Xbox 360 players get first dibs on the new OP:DR DLC, dropping today on Xbox Live for 400 Microsoft points with PlayStation 3 and PC owners getting it "shortly." The downloadable content includes two new multiplayer modes - the objective-based Blindside and occupation game Supremacy - along with Friendly Skies and Hostile Takeover, two new fire team engagement missions.

Take a look at the trailer for the new content below to see what Overwatch brings to the table.

My favorite among the games listed is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, which probably isn't surprising. What is yours? Anything we didn't review that you would suggest?

Remember, the games listed aren't all recommendations. Instead we're providing this as a quick reference guide to help you decide if a game is a good gift or not.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-person hip-hop shooter
Subject Matter: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand tells the unintentionally(?) amusing tale of rapper 50 Cent as he struggles to reclaim his diamond encrusted skull from a Middle Eastern bad guy. He's assisted by his G Unit hangers on and some laughably outlandish moments.
Value: An adequately long adventure, made seemingly longer by endlessly looping 50 Cent songs. There are much better games to give this holiday season.
Buy it for: someone as a gag. Or a die hard 50 Cent fan fresh from a six month coma.
Read the Full Review

Assassin's Creed II

Price: $59.99
Rating: M
Genre: Free-running platforming adventure game
Subject Matter: Assassinations and conspiracy spent mostly in 15th century Renaissance Italy.
Value: Lots more content than the first game had, probably lasting gamers at least double the time they spent with the first Assassin's Creed.
Buy it for: People who were let down by the first game, people who like history, beautiful scenery, dynamic platforming, solving mysteries and games that might be the Game of the Year.
Read the Full Review

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Price:$59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Action/Adventure
Subject Matter: Join one of comic books' most iconic heroes on an adventure in Gotham City's insane asylum, where The Joker is on the loose.
Value: With character ability customization, bonus challenge maps and tons of riddles courtesy of The Riddler, Arkham Asylum offers at least three playthroughs' worth of fun.
Buy it for: Batman fans and anybody jonesing for a Mark Hamill voice over fix.
Read the full review

The Beatles: Rock Band
Price: The stand-alone game sells for $59.99, the Limited Edition Premium Bundle sell for $249.99, the Rickenbacker 325 Standalone Guitar and the Gretsch Duo Jet Standalone Guitar sells for $99.99.
Rating: Teen
Genre: Rhythm music game
Subject Matter: The Beatles: Rock Band is a musical journey through the history of one of the world's most popular bands.
Value: For those new to the Rock Band phenomenon and fans of The Beatles, this 45-track game is well worth a purchase because this is the only way you'll play The Beatles music in a Rock Band game. If you're not into the band, give this a pass.
Buy it for: huge Beatles fans.
Read the Full Review

Borderlands

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person shooter RPG
Subject Matter: Borderlands targets the loot-hungry region of the brain, offering four classes with which to stalk the planet Pandora, shoot things and level up, acquiring cool guns, sweet armor and totally rad superpowers. As role-playing games go, it's shallow, but offers a constant stream of junk food gaming.
Value: Seeing all that Borderlands has to offer could take hundreds of hours. But the real value comes in the form of being able to play with friends on PlayStation Network or via splitscreen.
Buy it for: the loot glutton with an itchy trigger finger and a history of playing Diablo.
Read the Full Review

Brutal Legend

Price: $59.99 Rating: Mature
Genre: Action Adventure
Subject Matter: Brutal Legend is a heavy metal-themed action game that combines racing, shooting, real-time strategy, and hack and slash into one slightly disjointed mix.
Value: Brutal Legend is a game from Tim Schafer, one of gaming's greatest comedy minds, and the absurd humor carries the game a long way. It's the story of a roadie who gets transported to a heavy metal world where he must raise an army to free the oppressed inhabitants. There's plenty to do, though the odd mix of genres might be too much for some players.
Buy it for: Anyone with a strong affection for heavy metal music or sa twisted sense of humor.
Read the Full Review

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Price: $59.99 to $149.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person military shooter
Subject Matter: Lead a team of elite commandoes in Modern Warfare 2 as they try to prevent a Russian invasion and global thermonuclear war. Then take the action online, going head to head against other well-armed gamers. It's loud, violent and a hell of a lot of fun to play.
Value: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's single-player storyline may be short, but the package more than makes up for it with ample cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Near endless replayability will be stoked with future downloadable content.
Buy it for: the Michael Bay action movie fan who likes his shooters bombastic and nearly devoid of a comprehensible story, one who doesn't shy away from ultra-violent fare.
Read the Full Review

Critter Crunch

Price: $6.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Puzzle
Subject Matter: A puzzle game with bug eating, cute critters and sorta cut, sorta gross tecnicolor yarn.
Value: The good puzzle game mechanic is strong and addictive — add to that beautiful graphics, a lengthy adventure mode and super fun multiplayer and you have a good time. With barf.
Buy it for: Gamers with a strong like of puzzle titles and no fear of cute puke.
Read the Full Review

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Price: $39.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person shooter
Subject Matter: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a Civil War era first-person shooter.
Value: With an engaging story, wide open maps and plenty of mulitplayer options, this game will take up quite a bit of your time.
Buy it for: First-person shooter enthusiasts, fans of the Wild West and Civil War buffs.
Read the Full Review

DJ Hero
Price: $119.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Rhythm
Subject Matter: DJ Hero is a rhythm game featuring a replica DJ turntable so players can mix and scratch to the beat of original music mash-ups.
Value: DJ Hero features upwards fo 100 different DJ-driven mash-ups featuring songs from the 70's on up to present-day hits. Unlike the latest Guitar Hero or Rock Band games, however, it's only good for one or two players, so the party element just isn't there. The innovative turntable-based gameplay makes it a breath of fresh air in the currently band-centric music genre, but it certainly isn't as social.
Buy it for: Fans of eclectic music mixes and lonely Guitar Hero fans.
Read the Full Review

Dragon Age: Origins
Price: $49.99
Rating:Mature
Genre: Roleplaying
Subject Matter: An epic action roleplaying game set in a world besieged by evil inside and out.
Value: Dragon Age: Origins packs more than 100 hours of gameplay into this action RPG, with branching story paths that encourage multiple play throughs in order to experience it all. BioWare designed the game so it can be played by RPG gamers of any skill level, but mature content and strong sexual situations mean you might want to keep it in the high teens.
Buy it for: Anyone who has ever conversationally mentioned hit points.
Read the Full Review

EyePet

Price: £20 game only, £35 with PlayStation Eye (game currently only available in PAL territories)
Rating: E
Genre: Virtual Pet Management
Subject Matter: Using the PlayStation Eye, "directly" interact with a digital pet on your TV screen.
Value: Smaller kids won't mind the game lacks any real direction, they'll be happy to play it every few days just to check on their pet.
Buy it for: Kids who think Tamagotchi is so 20th century.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Broken Steel

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 expansion involving missions with a high-powered fighting force.
Value: High because it extends the level cap to Fallout 3, changes the game's ending and allows the adventure to be played infinitely once the story has "ended"
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans who want to play more; essential for anyone getting any Fallout 3 downloadable content
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Price: $10.00 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: Mature
Genre: Still a post-apocalyptic RPG
Subject Matter: It's Fallout 3 in space!
Value: Mothership Zeta gives the Fallout 3 player an entire spaceship to explore and make their own, some futuristic new weapons, and tacks a good five hours onto the regular campaign, making it a relatively fair value for your money.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 in microcosm, set on a spooky island.
Value: Tons of content, and widely seen as the Fallout 3 downloadable content that best shares the strengths of the base game.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

