The A.V. Club's Scores

For 880 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 47% higher than the average critic
  • 3% same as the average critic
  • 50% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 2 points lower than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Game review score: 71
Highest review score:
Critic Score 100
Lowest review score:
Critic Score 0
Score distribution:
880 game reviews
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 91
    This is delicious game design, and a fitting sendoff for a device that forced game-makers to think in unusual ways.
    • Metascore: 89
    • Critic Score 91
    On a deeper level, Dark Souls' audacity at shoving you into an adventure, giving you a colossal world to explore, and forcing you to earn every speck of progress is downright exhilarating.
    • Metascore: 66
    • Critic Score 91
    Sure, it gets a little repetitive, but Rotastic reinvents itself on almost every level, with minimal cognitive reconstruction required.
    • Metascore: 94
    • Critic Score 91
    Arkham City and The Dark Knight (film) have something much more important in common: They're so sublime, they render their predecessors nearly forgettable by comparison.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 91
    It's a soothing respite from GTA's pompous self-seriousness and subtle social commentary, because it never takes itself seriously. Sarcasm aside, SRTT is remarkably adept at balancing Naked Gun-style zaniness with a joyriding celebration of gory headshots, radiant explosions, and consequence-free carjacking.
    • Metascore: 68
    • Critic Score 91
    A rich, frantic, fascinating strategy game that makes Monopoly comparisons feel inadequate.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 91
    The building blocks for an enduring fighter are well-laid.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 91
    The Darkness II's poignant moments are surprisingly touching. It's no mistake that, after hours of tearing flesh and bone, magic is found in a gentle kiss.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 91
    Though there's plenty of blind machine-gun fire in this latest iteration, Twisted Metal operates in close-up, pairing its gleefully senseless violence with some that seems sensible.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    Online games are always a moving target, so take this warm first impression with a grain of salt.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    There's nothing wrong with sweating the details, but hopefully the sequel will focus on the ones that make this game special.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    By movie-to-game standards, King Kong is an instant classic. Just don't hold it to any greater standard.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    By movie-to-game standards, King Kong is an instant classic. Just don't hold it to any greater standard.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 83
    Once you get past the fact that the film's somber gravity will in no way translate to the console, The Godfather: The Game is as good a moral perversion as any.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    Once you get past the fact that the film's somber gravity will in no way translate to the console, The Godfather: The Game is as good a moral perversion as any.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    Legend is a fine continuation of a classic series. Unless it inspires another Tomb Raider movie. In which case it sucks.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    A crisply executed adventure that alternates among third-person shooting, platform-jumping, and environmental puzzles, Legend doesn't excel at any one in particular, but it rotates the elements smoothly and regularly enough that it compensates in variety.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    That level of minutiae separates good games from great ones, but in Tales Of Legendia, much of the detail pops up in the periphery, which enhances the experience more than it affects the gameplay.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Critic Score 83
    Like those children's books that make noise or the shiny gum wrapper you can't stop folding and unfolding, Electroplankton is strangely addictive and impossible to keep your hands off once you've started playing.
    • Metascore: 87
    • Critic Score 83
    The first few minutes of Bully are claustrophobic and off-putting, but as soon as you and Jimmy settle in, the game becomes surprisingly endearing.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    There are only two college basketball games available, EA's or 2K's. The latter costs less and plays better, so the choice is pretty clear.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 83
    There are only two college basketball games available, EA's or 2K's. The latter costs less and plays better, so the choice is pretty clear.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    By movie-to-game standards, King Kong is an instant classic. Just don't hold it to any greater standard.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    A crisply executed adventure that alternates among third-person shooting, platform-jumping, and environmental puzzles, Legend doesn't excel at any one in particular, but it rotates the elements smoothly and regularly enough that it compensates in variety.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    Worth playing for: That fateful moment when you realize falling Tetriminos are emblazoned on the insides of your eyelids. Real gamers play Tetris while they blink.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 83
    Inexpensive and relatively guilt-free (you're expanding your mind!), Brain Academy is at least as fine a way to kill 30 minutes as Everybody Loves Raymond.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 83
    Lovely, well-executed, and extremely polished motorcycles, racing through rather familiar territory.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    A Mallowolf in Goobaa's clothing; killer fun masquerading as a crappy cartoon tie-in.
