Levels all feel constrictive, and the dour color palette doesn't help the dull nature of its locations. The start-to-sewer time is awfully short on this one.

It's easy to forgive the things that Gravity Rush gets wrong because of the absolutely basic thing it gets spectacularly, brilliantly right: movement. You might have guessed already, but I found flying around wildly to be fun in itself.

It's one of the best military shooters I've played. It doesn't push the boundaries of what we expect from that genre, but Future Soldier takes an approach that leaves little room for stagnant gameplay or retreading ground.

At its core, Diablo 3 is a series of combat encounters and, when you realize just how carefully it's put together, Blizzard's expertise is staggering.

Any brief flickers of fun I came across were consistently extinguished by the game's oppressive flaws.

Mario Tennis Open is a game best taken in small doses. Playing tournaments, exhibition games, and the special modes can be great fun for a few matches at a time.

In the end, it feels like Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 is merely going through the motions (most of which involve spinning). As was intended, it's reminiscent of Sonic's best-remembered adventures, though it never manages to live up to them.

Cyanide's vision for Game of Thrones is ambitious, but the studio's end product has buckled under the weight of its intricate design document. Despite some ideas I've fallen in love with, it's a buggy and ugly mess of a video game. Even for its story and brushes with the franchise's fiction, it's difficult to recommend to either series vets or role-playing fans.

The transition from emotionally tinged burial ground to functional battleground is at once touching and tasteless, presented in that kind of awkward, bittersweet combination that video games have gotten down to an art form.

If you can look past these issues, the uninspiring gunplay and ho-hum campaign in particular, Starhawk offers up plenty of multiplayer freedom. If you can pull together a cohesive team, building defenses and barreling through enemy territory can be deeply rewarding.

It might be a suitable family game, but there are certainly better family games out there – games that won't leave a five-year-old yawning. For Fable fans distraught about Peter Molyneux's departure from Lionhead, I would recommend pretending this title didn't even exist. And for the unlucky few who can't resist and buy it anyway, I'd wager a nickel that you only ever play the game once.

Awesomenauts does more than simply adapt a successful formula, it does so with humor and panache. It has taken a genre typically dripping with grim fantasy and turned it playfully on its ear. Even without the delightful presentation, the simple fact that developer Ronimo Games has effectively fused a MOBA with the trappings of a 2D action title is laudable on its own. Give it your money, and it will give you its love. You can probably hang on to your cheese though.

Attempt to play this style-over-substance offering as thoughtfully as its creators intended, and you'll wind up disappointed. Accept it as a button-masher, rather than the deep brawler it wants to be, however, and working out Crom's anger issues might become your next go-to guilty pleasure.

By and large Legend of Grimrock's penchant for walking the incredibly fine line between chin-stroking challenge and hair-pulling frustration is superbly impressive. It will absolutely pounce if you let your guard down, but that's a major part of the appeal.

How much you get out of Prototype 2 depends on how much you enjoy its wonderful mobility and its particular brand of mass destruction, and how much you're willing to forgive its more brain-dead moments – both in terms of repetition and witless dialogue.

A great adaptation of Robert Kirkman's comic, one that isn't a chore to play and is genuinely absorbing across its two-hour entirety, even with its hiccups. Also, if you're looking for the most depressing dad sim on the planet, The Walking Dead: Episode 1 is for you.

In short, every addition RedLynx has made to Evolution serves to bolster the offerings of Trials HD, while continuing to highlight the game's base: a fantastic physics engine that drives a flow that is simultaneously simple, addictive and frantic. Now if you'll excuse me, I have another nine years of mastering Trials Evolution ahead of me.

Doing tricks and nailing tough shots can be rewarding, and the movement and sliding of the Splatters helps it feel more unique than the multitude of Angry Birds clones out there. The simplicity of the mechanics, however, doesn't always translate to addictive gameplay, and you may soon grow tired of performing the same actions over and over again, especially when it feels that success is owed more to luck than skill.

When it works, the walls between reality and the Diary of Faces melt away, exposing an adventure truly suited to the 3DS. Unfortunately, the hokey story and technological limitations do the opposite, reaffirming the reality that you're just standing in your living room, spinning in place.

Skullgirls should have spent another year in development. What we got is good for what it is and will adequately fill a very niche void for serious fighters pining after a non-Blazblue Guilty Gear methadone, but it could have been so much more.

I haven't smiled as much while playing a game since my first multiplayer run of LittleBigPlanet, and even then I was only smiling because I was terrible and enjoyed frustrating my friends as they ran gracefully through the levels. Fez is comparable to Braid or Limbo in terms of recent indie platformers, but it is infinitely more heartwarming than Braid and less terrifying than Limbo...There's a lot to be said for a game that can make a grown woman squeal with glee dozens of times in a playthrough.

A good tower defense game is an addictive and beautiful thing, and Anomaly: Warzone Earth is no exception. It offers a couple of twists on the familiar formula, but more variety and perhaps a few more missions could have pushed it over the top.

Throwing a thunder ball often took multiple attempts, while calmly aiming for a headshot felt much more accurate and satisfying. Ultimately, as great as Diabolical Pitch's zany concepts are, the inconsistency of the controls dulled the overall experience -- and my pitching arm.

A charming cast of characters that interact constantly, a uniquely designed and fascinating setting, forward-thinking gameplay systems that combine the best of East and West, and the exhilarating feeling that comes from taking part in an adventure that feels truly epic.

There are some enjoyable bits here and there -- notably the flying sections and Rancor Rampage -- but for the most part, the Force pull of Kinect Star Wars far exceeds its Force grasp.

If you don't skip any cut-scenes and follow the story closely, Yesterday is an experience unlike any of Pendulo's previous titles, and one you'll be unlikely to forget, no matter how hard you try.

Closure offers up a unique puzzle experience set in a wonderfully moody environment caught somewhere between the designs of Dan Paladin and Edward Gorey.

MLB 12: The Show is an excellent experience that honors and respects one of America's oldest institutions.