IGN

While I adore the Heroes franchise, I feel that Nival played it a little too safe with this one. After seeing them show so a bit of originality in their other titles, this feels too much like development-by-the-numbers. To be sure, more Heroes is never a bad thing, but I wish that this game offered more than just a graphical upgrade of the previous titles.

As frustrating as it was to think how good X-Men: The Official Game could have been on consoles, it's even more so on PC. It has a great license, a strong developer, and a ton of momentum behind it thanks to the imminent release of The Last Stand this week. But for some unexplainable reason, none of these qualities were ever taken advantage of and the PC's superior graphical strengths were never exploited.

While more than a few games leave me wondering what the developer could have done if they'd had more time and resources, SiN Episodes feels like a complete and polished experience that's been mulled over and considered for quite some time. Unfortunately, it often feels like a throwback to an older, streamlined style, where sheer explosiveness reigns over tactical nuance and variety.

Rockstar has made its point. Table Tennis is a lean, straight-to-the-point game that captures the essence of table tennis exceptionally well. It's a super fun, incredibly addictive, surprisingly focused and smartly designed game that's totally worth $39.99. The actual sport has been handled very well. It's meant to be played with a friend or online.

Perhaps ironically, the more you play, the fresher it stays, thanks to unlocking arenas and skills. The RP section can be done in a week, and it's not bad. It's just not as good as a proper RPG, online or otherwise. Where Guild Wars shines is in its competitive play modes, and Factions breathes new life into something that could keep you busy for months to come.

Given how much I liked the first title, more Rise of Nations isn't a bad thing. Fortunately, Rise of Legends improves on the original in a few key areas. First, the introduction of the new unique races and their distinctive abilities and art styles helps give the game a much needed fantasy flavor. The graphics are pleasant to look at and offer a wide range of cool effects and distinct environments. The RTS mechanics take a while to get used to but they're relatively solid and undeniably enjoyable.

After playing the Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon games on the Xbox, it's clear that multiplayer is about a billion times more fun with voice over IP technology. Its absence here is disappointing but nowhere near the letdown of not having more online game modes.

If Auto Assault's mission content had a little more substance, and if its geography had more familiarity, then its conventional MMO level grind template would probably be only a small annoyance. But there's little to mitigate its lower ambitions, and the player ends up with a game that doesn't feel like it's crossed the finish line yet. With its lack of distinctiveness, it becomes the post-apocalypse MMO for everyone... and no one in particular.

Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth succeeds brilliantly in some areas. It makes great use of the source material for one. Given the spectacular failures people have had trying to fit these stories into other media, that's no small accomplishment. Headfirst has also lived up to their name by creating a game that forces a player to accept some realistic responsibility for their character. The sanity system and HUD-less display really encourages you to get into Jack's head.

It doesn't really add any new toys to play with and the few that it does add are pretty much superfluous. The only real addition worth mentioning (beyond just having more missions) is the inclusion of an enemy with a definite personality and agenda. Sure, the military game is still just about pumping out enough soldiers to overwhelm your enemy, but the fact that the enemy is even there at all gives the expansion a focus that was missing from the original game.