    • Metascore: 85
    • Critic Score 83
    The save function is a complete disaster, and it's especially bad when you're forced to save without the health and materials to survive from that point on.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Critic Score 83
    Ultimate Alliance may be schlocky and unrefined, but the endless Dream Team combinations of Marvel super and not-so-super heroes prove irresistible.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    Ultimate Alliance may be schlocky and unrefined, but the endless Dream Team combinations of Marvel super and not-so-super heroes prove irresistible.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Critic Score 83
    Ultimate Alliance may be schlocky and unrefined, but the endless Dream Team combinations of Marvel super and not-so-super heroes prove irresistible.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    Ultimate Alliance may be schlocky and unrefined, but the endless Dream Team combinations of Marvel super and not-so-super heroes prove irresistible.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    Ultimate Alliance may be schlocky and unrefined, but the endless Dream Team combinations of Marvel super and not-so-super heroes prove irresistible.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    The "Tug Of War" mini-game on the 360—in which two teams start at the 50-yard-line and alternate possessions—is a good quick-and-dirty alternative to a full game.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    More fun than is probably healthy.
    • Metascore: 89
    • Critic Score 83
    Here's a litmus test: If playing fetch with your virtual dog doesn't move you, the rest of the game probably won't, either.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    A playground of totally '80s excess worth revisiting, especially with such ballsy satirists at the cigarette boat's helm.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    The well-tuned design and the humor behind Eets' concept make it relentlessly delightful.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    Solid gameplay aside, strong characters coupled with occasional whiffs of Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now ultimately help Bad Company transcend its lineage.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    Solid gameplay aside, strong characters coupled with occasional whiffs of Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now ultimately help Bad Company transcend its lineage.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    A simple, addictive game that'll make you cheer when the missiles launch, and give you nightmares when they land.
    • Metascore: 85
    • Critic Score 83
    The switch to 3D is dazzling. The rest of the game, not so much.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    A leap in the right direction for console RTS games.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    More compelling than a glorified Flash game ought to be.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    More compelling than a glorified Flash game ought to be.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    Board-game geeks usually have to go to conventions like GenCon to find a mother lode of enthusiastic opponents. Xbox Live makes these playmates accessible around the clock.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    Beauty can make a lack of substance forgivable, and that's definitely the case here. MLB 2K7 looks so realistic that you may end up looking around your living room for a hot-dog vendor between pitches.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 83
    Beauty can make a lack of substance forgivable, and that's definitely the case here. MLB 2K7 looks so realistic that you may end up looking around your living room for a hot-dog vendor between pitches.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    More of the same, but weird, wicked—and psychotically pretty.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    More of the same, but weird, wicked—and psychotically pretty.
    • Metascore: 91
    • Critic Score 83
    God Of War: Chains Of Olympus comes damn close to recreating the experience of playing an action game on your couch.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    An eerie, enthralling role-playing game that never settles for a cliché.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Critic Score 83
    Exploring Rune Factory's rural village of Kardia is like shaking a snow globe; the town is small but nuanced, perfectly preserved yet dynamic.
    • Metascore: 88
    • Critic Score 83
    The Burnout franchise risks a new direction, and comes one sequel away from perfection.
    • Metascore: 89
    • Critic Score 83
    The game's sprawling, detailed, lively alien worlds are full of secrets and rewarding to explore. The entire affair is dazzling in high definition...(but t)he game's nonstop barrage of quips and one-liners is a bit fatiguing.
