While the game is open-ended, the method of playing it is not. You can't roam vast maps as freely as you can in "Grand Theft Auto." Still, Albion is a big, and, thanks to the stellar graphics, a beautiful place to wander.

Not for the timid, Psi-Ops features some flat-out nasty moments. Sneak up on enemies to drain their minds of psi energy and pop open their heads. Set some poor bastard on fire and he'll run around screaming.

The brief matches make this a great pick-up-and-play game, and the "deep career mode" has enough meat to keep your fingers busy on your morning commute for the next decade.

Everything from the official team rosters to the detailed fields and even to the smoke bombs set off in the grandstands at Wembley Stadium keep your head in the game.

The best game set in the X-Men universe yet.

Painkiller sports some of the best graphics to come down the PC pipe all year. The bosses (the hammer-wielding Saphathoraél in particular) all look incredible.

Another big change: You now have the ability to switch weight classes in mid-career, so you can go from heavyweight, to light heavy, and back to heavyweight again to beef up your bank account.

Everything from the official team rosters to the detailed fields and even to the smoke bombs set off in the grandstands at Wembley Stadium keep your head in the game.

We can almost guarantee that you will not find another game that allows you to smite your enemies with a caramelized Peking duck.

This is the fourth game in the series, and it's definitely the biggest, ballsiest, most nonsensical Burnout to date.

Interestingly enough, EA has served up a baseball title that will keep you interested in hardball. Nuanced controls like the Pure Swing System let you toggle the left thumbstick of your controller to dig out low pitches, reach for a hanging curve or, in our case, just fan the air where you thought the ball should have appeared.

The best game set in the X-Men universe yet.

Mindless hack-and-whack style gameplay stays hot thanks to interesting objectives. Spartan is constantly throwing new gameplay elements at you.

This year's Tiger feels more complex and sophisticated than ever. Putting is more challenging (e.g., total bitch)... Yet, the game is still accessible to armchair golfers, thanks to those welcome arcade-y touches.

Everything from the official team rosters to the detailed fields and even to the smoke bombs set off in the grandstands at Wembley Stadium keep your head in the game.

The player renderings are nothing short of unbelievable. We don’t know how many polygons they used to make every sneering taunt and celebration come to life, but we can assure you, it’s somewhere between a lot and a shitload.

Playing this hyperactive hoops sim is like fast-forwarding your way through a Spike Lee–directed Nike commercial while beer-bonging a liter of Jolt cola.

Between the massive boss encounters and hours of swinging around Manhattan, you’re in for at least a week of play.

The spicy, tangy combination of third-person action and real-time strategy is unlike anything we've played before.

Hiding in the bushes and setting "whip" traps with branches, then watching guards walk into them is old-fashioned, sadistic fun. But the game doesn't really hit its stride until its second half, when your inner wild-child side surfaces, and you start tearing ass around the jungle like the wolfman after guzzling a keg of hard cider.

Deadlocked makes it easy to see why the series' third-person gameplay is the best in the business. Buy.

The best boxing game in the business keeps getting better.

Like the Swiss Army Knife, Up Your Arsenal does it all and even includes a decent online battle mode, as well as a corkscrew and a tiny pair of scissors.

Nuanced controls like the Pure Swing System let you toggle the left thumbstick of your controller to dig out low pitches, reach for a hanging curve or, in our case, just fan the air where you thought the ball should have appeared.

Sure, we've played this sort of game before - Burnout, Twisted Metal, Full Auto, etc. - but could you actually leap from car to car in slow-motion in those games? Answer: No, you couldn't.

Unfortunately, you can't play Tekken 5 online—say it isn't so!—but the easy-on-the-eyes Nina Williams can still kick our fat, pale asses any old day of the week. We love you Nina!

By far the biggest innovation is the massive, explorable cityscape, complete with secret garages and locals hankering for a drag race. The only truly unforgivable flaw is the cornball dialogue.

The player renderings are nothing short of unbelievable. We don't know how many polygons they used to make every sneering taunt and celebration come to life, but we can assure you, it's somewhere between a lot and a shitload.