Fat Princess

Price: $14.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action
Subject Matter: Capture the flag? No, capture the princess. And feed her cake, so she's fat and hard for enemies to cart her off.
Value: Single player weakness aside, the main draw here is multiplayer. That, and cake. Cake's always a draw. Always.
Buy it for: Gamers with a sweet tooth for multiplayer.
Read the Full Review

FIFA Soccer 2010

Price: $49.99
Rating: E
Genre: Round-Ball Football
Subject Matter: The best football game on the market.
Value: Almost endless. There are so many leagues and cups, and such a deep singleplayer experience, that it can be played to death until FIFA 11 is released. And that's before we even get to the 10v10 multiplayer…
Buy it for: Anyone who has even a passing interest in the world game.
Read the Full Review

Fight Night Round 4

Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Boxing
Subject Matter: Boxing
Value: Tons of fighters, good online options and no real competition.
Buy it for: Boxing fans or people looking for a fighting-based game that has longer-lasting fights.
Read the Full Review

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Price: $49.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action
Subject Matter: A arcade-style shooter loosely based on the live-action G.I. Joe movie.
Value: G.I. Joe is a movie tie-in strangely reminiscent of Konami's Contra series. One or two players take control of their favorite Joes from the movie and take on Cobra across multiple levels of run-and-gun action. There are a few unlockables catering to fans of the old cartoon series, but other than that this is strictly a movie-lover's affair.
Buy it for: Really, really big fans of the G.I. Joe live-action movie.
Read the Full Review

Guitar Hero 5

Price: $59.99 for the game, $99.99 with a guitar controller included
Rating: Teen
Genre: Music/Rythym
Subject Matter: It's Guitar Hero. You play a quintet of color-coordinated "notes" as they scroll downscreen to a new selection of music.
Value: Guitar Hero 5 offers a great suite of single and multiplayer modes, the most robust options yet for the series. What it doesn't offer is the series' most attractive soundtrack, despite an 85 song strong line up. Good for the new Guitar Hero gamer, but that money may be better spent on downloadable songs.
Buy it for: for Guitar Hero noobs who have extremely eclectic taste in music.
Read the Full Review

inFamous

Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Open-world action game
Subject Matter:Gritty adventures of an electricity-based super-hero from the makers of the Sly Cooper series.
Value:Designed to be played through twice to explore two distinct moral paths.
Buy it for: Super-hero fans and folks who like Grand-Theft-Auto style open-world games.
Read the Full Review

Katamari Forever

Price: $49.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Planet-building action
Subject Matter: Katamari Forever offers a greatest hits style package of the Katamari Damacy series' more memorable levels. Players will roll the titular sticky katamari over objects, building bigger and bigger piles of stuff to replace the universe's missing stars and planets and ultimately please the King of All Cosmos.
Value: At $49.99, Katamari Forever is the most expensive entry yet, a high price for a game that's largely rehashed content. But the content is vast and offers plenty to play. Sadly, there's no online component to help extend the experience.
Buy it for: the fan of quirky games who somehow missed every other Katamari Damacy game or the kid that longs to make snowballs in the summer time.
Read the Full Review

Killzone 2

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Single-person shooter
Subject Matter: Killzone 2 takes the fight to the Helghast, with an invading force landing on Helghan.
Value: Even though this game landed back in February, you would be remiss if you forgot to check it out. Next to Uncharted 2, this is one of the top games for the Playstation 3. The chunky single-player experience backed by 32-player multiplayer matches makes this a very good deal as well.
Buy it for: Anyone with a Playstation 3 who some how missed this title when it first hit.
Read the Full Review

The King of Fighters XII

Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighting
Subject Matter: SNK Playmore's latest entry in its King of Fighter series is a return to its roots with 2D fighting and hand-drawn graphics.
Value: The game feels largely unfinished — though, the parts which are done should please the hardcore fans.
Buy it for: Die-hard SNK fighting game fans.
Read the Full Review

Madden NFL 10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The only video game licensed by the NFL, covering the current season.
Value: For the first time on the current console generation, Madden earns its must-own status among sports gamers. The fine-tuned action is slightly slower, creating greater big play potential on both sides of the ball.
Buy it for: Any sports gamer who doesn't yet have it. Madden is a no-brainer gift that any sports fan will enjoy.
Read the Full Review

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action RPG
Subject Matter: Tons of Marvel heroes take on tons of Marvel villains
Value: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 may not quite live up to the thrill of the original, but it is a more cohesive package overall, with a storyline ripped from Marvel's Civil War storyline and a good dozen hours of heroic fun for 1-4 players.
Read the Full Review

Marvel VS. Capcom 2

Price: $15.00
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighting
Subject Matter: Marvel characters. Capcom characters. Fighting.
Value: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 contains one of the largest roster in fighting game history, with 56 Marvel and Capcom characters to choose from. The sheer amount of variety plus online multiplayer makes this one downloadable title well worth the price.
Read the Full Review

Mini Ninjas

Price: $49.99
Rating: E
Genre: Juvenile Bush Disguise/Phantom Removal
Subject Matter: Play as one of a band of adorable child ninjas on a quest to kill a bad guy and free the adorable little forest animals.
Value: A somewhat short singleplayer game, but the ability to play as one of several ninjas means there's plenty of replay value.
Buy it for: Anyone. Everyone. Kids will love the straight-forward combat, adults will find there's a great stealth and combat system lurking under the hood.
Read the Full Review

Modern Warfare 2 Combat Controller Camo

Price: $49.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: N/A
Subject Matter: This wireless controller features programmable buttons, better triggers and a Modern Warfare 2 theme.
Value: It's a bit pricey, but if you're a big fan of the game and like the idea of programmable buttons, it's probably worth the $50.
Buy it for: Fans of Modern Warfare 2.
Read the Full Review

Modern Warfare 2 Combat Controller Camo Faceplate

Price: $14.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: N/A
Subject Matter: This faceplate snaps onto your Playstation 3 controller.
Value: For $15 it's not bad, but not a great deal. Consider it a cheaper alternative to buying a new controller.
Buy it for: HUGE fans of Modern Warfare 2.
Read the Full Review

Modern Warfare 2 Combat Wireless Headset

Price: $39.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: N/A
Subject Matter: This wireless headset gives weak lip-service to Modern Warfare 2.
Value: The painful design and static-filled connection makes this a bad deal.
Buy it for: Someone you hate.
Read the Full Review

NCAA Football 10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The tradition and pageantry of college football's 115 teams, plus any schools you might choose to create.
Value: NCAA Football 10 is the deepest simulation of a sport, on and off the field, of any currently available sports title.
Buy it for: Any sports nut with a serious helping of school pride or leftover nostalgia for college days gone by.
Read the Full Review

NBA 2K10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NBA 2K10 celebrates the 10th anniversary of 2K Sports' best-in-class basketball simulation.
Value: NBA 2K10 offers a much more varied set of gameplay modes, both single- and multiplayer, than its challenger NBA Live 10. Its season simulation lacks the aspect of playing in this year's league but is deeper in all other regards. My Player, in which you create and control one player on his journey from prospect to all-star, is tough but a rewarding experience.
Buy it for: Serious basketball fans with some exposure to the sport in real life, either as a player or a devoted fan.
Read the Full Review

NBA Live 10

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NBA Live 10 is EA Sports' current title covering pro basketball's upcoming season.
Value: EA Sports has poured a ton of effort into resurrecting the franchise. New controls enabling you to move players off the ball on offense and defense are easy to learn and a real plus. Dynamic DNA allows you to run your season simulation as if it were taking place among current league events in real life.
Buy it for: Basketball fans who prefer singleplayer sports gaming, want a very accurate league simulation, and an easy-to-comprehend control set.
Read the Full Review

NHL 2K10

Price: $39.99
Rating: Everyone 10+
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NHL 2K10 is 2K Sports' current title covering professional hockey's latest season.
Value: NHL 2K10 is still a runner-up to EA's NHL 10, but it is not without merit. It features the same robust multiplayer package as its NBA cousin. The action's a little arcadey, but it also is the only NHL title with the league's popular outdoor classic venues.
Buy it for: A casual-to-moderate hockey fan who enjoys lots of scoring action.

