Virtually no changes have been made between this game and the last in the series. While not wholly bad, unfortunate omissions like online play and a revamped combat system will leave fans of the series (and of action RPGs in general), wanting more. DeathSpank has a penchant for the epic, but so far his games have been average.

I won't say that the framerate issue is a deal-breaker, but it's definitely keeping me from wholeheartedly recommending Armored Edition.

I can't help but feel like there could've been more to Gotham City Impostors.

Playing for the humor and Deadpool’s banter with other Marvel characters are good enough reasons to give Deadpool (the game) a shot. The best jokes are evenly spread out and make the journey through generic levels more tolerable. Yet, if the likes of God of War and Ninja Gaiden have spoiled you with sublime and fluid framerates, Deadpool might be hard to swallow.

SimCity as a game is thoroughly entertaining, if flawed in several areas, and now at least we can experience it fully, and hopefully put the disaster of launch in our rear view mirror.

The core of the Horizon Rally DLC is solid; it recreates superbly the rally racing experience. Only in the additional features does this DLC fall short, which is less forgivable given its price point.

The lack of narrative hurts what could have been an awesome story.

EDF2017 has a particular magic that defies logic. If you've played the original to death, you may simply want an excuse to play the game again despite the disappointing renovations in Portable. Hell, I'm in that camp myself, so I won't talk you out of it. Just make sure you have some friends lined up for co-op ahead of time.

A game with an identity crisis trying to be too many things to too many people. It's more successful than it should be but ultimately the entire package is brought down by being pulled in these two polarizing directions.

I do wish that the story had more meat, and did more to make me care about the four characters.

If you’re a fan of RTS and strategy games, you can get a few good evenings out of StarDrive, just don’t expect the endless addiction and spotless interface of Civilization.

Though the game is incredibly difficult and will test the patience of even the most Zen players, it is still a blast to play and a definite challenge to hardcore players.

While Gungnir is in no means a bad game, there isn't anything about it that calls out to be played. The story isn't entirely original, but the lower class uprising setting fits well with the gameplay (as it does with most titles in the genre).

The whole experience feels like an anachronism. Younger gamers might accept some of these problems more readily, and when the game is on, it’s a lot of fun. If you enjoy the simplicity of the gameplay or collecting lots and lots of shiny objects, you’ll get tons of that here, giving you more entertainment after you’ve completed the main story.

A good way to play this quirky RPG if you don't have a PSP.

The 3rd Birthday should have been brilliant, but is merely decent.

The HD treatment, online multiplayer, casual mode for newbies, and extra goodies to unlock ensure plenty of playtime for each of the various titles.

The roster of Sega stars and tracks is commendable. When the game hits its strides it can even be as entertaining as genre king Mario. But more often than not the game’s suite of issues holds it back from greatness.

It's a shame it was released in such a crowded downloadable game window, as it's an enjoyable diversion for the price.

Tequila Works certainly understands the 2D space and there is some sense of satisfaction in navigating Randall Wayne through miles of hallowed out buildings, a treacherous underground, and zombie-infested roads.

If you dig DotA and want to play a streamlined version of that game on a console, Awesomenauts will deliver big time. But don't be surprised when, well, you wind up never being surprised.

If you've never played any version of Lumines before and you're looking for a solid puzzle game for your new Vita, then this title is certainly worth your time. But if you'd rather save your money and stay home with your block-dance-party-game, then Lumines Electronic Symphony is a bit of a tougher sell.

A broad comprehensive battle system makes each fight worthwhile, if a bit repetitive. The story is told at the right pace and will keep you interested throughout the entirety of the game. But the experience isn't entirely perfect, with some odd sound issues, a knack for getting you lost, and 3D visuals that should never be used.

Proven gameplay mechanics and the wacky sense of humor that is Adventure Time make the game a blast to play from start to finish. Just don't expect to be playing it all that long.

Even with its flaws, Magicka is fun and fresh, and offers a new experience for RPG fans.

Mario Tennis Open is like Jessica Alba with a giant, puss-filled zit right on the tip of her nose. Its flaws are glaring and hard to overlook – a beginner-friendly control system that harms competitive online play for purists and, more crucially, a distinct lack of imagination.