    • Metascore: 66
    • Critic Score 83
    If Square Enix polishes the rough edges off this game's novel combat system, Remnant could be the foundation of an excellent series.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    The package is finer than the new game, but even Dark Athena contains darkly glinting gameplay gems.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    A five-letter word used to describe Catherine, Alexander, and Tony the Tiger's favorite cereal.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    It hits all the right notes, but gets no points for style.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    Hot Shots Golf: Out Of Bounds appeals to the stat nerd without sucking every last bit of joy out of the affair.
    • Metascore: 89
    • Critic Score 83
    But Dead Space is a reminder that influence and convention, sharply focused, can become terrifically creepy.
    • Metascore: 88
    • Critic Score 83
    But Dead Space is a reminder that influence and convention, sharply focused, can become terrifically creepy.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    The bright, shiny visuals—now available in 480p—and the slide-whistle sound effects will make depressives choke on their Zoloft doses.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    A literal expression of the phrase, "What you see is what you get."
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    A literal expression of the phrase, "What you see is what you get."
    • Metascore: 85
    • Critic Score 83
    World Tour's primary failure is presentation. The menus lack elegance, and the career mode is a simple progression through the song list. Onscreen displays such as score multipliers are hard to read. Even good efforts, like the unique arena for playing Tool's songs, feel quickly done and clunky.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    World Tour's primary failure is presentation. The menus lack elegance, and the career mode is a simple progression through the song list. Onscreen displays such as score multipliers are hard to read. Even good efforts, like the unique arena for playing Tool's songs, feel quickly done and clunky.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    A solid game saddled with some very bad movies.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    But Dead Space is a reminder that influence and convention, sharply focused, can become terrifically creepy.
    • Metascore: 90
    • Critic Score 83
    Retro Evolved 2 manages to induce both nostalgia and awe, maintaining the series' status as one of gaming's purest pleasures.
    • Metascore: 85
    • Critic Score 83
    Cole is well-drawn, but Empire City is the game’s most compelling character. In spite of some cookie-cutter neighborhoods, the burg has real personality.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Critic Score 83
    A self-esteem booster for your tone-deaf friend, though the introduction of more content should help make it stay fun for everyone else.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    PixelJunk Eden is mesmerizing, visually sumptuous, and insanely frustrating.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    In a medium that needs to bust out of its tried-and-true archetypes, Hatsworth succeeds by thinking inside the box.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    This creative revival of an ancient format proves that zombies aren't the only ones who rise from the dead.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    The city bustles, yet simultaneously feels devoid of life. And the Old Testament-esque do-it-again-until-you-do-it-right gameplay will prevent casual gamers from seeing the final third of the game. That aside, skate 2, like its predecessor, continues to make the genre relevant again.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 83
    A fast, frenzied trip back to the world that Tron forgot.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    Revolutionary.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    It shouldn’t have taken 19 years for Nintendo to dig up this Famicom gem.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    Dissidia is an earnest attempt to translate the strengths of its source material into a new context. It somehow makes the ludicrous notion of a Final Fantasy fighting game seem pretty reasonable.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    A work of art worthy of the refrigerator door.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    Between story-driving sequences in Mexico and Arizona, there are opportunities to saddle up and explore. These open-world breaks are a handsome reward—not fully realized sandboxes, but vast, lovely diversions from the dirty business of unraveling a family tragedy.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    More of the same, but in the best way possible.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    Panau, gorgeous and decorated with snowy peaks, deep jungles, and desert stretches, is the real main character.
    • Metascore: 94
    • Critic Score 83
    In spite of its good looks, Modern Warfare 2 has the slightest whiff of insecurity. It feels like the developers, under pressure to top the original Modern Warfare, engaged in a bit of hand-wringing this time around.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    The bottom line is that Shift is a competent racer with a lot of flashy doodads tacked on. In that respect, it’s actually similar to the cars so heavily featured in games the series is now so eager to forget.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Critic Score 83
    The flesh of Nintendo’s little white box is willing; this game provides some spirit to match.