Read the Full Review

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Realistic military first-person shooter
Subject Matter: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a relatively open-world tactical shooter that has players trying to take the fictional island of Skira from China.
Value: Plagued with problems this shooter doesn't deliver much for the premium price you pay.
Buy it for: hardcore fans of realistic shooters that offer no chance for mistakes or do-overs.
Read the Full Review

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010

Price: $59.99
Rating: E
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: Football title encompassing international and club tournaments, manager modes and online play.
Value: Pro Evo's "Master League", a time-devouring game mode incorporating RPG and strategy elements, is the one area fans remain devoted to this series ahead of its rival, EA Sports' FIFA.
Buy it for: Football fans who like to not only play a good game, but also roll up their sleeves and get lost in a sea of statistics and growth charts.
Read the Full Review

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time
Price: $59.99
Rating: E10+
Genre: Third-person shooter (Ratchet sections); Third-person time-manipulation puzzle-platformer (Clank sections).
Subject Matter: The third PS3 Ratchet is still an action game, but has a stronger than normal narrative, as Ratchet discovers he's not the last of his species, while Clank discovers his origins.
Value: A bombastic single-player campaign full of spectacular cartoon visuals is designed to be replayed, with new content and missions available only after the first play-through is complete.
Buy it for: Jaded Ratchet fans who were waiting for the series to feel special again; fans of cartoon visuals who don't mind their entertainment feeling like a fun all-ages sci-fi adventure.
Read the Full Review

Resident Evil 5

Price: $39.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Survival Horror meets third-person shooter
Subject Matter: The latest iteration in the famed survival horror game ditches a bit of the slow pacing and fear for a bit more of an action feel.
Value: A worthy addition to anyone's library, but perhaps not the sort of game you'll keep around after it's completed.
Buy it for: fans of Resident Evil and those interested in the premise of the franchise but not in the steady pacing of the gameplay.
Read the Full Review

Street Fighter IV

Price: $29.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighter
Subject Matter: The next iteration in the storied and fabulous fighter brings with it a dynamic new look and a death grip on classic mechanics.
Value: Packed with playable characters both old and new and a mechanic that is timeless, the online play and in-room versus mode make this a great deal..
Buy it for: fighting fans, Street Fighter fans.
Read the Full Review

Tekken 6
Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighter
Subject Matter: Once you've mastered the moves of your favorite character, Tekken 6's 3D fights are all about timing and tactics.
Value: With 40 playable characters and a seemingly endless single-player campaign, Tekken 6 is a good deal for fans of the franchise willing to put up with some online issues.
Buy it for: fighting fans, Tekken fans, and maybe as a taste of something different for Street Fighter IV fans.
Read the Full Review

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action adventure third-person shooter.
Subject Matter: A well-crafted story and pithy dialogue is backed by solid third-person shooter action, stunning Himalayan backdrops and a smattering of puzzles to solve and things to climb.
Value: The story-driven campaign will only take up about eight hours of your time, but the plentiful and creative mulitplayer modes are sure to be a lasting time drain.
Buy it for: anyone with a Playstation 3. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is destined to be one of the best games of the year.
Read the Full Review

WET
Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-person acrobatic shooter.
Subject Matter: Rubi Malone is a leather-pants wearing, wall-running, pole-spinning death machine. She can shoot two shotguns while flipping through the air, slide under tables to hamstring and gut with her sword, and regains health by swigging liquor.
Value: The single-player only game has a sizable campaign, fantastic music and troubled controls and camera work. It's sort of a mixed bag.
Buy it for: fans of Kill Bill and fast-paced action noire games.
Read the Full Review

Wolfenstein

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Subject Matter: World War II First-Person Shooter with Occult Tendencies
Value: While Wolfenstein is an excellent first-person shooter from a technical standpoint, the story is a bit far-fetched and the multiplayer is disappointing, especially in the face of games like Modern Warfare 2.
Buy it for: First-person shooter fans looking for a little something different.
Read the Full Review

WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010
Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Pro wrestling
Subject Matter: WWE wrestling, with deep customization options allowing players to create and share their own characters, moves and — the big new addition — storylines.
Value: High value for those who will take advantage of the online play and content creation/sharing.
Buy it for: WWE fans, even those who don't like current WWE programming, since those disgruntled fans can create the WWE of their own liking using the game's deep editors.
Read the Full Review

Pick through the list to decide which games to give and get and leave a comment to point out any you would add that we didn't review.

And don't forget, this is more reference material than it is suggestion. Just because it's on the list doesn't mean we're saying you should get it.

50 Cent: Blood on the Sand

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-person hip-hop shooter
Subject Matter: 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand tells the unintentionally(?) amusing tale of rapper 50 Cent as he struggles to reclaim his diamond encrusted skull from a Middle Eastern bad guy. He's assisted by his G Unit hangers on and some laughably outlandish moments.
Value: An adequately long adventure, made seemingly longer by endlessly looping 50 Cent songs. There are much better games to give this holiday season.
Buy it for: someone as a gag. Or a die hard 50 Cent fan fresh from a six month coma.
Read the Full Review

Axel & Pixel
Price: 800 Microsoft Points ($10)
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Adventure
Subject Matter: A point and click adventure game about a man and his dog escaping a dream world with small doses of action.
Value: Axel & Pixel is a good couple of hours worth of relaxing adventure gaming, with a few action / racing segments tossed in to keep things interesting. It's very simply, extremely easy, and once you are done there isn't much reason to go back through it.
Buy it for: Adventure game fans and older parents, to show them that consoles have something for them too.
Read the Full Review

Assassin's Creed II

Price: $59.99
Rating: M
Genre: Free-running platforming adventure game
Subject Matter: Assassinations and conspiracy spent mostly in 15th century Renaissance Italy.
Value: Lots more content than the first game had, probably lasting gamers at least double the time they spent with the first Assassin's Creed.
Buy it for: People who were let down by the first game, people who like history, beautiful scenery, dynamic platforming, solving mysteries and games that might be the Game of the Year.
Read the Full Review

Batman: Arkham Asylum
Price:$59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Action/Adventure
Subject Matter: Join one of comic books' most iconic heroes on an adventure in Gotham City's insane asylum, where The Joker is on the loose.
Value: With character ability customization, bonus challenge maps and tons of riddles courtesy of The Riddler, Arkham Asylum offers at least three playthroughs' worth of fun.
Buy it for: Batman fans and anybody jonesing for a Mark Hamill voice over fix.
Read the full review

The Beatles: Rock Band
Price: The stand-alone game sells for $59.99, the Limited Edition Premium Bundle sell for $249.99, the Rickenbacker 325 Standalone Guitar and the Gretsch Duo Jet Standalone Guitar sells for $99.99.
Rating: Teen
Genre: Rhythm music game
Subject Matter: The Beatles: Rock Band is a musical journey through the history of one of the world's most popular bands.
Value: For those new to the Rock Band phenomenon and fans of The Beatles, this 45-track game is well worth a purchase because this is the only way you'll play The Beatles music in a Rock Band game. If you're not into the band, give this a pass.
Buy it for: huge Beatles fans.
Read the Full Review