Revelations very much feels to me like a team checking off items from a list. Ezio, Altair, and Desmond are here; there's parkour; there's combat; there's a bad guy, eventually; there are puzzles; there's a big beautiful world to explore. The problem is, they never seem to cohere into a single experience, and the kind of passion and quality that has made this series so good in the past is missing.

For fans of the comics and the character, I can't think of a good reason why you shouldn't pick this game up. But understand that you'll probably feel like it could have been so much more.

The game is a faithful port of the arcade game, but the appeal to purchase it is really only for fans of the original seeking a dose of nostalgia.

A fun game. There's little to criticize here, save a price on the higher end of the XBLA spectrum, but you really can't compete with free.

MicroBot does not do anything revolutionary within the twin-stick shooter genre, but manages to inject some creativity into an otherwise standard class of games.

lilt line is an awesome little proof of concept that justifies its $5 cost with around an hour of bangin' beats. Jaded and retro gamers will enjoy the minimalist design, while dubstep fans will enjoy the fresh tracks and representation of one of electronica's up and coming genres.

As a single-player game, Dungeon Siege III succeeds as a fun action-RPG. It doesn't offer anything particularly new, but gamers that enjoy hacking and looting by themselves should have fun. As a multiplayer game, Dungeon Siege III is disappointing.

Episode four serves to connect most of the pieces together and potentially meet the perpetrator behind all the chaos in Fabletown… though it doesn’t hype up the next episode as much as it could. Of course there’s always the possibility Telltale is saving the best stuff for the conclusion, so I’m still hopeful episode five will blow us all away.

Doom 3 has aged fantastically well. Provided you haven't already played the games in this collection, BFG Edition is also a solid value.

Mahjong Cub3D is exactly what it needs to be - a collection of mahjong puzzles with a neat gimmick that works well with the 3DS's display.

It won't blow your mind. It won't raise the FPS bar. And if you play the big FPS games on HD consoles, moving to this would be like dumping Jessica Alba for Snooki. You just wouldn't do it. But if Wii is your only console this is a refreshingly enjoyable romp arriving right in the middle of a worrying Wii games drought.

F1 Race Stars is simple, charming, looks great (particularly thanks to a silky smooth frame rate) and has some clever nods to the real life sport without getting technical. Its simplicity makes it better suited to families or more inexperienced players, and it could be great fun in local multiplayer.

Foul Play is a combination of good and not so good. On one hand the overarching theme, visuals, and humor are top notch. But on the other the gameplay is boring and there is little challenge.

Racing die-hards may find GRID 2′s schizophrenic approach to driving physics an interesting curiosity, but you can find any angle of GRID 2′s experience executed more successfully in other games.

Sonic Generations for the 3DS is by no means a bad game, it is just a disappointing one. Being able to play as both Modern Sonic and Classic Sonic in an assortment of old and new stages is a great idea, but everything is over very quickly.

Though actual gameplay is on the lower end, witty writing and impressive visual variety ensure your time spent with the crossover strategy RPG is memorable.

Ultimately the pace of Smoke and Mirrors is quite different from Faith, but it’s a change that seems necessary for Bigby to do his job. Familiar camera angle issues and an oddly placed fight aside, The Wolf Among Us continues to deliver. The game is still a great bridge for new fans to familiarize themselves with the Fables lore and old fans to connect the dots only they know exist.

The Career mode is deep and involving, with a rewarding sense of progression as you earn new sponsors and bolt on better car parts...On the other hand, the multiplayer, which only offers single races online or in split-screen, is lacking more engaging features (and players, sadly).

The average visuals, clunky animations, clumsy controls, and nonexistent lip-syncing represents a distinct lack of polish, but this doesn't ruin the otherwise solid game tucked within.

Ultimately, it seems a bit unfair to give Continue? a score—it’s a game that can mean everything or nothing depending greatly on your worldly interpretation. Where games like Gone Home and Papers Please have a clear fundamental message tugging on your principles, Continue? is either answering life’s questions or presenting some you weren’t considering before—apparently while “late at night with a glass of wine or some weed.”

