Those thrills, ripped straight from summer blockbusters, tend to be both Uncharted 3's biggest strength and biggest flaw...Drake's Deception never lets up on the action, and it has an obsession with constantly one-upping itself. Before the end of the game, you will have escaped from a burning building, outran a massive wave of water aboard a sinking cruise ship and traversed a seemingly endless desert...These segments are thrilling, heart-racing stuff, but predictable.

Weighed down by bloat though it may be, Batman: Arkham City is still one of the year's finest games, filled with the capacity to surprise even players who've skulked through every inch of its predecessor.

Tiny Heroes draws its charm from all the chaos. There's always something to do; you'll constantly be throwing down new traps and replacing old ones at a frenetic pace. It's challenging and fun.

Bastion's fantasy world doesn't feel derivative. Its world and characters are all its own, and the narrator's verbal descriptions of abandoned quarries, forsaken gods and terrifying fortresses breathe life into them.

The enhanced interface and new skill system make this 3DS version more than the sum of its borrowed parts. Given the choice between Mercenaries and Resident Evil 5's Mercenaries mode, I prefer the handheld version to its high-res but lumbering ancestor.

WIRED One of the best games ever, remastered; looks fantastic in 3D; improved controls. / TIRED It's the same game you played 12 years ago and remember exactly how to beat.

It's just a bland set of predictable first-person shooting levels, not much to look at and not engaging to play.

Witcher 2's technical and design glitches didn't stop me from thoroughly enjoying the game, however. It's one of the most realistic role-playing games I've ever tried - just like in real life, the decisions you make have wide-ranging effects, and you won't learn what those are until much later.

Much like Sony's Heavy Rain, L.A. Noire is a game you simply must play if you are interested in the development of storytelling in videogames. Also like Heavy Rain, the gameplay occasionally struggles to walk the tightrope between being robust enough to hold up the story but easy enough that the player doesn't give up halfway through.

A tumultuous blend of Prince of Persia-style jumping action and the "bullet hell" of insane shooters like Ikaruga. It's complex, difficult and a lot of fun.

Portal 2 is in the business of defying players' expectations. Valve never wants you to predict what's going to happen at any moment, and delights in subtly setting those pins up and knocking them down. Even more than the clever gameplay mechanics and sharply written story, the smiles and laughter that such a carefully crafted game can extract from you mean this one will stay with you for years to come.

Stands out among the throng of generic point-and-click adventure games. The atmosphere remains tense and dark throughout the entire game, and when you finally plow through the story's last couple of twists, you'll be glad you played the whole thing.

Bioware has stripped away the veil of grandiose adventure, and what's behind the curtain is a truly uninspired RPG.

If Nintendo is serious about proving that its polished portable releases smoke competitors' cut-rate downloadable titles, the company should concentrate on producing games that last longer than a few hours.

But like a jazz-master bringing new life to an old standard, or a Jazzercise-master making leg warmers fashionable again, Bloons TD 4 transforms the familiar into something fantastic. If, like me, you've wandered away from the tower-defending fold, this might be just the thing to bring you back.

Pokémon is a series that never reinvents the wheel, but instead continues to polish the basic design until it sparkles.

Pokémon is a series that never reinvents the wheel, but instead continues to polish the basic design until it sparkles.

The fighting stays fast-paced and engaging because you must constantly issue new orders.

No matter how much the games dresses things up, the endless battles get repetitive after a while. You're performing the exact same moves throughout the game.

The process moves at a snail's pace, with too much time spent in between the gem-matching fights.

Canabalt is my most-played iPad game by far. Its simple, fun concept distills platforming down to its bare essence of running and jumping.

100 Rogues is the most user-friendly roguelike game - a type of RPG where dungeons are randomized, death is often permanent and movement is turn-based - I've ever played.

I enjoyed Shooter 2 enough to recommend it, but I don't see myself replaying levels in order to find all the secrets, like I did for the first game. At least not without help.

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 can get complex, but it ramps you up with a smooth learning curve. I could feel my skills improving as I discovered more of the game's intricacies.

With Radiant Historia, Atlus has created the perfect blend of innovation and tradition.

