Despite its pedantic handling of some topics and questionable dialogue parts, the game never takes itself too seriously. That, and it's actually a pretty awesome RPG at that.

The trip is greater than the eventual destination. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy wrapping things up with a nice, meaty ending, but there's so much good stuff along the way that I didn't mind (despite what expletives may have erupted from my office) some of the more annoying parts of the game.

A combat sequence here, an elaborate puzzle there - Arthur earns no originality merit, but damn if it doesn't come together well. Just bare through those first 10 minutes.

Though it may not feel like the American Idol license was ham-fisted into the existing gameplay, the two aren't married so perfectly yet that they feel like they've always been there. With a little more work on the judges, from modeling to animation to textures, and just a little more work to make it seem like you're actually playing to a crowd in faithfully replicated venues from the show, this could be a killer app.

Blazing Angels may be the first flight game to sport SIXAXIS controls, but that doesn't mean it's any more innovative. Fortunately, the game itself isn't half bad.

Arrrrg, still angry. I know Pseudo is close, and it's clear that they have the technical prowess to make a pretty game. It's just in major things like balance and creating a game that is clearly defined that they seem to be having issues.

Portable Ops does the series full justice and then some: the compelling campaign we've grown oh so fond of, coupled with the compulsive recruitment system and the high-stakes multiplayer that should have Subsistence fans grinning like fools. A defining piece of PSP software.

I can't hammer home enough the point that though this is very much a sports sim, it's still both accessible and deep enough that neither the casual nor hardcore crowds will be dissuaded. It's easily one of the PS3's strongest titles.

There's a lot of content to be had for the sticker price, but you'll have to fight some horrid controls to enjoy it, which pretty much ensures that you won't enjoy it, doesn't it?

Still, here's a thought, Ignition: release the game with tweaked controls, a fully working camera and tilt support for the PlayStation Network. On the PS3 and for a good $10, the game could be one of those titles that everyone has just to properly show off the SIXAXIS.

No, it's not a universally awesome list, but CCC is certainly packed with enough gems that it justifies the measly $20 entry price. And in the end, that's what it all comes down to: bang for the buck. CCC has plenty of it.

Thanks to tighter AI, newer online play, and a portable experience that handily apes that of the more established console cousin, Fireteam Bravo 2 ends up being the better of the two SOCOM games released recently.

It also represents one of the first games I've played in a long time that's truly something for both kid and adult, and I'll be giving a copy to my nephew this Christmas in the hopes that it'll help bridge the gap between the business side of his father's day-to-day operations and the passion that my nephew has for games.

It also represents one of the first games I've played in a long time that's truly something for both kid and adult, and I'll be giving a copy to my nephew this Christmas in the hopes that it'll help bridge the gap between the business side of his father's day-to-day operations and the passion that my nephew has for games.

It's crap. Don't buy it, since you'll probably never find someone else who has the game to enjoy the multiplayer, and there's literally no reason to suffer through the single-player at all. The visuals are blah, the voice acting merely passable (much like the PS2 game), and the controls are weak sauce. Trust me, you want to pass on this one.

Next-gen visuals for the PS3 version can't help that the basic gameplay is the very same sort of mindless button masher that was present in the original PlayStation 2 version. Is it still fun? Yeah, of course, provided you're a comic fan, but 20 hours or so later, it's entirely possible that you won't really want to do this again -- no matter how many characters or in-jokes are added.

I know I keep coming back to this, but the online part of the past five Tony Hawk games has been the thing that keeps me coming back after I've played through the single-player game. Now granted, the goals this time around mean that I'll probably never completely finish the game, but I miss me some Trick Attack. Yes, I can do some local multi-player, but if I can't be beaten by some six year-old calling me a fag, I'm not really living the online experience, y'know?

At a bargain bin price, it's hard to completely fault the game's length, but this is really something that probably should have been released as a downloadable PS3/PSP game on the new PlayStation Network Platform. As a brick-and-mortar offering, though, it's just a little too steep.

This is a definite pass, even for those casual game junkies out there.

This is the best execution of the ideas that were first introduced in Underground, and so long as you didn't hate those games or have gotten burned out, this is a solid, if slightly underwhelming entry into the series.

The core, though, is fantastic, and so long as you're partial to Top 40-ish hits, SingStar Rocks! does indeed rock.

If you have the 360 version of the game already, then you probably aren't going to be going ga-ga over the SIXAXIS stuff, and the PlayStation Network, for being free and what it is, still isn't enough to hang with Xbox Live.

Solid, yes, but familiar. I mean no disrespect for the men that died protecting freedom, but considering I was born a good 30 years after the war ended, familiarity with this setting probably isn't a good thing.

Insomniac nailed the sense of scale, and delights in alternately throwing plot twists and growing and shrinking level designs to keep things interesting throughout the experience.

Little more than an illusion; it looks pretty, but you can't peek at what's beyond the view you're given, and that view will happily allow someone to stick a katana in your eyeball.

God help the kid that gets this as a present when they should have gotten one of the LEGO Star Wars games instead. Seriously, just avoid this game and pick up one of TT's better efforts.

More songs, great music, gameplay that's still as challenging as ever, and minimal losses on the way to the PSP.

It's certainly solid enough, and easily the better of EA's sports offerings at launch, but again, the polarizing nature of the controls will directly influence how you feel about the game as a whole.