Weaving a complicated tale of murder, industrial espionage, and corporate corruption, its story doesn't always make sense, but it sure is exciting.

One of the best standalone stories in the game.

This one's short but fun, with a few memorable interrogations, an unusually lighthearted tone (for Noire, anyway), and a notable appearance by character actor Kurt Fuller as a faintly sleazy used-car dealer.

Deadliest Warrior's violent contests are mainly good only for amusement, as the shallow play mechanics and repetitive battles offer more laughs than longevity.

Unfortunately, the lack of intuitive physics is the real killer.

Fruit Ninja's amazingly simple gameplay is strictly designed to be taken in small, party-based doses - nothing more, nothing less. And for $10, we were kind of hoping for more.

It's sloppy, boring, and inauthentic.

You may tire of the basic gimmick before you're skilled enough to succeed on elaborate, brutally competitive four-player online maps, but Half-Minute Hero's charms still last a surprisingly long time.

Legacy is a bit overpriced for its shallow, brief amount of content, but whether it's worth the money ultimately depends on your interest in the game's expanded universe.

The game still falls far short of modern shooters, and the boss battles often fail to add new gameplay tactics to the mix. But when the game rises to the occasion - like during the battle against giants, and in a sniping section set on a bridge - it's a fine conclusion to the franchise.

Though Dead Block's zombie combat would benefit from easier targeting, its rockabilly music, amusing characters (zombie clowns, anyone?) and manic pacing more than compensate. The campy madness only gets better in split-screen co-op, so not having online multiplayer is a shame, but for hectic puzzle-action fun, this game delivers.

It's sad to see an under-the-radar favorite tank so spectacularly in an attempt to revitalize the brand, but Cartel is one call you can clearly push to voicemail.

Super Soldier never hits with as much force as Arkham Asylum, but for superhero fans, it's a worthy adventure.

It's a genuinely great football game, but this edition delivers the kind of small-scale updates that only a paints-his-chest-and-face-on-Saturdays fan could love.

But mostly you'll just grind through wave after mildly entertaining wave, and wonder why hardly anyone drops any desirable equipment. [Sept 2011, p.85]

From Dust's malleable world is intoxicating to wield power over, even if your control feels more like work than actual fun at times. Juggling resources and racing against the cycles of nature isn't for everyone. Though stages grow progressively harder, the game doesn't really have a climax to break up its even-keeled rhythm, making it less of a thundering ride and more of a blissfully Zen, workman-like process.

Between the stages' constantly changing art style, the strange story, the unforgettable cast, and the novel take on action combat, this game is definitely worth checking out for people seeking something new. [Sept 2011, p.74]

It's a dense, intelligent game, and we felt smart for having finish[ed] it. [Sept 2011, p.78]

Sound bizarre? Well, it is. Yet the madness is spellbinding - if you have the stomach to survive Catherine's grueling tower-puzzle scenarios.

Though we found ourselves wishing the gameplay and story had just a little more depth and variety, the game's definitely captivating. Carefully crafted and full of charm, Bastion is irresistible.

We'd have appreciated a thicker campaign, more visually diverse missions, and especially the option to play co-op over Xbox Live, but as-is, this hors d'oeuvre is still an entertaining treat.

A veritable clinic on how to enhance your game for a follow-up. Most of Splosion Man's niggling issues have been replaced with a dizzying grab bag of interesting and compelling design choices. Well done, guys.

If you're looking for tactical depth, environmental variety, or anything resembling a story, you'll be left wanting. But if you're in the mood for a blissfully mindless fire-and-forget shooting gallery, you could do a whole lot worse.

High Moon clearly did all they could, but ultimately, Dark of the Moon is a small package with too much filler to be worth more than a rental. Though we're betting it's still better than the film it's based on.

But it's certainly easier to grit your teeth through some frustration when almost every level has an intriguing new wrinkle.

It's a bit muddled, but the action is positively debilitating.

In short, there's little to distinguish Green Lantern besides its top-notch production values (polished combat, vivid graphics, good voiceovers), two-player co-op where a buddy plays as fellow GL Thaal Sinestro, and support for both stereoscopic and anaglyph 3D.

An entertaining experience in short bursts - assuming you can overlook the occasional misstep.

I love how it combines hard training and unapologetic difficulty with the real-life personalities who serve as your trainers: much like the gymnastics coaches who saw me through days of torn palms and taped shins, this tough-love attitude kept me focused and on track.

Even if you just want an occasional hectic diversion, Galaga Legions DX is an absorbing enough reinvention of the coin-op classic.

XBLA's best pure-2D platformer to date.

After 13 years, Duke Forever is ultimately and thoroughly mediocre, with heavy bouts of boredom and frustration mixed in. And yet, for anyone with an appreciation for videogame history, we absolutely recommend giving it a playthrough.