Borderlands

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person shooter RPG
Subject Matter: Borderlands targets the loot-hungry region of the brain, offering four classes with which to stalk the planet Pandora, shoot things and level up, acquiring cool guns, sweet armor and totally rad superpowers. As role-playing games go, it's shallow, but offers a constant stream of junk food gaming.
Value: Seeing all that Borderlands has to offer could take hundreds of hours. But the real value comes in the form of being able to play with friends on Xbox Live or via splitscreen.
Buy it for: the loot glutton with an itchy trigger finger and a history of playing Diablo.
Read the Full Review

Brutal Legend
Price: $59.99 Rating: Mature
Genre: Action Adventure
Subject Matter: Brutal Legend is a heavy metal-themed action game that combines racing, shooting, real-time strategy, and hack and slash into one slightly disjointed mix.
Value: Brutal Legend is a game from Tim Schafer, one of gaming's greatest comedy minds, and the absurd humor carries the game a long way. It's the story of a roadie who gets transported to a heavy metal world where he must raise an army to free the oppressed inhabitants. There's plenty to do, though the odd mix of genres might be too much for some players.
Buy it for: Anyone with a strong affection for heavy metal music or sa twisted sense of humor.
Read the Full Review

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Price: $59.99 to $149.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person military shooter
Subject Matter: Lead a team of elite commandoes in Modern Warfare 2 as they try to prevent a Russian invasion and global thermonuclear war. Then take the action online, going head to head against other well-armed gamers. It's loud, violent and a hell of a lot of fun to play.
Value: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's single-player storyline may be short, but the package more than makes up for it with ample cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes. Near endless replayability will be stoked with future downloadable content.
Buy it for: the Michael Bay action movie fan who likes his shooters bombastic and nearly devoid of a comprehensible story, one who doesn't shy away from ultra-violent fare.
Read the Full Review

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Price: $39.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person shooter
Subject Matter: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a Civil War era first-person shooter.
Value: With an engaging story, wide open maps and plenty of mulitplayer options, this game will take up quite a bit of your time.
Buy it for: First-person shooter enthusiasts, fans of the Wild West and Civil War buffs.
Read the Full Review

DJ Hero
Price: $119.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Rhythm
Subject Matter: DJ Hero is a rhythm game featuring a replica DJ turntable so players can mix and scratch to the beat of original music mash-ups.
Value: DJ Hero features upwards fo 100 different DJ-driven mash-ups featuring songs from the 70's on up to present-day hits. Unlike the latest Guitar Hero or Rock Band games, however, it's only good for one or two players, so the party element just isn't there. The innovative turntable-based gameplay makes it a breath of fresh air in the currently band-centric music genre, but it certainly isn't as social.
Buy it for: Fans of eclectic music mixes and lonely Guitar Hero fans.
Read the Full Review

Dragon Age: Origins
Price: $49.99
Rating:Mature
Genre: Roleplaying
Subject Matter: An epic action roleplaying game set in a world besieged by evil inside and out.
Value: Dragon Age: Origins packs more than 100 hours of gameplay into this action RPG, with branching story paths that encourage multiple play throughs in order to experience it all. BioWare designed the game so it can be played by RPG gamers of any skill level, but mature content and strong sexual situations mean you might want to keep it in the high teens.
Buy it for: Anyone who has ever conversationally mentioned hit points.
Read the Full Review

Fairytale Fights

Price: $59.99
Rating: M
Genre: Action
Subject Matter: A quartet of cutesy fairytale characters set out to regain their fame by beating the beejesus out of other cutesy things.
Value: With two-player cooperative play and a four player battle royal mode, you can really let out you violent side in buckets of cartoony blood.
Buy it for: People who need a healthy way to blow off steam after a bad day at work. Just don't be standing next to them if the game happens to crash and they need an immediate alternative.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Broken Steel

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 expansion involving missions with a high-powered fighting force.
Value: High because it extends the level cap to Fallout 3, changes the game's ending and allows the adventure to be played infinitely once the story has "ended"
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans who want to play more; essential for anyone getting any Fallout 3 downloadable content
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Price: $10.00 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: Mature
Genre: Still a post-apocalyptic RPG
Subject Matter: It's Fallout 3 in space!
Value: Mothership Zeta gives the Fallout 3 player an entire spaceship to explore and make their own, some futuristic new weapons, and tacks a good five hours onto the regular campaign, making it a relatively fair value for your money.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 in microcosm, set on a spooky island.
Value: Tons of content, and widely seen as the Fallout 3 downloadable content that best shares the strengths of the base game.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

FIFA Soccer 2010

Price: $49.99
Rating: E
Genre: Round-Ball Football
Subject Matter: The best football game on the market.
Value: Almost endless. There are so many leagues and cups, and such a deep singleplayer experience, that it can be played to death until FIFA 11 is released. And that's before we even get to the 10v10 multiplayer…
Buy it for: Anyone who has even a passing interest in the world game.
Read the Full Review

Fight Night Round 4

Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Boxing
Subject Matter: Boxing
Value: Tons of fighters, good online options and no real competition.
Buy it for: Boxing fans or people looking for a fighting-based game that has longer-lasting fights.
Read the Full Review

Forza Motorsport 3

Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Driving simulation
Subject Matter: Forza Motorsport 3 takes the driving simulation in a new direction, making it easier than ever to get into a car, upgrade it, tune it and take if for a spin. For more advance driving game fans, there's plenty of hardcore driving simulation to enjoy as well.
Value: Hundreds of cars, dozens of tracks, thousands of upgrade possibilities and an increasing amount of user-generated content available via the game's storefront, all purchased with in-game credits, not real money, make Forza Motorsport 3 a great driving value.
Buy it for: the Xbox 360 owner who likes to go fast.
Read the Full Review

Gears of War 2: Dark Corners

Price: 1200 Microsoft Points (about $15)
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-person tactical shooter
Subject Matter: This downloadable add-on for Gears of War 2 lets players run through The Road to Ruin, a campaign level original cut from the game.
Value: With a new single-player level, seven new multiplayer maps and director's commentary, you can't go wrong for $15.
Buy it for: Owners and fans of the original Gears of War 2.
Read the Full Review

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

Price: $49.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action
Subject Matter: A arcade-style shooter loosely based on the live-action G.I. Joe movie.
Value: G.I. Joe is a movie tie-in strangely reminiscent of Konami's Contra series. One or two players take control of their favorite Joes from the movie and take on Cobra across multiple levels of run-and-gun action. There are a few unlockables catering to fans of the old cartoon series, but other than that this is strictly a movie-lover's affair.
Buy it for: Really, really big fans of the G.I. Joe live-action movie.
Read the Full Review

Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony
Price: $20 if downloaded through Xbox Live Arcade (requires a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV) or $39.95 if purchased as one half of the Grand Theft Auto IV: Episodes From Liberty City disc (GTA IV not required; Episodes disc also includes the similarly-sized first GTA IV expansion, Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned.)
Rating: M
Genre: Open world, third-person shooter.
Subject Matter: Over-the-top modern crime drama set in a fictional New York City.
Value: Offers more content per dollar than just about anything else downloadable on the Xbox 360, a 13-hour-plus campaign, numerous side activities and returning multiplayer challenges similar to what was offered with GTA IV.
Buy it for: People who thought GTA IV was too tame and wished their lead character would be asked to parachute off skyscrapers, steal subway cars (with a helicopter), dance in a nightclub and cross paths with the last two protagonists in the GTA IV saga.
Read the Full Review

