Mass Effect 2 delivers the best experience of its kind in this generation-and considering I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I finished my initial 39-hour playthrough a few days ago, a lower score would feel disingenuous. From its mechanics to its writing to its presentation, Mass Effect 2 is the kind of game that justifies gushing clichés and superlatives. I can't recommend it highly enough.

Death by Cube is such a simple game, yet so much fun and so satisfying once you dig in to the upgrade systems.

Flames of Judgment is not a bad game. Visually, it’s got a distinct style, foregoing the usual anime style for a slightly more modern animated style that’s closer to some of the CGI cartoons you see on Saturday mornings.

As a complete experience, Dark Void has moments of intense action, broken up by abject foolishness.

Some people won’t get what’s so fun about Serious Sam, preferring the more advanced graphics and realistic action of more modern shooters. But you don’t have to be an old fart to enjoy this classic gaming throwback. Sometimes just shooting stuff without having to solve puzzles or tactically engage an enemy is what we want to do, and for that we will always have Serious Sam.

While the gameplay and level design is improved and it's a good looking game, the unsatisfying narrative, boring characters, and overly gimmicky morality system combine with forgettable multiplayer and strange mechanics decisions to deliver a sequel that succeeds more than its forebear, but fails to be more than a pretty good third person shooter during a lean time for the sub-genre.

Someone behind the scenes worked really hard on Vancouver 2010, and it shows in some of the individual events. But the overall product gives so little of a damn that one wonders about the condition of the heart of the people that signed off on this being released.

Something that could have otherwise been a surprise hit ends up beings a problematic mess.

Despite these problems, Matt Hazard: Blood, Bath, and Beyond still manages to do a good job at being what a video game should be … entertaining.

Finishing Darksiders was one of those great reliefs quickly followed by a refreshed desire to play it again.

Should I judge it for the hours of fun I had and its frequent brilliance, ignoring the commensurate hours I sat through some of the most self-indulgent pseudo-intellectual mumbling masquerading as a cutscene since Metal Gear Solid 4 (and the fact that the game drags on approximately five hours longer than it should?)

It’s visually appealing, but too busy to follow, and while it has lots of fast-paced action, it’s over way too quickly.

The Survival and Puzzle modes are plenty of fun and provide two very different experiences. Offering your mind and reflexes equal workouts, these two options save Polar Panic from being an entirely flawed experience, and one that should give fans of the genre at least a weekend’s worth of fun for 800 Microsoft Points (or about $10).

Compelling enough to drop your points on. It’s action-packed and looks great, and fans of top-down shooters like that, of which there aren’t enough on XBLA, should find the game highly satisfying. Just one more notch in the belt of XBLA’s great year.

It’s not going to rival a Modern Warfare 2 or Assassin’s Creed II with its depth, but for what it does, it’s worth the 800 Microsoft Points (or about $10) that’s the price of admission.

Qix++ is fun, but may not be worth the investment to a lot of folks unless they’re willing to splurge for the DLC.

There’s an abundance of things to see and do, and some great moments are present; however, they’re too few and the sense of missed opportunity too strong to make a convincing recommendation.

Call of Duty, while still a very primitive version of what the story would become, flashes some of the brilliance that the series is known for. If you’ve never played it, then you should—if for nothing else than to see just how far we’ve come in games in such a short, short time.

A vocabulary that would make the bluest comic blush and a few interesting-looking kill moves might give you a few laughs for an hour or so. But after that, the game just becomes a tedious and repetitive chore.

Ubisoft Montreal has crafted one of the better licensed efforts we’ve seen in a while, but a weak story, poor pacing and a few minor gameplay flaws keep Avatar from competing with the likes of far superior, recent third-person efforts such as Assassin’s Creed II and Batman: Arkham Asylum.

Reflex isn’t quite where it should be, but it’s getting better. Here’s hoping that the next one is a more polished, cherry ride, because fans deserve that—and the franchise will certainly garner a much bigger user base if that can be accomplished.

It’s both interesting and sad to see how the Karaoke Revolution franchise has paved the way for these other games to thrive, but now the Karaoke Revolution titles are being heavily overmatched by what its successors are doing.

Pretty fun. It won’t stop me from occasionally busting out NFL Blitz 2000 for the Dreamcast once in a while, but I know it will be a hit when the friends come over to watch the NFL this weekend.

There's simply not too much new here.

The game’s poorly ported control scheme makes the rich flavor of the original game taste more like day-old leftovers instead of a gourmet gaming treat.

PopCap and Square Enix have managed to find just the right amount to take from each of their strengths to make a game that’s easily accessible and instantly addictive.

A game that takes the free-running and huge cityscapes of its predecessor and adds in a host of action-RPG elements that combine to form a much deeper and more satisfying game, and a surprise frontrunner for the best of 2009.

When it comes down to it, as the old saying goes, the name of the game is the game—and the game in Tony Hawk: Ride is far from what most people would call cutting-edge entertainment, especially when you look at the scope of what this console generation is releasing.