    • Metascore: 85
    • Critic Score 83
    Allowing players to make the Cobain avatar sing “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down sounds the sourest note in the music-game genre.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    Enjoyable for any level of Rock Band player, but lacking in staying power.
    • Metascore: 87
    • Critic Score 83
    While there are none of the wild moments of genesis—your accidental fader slip is just a mistake, and doesn’t produce an unexpectedly perfect beat—there’s also little sting of failure. You can’t fail; miss every beat cue, on any difficulty level, and the record spins on.
    • Metascore: 88
    • Critic Score 83
    A solid little platformer that’s surprisingly massive in scope. Unlike in the Metroid series, there’s never anything vague about your next objective.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    Those who found UFC 2009: Undisputed (also developed by Yuke’s) a little too complex, or EA’s Fight Night Round 4 too tedious, should put their self-consciousness aside. There’s no shame in playing a wrestling videogame.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    As the game manual expressly states, every button on your controller makes you do the same thing: “splode.”
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    With so much potential for additional vacation destinations down the line, World Adventure seems to beg for expansions of its own. Hopefully these will make exploring a little more of an adventure.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    The underlying complexities of crafting nifty new gear from their bones is the reason to put roots in Monster Hunter Tri’s wooly world.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    Champions Online currently has some pretty ugly bugs, but hopefully as it goes forward, the rough edges will get smoothed, and it will become the great game it has the potential to be.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    Online play isn't essential, but it would be a shame to continue skating in a vacuum.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    If you can forgive the occasional slip of the stylus, though, Wars’ easy-does-it approach makes the game a good way for enthusiasts to share the charms of turn-based combat with novice.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    Too bad the courses are reused so many times-don't be fooled by the time of day-which only lessens the white-knuckle tension so effortlessly created earlier.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    The only weakness is the imprecision implicit to the Wii Remote. The action is forgiving, but after a while having to repeatedly gesture to summon the proper wind power sorta blows.
    • Metascore: 92
    • Critic Score 83
    As a technical spectacle, there's nothing like God Of War III, but while we're meant to truly feel the anguish of Kratos' bloody final battle, Sony hasn't yet trapped a ghost in the machine.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Critic Score 83
    The only major flaw comes in the controls: Lukus tends to wander, or stand still when he shouldn’t, messing up timing in ways that often send him back to square one.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    It's a familiar taste, but it's comforting rather than stale.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 83
    The hauntingly beautiful, eerily desolate scenes of The Whispered World make the knowledge of impending doom all the more chilling.
    • Metascore: 89
    • Critic Score 83
    Cave Story is a largely linear experience, but it's retained the intriguing ease with which it recaptures and improves upon the NES era of side-scrolling exploration.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 83
    But the simple joy of watching your suicidal robot go boom is well worth the $9.99 price tag.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    With its umpteen buttons, it's a foreign object that might ultimately prevent this otherwise terrific game from finding the mainstream audience it so deserves.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 83
    In theory, this no doubt sounds small and predictable. Yet the whole operation miraculously coheres into something far more spirited and compelling. The game's visceral pleasures are what make it cohere.
    • Metascore: 87
    • Critic Score 83
    More than anything, the portable handheld format and open-ended structure ultimately encourages you to do whatever you see fit, whenever, which is infinitely more rewarding than the aforementioned, well-trod routine. Nothing here is filler, though.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 83
    But for a game released to little fanfare, one that's innovative only in an additive sense, Singularity is worth playing for its canny incorporation of the best ideas from the last decade of first-person shooters, and for providing a suitably chilling atmosphere in which to enjoy them.
    • Metascore: 87
    • Critic Score 83
    The game isn't beautiful, but its otherworldly aesthetic is wonderful because it's so muted. Still, the tale and the graphics aren't a reason to play this game. It's worth playing because it's good.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Critic Score 83
    The block-breaking format somehow still has more to offer in this exploration-based RPG, where each section of the outer-space map is its own Arkanoid-type challenge.