Otherwise, though, this breezy shoot-'em-up is five-plus hours of mindless fun. [Aug 2011, p.85]

As a cheap, on-the-go timewaster, this game might work. But at $1[5], forget it. [Aug 2011, p.83]

Do yourself a favor and download the far superior Torchlight instead. It's not D&D, but it's a heck of a lot more fun to play. [Aug 2011, p.82]

It doesn't take long for The First Templar, a Crusades-era action-adventure, to rear its low-budget head. [Aug 2011, p.82]

But there's not one good reason to visit the same no-frills battlefield a dozen times or more just to grind out the improvements needed to conquer the next chapter. [Aug 2011, p.79]

Rally diehards are better off dropping the extra cash for the excellent Dirt3, or even 2007's Sega Rally Revo. [Aug 2011, p.79]

Gearheads might keep coming back for the toys and outfits, but everyone else will run like hell. [Aug 2011, p.77]

With a great story and production values, that might've been enough, But everything about the game is less-than-heroic, including Thor himself. [Aug 2011, p.77]

It's frustrating, it makes no sense, and it just makes everyone involved want to play something else. [Aug 2011, p.76]

F.E.A.R. 3 isn't expertly polished or perfectly balanced, but it's got sufficient creeping dread and more than enough gameplay variety to fan our desire for more of Alma's apocalyptic evil.

Cars 2 isn't quite gripping or original enough to top the more notable racers that inspired it, and regrettably, its aimless career mode and lack of online play are slight downers. But kids' games and movie games are rarely this polished and entertaining, so we commend Disney for doing this one right.

Dungeon Siege III is among the finer ways you can dungeon-crawl on your 360 these days, and if the developers can iron out its quirks, a sequel (which this game sets up nicely) could be epic.

Shadows of the Damned saddles itself with too much fetch-the-widget downtime to be the wholly unpredictable thrill-ride it aspires to be, but it is stuffed full of boisterous personality and pulse-pounding bloodshed.

For new and old players alike, this sequel is a superb adaptation of the classic CCG.

A marvelous action game that outshines everything in its class. [Aug 2011, p.73]

Breathtaking combination of visuals, music, and motion.

Madness Returns shows substantial flashes of being equal to its predecessor, but its strongest detractions - middling gameplay mechanics, the rushed ending, and that last tier of weapon upgrades being available only as paid DLC - hold it back.

Aging starfighters might be grateful to have a new galaxy to save, but mostly they'll be left pining for the lost glory days of Wing Commander IV and Privateer 2. [July 2011, p.81]

Though Prejudice repeats what most of us missed in the first go-round, it's still an original, must-play multiplayer game, and we'd love to see it take off this time. [July 2011, p.80]

The fact that every cheap death forces you to start a mission over from scratch is just the final nail in Xotic's suffocating coffin. [July 2011, p.81]

Even with the occasional framerate drops(particularly in co-op games), the sheer number of levels plus a deep level editor will keep hardcore shmup fans puzzling their way through for ages. [July 2011, p.79]

Whether you work together or dive in solo, this unique journey is worth taking. [July 2011, p.79]

Sadly, significant omissions derail this misguided offering, making it fairly unfulfilling. [July 2011, p.78]

It's not terrible, but not even the ability to make Grylls drink urine or hollow out a camel for shelter are enough to make it compelling. [July 2011, p.77]

Strania isn't horrible, but its garden-variety blasting is too many light years away from memorable. [July 2011, p.77]

The Fancy Pants biggest problem, though, is that it's just plain dull. [July 2011, p.77]

A brief Reaper appearance got out attention, but this DLC's climax will infuriate many Mass Effect fans. [July 2011, p.75]

Both Cave fans and challenge hounds will bask in Nin2-Jump's oft-arduous tests. All others, proceed with caution. [July 2011, p.75]

While Dirt 3 takes surprising steps backward in terms of social networking, thereby limiting its addictiveness, it's still the best way to head off-road without winding up in the hospital.

Yes, it's flawed, but L.A. Noire is an honest-to-goodness detective crime thriller - a genuine breath of fresh air that values narrative and story above all else in an age where scripted action sequences and online deathmatch rule the day. It's the closest thing Xbox has to PlayStation's unique adventurer Heavy Rain.

Jack might be the star, but you'll have more fun with the supporting cast once his spotlight dims.

