Irrational Games' SWAT 4 delivers an interesting first person shooter experience that rewards superior tactics and patience above all else.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is a well-made revival of the classic action/adventure series with awesome graphics and jumping puzzles that are far less frustrating than you might expect.

The 150-player battles mostly live up to the hype, and the atmosphere and visuals rival the best stuff seen in first person shooters this year.

Rise of Nations is a great fusion of several recent and classic strategy titles. It combines Empire Earth with Age of Empires, puts in a dash of Civilization and Risk, and then mixes it all together with a ton of options for you to play around with.

This game has little to do with Everquest, but it has everything to do with simple hack and slash action and plenty of features to keep you coming back.

If you've never played the Baldur's Gate series, Planescape: Torment, or Icewind Dale, it's a fine single player game with the possibility of some very engaging multiplayer action.

Even with its problems, Mafia was a joy to play, and I really hope we see more games that expand on the Grand Theft Auto formula. But if you are going to do a GTA3-alike game, a unique setting as well as a few major gameplay additions are absolute musts. Luckily, Mafia delivers in those areas.

BF1942 is an impressive game that's great fun in multiplayer.

Despite a few complaints about the in-game graphics quality, the full Burnout experience has really made it to the PSP.

In the end, hardcore gamers will find something to love in Spore, even if it's not really what they were expecting.

Not many games in this genre are released with a $20 price tag, so some gamers out there might not really know how to deal with a game that is a little light on the content but much lighter on the price.

I had a ton of fun playing Quake 4, and while the game started off kind of slow, it picked up quickly and wound up being a solid, action-packed experience without the dreaded "realistic" limitations on combat that so many recent games put on the player.

Even if you're getting a little sick of the WW2 shooter genre, I'd suggest you give it a shot, as its gameplay is the right mix of fun and realism and the multiplayer modes are plenty of fun.

While Need for Speed: Most Wanted lacks a few key features that take it over the top, it's still a solid game and winds up being the best installment in the NFS series in years.

While the career mode's lack of difficulty is disappointing, those looking for a challenge will still have plenty of that from the well-made online modes. Fight Night Round 3 is most definitely a winner.

Geometry Wars started out as a bonus mini-game inside Bizarre Creations' last flagship title Project Gotham Racing 2 - and while this new version has much improved graphics, you can still play the classic version as well.

The themed levels are fun, the new game modes add a lot to an already complete franchise and the multiplayer mode is one of the best I've ever seen in a puzzle game.

This is one of a few rare killer apps on Sony's portable console, and truly one of the best fighting games ever made on any portable platform.

Its brutal, in-your-face action will make you cringe, while the creepy atmosphere will have your heart fluttering as you wonder what's around that next corner. Even the hardened veterans of the world's best horror games will find this to be a fine addition to their collection.

I could only think of one way to share how I feel about it -- mix happiness, cheerfulness, smiles and a heaping spoon of sugar and you have LocoRoco.

Dead Rising is not for everyone, as it does include tons of violence and gore, but the sheer number of possibilities in this game make it a wonderful addition to almost any Xbox 360 owner's library.

Even if there aren't any kids in your household, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up if you've got a Wii.

Overall, Cooking Mama is an oddly entertaining game.

As Defcon is almost entirely a multiplayer game, bots are provided but not much fun to play against. The bots have very limited strategy and are fairly easy to defeat. While one can battle a large number of bots simultaneously this challenge by numbers is less appealing than the strategic challenge one can enjoy in the multiplayer modes and hardly prepares you to compete online.

Minor gripes aside, this one's an extremely satisfying ride, especially in light of the criminal lack of survival horror titles on the Xbox 360.

In the end, Madden 08 is probably the most realistic feeling football experience ever, for better or for worse.

The various game modes, customizability of Bomberman and the ability to play both online or offline with friends makes for a package that, at the price, can't be beat.

Next to the countless genre clones in the 360 library, Bully: Scholarship Edition stands at the head of the class, easily earning an A for originality.