While this Xbox sequel is even quirkier, it’s just as insanely addictive...[and] plays like one big ghetto-fabulous party. Word.

After playing this game you’ll understand exactly why, short of a crate of opium-laced Snickers bars, nothing is more satisfying than leveling city blocks by the dozen with a 50-ton robot.

The only "improvements" consist of a slew of extra outfits, yawn-inducing training missions, and a handful of bonuses that only the most avid Gear geek could appreciate. If that’s you, fine.

Call of Duty 2 isn't a bold new game, but subtle improvements and new historical battles deliver a good reason to keep fighting.

If you can overlook minor perspective problems, Onimusha’s intense combat, stunning graphics, and involving story make this a masterpiece hotter than a mouthful of wasabi.

Kiss the rest of your summer (and your loved ones) goodbye and get ready to spend all your waking hours indoors, sitting next to a giant bag of Fritos, agonizing over 4–3 blitz packages.

Missions full of vehicles to wrangle and people to off feel like a cross between "Grand Theft Auto" and "Metal Gear Solid," with a dash of "Contra" thrown in for spice. Destroy everything and get paid; this is foreign policy at its finest.

While these side-scrolling action games are still addictive and challenging, it's hard to get nostalgic over games with release dates from 2002 and 2003, respectively.

It may not boast garages bloated with the usual name-brand chick magnets you find in other racing games, but the dark racing underbelly of Midnight Club II has every bit as many thrills as the leading grease monkey autopia.

A potent Molotov cocktail of intrigue and fast, bloody action.

The action is intense, and the super-strong vehicle lets you slam into walls and other racers without worry.

Kiss the rest of your summer (and your loved ones) goodbye and get ready to spend all your waking hours indoors, sitting next to a giant bag of Fritos, agonizing over 4–3 blitz packages.

An addictive romp.

Thrones also gets points for cribbing Sam Fisher's stealth skills and using a whip-like weapon that will send "God of War" fans scurrying to gaming chat rooms to voice their displeasure with the similarities. Thankfully, the controversy is worth it for this energetic adventure.

The action's a teenage fan boy's wet dream, all leering lizard-men and sneering, scantily clad vixens who exchange gunplay and close-range combat moves like speed freaks in a slap fight.

The straightforward online action in Paragon City gives you instant access to hordes of computer-controlled villains to vaporize, but the real payoff comes in teaming up with other misfit crime fighters for orgies of virtuous ass kicking.

Freedom is king here, and you’ll know what we mean the first time you tear through a fast-food drive-thru or scare shoppers to death in a Los Angeles, Tokyo, or London mall.

An addictive romp.

Unfortunately, none of the additions will distinguish this one for vets of the PC version, but tight controls, abundant targets, and beautiful scenery still deliver the most disturbing vacation package since Kathie Lee Gifford stalked Carnival cruise ships.

Ah, gay Paris. The sights, the sounds, the frothing hordes of time-traveling Japanese demons. Wait...what?...Minor complaints aside, Onimusha 3 is amazing. It breathes new life into a familiar genre and makes France, well, kinda cool.

There aren’t many games more extreme than this crazed, balls-to-the wall stock-car racer.

You begin by selecting the background for your on-screen tyrant—anything from leftist journalist to drunken gambler to flatulent womanizer.

But it isn't just the best looking brawler around - it's also the deepest, as designers Team Ninja have complemented the game's responsive controls with hundreds of cool combo moves and tons of unlockable characters, outfits, and arenas.

This game is easier to play than a sorority co-ed. In fact, the gameplay is so basic you can handle it easily while half in the bag.

For immersing entertainment, this game is totally up our halfpipe.

Thrones also gets points for cribbing Sam Fisher's stealth skills and using a whip-like weapon that will send "God of War" fans scurrying to gaming chat rooms to voice their displeasure with the similarities. Thankfully, the controversy is worth it for this energetic adventure.

Thrones also gets points for cribbing Sam Fisher's stealth skills and using a whip-like weapon that will send "God of War" fans scurrying to gaming chat rooms to voice their displeasure with the similarities. Thankfully, the controversy is worth it for this energetic adventure.

Fanatics will tweak tire pressure, suspension, and build dynasties, alliances, and sponsorships; rookies can learn the nuances of drafting, passing, and holding position on dozens of real-world tracks.

Instead of the usual push-button pugilism, throw punches using the analog stick-the direction and speed of the stick determine the swing; the trigger controls handle bobbing, weaving, and blocking.

From the opening sequence to the synth-popping soundtrack, there's more style in five minutes of this modern-day "Double Dragon" than five stacks of "Street Fighter" compilations.

Practice makes perfect, and EA/Maxis have cooked up a godly tool that’ll get your feet wet in the dating pool without getting your face slapped.