Guitar Hero 5

Price: $59.99 for the game, $99.99 with a guitar controller included
Rating: Teen
Genre: Music/Rythym
Subject Matter: It's Guitar Hero. You play a quintet of color-coordinated "notes" as they scroll downscreen to a new selection of music.
Value: Guitar Hero 5 offers a great suite of single and multiplayer modes, the most robust options yet for the series. What it doesn't offer is the series' most attractive soundtrack, despite an 85 song strong line up. Good for the new Guitar Hero gamer, but that money may be better spent on downloadable songs.
Buy it for: for Guitar Hero noobs who have extremely eclectic taste in music.
Read the Full Review

Halo 3: ODST

Price: $59.99
Rating: M
Genre: First-person shooter
Subject Matter: Daytime sci-fi military action interspersed with noir-inspired nighttime sleuthing.
Value: Varies depending on one's Halo experience. A seven-hour campaign and the offline Firefight mode can be played with up to four players and is all-new, but only three of the game's 24 multiplayer maps haven't been sold — and possibly purchased by the prospective ODST consumer — before.
Buy it for: Halo fans who either never bought Halo 3's bonus maps or wouldn't spend $60 of their own for ODST because they did.
Read the Full Review

The King of Fighters XII

Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighting
Subject Matter: SNK Playmore's latest entry in its King of Fighter series is a return to its roots with 2D fighting and hand-drawn graphics.
Value: The game feels largely unfinished — though, the parts which are done should please the hardcore fans.
Buy it for: Die-hard SNK fighting game fans.
Read the Full Review

Left 4 Dead 2

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person horror shooter
Subject Matter: Four Survivors fight their way through a gory zombie apocalypse in the Southeastern United States, decapitating, dismembering and generally destroying every walking dead human in their path. Cooperative multiplayer is at the core of the Left 4 Dead 2 experience.
Value: Left 4 Dead 2 is a multiplayer game with a massive amount of replayability, but requires cooperative gameplay and reliable friends to fully enjoy. There's very little here for the lone, single-player gamer, so make sure that Live subscription is all paid up.
Buy it for: the grown-up Xbox Live Gold subscriber who believes there's no "I" in team and may be disappointed with the body count in Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3 ODST.
Read the Full Review

Lucidity

Price: 800 Points
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Platform/Puzzle
Subject Matter: Little girl Sofi wanders through her dreams, looking for her lost Nana.
Value: While the puzzle gameplay element is average, the art style is superb.
Buy it for: Tim Burton fans.
Read the Full Review

Mad Catz Modern Warfare 2 Throat Communicator

Price: $29.99
Rating: NA
Genre: NA
Subject Matter: This throat communicator is meant to replace the need for a standard Xbox 360 microphone.
Value: The throat communicator does a great job of cutting down on room noise for your friends and feels pretty comfortable. If those things are important to you, you should pick this up.
Buy it for: Modern Warfare 2 enthusiasts, online gamers and friends who play in noisy settings.
Read the Full Review

Madden NFL 10
Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The only video game licensed by the NFL, covering the current season.
Value: For the first time on the current console generation, Madden earns its must-own status among sports gamers. The fine-tuned action is slightly slower, creating greater big play potential on both sides of the ball.
Buy it for: Any sports gamer who doesn't yet have it. Madden is a no-brainer gift that any sports fan will enjoy.
Read the Full Review

Marvel VS. Capcom 2

Price: $15.00
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighting
Subject Matter: Marvel characters. Capcom characters. Fighting.
Value: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 contains one of the largest roster in fighting game history, with 56 Marvel and Capcom characters to choose from. The sheer amount of variety plus online multiplayer makes this one downloadable title well worth the price.
Read the Full Review

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action RPG
Subject Matter: Tons of Marvel heroes take on tons of Marvel villains
Value: Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 may not quite live up to the thrill of the original, but it is a more cohesive package overall, with a storyline ripped from Marvel's Civil War storyline and a good dozen hours of heroic fun for 1-4 players.
Read the Full Review

Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station

Price: $5 (requires a copy of Mass Effect)
Rating: M
Genre: Bonus missions for third-person shooter/role-playing game
Subject Matter: Mass Effect gets a battle simulator to allow goal-based shooting challenges.
Value: High for those looking for something new in the original Mass Effect while awaiting the January sequel; low for people looking for what made the first game popular.
Buy it for: Mass Effect completists, though you'll only be able to buy them download points for this game or give them a small check.
Read the Full Review

Mini Ninjas

Price: $49.99
Rating: E
Genre: Juvenile Bush Disguise/Phantom Removal
Subject Matter: Play as one of a band of adorable child ninjas on a quest to kill a bad guy and free the adorable little forest animals.
Value: A somewhat short singleplayer game, but the ability to play as one of several ninjas means there's plenty of replay value.
Buy it for: Anyone. Everyone. Kids will love the straight-forward combat, adults will find there's a great stealth and combat system lurking under the hood.
Read the Full Review

Modern Warfare 2 Combat Controller Camo

Price: $49.99
Rating: N/A
Genre: N/A
Subject Matter: This wired controller features programmable buttons, better triggers and a Modern Warfare 2 theme.
Value: It's a bit pricey, but if you're a big fan of the game and like the idea of programmable buttons, it's probably worth the $50.
Buy it for: Fans of Modern Warfare 2.
Read the Full Review

NBA 2K10
Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NBA 2K10 celebrates the 10th anniversary of 2K Sports' best-in-class basketball simulation.
Value: NBA 2K10 offers a much more varied set of gameplay modes, both single- and multiplayer, than its challenger NBA Live 10. Its season simulation lacks the aspect of playing in this year's league but is deeper in all other regards. My Player, in which you create and control one player on his journey from prospect to all-star, is tough but a rewarding experience.
Buy it for: Serious basketball fans with some exposure to the sport in real life, either as a player or a devoted fan.
Read the Full Review

NBA Live 10
Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NBA Live 10 is EA Sports' current title covering pro basketball's upcoming season.
Value: EA Sports has poured a ton of effort into resurrecting the franchise. New controls enabling you to move players off the ball on offense and defense are easy to learn and a real plus. Dynamic DNA allows you to run your season simulation as if it were taking place among current league events in real life.
Buy it for: Basketball fans who prefer singleplayer sports gaming, want a very accurate league simulation, and an easy-to-comprehend control set.
Read the Full Review

NCAA Football 10
Price: $59.99
Rating: Everyone
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: The tradition and pageantry of college football's 115 teams, plus any schools you might choose to create.
Value: NCAA Football 10 is the deepest simulation of a sport, on and off the field, of any currently available sports title.
Buy it for: Any sports nut with a serious helping of school pride or leftover nostalgia for college days gone by.
Read the Full Review

NHL 2K10
Price: $39.99
Rating: Everyone 10+
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: NHL 2K10 is 2K Sports' current title covering professional hockey's latest season.
Value: NHL 2K10 is still a runner-up to EA's NHL 10, but it is not without merit. It features the same robust multiplayer package as its NBA cousin. The action's a little arcadey, but it also is the only NHL title with the league's popular outdoor classic venues.
Buy it for: A casual-to-moderate hockey fan who enjoys lots of scoring action.
Read the Full Review

