At first impression, From Dust might look and play more like a tech demo than an actual game, but there is some enjoyment to be dug out of the experience. From Dust combines some fun mechanics, with great visuals and some satisfying puzzle inspired gameplay.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is good fun, with striking visuals and a great setting. A few issues keep it from being totally brilliant though.

The combat in Captain America is actually fun but there's no substance to the story and no challenge for the rest of the gameplay.

Bastion is an intriguing and eclectic action-heavy RPG with great audio and visuals, and it mixes some interesting mechanics with tried and true gameplay. $15 might be a little steep for some gamers, but this is a game you ought to play, particularly if you care about replayability.

The shooting mechanics and levels are getting better but the encounters themselves are too repetitive. I hope someone takes the basic idea and does something more with it. The absence of basic storytelling and scene transitions make it hard to enjoy on its own.

Catherine is oftentimes agonizing, but like the blonde vixen that bewitches Vincent, it keeps you wanting more, just the same. The story, helped along by beautiful animation and first class voice acting, never stops being interesting. The puzzles test your mettle with genuinely clever design.

A modest revision from last year's game, NCAA Football 12 brings adequate football gameplay with robust multiplayer dynasty features, for a price.

An accurate port of the Resident Evil Mercenaries minigame - and that's all it is.

An excellent adventure with just enough challenge to keep it intriguing without scaring off players looking for an engaging casual experience. Old school adventure fans will likely find the game to be a bit too shallow and easy, but casual gamers will appreciate the pace and polish.

Shadows of the Damned's slick visuals and offbeat sensibility is worth checking out, despite its ordinary gameplay. Besides, ordinary doesn't mean bad. Beheading demons with a shotgun that fires skulls has a certain amount of appeal, after all. It's pretty brainless, but it's a weekend's worth of stuff to shoot, and sometimes that's all you really need.

If you're a fan of adventure platforms like Metriod and Castlevania, but you always felt they could be a little more sandbox, Terraria is a must have.

With a regular controller, Child of Eden is a finely-tuned, lovely shooter. With Kinect, it transforms from being something you play to something you become. It's impossible to see someone playing Child of Eden with Kinect and not want to try it yourself. And once you start, you'll keep coming back for more.

The engine of the game hasn't changed, but the chrome is super-polished and new multiplayer modes are great new features.

Perhaps Fear 3 is horror for the squeamish, but if you're looking for something to scare you enough to keep you up at nights, you best look elsewhere. However, if you are in the mood for a fun and solid shooter with a creepy aesthetic, Fear 3 delivers a viscera filled romp that's worth checking out.

I love playing Dungeon Siege III despite its many flaws, and if you don't mind that the overall experience is pretty shallow and meant for single player, you probably will, too.

My Recommendation, then, is clear/ But so I don't deprive/ You any longer, here it is: / You'll love it if you strive/ To overcome the boring bits.

Everything that made Ocarina of Time one of the greatest games ever is still in the 3D version, but all it does is make you reminisce for a simpler time and a better controller.

Infamous 2 improves upon the original in nearly every way with a fantastic setting and great mechanics but the story just wasn't quite a home run.

A deeply flawed game that I would have stopped playing after five minutes were it not a requirement of my job to play longer. Although no amount of money could have convinced me to press on all the way to the end.

Frozen Synapse is an amazing refinement of the tactical strategy genre. It's both approachable for those new to the genre and deep enough to keep you coming back.

Good for a quick and fun diversion, Hunted is far from the perfect coop game or fantasy dungeon crawl, but the storytelling almost makes up for it. Almost.

A polished and satisfying reflex shooter that removes meaningful decisions from the game and trivializes its own greatest technology.

At one point I put the game down and was planning on going to bed, but I soon realized I wasn't as tired as I thought and opted to tackle another quest or two.

As a world-building exercise, The Witcher 2 succeeds masterfully but there are deep flaws in its game design.

Section 8: Prejudice offers a fun set of shooter mechanics, with a complete campaign and robust multiplayer package without costing you a full $60.

LA Noire is the type of game we jump up and down over - full of story and style and oozing playability and charm. Unfortunately the single, awkward mechanic of the interrogations mars what could have been a flawless recreation of a classic genre.

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean is a rollicking good time. You have to play through a few times in order to track down all of the secrets, jokes, and prizes, but even if you just play once, you're bound to enjoy yourself.

I like Brink quite a bit, but it's definitely not for everyone. The cumbersome interface is the antithesis of the modern streamlined shooter. If you can get past all the obstacles the game puts in your way, there's a lot of fun to be had here.