Instead of the usual push-button pugilism, throw punches using the analog stick—the direction and speed of the stick determine the swing; the trigger controls handle bobbing, weaving, and blocking.

The controls are fluid enough that you'll feel like McEnroe in his fit-throwing prime, while the PSP's lil' nubbin gives you better ball control than Jenna Jameson.

This game is more than your average links simulation—it’s a lifestyle.

With amazing visuals and an arsenal that would make Saddam Hussein soil his prayer mat, C&C Generals is war at its flashiest.

Missions full of vehicles to wrangle and people to off feel like a cross between "Grand Theft Auto" and "Metal Gear Solid," with a dash of "Contra" thrown in for spice. Destroy everything and get paid; this is foreign policy at its finest.

The long missions require a lot of patience, but not as much as you needed to sit through the movie.

Not everyone’s cup of vino, but a true toga party for fans of the franchise.

Thrones also gets points for cribbing Sam Fisher's stealth skills and using a whip-like weapon that will send "God of War" fans scurrying to gaming chat rooms to voice their displeasure with the similarities. Thankfully, the controversy is worth it for this energetic adventure.

Playing alone or with online teams (Xbox Live hooks you up), you clean kraut house with sniper rifles, machine guns, and rocket launchers.

But it also has a compelling Story mode, written by former Hulk scribe Paul Jenkins, who gives the big guy a reason to use his considerable crushing skills.

Fans of the genre will probably get their rocks off, but casual gamers will find it a big tease.

Set the damage mode to high and tires explode, windshields shatter, and fenders crumple, all dependent on your lousy maneuvering.

The result is an action fighting game that sometimes feels as slick as a disco showdown—after all, style counts just as much in the underworld as it does in the fashion world.

Unlike past SimCities that dealt in generalities, this one takes a more hands-on approach.

But it also has a compelling Story mode, written by former Hulk scribe Paul Jenkins, who gives the big guy a reason to use his considerable crushing skills.

You can also race through a shitstorm of artillery fire in a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (complete with “Q-cloak” invisibility feature) or missile-firing Triumph Daytona 600.

A must for those out there who still like their CGI old school.

From the opening sequence to the synth-popping soundtrack, there's more style in five minutes of this modern-day "Double Dragon" than five stacks of "Street Fighter" compilations.

Deploying psychic powers to solve puzzles further taxes your melon and sets the game apart from feeble-minded run 'n' gunners, earning Psi Ops the coveted Best Carrie-Meets-Rambo Game of the Year Award.

What sets Battlefield apart is that you can pilot choppers and tanks to a cool ’60s soundtrack. And you can even cue up “Ride of the Valkyries” for that air cavalry attack. Sure smells like victory to us.

Should the lyrically challenged feel left out, you can create your own brawler outfitted in ice courtesy of celebrity bling supplier Jacob the Jeweler. Better to look good than to—ow—feel good.

More than the type of senseless video game violence that keeps Hillary Clinton up at night. A sequel to Ghost Recon 2, this stealth challenge offers a harrowing third-person shooter in which you're always outnumbered, and sometimes outgunned, and thus have to rely heavily on cover instead of ammo.

If you’re keen on tasteless, tongue-in-cheek jokes, smooth sailing lies ahead.

In online, single player, or cooperative play, perform slick maneuvers like rooftop bike jumps, and earn “Bond Moment” points for unlockable weapons and levels.

The gore is gorier, the booms are boomier, and the guns are gunnier—RE:CVX takes an already near-flawless game and makes it even better.

All of the carnage is quite satisfying (you get all the old favorites, like oil slick, smoke screen, and missles, not to mention a beefed-up “Peter Gunn” theme).

Deploying psychic powers to solve puzzles further taxes your melon and sets the game apart from feeble-minded run 'n' gunners, earning Psi Ops the coveted Best Carrie-Meets-Rambo Game of the Year Award.

Offers enough twists to make us take the bait.

It’s all so much like the Xbox version, in fact, that you might wonder why the hell you spent money on it a second time.

This is actually one of the best adventure games we’ve played in a long time—even if pseudo-Conan is killing beasts by the thousands with something from Toys “R” Us.

Though it all adds up to, essentially, a tuned-up version of the last game, there’s enough variation to keep your rebel skater spirit from getting too (sorry)…board.

But it also has a compelling Story mode, written by former Hulk scribe Paul Jenkins, who gives the big guy a reason to use his considerable crushing skills.

Eighty-four hyper-detailed players are represented, or you can create your own baller and go rags-to-riches, racking up pimp-wear and "Scarface"-worthy real estate.

Though it all adds up to, essentially, a tuned-up version of the last game, there's enough variation to keep your rebel skater spirit from getting too (sorry)…board.