Bulletstorm is the world's longest dick joke...Despite the fact that it boots you out to loading screens every time you finish a segment or die, it's a polished-enough piece of work. The point system incentivizes you to play the game using all the tools at your disposal...It's just a shame the developers couldn't stop thinking about reproductive anatomy.

Bulletstorm is the world's longest dick joke...Despite the fact that it boots you out to loading screens every time you finish a segment or die, it's a polished-enough piece of work. The point system incentivizes you to play the game using all the tools at your disposal...It's just a shame the developers couldn't stop thinking about reproductive anatomy.

Two Worlds II is just a pale shadow of the games it attempts to imitate. While exceptional open-world RPGs like Oblivion and Fallout: New Vegas encourage exploration by hiding pieces of narrative and flavor in every little corner of the map, the massive fields of Two Worlds II are lifeless and empty.

Dead Space 2′s final chapters seem like an endless string of featureless rooms filled with monsters. Some wonderful moments emerge that make it a must-play, especially since the game wraps in less than 10 hours, but the last act seems rushed.

Part of the appeal of the Ace Attorney series is the "Eureka!" moment, that feeling of brain satisfaction that can only come out of solving a particularly grueling puzzle using nothing but your wits. Ghost Trick has no eurekas, only "Oh … is that it?"

The final sequence of events is likely to eke some tears out of even the most cynical gamer.

Fighting games excel at rewarding player investment, and if you're willing to put in the time and give Ultimate Match a chance, you will not be disappointed.

The obscure names and redundant dialog can reach levels of absurdity, and sometimes you'll want to yell at your characters to just shut up and get on with the adventuring, but the puzzles and presentation make the complex plot worth slogging through.

You can beat the entire main story of Fallout: New Vegas in less than 20 hours, but that would be giving the game short shrift. It is really about savoring every little detail and side quest until you've seen everything there is to see.

Donkey Kong Country Returns is the best 2-D platform game I've played in ages. Its level design meets the gold standard set by the 2-D Mario games. Retro Studios can add another feather to its cap.

A giant leap forward for Sega's mascot. It represents the first time in more than a decade that I have enjoyed a Sonic game.

Gameplay is pure repetition; fun in short bursts but little lasting attraction.

Considering Assassin's Creed Brotherhood as a total package, it's just barely worth full price. There's a decent quantity of content, but the amount that's recycled from the last game is stunning, a purely cynical ploy to squeeze out more money in lieu of preserving any semblance of artistic integrity.

Considering Assassin's Creed Brotherhood as a total package, it's just barely worth full price. There's a decent quantity of content, but the amount that's recycled from the last game is stunning, a purely cynical ploy to squeeze out more money in lieu of preserving any semblance of artistic integrity.

The camera angles could have been placed better. The characters could have been more developed...But damn is it fun.

Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 is more than a below-average platformer. It feels like the last nail in the franchise's coffin. If this game couldn't take the series back to its glory days, it doesn't seem like it'll ever get there.

In a sea of shooters with pounding soundtracks and frenetic gameplay, Civilization V is one of the few games to challenge players' minds - to have them sit back and analyze situations methodically. If Halo: Reach is heaven on earth for twitch-gamers everywhere, then Civilization V is the thinking man's paradise.

Bungie tries. Kat, Noble 6's intelligence officer and estrogen-powered ass-kicker, is the most entertaining of your compatriots. But she and all the characters in Halo: Reach are one-note Johnnies, all swagger and no depth.

Most notably, the game design is innovative and daring, straddling a precarious line between 2-D and 3-D gameplay to make a game that feels contemporary while retaining the classic Metroid appeal.

Case Zero does a fine job of illustrating the tension between the pure fun of offing the undead and the time-sensitive tasks that Chuck must accomplish to get his daughter her medicine.

A game centered on replay. With five characters and six chapters, the game counts on players to visit and revisit the castle to improve their scores and find new treasures. Dismaying as the rate of reward may be, I'm excited to tear this incarnation of Dracula's Castle wide open. Repeatedly.

Much like the original, it will be played for years to come. And that's why it lives up to all the anticipation.

There hasn't been a funnier, more singularly creative videogame since Brütal Legend. And where Double Fine disappointed some with odd game design choices, DeathSpank does nothing but please.

There hasn't been a funnier, more singularly creative videogame since Brütal Legend. And where Double Fine disappointed some with odd game design choices, DeathSpank does nothing but please.