    • Metascore: tbd
    • Critic Score 83
    There are free games that scratch the same itch, but few are made with hands as delicate as Jupiter's.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 83
    The game is just as addictive as the original Puzzle Quest, and it's easy to get caught up in the action when there's always another puzzle or fight ahead.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    Some boards are viciously hard, so it's fortunate players have plenty of sub-levels to choose from at any given time.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    Even for those who aren't Scott-aholics or retro-game obsessives, Scott Pilgrim is one of the best downloadable games available on home consoles, worth it simply for the solid play, the incredible sprite work from Paul Robertson and Stéphane Boutin, and the bitchin' soundtrack by Anamanaguchi.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    Madden 11 at least offers a refreshing change of pace, making it a fine point of entry for newcomers and allowing stat-obsessed veterans a chance to peel away some of the layers added over the last few years.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 83
    Filled with countless remember-when moments-as in "Remember when you outran that wave of sand?"-Shattered Dimensions is less literary and artful than Batman: Arkham Asylum, but it's far more fun.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    The real draw here, though, is a sandbox with an infinite supply of moaning army-men to destroy.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Critic Score 83
    But Heroes Of Light transcends these hiccups, and its oversimplified nature, to become a vital portable Final Fantasy title.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 83
    Medal Of Honor favors gritty realism-and some surprisingly moving, quieter moments-over cinematic excess, and it's all the better for the restraint.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    The game isn't tedious, thanks to the variety of the trap-packed dungeons and the ridiculous plot and dialogue.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    Drawbacks aside, adults should consult their doctors about a prescription of Epic Yarn instead of Prozac.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    It succeeds as a game thanks to an impressive thriller plot, a deceptively deep choice array, excellent pacing, and actual logical puzzles.
    • Metascore: 78
    • Critic Score 83
    It is artful, fun, and well-made.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Critic Score 83
    There are enough side missions to keep the main game feeling fresh, and enough darkness for Mickey to overcome, once again showcasing his badass side.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    Control can be an issue. A Wii-mote/nunchuk combo will get you through the game, but waggling the remote isn't an elegant way to aim a sniper rifle.
    • Metascore: 88
    • Critic Score 83
    In a year already crowded with terrific racing sims-Blur and Split/Second-this hybrid of two franchises, this homage and evolution, distinguishes itself nicely.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    It's flat-out ridiculous, designed strictly to amuse, not to offer any greater message.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    The only real disappointment in Bejeweled 3 is that the game takes inspiration from Bejeweled Blitz-PopCap's wildly distracting, socially charged Facebook game-but doesn't include all its online bells and whistles.
    • Metascore: 59
    • Critic Score 83
    Going by mechanics alone, Splatterhouse is solid, though uninspired. But the extra touches help elevate it from passable distraction to entertaining diversion.
    • Metascore: 88
    • Critic Score 83
    The gameplay is too technical and regimented to really replicate the flow of a DJ set, just as Rock Band is too structured to actually feel like playing onstage. Yet mastering the art of whipping the game's crossfader back and forth, especially in the transition between programmed and freestyle segments, is no less satisfying for that limitation.
    • Metascore: 66
    • Critic Score 83
    The dense, self-serious plot will mystify new players, but they'd be hard-pressed to say they didn't have a good time while getting lost.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    It's a moment to be savored by gamers with eclectic taste. Ghost Trick is just one indication that the DS, in its twilight years, is also in its prime.
    • Metascore: 87
    • Critic Score 83
    From hyper-detailed visuals to the superb soundtrack, the game's production values set a new standard for iPhone games.