Monster Hunter takes for granted a lot of extracurricular effort on behalf of its players. How much extra research are you willing to do on a game’s systems before you expect to have fun with it? How many nonsensical, anachronistic hoops are you willing to jump through just for a slight taste of what this game will hopefully become in ten years’ time?

I liked the sense of accomplishment I felt after completing a complex level, and online play is entertaining. Racing game fans won't find the same type of gameplay in Gran Turismo, as the arcade style gameplay leans more toward the casual crowd.

Though the variety of gameplay gives Retro City Rampage a broad scope, the redundancy of driving back and forth quickly becomes stale.

Despite this episode’s focus on item collecting instead of verbal crime solving, it continues to deliver on the fairytale angst.

With Pokemon Black 2 and White 2, the game is starting to feel stale. The Pokemon series has been living off its laurels for some time now, and the series is in need of change.

For the Poke-Maniacs out there, these two games are easily the definitive versions of this generation, but only because they offer a few added side missions and graphical enhancements. For anyone that played and enjoyed the two games before, Black 2 and White 2 can be skipped without question.

While the graphics are barely passable in many instances, the frame rate inexplicably drops to a total crawl with every other in-game cutscene.

I really enjoyed the ridiculousness of playing poker to stop ice wolves and castle guardians (just think about it…).

I was disappointed with this game. Killing zombies with friends is a fun, if short, adventure, but highly repetitive gameplay makes the game stale. A great deal of backtracking and monotonous quests holds the game back even further. The nail in the coffin is no online multiplayer, because this game is just screaming to be played with friends over Xbox Live.

Too many quirks and glitches still exist in the gameplay for me to fully immerse myself into the sport. 2K12 makes pitching more challenging and stands out as the most polished aspect of the gameplay. Very little has been added in the way of game modes this season, but the standards still play true to form.

Yoshi’s New Island isn’t a bad game; it just doesn’t live up to the legacy set forth by its predecessors.

If you’re the type of gamer that likes talking about games as much as playing them, The Cave will give you plenty to talk about. Otherwise, if you’re just after a fun and well-crafted experience, there’s too much chaff in this package.

This isn't a bad game at all, but its relatively low score is more a reflection of how much gaming bang you get for your buck. It's just not quite worth the ten dollars it costs on XBLA-especially considering you can get pretty much the same game for five on Google Play. Babel Rising is mostly saved by its multiplayer options.

An overall completion time of around five hours doesn't help the game either.

Offers an adequately suspenseful adventure and expands the series' lore, just barely making it worthy of the Silent Hill name.

I was nonetheless impressed by the interdependence of the sea and ground battles, and it's the kind of gameplay mechanic of which I want to see more in future games. Battleship is worth a rental for sure.

Contra and Metal Slug are the KFCs of the 2D shooter world. And this game is literally like hardboiled chicken–enjoyable for the price, but is no gourmet dish.

Even though the game gets repetitive you're constantly receiving rewards and increasing your stats, which makes the game addictive.

Most Civ players will find the changes too minor and the original game complex enough that an expansion isn't necessary.

If you’re open-minded enough for that to justify your time, Game & Wario will satisfy you. I suspect that won’t be too many gamers though.

But its hugely let down by this DLC idea of THQ's which, executed in the way it has been, has left the game lacking in any real content to justify laying down the initial $40.

Urban Trial Freestyle isn’t Trials HD, but it can have its moments: when you’re flying through the levels, landing after huge falls, and getting super fast times the game is quite fun.

A good dance game that uses solid gameplay mechanics. While the visuals are distinct, they're lacking on a technical level.

Once again a 3DS game fails to realize its huge online multiplayer potential.

It's better than last year's abysmal effort, that's for sure. But it's still not the supreme racer the biking scene deserves.

It offers nothing profound, but improves incrementally over the last in the series (as the franchise is wont to do). Series regulars already know everything there is to know, and as such probably haven't bothered to read any reviews.

Only the most ardent Dead Rising fans should buy this game.