Pro Evolution Soccer 2010

Price: $59.99
Rating: E
Genre: Sports
Subject Matter: Football title encompassing international and club tournaments, manager modes and online play.
Value: Pro Evo's "Master League", a time-devouring game mode incorporating RPG and strategy elements, is the one area fans remain devoted to this series ahead of its rival, EA Sports' FIFA.
Buy it for: Football fans who like to not only play a good game, but also roll up their sleeves and get lost in a sea of statistics and growth charts.
Read the Full Review

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Realistic military first-person shooter
Subject Matter: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a relatively open-world tactical shooter that has players trying to take the fictional island of Skira from China.
Value: Plagued with problems this shooter doesn't deliver much for the premium price you pay.
Buy it for: hardcore fans of realistic shooters that offer no chance for mistakes or do-overs.
Read the Full Review

Resident Evil 5

Price: $39.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Survival Horror meets third-person shooter
Subject Matter: The latest iteration in the famed survival horror game ditches a bit of the slow pacing and fear for a bit more of an action feel.
Value: A worthy addition to anyone's library, but perhaps not the sort of game you'll keep around after it's completed.
Buy it for: fans of Resident Evil and those interested in the premise of the franchise but not in the steady pacing of the gameplay.
Read the Full Review

South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!

Price: 800 Microsoft Points
Rating: Mature
Genre: Tower Defense
Subject Matter: South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! has the South Park kids big towers to fend off enemies that range from gnomes to old people in an 11 mission campaign.
Buy it for: Fans of South Park, fans of tower defense games, and fans of both.
Value: The game features unlockable characters and challenging maps (especially the later levels), co-op and online. There are also unlockable clips from the show.
Read the Full Review

Street Fighter IV

Price: $29.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighter
Subject Matter: The next iteration in the storied and fabulous fighter brings with it a dynamic new look and a death grip on classic mechanics.
Value: Packed with playable characters both old and new and a mechanic that is timeless, the online play and in-room versus mode make this a great deal..
Buy it for: fighting fans, Street Fighter fans.
Read the Full Review

Tekken 6
Price: $59.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Fighter
Subject Matter: Once you've mastered the moves of your favorite character, Tekken 6's 3D fights are all about timing and tactics.
Value: With 40 playable characters and a seemingly endless single-player campaign, Tekken 6 is a good deal for fans of the franchise willing to put up with some online issues.
Buy it for: fighting fans, Tekken fans, and maybe as a taste of something different for Street Fighter IV fans.
Read the Full Review

Trials HD

Price: 1200 Points
Rating: Teen
Genre: Racing/Puzzle
Subject Matter: Trials HD is a twist on motorbike racing: Players must navigate trick courses and tricky in-game physics as fast as they can.
Value: The game features over 50 tracks and seemingly simple, yet deep game play — offering replay value as your skills continue to get better and better. A level editor lets players make their own courses. It's the Excite Bike of the 21st Century.
Buy it for: Those who want more from their racing games than speed.
Read the Full Review

WET
Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Third-person acrobatic shooter.
Subject Matter: Rubi Malone is a leather-pants wearing, wall-running, pole-spinning death machine. She can shoot two shotguns while flipping through the air, slide under tables to hamstring and gut with her sword, and regains health by swigging liquor.
Value: The single-player only game has a sizable campaign, fantastic music and troubled controls and camera work. It's sort of a mixed bag.
Buy it for: fans of Kill Bill and fast-paced action noire games.
Read the Full Review

Wolfenstein

Price: $59.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Subject Matter: World War II First-Person Shooter with Occult Tendencies
Value: While Wolfenstein is an excellent first-person shooter from a technical standpoint, the story is a bit far-fetched and the multiplayer is disappointing, especially in the face of games like Modern Warfare 2.
Buy it for: First-person shooter fans looking for a little something different.
Read the Full Review

WWE Smackdown Vs. Raw 2010
Price: $59.99
Rating: T
Genre: Pro wrestling
Subject Matter: WWE wrestling, with deep customization options allowing players to create and share their own characters, moves and — the big new addition — storylines.
Value: High value for those who will take advantage of the online play and content creation/sharing.
Buy it for: WWE fans, even those who don't like current WWE programming, since those disgruntled fans can create the WWE of their own liking using the game's deep editors.
Read the Full Review

There was a new operating system roll-out and it was completely ignored. The biggest launch in entertainment history included a game on the PC that played like a console title.

But that doesn't mean there weren't games worth picking up for your computer. Here's a run down of a few of those that we reviewed. Which would you suggest?

Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood

Price: $29.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-person shooter
Subject Matter: Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood is a Civil War era first-person shooter.
Value: With an engaging story, wide open maps and plenty of mulitplayer options, this game will take up quite a bit of your time.
Buy it for: First-person shooter enthusiasts, fans of the Wild West and Civil War buffs.
Read the Full Review

Dawn of War II

Price: $40
Rating: T
Genre: The Waging Of Endless War
Subject Matter: Control a handful of Space Marines against the worst the Orcs and Tyranids can throw against you, your men and the Immortal Emperor.
Value: Fairly lengthy singleplayer campaign is bolstered significantly by a handy, and more traditional multiplayer component.
Buy it for: Warhammer fans who wanted Dawn of War to be more intimate, and anyone who likes a bit of RPG in their RTS.
Read the Full Review

Dragon Age: Origins
Price: $39.99
Rating:Mature
Genre: Roleplaying
Subject Matter: An epic action roleplaying game set in a world besieged by evil inside and out.
Value: Dragon Age: Origins packs more than 100 hours of gameplay into this action RPG, with branching story paths that encourage multiple play throughs in order to experience it all. BioWare designed the game so it can be played by RPG gamers of any skill level, but mature content and strong sexual situations mean you might want to keep it in the high teens.
Buy it for: Anyone who has ever conversationally mentioned hit points.
Read the Full Review

Empire: Total War

Price: $40
Rating: T
Genre: 18th-Century Musket Drill
Subject Matter: Take control of a European, American or Indian power of the 18th century and control every aspect of their military machine across both a strategic campaign map and tactical RTS battles.
Value: Even a single campaign play-through will take weeks. And there are dozens of available factions across three continents. It'll last for years.
Buy it for: Anyone who loves strategy, history or the smell of grapeshot in the morning.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Broken Steel

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 expansion involving missions with a high-powered fighting force.
Value: High because it extends the level cap to Fallout 3, changes the game's ending and allows the adventure to be played infinitely once the story has "ended"
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans who want to play more; essential for anyone getting any Fallout 3 downloadable content
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta

Price: $10.00 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: Mature
Genre: Still a post-apocalyptic RPG
Subject Matter: It's Fallout 3 in space!
Value: Mothership Zeta gives the Fallout 3 player an entire spaceship to explore and make their own, some futuristic new weapons, and tacks a good five hours onto the regular campaign, making it a relatively fair value for your money.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

Fallout 3: Point Lookout

Price: $10 (Requires a copy of Fallout 3)
Rating: M
Genre: Post-apocalyptic role-playing game
Subject Matter: Fallout 3 in microcosm, set on a spooky island.
Value: Tons of content, and widely seen as the Fallout 3 downloadable content that best shares the strengths of the base game.
Buy it for: Fallout 3 fans.
Read the Full Review

League of Legends
Price: Free to $30
Rating: Teen
Genre: Real-time strategy
Subject Matter: Once a spin-off of famously fun Warcraft III, League of Legends is a simplified, highly-addictive strategy game of warriors, magic and monsters.
Value: The free-to-play game only charges if you want to pay for upgrades or to lock in your favorite characters. A fantastic deal for what you get.
Buy it for: people who enjoy strategy gaming and fans of games like Warcraft III.
Read the Full Review