An interesting experiment? Sure. But the changes to the game design have all but removed the most-fun parts while emphasizing the game's weaknesses. Whoops.

Above all, Sin & Punishment: Star Successor once again proves Treasure's mastery of making games in which lots of things explode. The action is fast and furious and the game's super-short length makes it perfect for several playthroughs. Even if it can be a bit too difficult for its own good.

If the goal was indeed to create a game that could appeal even to the rawest Transformers newbies, then High Moon has succeeded.

Simultaneously more and less than its predecessor. It expands and elaborates on the gameplay in unpredictable ways, but the last one felt like a bigger, more complete adventure. That said, better core gameplay with less window dressing is infinitely preferable to the reverse.

When presented with an infinite number of possible resolutions, any answer is going to feel arbitrary. Alan Wake starts strong but finishes weak; neither the gameplay nor the story deliver on their potential by the time the credits roll.

Doesn't take gamers anywhere as exotic or over-the-top. And that's its charm. The realistic setting and complex control scheme make for an engaging single-player experience, but it's the wide range of online multiplayer options that make Skate gleam the cube.

3D Dot Game Heroes might be a blatant rip-off of Zelda, but in cribbing from one of the most enduring games of the 8-bit era - and allowing us to populate a faux Hyrule in a new, tactile way - the game more than earns the right to swipe.

The other side of this coin is that Nier bites off more than it can chew: It wants to be Final Fantasy, God of War, Zelda, Monster Hunter and FarmVille all at once. And the problem with trying so many things is that every new feature you add is a new opportunity to screw the pooch.

I've never played anything quite like Red Steel 2, which lets you use swords and guns simultaneously, switching back and forth between wild swinging and precise aiming.

The original Gold and Silver are getting a bit long in the tooth, but a decade of extra gameplay polish makes HeartGold and SoulSilver extremely appealing. The games are next-gen nostalgia done right.

The original Gold and Silver are getting a bit long in the tooth, but a decade of extra gameplay polish makes HeartGold and SoulSilver extremely appealing. The games are next-gen nostalgia done right.

The fact that Final Fantasy designers are so willing to experiment is a good thing, because it’ll keep the genre from dying off. But Final Fantasy XIII should be considered a failed experiment.

Like a window opened just a crack, a tiny aperture that occasionally allows vivid glimpses of the future of videogames. When Heavy Rain works its magic, it is powerful stuff; rarely have I felt so attached to game characters or so invested in a story. For those small moments, anyone who cares about videogames must play Heavy Rain.

Clever deduction sequences, likable characters, some of the best writing in videogames.

BioShock 2 may be a clever spin on the are-you-good-or-evil convention, but it falls short of its predecessor by not breaking free of it.

A ballsy take on literature that worships at the altar of God of War.

The best thing I can say about Overdrive is that it feels just like Blaster Master, with a few great new improvements and a few small new flaws.

The story is silly, the sound effects are like Chinese water torture (special to Gameloft: The sound of another human being swallowing is not a sound normal people like to hear over and over) and the only thing resembling challenge is when it decides to kill you with half-baked action sequences.

From the war-torn home world of the lizardlike krogans to a planet so wracked by radiation that stepping out of the shade will eat away at your shields, the galaxy feels more lovely, lurid and dangerous this time around.

Even though some stages (like the penultimate aerial battle) felt like they lasted forever and ever, Dark Void is a pretty short game with an anticlimactic ending that does little more than set up a sequel.

Even though some stages (like the penultimate aerial battle) felt like they lasted forever and ever, Dark Void is a pretty short game with an anticlimactic ending that does little more than set up a sequel.

But it’s a big game best taken in small doses: An hour or two of clamber up the side of a building, snipe some guys, drive like hell, lather, rinse, repeat was plenty. Any more than that and I started to think maybe the Nazis could just have France, if they wanted it so bad.

The first Assassin’s Creed had a bold, brilliant concept; the sequel delivers the execution.

Fuzzy skateboard controls are more frustrating than fun.

New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an excellent game with friends, and I had a great deal of challenging fun with the solo mode. But if you’re looking for a new Mario adventure that’s tailored to creating the maximum amount of fun for just one person, you’ll have to wait for next year’s Super Mario Galaxy 2.