    • Metascore: 52
    • Critic Score 83
    Spare Parts is a solid platformer if you're playing solo, but it really shines in multiplayer.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 83
    The thrill of infinite possibilities drains when you near the end of the game, but an ever-increasing universe-made possible via App Store updates that add just one new element-means there's plenty of discoveries to be made.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Critic Score 83
    The problem, then, becomes sight-a common iPhone concern-because you're rarely able to catch a glimpse of your opponent's character and the indicators as to what kind of shot is headed your way. But Battle Blasters is still a hell of a lot of fun.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    It's a shame that this engrossing title has a glitchy, unreliable save function, a huge drawback on a device known for constant interruptions. Still, for a marathon gaming session on a long train ride, The Simpsons Arcade is far more "Woo-hoo!" than "D'oh!"
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    The moment-to-moment rewards of Bulletstorm's communal murder are great. Few gaming experiences are more satisfying than using an energy whip to slam-dunk a bullet-riddled patsy whom a teammate has alley-ooped into the air.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    Dragon Age II is a great game, but it could have been better had it kept more of Origins' strong points.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    Once you get past the fact that the film's somber gravity will in no way translate to the console, The Godfather: The Game is as good a moral perversion as any.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    By movie-to-game standards, King Kong is an instant classic. Just don't hold it to any greater standard.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    A crisply executed adventure that alternates among third-person shooting, platform-jumping, and environmental puzzles, Legend doesn't excel at any one in particular, but it rotates the elements smoothly and regularly enough that it compensates in variety.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    There are only two college basketball games available, EA's or 2K's. The latter costs less and plays better, so the choice is pretty clear.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    Ultimate Alliance may be schlocky and unrefined, but the endless Dream Team combinations of Marvel super and not-so-super heroes prove irresistible.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    By movie-to-game standards, King Kong is an instant classic. Just don't hold it to any greater standard.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    If Crysis 2 had more varied setpieces and pushed the bounds of gameplay further from what was established in the original game, it would be spectacular. As is, the jaw-dropping visual presentation overlays sometimes-clever level designs that open multiple options for gamers to put the nanosuit to work without laying out such a clear path that imagination never comes into play.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    Developer Joshua Nuernberger has crafted a smart, thoughtful tale that keeps introducing fascinating new ideas and characters.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    The standout moments make the monotony that much more worth enduring.
    • Metascore: 86
    • Critic Score 83
    More videogame art installation than it is fun. It's enjoyable, but it compels you to win not by skillfully overcoming obstacles, but by simply spending lots of time in its world, which is as lush an ambiance as pixels allow.
    • Metascore: 68
    • Critic Score 83
    Combat is consistently and gratifyingly chaotic, as the objective system organically builds choke points, and maps reward (or require) a good range of classes. Still, the game isn't frustration-free: Bulk, unlike class, can't be adjusted on the fly, escort missions are ludicrous, and the soldier class is underpowered. But a combination of good looks, heavy customization, and frenetic, fluid gameplay gives Brink the edge.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    It's tough to judge Pulse before its universe expands-presumably with future volumes-though from what Pulse brings with Volume One, it appears to be a cohesive rhythmic experience.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    The mechanics of each character are different enough that constructing the ultimate army is a compelling pursuit.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    The mechanics of each character are different enough that constructing the ultimate army is a compelling pursuit.
    • Metascore: 72
    • Critic Score 83
    Dungeon Siege III isn't extraordinary, but is it a highly satisfying way to spend time gaming with a friend or three.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    Proun is gorgeous, with an aesthetic drawn from 20th-century modern art. It's a delight to listen to, with an upbeat, jazzy soundtrack perfectly matching its graphics. But the overall game is a bit lacking.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 83
    The action components are still somewhat forced, but Vertex Dispenser succeeds at engaging the brain on multiple levels.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    There are also more than enough different monsters and items, as well as a clever sense of humor that manifests in unique stat names like "caddishness."
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    Resistance 3 delivers the goods, make no mistake. They just happen to be the goods that gamers already had, dolled up in a shiny new package.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 83
    Fortunately, it isn't pure fan service: It offers a fast-paced, gory start to a promising new franchise.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 83
    It's a shame that Aliens: Infestation peters out by the end. In the push toward the conclusion, the upgraded weapons you've collected lessen the threat, and the thin plot culminates in a boring fight against a big alien queen.
