It’s so immersive and satisfying to sling lead at an infinite number of creepy, crawly zombies! It’s not particularly deep, but there are far more moments that’ll make you grin goofily and move tensely to the edge of your seat.

While Need for Speed Undercover delivers in the areas of cinematic production, audio, visuals and through its sweet vehicle roster, it falls a bit short in the realm of top-tier, arcade-quality handling models.

The revamped NCAA Basketball 09 does a nice job of giving bracketheads what they want, despite some freshman jitters with its new engine. Even though NCAA Basketball 09 may not be a Final Four lock, it’s clear that the franchise has a winning road ahead of it.

I know there was good intent that went into the making of the game, but, in all honesty, it turned out to be a very glitchy mess.

It may not be a “Flawless Victory” with its here-and-there hiccups and T-rated combat, but Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe is the best pure MK fighter that the series has produced in years.

Shaun White’s not the best, nor the worst, snowboarding title we’ve ever played. And its greatest moments are occasionally dragged down by imprecise controls and a sometimes fun-siphoning story campaign.

I wish that Mirror’s Edge was more like a rock-climbing course (or like the climbing mechanic in "Assassin’s Creed") that gives you numerous ways to reach the spot you need to reach, though with the occasional stumper that gets you scratching your head to find the solution. Instead, I found myself frustrated by the do-it-again-until-you-get-it-right gameplay, which was more tedious than challenging—much like the platformers of the NES era. Those old classics were designed that way because of cartridge-memory limitations, but Mirror’s Edge can’t use that excuse.

Whatever small fun that can be gleaned from Red Alert 3 is not worth the hideously poor attempts at humor and bargain basement production values that envelop the final product like a shroud.

The main issue is that there are a ton of games out this holiday season that are fun from start to finish, while Nuts and Bolts will probably take most of you up to a point before you lose interest in the Lego-like construction projects and the pursuit to beat all of the challenges.

Pick up Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 if you are a huge fan of the series or need a fresh football fix. Everyone else would be better off snatching up a used copy of "FIFA 09" from the preowned rack.

Call of Duty: World at War was a surprisingly satisfying experience all around. Developer Treyarch really showed that they could be trusted with the keys to Dad’s car, and made a game that could be compared favorably to anything Infinity Ward has done.

Yuke’s really stepped it up for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, with the pay off being the finest wrestling game for the HD systems to date. There are a few base gameplay anomalies that keep WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 from being a true champion, but the sheer quantity and quality of SmackDown vs. Raw 2009’s content, not to mention its WWE-perfect grandeur, makes the decision to grant the title belt to Yuke’s latest effort an easy one.

It’s not perfect, to the hardcore or others. But it is good enough to give you an experience you won’t regret.

All of the multiplayer, both co-op and competitive, completely makes up for any that was lacking in the first game. For those that thought that Gears just wasn’t suited to multiplayer gameplay, that it was too tactical and slow and was better suited to a single player experience, prepare to eat your words. It’s fantastic, and rounds out the complete package that is Gears of War 2...Gears of War 2 is about as close as you can get to the perfect gaming package.

To a jaded, seen-it-all gamer like yours truly, it seems like a good idea that didn’t get executed to enough of an extent. A completely redesigned Vigilante 8 game with next-gen graphics and physics would be super awesome, if you ask me. But probably not appropriate for Xbox Live. This one is definitely meant for those who truly can’t let go of their childhood.

Knowing full-well that real time strategy games are but faint blips on most console gamers’ radars, Ubi Shanghai knew it had to go big if Tom Clancy’s EndWar was to have a fighting chance on the Xbox 360. With a fully functional voice recognition system and solid, console-centric RTS gameplay Shanghai has succeeded in an attempt to give the strategy game its just due on the console.

Accept that Legendary won’t wow you with the gameplay polish of a budget-busting title, and you’ll likely have a good time fighting to shut Pandora’s precious package.

As a whole package, Quantum of Solace doesn’t quite cut it. It’s a decent game held back by the constraints of its license, which should be the thing that elevates the product. Treyarch did their best with what they had, but it’s not enough to elevate this game to superspy status.

Despite all this chafe in the wheat, Namco Museum Virtual Arcade is a pretty decent package for the price.

When people talk about deep, immersive video games, Fallout 3 can stand as a reference.

MotoGP 08’s physics and handling engine does give us hope for the future, however, but it’s clear that Capcom and company have some work to do to in order for the Xbox version of this series to reach its, um, climax.

Simple, accessible fun for everyone, including all your non-gamer friends and family. Perfect entertainment for the upcoming party-packed season.

For its first band-in-a-box release, GHWT does a good job of getting on the map. In my view, though it does some things better, it doesn’t quite reach the sheer playability and enjoyment of Rock Band’s two releases and its broad DLC catalog. Close, but not right alongside its competitor.

I can’t imagine the emptiness your life has been up to this point without having experienced the joys of the Companion Cube or the awesome song over the end credits. Portal: Still Alive is your chance to set your life right.

Strangely, I’ve been having more fun with the game since I finished it than I did when I was trying to. Maybe that says something about the game, maybe that says something about life. But now I have all the time in the world to sleep with whores, buy properties, explore lost dungeons and sign autographs for kids.

Unfortunately, a video game’s success primarily comes down to the quality of the gameplay, and Dawn of the Dragon felt clunky and unpolished through the majority of my time playing it.

As a Spider-Man fan, I was really hoping to see a revival of him as a video-game hero, but this wasn’t that vehicle. There are moments of fun to be had and an awful lot of gameplay, if you choose to do all of the optional missions (some of it that I found pretty tedious), but mostly it played as uninspired and disappointing for such a big-name brand.

If map modding, PC-worthy tech and the ability to make your own magic happen in a game (rather than waiting for the game to reveal its tricks) sound like you, then Far Cry 2 is the only way to hang-glide this holiday season.