The moments when Modern Warfare 2 isn’t good are few and far between. That’s about all you can ask from a hero.

The game isn’t about slavish devotion to original recordings. It’s about the power of the DJ to transform.

But these perks are all secondary to Forza Motorsport 3’s main mission: to deliver a realistic racing experience with more than 400 licensed cars and 100 real-world tracks. Consider that a mission accomplished — or at the very least rewound and nailed again on the third go-round.

Borderlands‘ story is paper-thin, a dollop of flavor draped over compelling gameplay.

Brütal Legend does a lot of things wonderfully: It’s a technically adept, graphically beautiful game with a surprisingly good story and a great soundtrack. The hybrid gameplay just doesn’t meet these high standards.

Brütal Legend does a lot of things wonderfully: It’s a technically adept, graphically beautiful game with a surprisingly good story and a great soundtrack. The hybrid gameplay just doesn’t meet these high standards.

For all its undeniable polish and fun gameplay, Mario & Luigi is starting to feel less like a clever bridging of the gap and more like an indecisive straddle. It’s time to rethink the Mario RPG.

Gorgeous, Beatles-themed graphics make the game more than just a list of songs, although the short track list (and some questionable song choices) keep it from being the perfect Fab Four experience.

This should serve as a reminder that a strong license shouldn’t be a millstone around a game designer’s neck but a gold mine, a vast stockpile of prebuilt characters and relationships that, properly tweaked, can work just as well in a videogame as they do in a movie or comic book series.

Unlike The World Ends With You, the under-appreciated Square Enix RPG for the Nintendo DS, Dissidia: Final Fantasy is unsuccessful in its attempt to fuse action and role-playing experimentation in a meaningful way. The pieces are all there, but the glue is too thin.

While Diabolical Box’s gameplay, animation and plot are quite a bit like its predecessor’s, slight improvements make this installment of the Professor Layton saga even more enjoyable than the last.

If Wii Sports was the Pong of our day, Wii Sports Resort is the Super Pong machine with color graphics and handball and hockey modes: Some of it is superfluous, but it’s worth the upgrade.

inFamous suffers from a host of little problems, but all those minor missteps get smoothed over by the fact that you never want to stop playing the game. The makers of inFamous obeyed the cardinal rule of good game design: They kept everything fun.

A challenging and fun experience, bolstered by a potentially limitless supply of user-generated content to keep the game fresh.

EA Sports Active has its issues, but it’s a major step in the right direction.

The concepts behind the new Bionic Commando are strong, but the moment-to-moment action just doesn’t deliver on the promise of how awesome it would be to have a grappling hook instead of a hand.

It’s just a solid, addictive, finely polished game that’s easy enough for newbies and challenging enough for those who remember. Sometimes, they do make ‘em like they used to.

It's a challenging game, too. I've logged enough hours in strategy games to qualify as an officer in certain South American militaries, but the last few levels of Adventure mode and many of those Puzzle mode levels require intense concentration and genuine skill.

Its blend of action, strategy and atmospheric tension perfectly complement the film series it's based on. Assault on Dark Athena sets a new standard for games based on films.

Rhythm Heaven is exactly the sort of novel, deep, challenging game that people accuse Nintendo of not creating anymore. Play it.

Even with the slightly below-average graphics, even with the blatantly swiped mechanics, even with the simplistic punch-kick-repeat gameplay, I still want to recommend Tokyo Beat Down. As with Operation Darkness, the title's story and writing are so different and original that I couldn't help but enjoy the game.

Broken Sword is an excellent proof of concept. Yes, classic point-and-click adventures work very well on DS. It is also a funny, engaging game with a wide variety of puzzles, locations and characters. But it also spotlights the gameplay elements that adventure games of the 1990s could get wrong.

Trackmania DS is a great game. But racing time trials and designing tracks starts to lose its appeal when you don't have anyone to share the experience with. If you're having trouble convincing your friends to buy the DS game, remember that the PC version of Trackmania is incredibly popular -- and free.

On their own, the adventure and puzzle segments of Henry Hatsworth would not be especially interesting videogames. But this experiment succeeds because of how well the two genres play off one another. While certain level elements can feel monotonous, the core experience is sound, delivering controlled chaos into the palms of your achy, sweating hands.