    • Metascore: 70
    • Critic Score 83
    With multiple players on board, the game is at its most colorful, but the puzzles and fights that require co-operation never feel as triumphant as they could have if they were designed so players couldn't complete them alone.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 83
    Its bells and whistles can be off-putting, but otherwise, Might & Magic: Heroes VI demonstrates why it's one of the longest-running series in strategy gaming.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 83
    Like magic, Trine 2 bends to players' will, accommodating solo adventurers and groups alike, with a multitude of solutions for both. Rarely have the cold laws of physics been so bewitching.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 83
    A bit one-note. It's an incredibly interesting note, but still, there isn't much variation as you work your way through all 26 levels.
    • Metascore: 85
    • Critic Score 83
    Blizzard has dominated the market by constantly adding new content to World Of Warcraft, but Old Republic is so story-driven that those regular updates could easily feel tacked-on. Old Republic already has an enthusiastic player base. The real test will be keeping players excited enough to keep their subscriptions going.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    Final Fantasy XIII-2's time-travel plot wallows too much in poorly sketched paradox, but it does offer the opportunity to skip from fantastic world to fantastic world without a care. The greatest benefit is that this outing feels much less linear than its predecessor-players are invited to back away from brick-wall bosses and explore the timeline, gaining strength, gearing up, and chasing new quests at will. The freedom is appreciated.
    • Metascore: 82
    • Critic Score 83
    While Revelation's campaign is a fresh take on familiar tropes, its biggest surprise is Raid Mode, a madcap remixing of elements from the main campaign.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    There's nothing groundbreaking about Reckoning, but fans of The Elder Scrolls will still find a lot to love.
    • Metascore: 74
    • Critic Score 83
    The demanding play, when coupled with a look and feel reminiscent of The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Waker, makes Art Of The Sword into an upbeat, watered-down version of Dark Souls.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 83
    Renegade Kid's game is not forthcoming with answers, but it makes up for its incoherent sense of place with a series of excellent precision-platformer challenges.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 83
    There is a disappointing paucity of extras beyond the main endurance mode. Players of Lumines could face off against a friend or against a murderer's row of computer characters; Electronic Symphony ditches the "versus CPU" option.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 83
    It's just a shame that so much of the sequel feels more like a second playthrough, rather than a new game.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 75
    Not only are the puzzles simple, but they're generally picky and unsatisfying.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 75
    About as good as movie-to-game adaptations get.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Critic Score 75
    About as good as movie-to-game adaptations get.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 75
    Hell in the Pacific for the trigger-happy. V-J Day for the wannabe Nimitz.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Critic Score 75
    Rogue Trooper doesn't approach the inventiveness of a great budget TPS like last year's "Raze's Hell," but it's priced to move.
    • Metascore: 69
    • Critic Score 75
    Rogue Trooper doesn't approach the inventiveness of a great budget TPS like last year's "Raze's Hell," but it's priced to move.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 75
    Sure, you could find a deeper or better-tuned strategy game—but this one has AT-ATs.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 75
    Sadly, the teleportation and wall-walking feel like incidental obstacles: The path through the game is so linear that you never really explore the new experiences, such as staring at the back of your own head through a portal, or stalking up a giant wall while aliens shoot at you from the ceiling.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 75
    The game's A-ticket attractions are the massive, ornate battlegrounds where opponents compete in objective-based clashes. Gorgeous alien landscapes play host to massive turf battles between factions vying for power nodes. These mêlées come stocked with a mind-boggling variety of weapons and vehicles, greatly reducing the rinse, lather, repeat burnout that comes in online shooters with less to do and smaller places to do it.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 75
    The narration is the centerpiece of a misguided effort to keep players from drawing their own conclusions. That’s a disappointment, given the enormous potential here.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 75
    Barely worthy of Woo, but well worth players' time.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 75
    Once you settle into the flow of the game, the creative possibilities expand just as the actual gameplay becomes limiting.
