IGN

What sucks is that Fracture could've been good. LucasArts and Day 1 Studios have this awesome idea of modifying the terrain to advance through the game, but they never capitalize on it. Creating cover on the fly was neat the few times I needed to use it, but the fact that the terrain deformation is so limited means there's nothing to make this title stand out.

Pure delivers an outrageous, arcadey off-road racing experience with style and slickness. The controls are intuitive, the tracks are pure eye candy and the tricks are so crazy and over-the-top that you’ll find yourself gasping with glee when you land your first Lazy Girl. Although it’s a blast to play, it’s not the deepest game out there, and we found ourselves wishing for just a few more modes, tracks and options to round out the experience.

While King's Bounty has some issues, there's a lot to like about the game. It's a familiar, yet refreshing RPG hybrid. You're going to spend a lot of time with the combat system and that's a good thing because it's simple, intuitive and filled with strategy and depth. The fighting requires players to adapt to the situation, and will constantly keep gamers on their toes.

So Forza 2 has brilliant physics, great customization options, and solid online play. So why isn't it earning greater esteem from IGN? As I said early on, a racing game is about more than just the cars. Much like its predecessor, Forza 2 lacks soul. The only personality you'll find in Forza 2 are the custom skins created by fans.

The franchise does sincerely attempt to give you hundreds of hours for your money and I really enjoyed certain parts of the whole, but the game's mechanics haven't been refined, and the poor graphics and clunky interface are obvious indications of these shortcomings.

Like Pirates! before it, Colonization is brilliant, not just for the way that it successfully captures the fun and feel of one of a classic PC game, but also for the way that it brings that design into a new era. The presentation here is very polished and the design is deeply captivating. T

FIFA 09 returns to the pitch full of swagger, and it does its very best to deliver on EA Sport’s promise of creating the definitive football title. An exacting game on the pitch and an overwhelmingly comprehensive one off of it, it’s still got a number of minor niggles that blight the play.

Tales of Vesperia is a strong anime-style Japanese RPG with a wide- ranging story, compelling characters and an intense real-time battle system that keeps you on your toes. Although it has a somewhat inconsistent visual style and is relatively low on graphical details, the character designs and animations are very good, and there's a ton to explore in the world. The storyline isn't breaking any new ground and begins to unravel somewhat at the end, but there's power here, and the characters will definitely stay with you after the battle ends.

Crysis Warhead is an incredible value, and you'd be hard pressed to find a better shooter on the PC this year. The single- player campaign is tight and superb, and the multiplayer portion delivers something that you can have fun with. I love the intelligent gameplay of Warhead; this isn't a game where you simply react to highly scripted events, but one where you have to think on your feet, and you're rewarded for doing so.

Rock Band 2 improves in several areas over the original. The track list is better, the difficulty has been bumped up, it's more accessible, all previously released DLC works from the get-go, and Battle of the Bands is a brilliant online mode. But there's no getting around the fact that almost nothing was done to the main mode, World Tour. This is still the primary feature of Rock Band and yet it seems to have been neglected. It's hard to notice the newness when there's a big chunk of game that is just the same as it ever was.