The avatar system is a beefier system than what you'll find in any other RTS game on the market and offers for a little higher degree of flexibility and even strategy, outfitting your avatars with various weapons and spells in order to complement the other normal units of your attacking force.

The faction wars are an interesting concept, but the game is mostly about the player making his way through the zone and uncovering some of its secrets. It's a bit more about gunfights and a lot less scary than its predecessor, but overall, Clear Sky improves upon the original in many ways while using the same strengths that made it so compelling in the first place.

As far as gameplay goes, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep is easily the best of the Kingdom Hearts games and is a solid addition to the franchise. The combat is fun and interesting, and it manages to avoid feelingly overly repetitive or simplistic.

In spite of its technical shortcomings, Rise of the Argonauts is still a truly fun game that has gotten a bit of a bum rap. The story is very intriguing, and the leveling system is handled superbly.

The way Silent Hill Origins is presented is revolutionary for a handheld, but unfortunately, fans of the series may find that it doesn't bring much innovation to the table.

Despite its technical shortcomings, Mafia II manages to become more than the sum of its parts. With a script that could have just as easily driven a major motion picture instead of a video game, Mafia II grabs hold early on and never lets up, not even at the very end.

It's the only Breakout! clone on the DS to date, and it shows a remarkable amount of polish.

Virtua Fighter 5 is a deep, beautiful fighter, but the depth of gameplay is undercut by a shallow offering of modes and a complete lack of online support. The Virtua faithful will likely swoon over the expanded roster and move sets, but the casual crowd may be disappointed with what is largely an incremental upgrade rather than a full-blown evolution of the franchise.

Overall, The Sims Medieval does exactly what it was meant to do: Be a more casual, standalone Sims to pull more casual fans into the series. It's a fine first taste of Will Wright's highest-selling work, and the lack of expansion plans mean that it feels full and complete right out the gate. The hardcore, however, need not apply.

The brief but constant loading times tend to slow things down a bit and a lot of the unlockables are pretty worthless, but its solid gameplay, spot-on character models, and bumpin’ soundtrack make NBA Ballers one of the best games of its kind to be released in recent memory.

It was a nice idea, but I just can't relate to it as well as I do with "NBA Street." If you are a Madden fan, I suggest you stay away, but if you are a Blitz fan, try this game out. This may be your next favorite arcade football game.

Overall, Sifu is an amazing indie game that emulates martial arts perfectly in an interactive video game with flashy fights in cool environments, a satisfying learning curve, and a decent amount of content. I'll return many more times for just one more fight sequence, and the Switch version is perfect if you can overcome its unavoidable performance limitations.

It's surprisingly rewarding to climb in levels and get a new gun only to trick it out with some mods and a new paint scheme, and for what the game lacks in complexity or a plot, it definitely makes up for it with its fast-paced and enjoyable gameplay.

Ultimately, City of Heroes: Freedom is an old MMO trying to modernize itself through a format switch and a series of upgrades. It isn't all the way there yet, but it still does a lot of things right. MMO fans looking for an alternative to swords, sorcery and spaceships could do a lot worse than trying City of Heroes: Freedom.

It's not exactly teeming with innovation, but it is fun enough to warrant at least a rental for those interested.

Limbo is one-third a fantastic masterpiece and two-thirds a solid, if unexceptional, game.

The challenge BLACK presents is not to outwit enemies, but rather to stay interested in dispatching them with extra style. While it may not appeal to fans of more narrative or tactically oriented shooters, it hits the spot for those for whom there is no such thing as style over substance.

Despite Call of Duty 3's quite a bit more robust online multiplayer features, trudging through that title's single-player campaign felt more like doing the weekly marketing by one's scrawled, near-illegible shopping list than playing a game.

In the end, it's a testament to the art direction and captivating gameplay that the Switch port of The Witcher 3, stripped of most of its technical achievements, is still a damn good and immersive video game. If you haven't played The Witcher 3 yet, this is a good opportunity to jump in. The game runs better and is available at a more affordable price on the other platforms, but if you can live with the heavy visual downgrades for the sake of portability, then this is as good as The Witcher 3 gets.

Even months after its release, Naruto Ultimate Ninja 2 remains one of the best Naruto fighting games. It's got lots to satisfy solitary players, and versus mode matches are both fun to play and watch.

For 50 bucks, Dragonball Z Budokai Tenkaichi 3 is a surprisingly good game. The colorful landscapes, differently played characters, and multiple settings and choices make the title enjoyable.

While the Dark Knight might not seem the ideal candidate for the happy and cheerful Lego world, the entire affair is handled with a good-natured wink, and we are all reminded that the purpose of these games is to take us to a world where the lines between good and evil are clearly defined and evil is more a thing of comic mischief than serious malice.

The combat is fast and frantic, the interface excellent, the controls responsive, and it provides an overall satisfying experience. While it's fun, though, there isn't much that's memorable about Dead Space. It feels like patchwork that's been slapped together from other franchises, and it lacks a spirit of its own to make it stand out from the pack.

While Fable veterans will likely be able to speed through the original content to get to the new stuff with a weekend rental, newcomers should definitely buy it.

Though far from perfect, Heroes of the Pacific does a great job of combining a fun, loose aerial shoot-'em-up with real-life battles from the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Snowboarding fans, both of the arcade and simulation variety, would do well to pick up this title.

Chivalry II is a lot of fun. It's visceral, easy to learn but difficult to master, and it's simply a bloody good time. The balancing issues, lackluster customization options, and a general lack of maps take the wind out of its sails far too quickly. That means that a couple of updates could turn this little gem into a must-play title. I'm hopeful that Torn Banner can build on the solid foundation that it has poured for Chivalry II.

It lacks the character of the previous versions. Its stripped down war engine and laser-like focus on battles ends up preventing it from being a classic.