    • Metascore: 59
    • Critic Score 75
    Defending against tricks can be like a clumsy piece of physical comedy. When you aren't paralyzed, you fall flat on your face.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 75
    Sadly, the teleportation and wall-walking feel like incidental obstacles: The path through the game is so linear that you never really explore the new experiences, such as staring at the back of your own head through a portal, or stalking up a giant wall while aliens shoot at you from the ceiling.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 75
    The handwriting and voice recognition are great features, except when they fail; it takes practice to retrain your writing and pronunciation to Brain Age's expectations, and in the meantime, your DS just thinks you're stupid.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 75
    Fourteen years after the first Mortal Kombat hit the arcades, the "fatality" moves are still gaming's best way of saying "In your face!" to a vanquished foe.
    • Metascore: 77
    • Critic Score 75
    Priced to sell, World Cup supplies just enough vicarious excitement to bridge the gap between now and early June.
    • Metascore: 76
    • Critic Score 75
    Even if you aren't an old-school adventure fan, Bone is charming enough to make up for its ease and short length.
    • Metascore: 73
    • Critic Score 75
    Hell in the Pacific for the trigger-happy. V-J Day for the wannabe Nimitz.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 75
    For those with fragile egos who also like jumping rope without the rope, this is a perfect game, as you'll rarely hit the ball out. But hardcore tennis fans should stick with Top Spin 2.
    • Metascore: 80
    • Critic Score 75
    For those with fragile egos who also like jumping rope without the rope, this is a perfect game, as you'll rarely hit the ball out. But hardcore tennis fans should stick with Top Spin 2.
    • Metascore: 87
    • Critic Score 75
    The PS2/Xbox version introduces a new ground-level third-person camera on kicking plays that would be a great option for defense, too.
    • Metascore: 84
    • Critic Score 75
    Warhawk is no "Halo 2," but it's still the most compelling reason to take your PlayStation 3 online.
    • Metascore: 69
    • Critic Score 75
    Talking with the guests is surprisingly engrossing. The dialogue options include an arsenal of cheap compliments and weird factoids, and the responses are often surprising.
    • Metascore: 75
    • Critic Score 75
    Cuteness and destruction? For now, that'll have to be enough.
    • Metascore: 83
    • Critic Score 75
    Throwing cars at people gets old, and so does killing henchmen with a single roundhouse kick. But take the time to boost your agility. The super-high standing jumps and the leaps from skyscraper to skyscraper are the best parts of the game.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 75
    Uno
    Creating Uno for Xbox probably took 1/1000 the man-hours of the average 360 game, but its replay value is considerably greater.
    • Metascore: 59
    • Critic Score 75
    Distractingly frustrating to play, but the mystery will lure you to the end.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 75
    Thin features on the Xbox 360 version aside, the only thing wrong with NHL 07 is that most of the other major sports inherently make for better video games.
    • Metascore: 71
    • Critic Score 75
    Every golf and back-injury enthusiast should give this a try. The controls will aggravate for a while, but with enough practice, they're a non-issue.
    • Metascore: 81
    • Critic Score 75
    Thoroughly flawed, but eminently playable.
    • Metascore: 79
    • Critic Score 75
    Not exactly Chopin's story, and not exactly like any other fantasy role-playing game.
    • Metascore: 63
    • Critic Score 75
    Sweet Sixteen gameplay with a Final Four atmosphere.
    • Metascore: 67
    • Critic Score 75
    Sweet Sixteen gameplay with a Final Four atmosphere.
    • Metascore: tbd
    • Critic Score 75
    The Shivah fits a compelling moral conscience over a tight decision tree, and compared to sillier interactive fiction like "Phoenix Wright" or "Hotel Dusk," its rewards are subtler, and more satisfying.