The shareware version before you buy this. Good, but it doesn't quite live up to the hype.

Much like they did in Call of Duty 2, the developers at Infinity Ward have set the new standard for scripted cinematic spectacle.

The game's end sequence, to put it mildly, is an eight-car pileup. Fans of the series will recognize it as a poorly veiled swipe of a sequence in the original Halo, a challenge highlighted by a series of goofy circumstances and improbable level design meant to create an explosive end. The end result, however, is fairly absurd, as the whole shebang reeks of game developers wracking their brains to come up with the cleverest, most exciting finish, and shattering the fourth wall in the process.

The action is superb, with silky smooth combos, lots of movement options, and intuitive control. The graphics are still tops on the market. The quest is fulfilling and varied.

If you had anything particularly pressing to be doing at any point over the next few months, it's time to cancel it. Bethesda's much-anticipated fantasy action RPG Oblivion is every bit the game it promised to be, with stunning visuals and vast amounts of engrossing, well-designed gameplay.

Everything in the game reeks of excellence. The characters are good, the story is intriguing and the Land of the Dead is a wonderful place.

Vastly improved over the original, and even the All-Stars version. [Import]

It's definitely an evolutionary step rather than something highly original, but even those who weren't enamored with earlier Splinter Cell titles should try out this more open-ended gameplay style.

An eye-opening, awe-inspiring psychotic arcade racer with addictive, high-energy and often hysterical gameplay. EA and Criterion really hit it out of the parking lot with this one.

A feast of atmospheric entertainment. While it might tire after a while, you'll likely get your money's worth long before that point, and moreso if you venture into the chaos that is Battle.net, where life takes on a whole new meaning and the hours slip mysteriously away. Diablo is a landmark game.

Subsistence is easily the greatest same-gen remake ever, besting the Xbox GTA ports, "DOA Ultimate," "Ninja Gaiden Black," and even "Metal Gear 2: Substance."

As impressive as the combat is, the story is even more so. When was the last time you felt a complex set of reactions to an action hero? Kratos will inspire awe, revulsion, and pity as players learn his sad tale.

Under BioWare's guidance, Knights Of The Old Republic has become not only one of the best Star Wars games, period, but a wonderful expansion of the story and the first compelling Xbox RPG.

Firaxis shows an impressively consistent grasp of what to abstract and what to detail, and a remarkable talent for presenting large-scale strategic challenges in a format that's easy to digest.

A smashing game that has a life span as long as your Grandma's...[but] it's far too deep, complex and frustrating at first for instant hit bruisers to get their thrills from.

Just about the only bad thing about Madden NFL 2004 is the bar that it sets. EA Sports has one hell of a challenge waiting in the wings, trying to improve on a masterful title like this.

An eye-opening, awe-inspiring psychotic arcade racer with addictive, high-energy and often hysterical gameplay. EA and Criterion really hit it out of the parking lot with this one.

Considering how much content you get before you ever even go online, this is easily one of the most generous, gratifying, and fun games you can get for the Nintendo Wii. Super Smash Brothers Brawl is nothing short of a smashing success.

In Company of Heroes, destruction is a component of the game in a way that we haven't seen since "X-Com" let us root out sectoids by bringing down entire farmhouses.

The end result is exquisitely original multiplayer gaming that's a vastly different experience based on which team is chosen. It's only marred by a bizarrely overlooked bug that crashes the Xbox when browsing available servers through OptiMatch.

The key problem lies in the positioning of the four buttons on the right side of the pad’s upper surface... They are too close together and too hard to distinguish by touch for the precise control THPS3 demands. In fact, it bordered on the unplayable.

Unreal Tournament 2004 achieves that near impossible task in video gaming: It appeals to every online shooter fan without making compromises in quality.

God of War II is the strongest game to hit the PS2 this year, and should be high on the list of best games on the system, period.

The gameplay isn’t perhaps as tight as Nintendo’s ageing "1080º Snowboarding," but it’s an original take on the sport and deserves all the praise it has received.

The perfect gaming experience. Anyone who doesn't like it is a pansy wuss who needs sense beating into them with a baseball bat, and that's a fact. Capiche?

Even with combos and grinds at your disposal, the jumps and turns come so fast and thick that intelligently managing the course is a huge necessity...The game feels far less like a dog and pony show as a result, and is more challenging and rewarding, too.

A solid and compelling title, that can keep you riveted to the very end, even when play starts to border on frustration blowout. Sure, Homeworld has some warts, but these are generally hidden by the game being fresh and innovative, instead of a regurgitated old rehash.

While some preventative measures for hair-pulling and wall-punching may be necessary, the game has first-class production values, some of the coolest stealth techniques and gadgets yet, and fantastic level design.