Mass Effect: Pinnacle Station

Price: $5 (requires a copy of Mass Effect)
Rating: M
Genre: Bonus missions for third-person shooter/role-playing game
Subject Matter: Mass Effect gets a battle simulator to allow goal-based shooting challenges.
Value: High for those looking for something new in the original Mass Effect while awaiting the January sequel; low for people looking for what made the first game popular.
Buy it for: Mass Effect completists, though you'll only be able to buy them download points for this game or give them a small check.
Read the Full Review

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Price: $39.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: Realistic military first-person shooter
Subject Matter: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a relatively open-world tactical shooter that has players trying to take the fictional island of Skira from China.
Value: Plagued with problems this shooter doesn't deliver much for the premium price you pay.
Buy it for: hardcore fans of realistic shooters that offer no chance for mistakes or do-overs.
Read the Full Review

Torchlight

Price: $19.99
Rating: Teen
Genre: Action RPG
Subject Matter: One of the most blatant Diablo clones ever created.
Value: Torchlight is one of the most blatant Diablo clones ever created, but it's also one of the most capable. There's a main quest with a good 10 hours of gameplay, with multiple side quests, random dungeons, and three different character classes, so the replay value is through the roof. For the price, Torchlight's value is downright amazing.
Buy it for: Diablo fans waiting for Blizzard to get the next installment out
Read the Full Review

Wolfenstein

Price: $49.99
Rating: Mature
Genre: First-Person Shooter
Subject Matter: World War II First-Person Shooter with Occult Tendencies
Value: While Wolfenstein is an excellent first-person shooter from a technical standpoint, the story is a bit far-fetched and the multiplayer is disappointing, especially in the face of games like Modern Warfare 2.
Buy it for: First-person shooter fans looking for a little something different.
Read the Full Review

Zuma's Revenge
Price: $19.95
Rating: E
Genre: Puzzle
Subject Matter: A color-matching, marble-shooting game for people with fast mouse reflexes.
Value: A massive amount of content compared to the original Zuma; the first playthrough of the game's main campaign levels alone lasts more than six hours.
Buy it for: Moms who need a new obsession for their PC; hardcore gamers who want an addictive diversion they wouldn't admit has hooked them.
Read the Full Review

The Skirmish downloadable content pack for Dragon Rising comes out for free on the PC tomorrow, bundled with a title update that will take care of various single and multiplayer issues that players have been complaining about since the game was released. The four new maps - Lumberyard, White Fang, Stomping Grounds, and Force Dispersal - along with the All Round Defence and Uphill Struggle FTE missions will be available for free download for the PC version of the game starting tomorrow.

For console owners, the 5th of November will see the release of a title update for the Xbox 360 version, with the PlayStation 3 title update following shortly after. The Skirmish DLC will be available for both consoles at a later date, running players either 400 Microsoft points or $3.99.

You can check out a full list of the title update fixes for the PC and console versions at the Codemasters community website.

In this first-person shooter sequel you command a squad of marines helping to retake the island of Skira from the Chinese in a near-future teetering on the brink of war.

But no longer in the hands of developers Bohemia Interactive, can Codemaster's Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising prove itself every bit as difficult and fun as the original?

Loved
Damage System: Getting shot in Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising can have a lasting impact on how you play the missions. Besides headshots killing you instantly, you can get tagged in the legs, the chest, the arms, the head. Injuries show up on a little version of your character on the screen, if you don't fix yourself up fast (or have a medic do it) you'll eventually bleed out. And even when you do patch yourself up you still won't be able to run sometimes. The end result? More cautious gameplay, more thinking before you move. Perfect for this type of game.

Sound: I've played my share of first-person and third-person shooters and, next to America's Army 2, this game has some of the best sound effects out there. You'll hear a sniper bullet whine by your ear urging your to drop to the ground and use the report of automatic fire to pin point an enemy and listen for footsteps to alert you to nearby bad guys.

Difficulty: Played on the average setting, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a brutal, unforgiving experience. If you don't pace yourself, using tactics and squad commands, you're going to be shot down in seconds. And those one-shot kills you land can happen to you too, so don't stand in one place for too long.

Realism: From the whine of bullets and full body damage modeling to the relatively open map, which allows for just about any sort of approach you want in a map, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising plays more like a training exercise than it does a run-in-gun shooter.

Hated
Save System: Managing and creating save points in a game can be an art. Too many and players will just trudge through the game, regardless of loss of life, knowing that they can respawn feet from where they dropped. Too few and you have Dragon Rising, which has you play for 30 to 40 minutes, cross vast tracks of terrain, take out multiple units and then die only to do it all over again. The save points improve as you near the end of the game, but the beginning is brutal and unnecessary.

Line of Sight: When a single shot can kill you instantly and save points are stretched between unforgiving distances of objectives and terrain, having a game that can't render an enemy on the horizon doesn't just look bad, it guts the action. In almost every map I played there were enemies who phased in and out of existence as they wavered on the edge of what the game could handle showing me, making sniping a near impossibility.

Brain-Damaged Friendlies: Your squad mates can be life-savers, helping you flank enemies or patching you up after you've taken a shot to the chest. But man can they be stupid. It's shocking how many times my men came to patch me up and then just stood over me with a med kit in hand, watching me die, or refused to mount a vehicle, or walked directly in front of me while I was shooting. Or the one time I had to restart a section of a mission because my squad had commandeered a jeep, drove to the other side of the map with it and then refused to join me at the extraction point. In a game so reliant on squad, this level of artificial intelligence problems is unacceptable.

Plot: Maybe this is a plus for some gamers, but if you're going to bother having a storyline, even a rudimentary one, then invest a little time in creating a story arch, characters with first names, some meaning. Look at Modern Warfare. It was a core shooting experience, but still managed to deliver a evocative and interesting story.

Not So Online: I'd love to be able to tell you what playing on the Playstation Network is like with Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, but I was never able to even connect to the servers. Going online I found a six-page thread about the problem and promises from the developer that they were looking into the issue. Apparently the same problems can be found on the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game, according to the thread.

Buggy: This game could have used a bit more time in the cooker, it also could have used a thorough once-over after it was finished. From spastic animations to clueless friendlies to missions that won't end to missing radio communications, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a mess.

Despite the problems, and there were quite a few, I did love the concept of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising. I think games these days are too forgiving. Gamers, especially "hard core" gamers need some tough love. That means permanent death in massively multiplayer online games, overwhelming odds in strategy titles and one-shot kills in shooters.

Playing through the game was a painful, but fun experience. The bugs and overwhelming problems with the title made the time spent gaming often frustrating, but those times when the game was working properly it sang.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising was developed and published by Codemasters for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on Oct. 6. Retails for $59.99 USD. A copy of the game was given to us by the publisher for reviewing purposes. Played through the single-player campaign, but was unable to join any multiplayer servers over the course of four days.

Confused by our reviews? Read our review FAQ.

Luckily, Sion Lenton — Executive Producer at Codemasters on Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising — was a good sport and let "Professor Glasser" talk his ear off about real-life conflicts between Russia and Japan. You see, his game is loosely based on one of those conflicts with some, uh, minor tweaks.

In Dragon Rising, it's a few years into the future and China's economy is going down the tank. There's an island north of Japan called Skira (topographically based on real life Kiska Island). The island is contested territory between Russia and China because of its large oil reserves. Also, the US Army, acting on behalf of the Russians to "liberate" it from the Chinese.