Unless ghostbusting is in your very marrow, Sanctum isn't worth the headaches. [June 2011, p.88]

We pined for more varied gameplay sequences, like the chase segment that forced us to teleport ahead of obstacles to avoid a giant monster bearing down on us, but they're too few and far between. [June 201188]

For that reason alone, we'd say this game makes a great distraction for younger kids(especially since you can share the mini-game fun with any friend who wants to jump in), but the young at heart will likely need something more. [June 2011, p.85]

Da Vinci doesn't hit consistent highs, but it's a fresh and fairly priced reason to dive back into Brotherhood months after its debut. [June 2011, p.85]

Fortunately, these stumbles won't keep you from enjoying most of Carnival's offerings, especially if you play it with friends. [June 2011, p.83]

Granted, even with a friend in tow, the missions all feel the same--which rings true of DW7 as a whole. [June 2011, p.83]

Perseverance will make you a better player, while earning you new units to exploit in enjoyably unpredictable multiplayer duels. [June 2011, p.82]

As long as you're not dead-set on playing by yourself, don't miss one of the most exciting and habit-forming co-op experiences on Live Arcade. [June 2011, p.81]

Battle: Los Angeles is a slapped-together shooter that'll take you less time to finish than it does to watch the movie it is based on--and it'll cost you almost the same amount of money. [June 2011, p.81]

Ultimately, Virtua Tennis 4 tries to please everyone by walking a fine line between sim and arcade, but regrettably, it never commits to either camp. [June 2011, p.80]

For a first-time effort, NASCAR 2011 has lots to like. But it needs some serious behind-the-wall garage time to get its setup right. [June 2011, p.79]

Make no mistake: the latest iteration in the Operation Flashpoint series has plenty wrong with it. But it burger-chomping, chain-smoking heart beats with a fiery tenacity that's unrivaled in the current console era. [June 2011, p.78]

But for now, you're buying what feels like an early beta test. [June 2011, p.77]

Nailing distant opponents with your main cannon sometimes demand more luck than skill, and you'll occasionally get stuck behind objects that obstruct your view, but most of the time you'll just have a blast blowing things to hell and gone. [June 2011, p.55]

The action does start to drag in the last couple of hours...If you're excited by even the slightest hint of carnage, though, the rubblelicious Armageddon delivers. We absolutely got what we came for: an exciting sci-fi shooter with carnage galore and some of the most crazy-powerful guns we've seen in ages. [June 2011, p.50]

Portal 2 isn't dessert - it's a delectable multi-course meal at a five-star restaurant. Make your reservation now.

Mortal Kombat still isn't quite up to Street Fighter's level of complexity, but it's a deep, incredibly brutal fighter nonetheless, offering tons of variety and hidden extras. It's a goofier reboot than we were expecting, but it's also the most fun the MK series has been in years.

Multiplayer lets you and up to three friends either break into teams of two for score battles or play cooperatively, sharing dancing and singing duties on songs. Even with four of you, though, you'll still miss the one presence that's in short supply: Michael Jackson.

It's good, solid fun, but it offers very little that we haven't experienced before. [May 2011, p.68]

Yar's Revenge isn't bad, but all its pleasures are decidedly short-lived. [May 2011, p.71]

Some of the bigger bosses are fun to take down, and the grim backgrounds are often quite pretty, but robotically pounding or charging the X button for hours on end will wear down the will-power of even the most stalwart gamers. [May 2011, p.71]

This repetition, combined with Severed's short runtime(two chapters beaten in around two hours), keeps it squarely in the realm of diehard devotees. [May 2011, p.75]

If Mayhem 3D emphasized convincing handling and powerful impacts over graphic-novel gimmickry, we might've spent less time grinding gears and more time high on adrenaline. [May 2011, p.75]

When Lego Star Wars III sticks to the basics, it's still a crowd-pleaser. [May 2011, p.76]

Even if Hollywood never produces another Rango movie, we want a sequel to the game. [May 2011, p.77]

The only reason to try TNT Racers is its four-player online stampedes across nine courses, each with a reverse variant. [May 2011, p.77]

Though the compilation's $30 price is alluring, gamers' found memories would probably serve them just as well. [May 2011, p.79]

But 10 bucks will net you a fulfilling and thoughtful odyssey, just in time to leave you salivating for the long-awaited sequel. [May 2011, p.78]

We're just sad to see that after all this time, as Xbox 360's only MLB game, it's not the superstar we wish it was. [May 2011, p.81]

Do yourself a favor: stay as far away from this wreck as possible. [May 2011, p.80]

Excessive loading times and way too many menus to button through are also annoying, but the on-court and online tennis are so terrific and pure that these faults are easily overlooked. [May 2011, p.84]

Vampire Smile simply reasserts Ska Studios' placement on the top-tier rung of Xbox Arcade developers. [May 2011, p.80]

Despite its solid on-course action, this franchise is starting to show its age. [May 2011, p.79]

Next to the content-packed SmackDown series, this workout feels light. [May 2011, p.74]

This excellent sequel capitalizes on its precursor's strengths while breaking some fresh ground for the simulation genre. With its snazzy additions, sharper visuals, and gearhead-focused customization options, Shift 2 Unleashed strikes a fine balance between appealing to sim newbies and grizzled vets.