When a game's stated purpose is to relax the user, but it winds up doing the exact opposite, that extra credit can only carry it so far. Above all, there are some wonderful experiences to be had in Leela, but they're forgotten as soon as the frustrations set in.

The convenience of modern games makes this Resident Evil Code: Veronica X feel dated.

The tension-inducing design present in I Am Alive's mechanics extends to its checkpoint system, which I would describe as torturous.

Unforgiving quick-time events, unintelligent AI, frustrating cheap deaths, and confusing level design are just a few problems.

If you're jonesing for classic, Rare-made GoldenEye and your N64 is nowhere to be found, then the updated Reloaded is definitely a must-buy. But if you don't already have an attachment to the old game, there isn't much here for you.

Despite serious gameplay and production issues, Edna & Harvey: Harvey's New Eyes is still a memorable and enjoyable game.

For as “action packed” and “feature laden” as it is, Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge suffers from a lack of balance and will no doubt be a source of frustration for those who try to go against its painful grain.

Duke, it's great to see you back again, I never thought I'd see the day. My memories mean you've earned a few runarounds online, and completing the campaign, but it is more nostalgia driven than being pulled through a compelling, polished experience.

The story is decent at times but fails to compare to the magnitude of the original books' story. Leveling up and getting new gear is fun, but the combat becomes repetitive quickly.

Qoga adheres to every JRPG trope you can imagine but manages to be disarmingly charming and original within that framework. Think of it as a low-budget Tales of Vesperia.

It's totally fine, and if you feel like devoting an afternoon to this game, you could certainly do a lot worse. But considering the robust, low-cost options that offer solid online multiplayer action on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace, why bother with a game that's content to be merely better than average?

Operation Raccoon City is not wanting for cool ideas and ambition, but cool ideas don't create a new game experience by themselves. It's a clunky, glitchy third-person shooter that just happens to have zombies in it. You can do better, so you might as well.

A mixed bag. The action and strategy implemented in an already demanding sub-genre of shooters is engaging and fun, but a lack of gameplay modes and stages cuts the experience short all too quickly. Dreadful voice acting, bland sound, and a lack of a compelling story keep the game from being stellar.

Unfortunately their goal of creating an epic, apocalyptic first-person zombie survival gameends up cracking under the weight of their own ambition. A smaller scale and some more time in development and Dead Island could have been the zombie game we've always wanted.

But the new game types, cartoon graphics and on-rails acceleration turn it into a car version of the human slingshot PSN game Pain.

Aliens: Infestation is a bit of a mixed bag: blasting through aliens in a desperate fight for survival that is both challenging and fun. Unfortunately these parts of the game are separated by a lot of backtracking that is both tiresome and frustrating.

But if you have more refined tastes, you will see through Dark of the Moon's rushed, clichéd flair and find yourself put off by repetitive, uninspired gameplay, cramped level design, and patchy physics.

Don't get me wrong, I love the amount of jiggle, it's been a ridiculous and hilarious theme for several sequels now. But what I was really hoping for was more focus on how to play the game and tools to improve. I didn't see that in this installment.

The gravity fluctuating gameplay combined with simple platforming make for devilishly difficult levels that only hardcore puzzle fans need apply for.

Only problem is that novelty doesn't make the game concept really workable, and thus you get a jumble of mechanics that partially invalidate themselves.

The core gameplay is still enjoyable and the addition of DC characters makes this game the most expansive yet. But if you’ve already played around as God with Maxwell’s notebook then there is little reason to return.

Sadly, its targeting and save point distribution make it tough to recommend for all gamers. If you're a highly skilled player that loves a challenge then you might be able to look past the game's artificial difficulty.

At its core, this is a really good game with a winning gameplay mechanic, but its flaws often grind the fun to a screeching halt.

I really wanted to love From Dust. I love the concept. I love Eric Chahi. But the gameplay feels like it was never play-tested, and the difficulty curve is wild and unsatisfying.

Everything about this game is fantastic except the parts where you have to actually play it. That's what makes recommending this game really tough. Devout Fable fans will enjoy the check-in with the world as well as promises of what's to come, and some children may be indiscriminate enough to not care about perfect accuracy in controls. Everyone else should avoid the heartache.