I think my political science professor would flunk any of his students who couldn't name all of the things wrong with that premise. For one thing, Kiska Island is in Alaska – which is pretty far from any of the Kuril Islands north of Japan that are actually contested territory. For another, those islands are contested territory between Russia and Japan, not China – and I don't even think they have oil; they're just in a really sweet strategic spot. Also, China's economy is going lots of places these days – but none of them look like the tank. And the US acting on behalf of Russia against China? It wouldn't just have to be the future; it'd probably have to be a whole different planet.

Video Games | Operation Flashpoint: DR | Fog of War Featurette

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

I related all of this to Lenton as a roundabout way of asking if Japanese forces would be included in the upcoming downloadable content that Codemasters is planning for Dragon Rising. In real life, the Japan Self-Defense Force couldn't do anything to Russia (or China) unless Japan really did own the islands and Russia (or China) really was moving in on them with armed forces. But, hey, if we're not worried about realism, why wouldn't you want to get Japan in the mix?

Lenton said Japan would deserve more attention than just DLC ("That would really be a whole separate game," he said). However, he was intrigued by the idea of an overarching security dilemma as motivation for stealth gameplay.

Bear with me – I got an A- on my thesis for this. A security dilemma is a situation in which two countries both want the same thing. One can sell out the other to get that thing, which sort of sucks, but usually doesn't lead to war. Or, they can both try to sell each other out to get what they want and that almost always leads to war. Or – what usually happens – they get stuck in a staring contest where neither of them doing anything and so neither of them gets what they want. But nobody goes to war.

This was my roundabout way of asking if there was stealth in the game. After all, if Russian forces claim to shoot down Chinese planes in Russian territory but can't prove it with physical evidence, it's be really hard to convince the whole world that declaring war on China is totally cool. So, it would sort of make sense to have stealth in the game, right?

Lenton seemed to like the idea, but sadly it's not actually part of Operation Flashpoint. That's not to say the developer was totally unaware of international relations. After all, Lenton explained, a lot of work went into figuring out how to explain why US forces were involved in the conflict (*cough* oil *cough*). And the basic message of the game – that war is scary – certainly is a nod toward realism.

But after our little chat, I wonder if Lenton or other war game developers will look into security dilemmas as a basis on which to build a war-torn future to play in. After all, sometimes real-life is scarier that the "what-ifs" video game developers imagine for us.

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is out October 6.

Actually, the explosions in Dragon Rising might not be what you're expecting, based on past war video game experiences. The developers behind the game did research, you see, and concluded that explosions are more about smoke and oily fumes than about fire and debris.

That's not the only streak of realism the game is going for. Check out our preview for some of the other ways Dragon Rising goes for authenticity and keep an eye out later for a rant about the one thing the game doesn't get right when it comes to rendering the reality of war in a console shooter.

There are several ways games can communicate the horrors of war. Watching your squad die or witnessing a nuclear explosion, for example, could make quite an impact. But the method Dragon Rising uses to instill the fear a soldier might feel on the battlefield in players is realism. That is, no heads-up display, no health bar and no way to know where the enemies are until after they start shooting at you.

What Is It?
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is a sequel to 2001 Xbox/PC game Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis. Both games are tactical shooter/war simulators where players take the role of a single soldier that commands a small squad. The idea is that you're playing as a cog in the greater wheel of the military, rather than John Rambo.

What We Saw
I played two multiplayer maps on an Xbox 360 build of the game – one set at night and one set during daytime.

How Far Along Is It?
The game comes out October 6.

What Needs Improvement?
Could Use Some Color: The game takes place on a fictitious island that's two parts Alaska and one part volcano (according to Lenton). I've never been to Alaska, but I'm pretty sure they've got colors up there besides green, orange and gray – and I know the areas around active volcanoes are usually verdant and pretty (if not totally charred by a recent eruption). The terrain in the two levels I played reminded me of this fugly gray sweater my grandma knitted for me. I'm told that there is a lighting bug that may have contributed to the dull visuals – however, I'm not sure if that alone accounts for the lack of color.

Would You Like Fries With That? I don't think ordering an airstrike in a video game has ever been this complicated. In on the daytime mission, I had to call for one as part of completing an objective. This required me to navigate three sub-menus in addition to my normal weapons menu to access the binoculars to point at the thing I wanted struck. Realistic or not, it's tedious. Also, it creates a fatal situation for indecisiveness: imagine being shot while trying to decide between a tight ballistic strike or a carpet artillery strike.

What Should Stay The Same?
The Concept Of Difficulty: There are "difficulty" settings in the game, but they don't do anything to the enemy AI, the layout of the level or the number of health items in the level. Instead, you start losing common video game comforts like the heads-up display, or the compass as you ramp up the difficulty setting. So if knowing is half the battle, you've basically half-lost while playing on Expert. Pretty nifty concept.

Variety In Many Things, If Not Setting: Dragon Rising offers a number of weapons as well as various ways to use them that keep combat interesting. However there's also the added dynamic of having to control your squad and that really keeps you on your toes. For example, all units in your squad have basic field kits that will stop bleeding if they're injured. But they can't actually repair damage to limbs or restore their health gauge. For that, you need a medic – and in the one partial-AI match I played, I had to decide where and when to send the AI medic. This was practically a strategy game in and of itself.

Final Thoughts
There's enough room in video game land for all kinds of war shooter games. I like that Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is trying to stand out from the rest by changing the way you approach war and I'm comfortable not comparing it to Modern Warfare 2. However, I worry that gamers will find themselves comparing the two games anyway — and not favorably.

Skira Island has long been a place of turmoil. Luckily its real-life inspiration, Kiska Island, which was the scene of much strife during World War II. In 1942 the Japanese captured the island, one of the Rat Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, owned by the United States. After staging several bombing runs, the Allies brought in a force of 34,426 troops in 1943, only to discover that the Japanese had evacuated the island under cover of fog without the Allies noticing. Despite encountering no human opposition, booby traps and friendly fire caused close to 200 casualties.

Now the site is a U.S. Historic Landmark. Unfortunately its fictional counterpart hasn't fared nearly as well.

The new screenshots and trailer show off the expansive island of Skira, where the action of Dragon Rising Takes place. Had it not been for the date flash at the very end or this paragraph nestled at the very end of the accompanying press release, I would have missed the delay completely.

"Skira makes for an immense and, with the latest visual pass, a magnificent battlefield; we're exceptionally proud of the build so far," said Sion Lenton, Executive Producer, Codemasters. "Creating this vast island, populated by unscripted AI military forces, is no trivial matter and so, to get this absolutely right, we're now investing additional development time. We'll be working right through the summer to deliver all formats this autumn and create the best possible experience that people will want to enjoy again and again."

Such is the price of perfection. After all, Codemasters never delays a game for quality reasons and then has it turn out bad anyway, right?

I particularly like how the trailer ends with "Think You're Ready?" and then goes on to point out that Codemasters isn't.

Of course it could just be a coincidence...modern warfare is a rather common term, covering all things pertaining to warfare in modern times, and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising does cover both of those bases. Either way, with Modern Warfare 2 not coming out until November and Flashpoint dropping this summer for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, there's no reason the two different styles of modern warfare can't co-exist peacefully.

Codemasters seems to have stripped out the number 2 from the follow-up the 2001's Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis from developer Bohemia Interactive, perhaps in deference to the fans who still believe that the only true sequel could come from the original developer. Hardcore fans are truly curious creatures, because between these new screens and the developer diary we posted yesterday, Dragon Rising looks more than capable of following in the original title's footsteps.