probably go a long way. But if you're up for digging around and find the idea of a driving game that's a little left-of-center exciting, TM2 is kind of incredible.

Were it not for the online issues, NBA 2K12 would be the closest thing to a "perfect" video game basketball experience we have yet come to. In fact, it still probably is. This is one of those rare sports games where the offline content nearly made me forget about the online component.

It might not rewrite the book on Batman video games, but when you're building off of such a strong position--and you're only shipping the second game with such similarities, rather than a third or fourth--it's hard to bicker too much about what changes the developers did or didn't make.

The way this game depicts Frank going through nearly the same story you've seen before sort of cheapens the existence of the original Dead Rising 2.

The way this game depicts Frank going through nearly the same story you've seen before sort of cheapens the existence of the original Dead Rising 2.

The way this game depicts Frank going through nearly the same story you've seen before sort of cheapens the existence of the original Dead Rising 2.

Save for some occasionally witty banter, this generally generic brawler is too concerned with the window-dressing of time-travel to capitalize on Spider-Man's character, abilities, or mythology.

It's still a beautiful game and it's probably the world's best driving simulator, at least for consoles, but a lot of Forza 4's changes feel incremental at best. The game includes many of the same tracks found in previous installments, and I found myself getting a very "annual sports game update" vibe off of it. With that in mind, it seems like the game's most die-hard fans and people who didn't play the previous Forza will get the most out of Forza 4.

This is meat-and-potatoes action game design with a few antiquated quirks, but it does what it does well enough--and looks legitimately stunning while doing it--to deliver a satisfying experience, all told.

This is meat-and-potatoes action game design with a few antiquated quirks, but it does what it does well enough--and looks legitimately stunning while doing it--to deliver a satisfying experience, all told.

This is meat-and-potatoes action game design with a few antiquated quirks, but it does what it does well enough--and looks legitimately stunning while doing it--to deliver a satisfying experience, all told.

Top to bottom, this game feels rushed, a supposition backed up by Silicon Knights' history of protracted development cycles, from which X-Men: Destiny did not benefit. While politics of why that's the case, as well as speculation on the impact more time and money would've had on the game, are ultimately irrelevant to the game's failures as they are, it's not that hard to see how it could've been something great.

It's not the ultimate sendoff for what may very well be the end of the series, but another chance to put my fingers through the Runner gauntlet is worthwhile.

It's not a completely disappointing experience, but I felt like too much of my time with Burnout Crash was spent almost having fun. In a way, that's almost more frustrating than if Criterion had whiffed it completely, since you can see the game that you'd want to play right in front of you, and yet it remains just out of reach.

It's not a completely disappointing experience, but I felt like too much of my time with Burnout Crash was spent almost having fun. In a way, that's almost more frustrating than if Criterion had whiffed it completely, since you can see the game that you'd want to play right in front of you, and yet it remains just out of reach.

This is no big leap forward for the franchise, mind you--comparatively, it's almost less of a leap over NHL 10 than NHL 11 was--but for those who just want to tool around with their favorite franchise, build up a pro of their own design, and hop online against the masses of like-minded players, NHL 12 shan't disappoint.

This is no big leap forward for the franchise, mind you--comparatively, it's almost less of a leap over NHL 10 than NHL 11 was--but for those who just want to tool around with their favorite franchise, build up a pro of their own design, and hop online against the masses of like-minded players, NHL 12 shan't disappoint.

Renegade Ops feels like the model of a fantastic downloadable game designed to the strengths of digital distribution. It's big, loud, sort of dumb, and a ton of fun because it focuses on one thing, and does that one thing exceedingly well. For $15, what more do you want?

Renegade Ops feels like the model of a fantastic downloadable game designed to the strengths of digital distribution. It's big, loud, sort of dumb, and a ton of fun because it focuses on one thing, and does that one thing exceedingly well. For $15, what more do you want?

If you're looking for the history lesson, you're better off grabbing it for $10 on the Virtual Console.