It’s hard to diss a game that looks so realistic (Iverson’s still rocking ’rows), but there’s just something wrong when the only way to stop anyone from driving to the bucket is by taking away their keys to the stadium.

You can also race through a shitstorm of artillery fire in a Porsche Cayenne Turbo (complete with “Q-cloak” invisibility feature) or missile-firing Triumph Daytona 600.

Should the lyrically challenged feel left out, you can create your own brawler outfitted in ice courtesy of celebrity bling supplier Jacob the Jeweler. Better to look good than to—ow—feel good.

Taking hairpin turns and navigating loop-the-loops at 500 mph is Wipeout’s equivalent of a boring straightaway.

It ain’t groundbreaking, but who cares?

Eighty-four hyper-detailed players are represented, or you can create your own baller and go rags-to-riches, racking up pimp-wear and "Scarface"-worthy real estate.

Roughly 9,200 people are injured yearly on roller coasters—and here’s your chance to add to the carnage!

The closest we’ll get to interactive anime, this game couldn’t be more Japanese if it featured a ninja penguin schoolgirl getting bukkaked.

One shot, one kill—this unforgiving, ultrarealistic console shooter is unlike any other.

This third incarnation sticks to the violent battle plan by adding even more twisted tweaks.

It’s hard to diss a game that looks so realistic (Iverson’s still rocking ’rows), but there’s just something wrong when the only way to stop anyone from driving to the bucket is by taking away their keys to the stadium.

Gamers with short attention spans will likely find all the squad management tedious, but we think it adds a much-needed dimension to a very stale genre. Plus it includes the best video game quote so far this year: "If you see something, shoot it; if it screams in German, shoot it again."

The console and portable SOCOMs may look the same, but like the Olsen twins, they're different enough that you won't be satisfied with just one.

Though it all adds up to, essentially, a tuned-up version of the last game, there's enough variation to keep your rebel skater spirit from getting too (sorry)…board.

Get really good and you challenge real women’s champ Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee in her beach house—where losing your shirt wouldn’t be so bad.

You won’t find any new gameplay features, but what you do get a skies-are-the-limit bevy of new eclectic characters, gaudy furniture, and fancy-pants neighborhoods.

It’s hard to diss a game that looks so realistic (Iverson’s still rocking ’rows), but there’s just something wrong when the only way to stop anyone from driving to the bucket is by taking away their keys to the stadium.

The graphics and sound (enhanced by the actual voices of the movie’s stars) were well-rendered and intricate indeed, but players soon grew bored with repetitive thrusting and parrying against evil Sauron’s monstrous hordes.

After hours of useless conversation, wasted time, and unrewarding returns, chances are that Seaman will start to remind you of your ex-girlfriends.

Quake IV shows no mercy.

No longer is there just one way to solve a treacherous night mission before the enemy picks up your audio signature: stealth will pay off just as well as good old-fashioned ultraviolence.

While not entirely original, it still creatively mixes the first-person punching of "Riddick" with the jump-out-at-you frights of "Doom 3" and the investigative thrills of the best "CSI" episode.

With speed and smarts to match its outrageous visuals, Painkiller boasts fiendishly clever monsters that attack in groups and learn from your defenses. No corpses shambling around like they have a load in their pants, these are monsters of the 28 Days Later variety: quick and scary.

NASCAR Heat is more than a grueling simulation, it’s a grease monkey’s wet dream come true.

To hell with lame gunshot wounds and other gang violence. This game’s fatalities include creative beheadings and dismemberments that would make Hannibal green with envy.

Even though it feels more like babysitting than crime fighting, it’s still an NRA member’s dream come true.

Dispense with kicking and doodle-heavy playbooks, and deploy between-the-leg laterals and double reverses, plus a mess of excellent unsportsmanlike, showboating taunts.

Golfing game standards like club selection, power meter, and control of backspins and topspins satisfy, but the sometimes-clunky controls and confusing camera perspectives will leave you teed-off.

Forget hiking up to the woods for a rain-drenched, cattle-scattering game of paintball. Just hook yourself into PlanetSide for a measly $12.95 per month fee and you can feast on round-the-clock galactic virtual warfare with hundreds of faceless gamers worldwide.

The added Puzzle Kombat is surprisingly fun-Tetris-style one-on-one gaming is punctuated by miniature, big-headed characters popping each other in the skulls. Throw out your old MK games; it's time to call this one your daddy.

These intense, roller coaster–like tracks will twist and turn until you swallow your tongue and beg for mercy.

War is hell…unless you’re in the cockpit of the F-15 that’s dropping bombs on cavemen.

Extreme games keep getting extremer, but it would be tough to top this hellish twist on motocross racing.