The first-person shooter's great looking, has an engrossing storyline, a perfect balance of action and exploration and a totally customizable combat system that can be described as nothing less than video game rapture.

Lumines II comes out of the gate strong and never lets up in creating a perfect puzzle game, and it comes with our highest recommendation.

Combined with the single player campaign, Call of Duty's online play rounds out a very impressive package, one that throttles the senses and shakes the soul.

The visuals are spectacular and the in-game music and dialogue manage to suck you in even further.

Grand Theft Auto IV lives up to its grand expectations by weaving a Hollywood-ready "American Dream" plotline with a finely-tuned game experience -- taking the tried-and-true GTA formula and plugging it into a living, breathing version of Liberty City.

The production values are incredible, with breathtaking worlds to explore, a huge cast of memorable characters (Wrex is awesome) and hours of missions and side quests to delve into. When it's all over, you'll go through it again and find something exciting and new. Mass Effect sets a new standard for sci-fi gaming.

The first-person shooter's great looking, has an engrossing storyline, a perfect balance of action and exploration and a totally customizable combat system that can be described as nothing less than video game rapture.

The sequel improves greatly on an already superb product with an in-depth training mode, a song list that holds up just as well as the original, and multiplayer that includes cooperative play. Everyone should rock out to Guitar Hero II -- it's one of the best games of 2006.

Gaming bliss, the essential collection for gamers the world over and one of 2007's best deals.

This shooter is so addictive, gorgeous (both visually and aurally) and unrivaled that it demands your immediate attention.

One of the best military shooters to date, with enough realism to make you feel like you're right on the battlefield. The visuals look amazingly life-like, unmatched by other PlayStation 3 efforts. The gameplay feels familiar, and at the same time refreshing and exciting.

Gorgeous, irresistible and a must buy, Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 epitomizes fun.

Whether you get end up drug dealing, causing mayhem, taxiing city passengers around or simply completing the missions, it's likely that your only moment of disappointment will come when you realize how dangerously close you are to finishing the game -- at which point you should note that there are an additional set of missions to be unlocked by tracking down two (very well) hidden Golden Lions after the main storyline ends.

Mass Effect 2 far exceeded our expectations and is without question one of the best games we've played. Use whatever positive description you'd like. System seller, potential game of the year, landmark achievement; just make sure you buy it immediately.

Mass Effect 2 far exceeded our expectations and is without question one of the best games we've played. Use whatever positive description you'd like. System seller, potential game of the year, landmark achievement; just make sure you buy it immediately.

Whoever made this game, did so with tremendous amounts of love. That's what ultimately makes Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story so incredible. It's one of those rare games that received enough time and attention to make it sensational, a real treat for DS/DSi owners.

Super Street Fighter IV's most promising feature is Tournament mode, available as a free downloadable update June 15th. For the first time in the series, players will be able to host four or eight person competitions, either as a participant or the host.

Super Street Fighter IV's most promising feature is Tournament mode, available as a free downloadable update June 15th. For the first time in the series, players will be able to host four or eight person competitions, either as a participant or the host.

One thing is clear: God of War III is phenomenal. It succeeds for a plethora of reasons that go well beyond its beautiful graphics. Unlike the competition, it doesn't take several hours to get going, or burden the player with laborious upgrades.

This is easily one of the finest sport recreations we've seen, as it nails the experience. The online fight camps and Create-a-Fighter modes will keep you busy well through the next several pay-per-view events, and the presentation is second-to-none.

This is easily one of the finest sport recreations we've seen, as it nails the experience. The online fight camps and Create-a-Fighter modes will keep you busy well through the next several pay-per-view events, and the presentation is second-to-none.

An innovative traits and title system, unique social-networking -- like an in-game music system and player-driven Wiki -- and the rich storylines and subplots that stay true to the source material easily make this name-brand role-player a hot contender for PC game of the year.

Thanks to the strong attention to detail, the world of Ivalice feels less like a video game and more like an actual place. Not only are the actions and motivations of the various characters believable, but the characters themselves are often quite memorable to boot.

Company of Heroes should be described as a work of RTS art.

Dated technology aside, Bully's a fresh breath of air in a stagnating game market -- complete with cool art direction, a great soundtrack, a tongue-in-cheek sense of humor and a gameplay mechanic that's new, yet familiar to anyone who's played any of the 'Grand Theft Auto' games.

The visuals are absolutely astounding, like a fine painting brought to life, and the gameplay has touches of sheer genius, including the introduction of the "celestial brush" and an efficient, if simple, combat engine. Okami is one of the best games of the year.

The high system requirements might turn some people off, but something has to power the jaw-dropping graphics and highly detailed environments. The new version of Unreal Tournament has a few things that long time players will need to get used to, but the one thing that hasn't changed is incredibly fast-paced and addictive action.