IGN

NBA Live 10, while it certainly has issues that people are going to gripe about, is exactly what the series needed to fire up its dwindling fan base and add new players alike. The gameplay is nicely refined and emulates real basketball with much greater success than past games. I expect NBA Live 11 to really step up and deliver more than this year's game did in terms of modes. Couple some sort of career mode with the smooth gameplay and the next entry in the Live series could steal the crown away from 2K Sports.

Order of War is a good game. Not a great game, but a good one. It doesn't bring anything revolutionary to the table, but it still offers a fun, quick and friendly romp into war-torn Europe. The game does a good job at delivering epic battles that can stretch for several kilometers.

For anyone looking for a World War II flight combat game without the steep learning curve of more complex flight simulators, this could briefly entertain, but don't expect it to stay fresh and interesting for very long.

FIFA 10 perfects the formula laid down when the series made its debut on the current generation and the end result is a game that's one of the most refined, polished and compelling takes on the beautiful game and arguably of any given sport. While this year's improvements might seem slight on paper, each one is perfectly pitched and works together to create an experience that's an improvement on last year's game in every conceivable way.

My review here was mostly negative, largely because there's still many problems in terms of general mechanics that still haven't been ironed out. However, it's still the same old Katamari overall, which is a good thing if you've never played it (or it's been a while), but also bad if you've played every release before it. The bottom line is that Katamari Forever is fun, but we've seen it before.

Minor complaints aside, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 is an immensely satisfying action game. If you enjoy a good challenge it offers plenty of content to keep you happy. Beating the game will take a few days, but mastering the escalating difficulty levels could take weeks, or in my case, many months of enjoyable practice.

There are places where Halo 3: ODST could be improved, but when it comes right down to it, every Halo fan should buy this game. Even if you've lost interest in the franchise over the years or haven't ever given a Halo game a look, you'd do well to grab ODST and a few friends for some of the best multiplayer gaming around, especially with as wonderful an addition as Firefight. The campaign is a tad short, but well-crafted and exciting.

It's a problem that nags throughout Halo 3: ODST. While it celebrates the series' past, providing a fitting send-off to the original trilogy, and makes brave if ultimately futile attempts to push the series forward, it does so on a scale that makes it feel more like an experimental expansion than a full-blown experience. When it delivers, it does so with an excellence unmatched within the genre.

Really, you just wanted to know how good it is, and fortunately I can say that it's very, very good. It's easily one of the best games on the system, blending fantastic presentation and visuals with gameplay that is practically second to none. And then there's the stellar multiplayer which you'll probably be playing until Uncharted 3 ships. No, Uncharted 2 is not perfect, but it's closer than pretty much any other game out there these days.

If Cryptic can adjust the balance of the crafting system, find a more meaningful format for PVP and introduce new content and zones that makes story elements more apparent, the prospects for a player to enjoy the game over the long term will be high. Whether you'll really enjoy the game in the meantime depends on how much you like the character creation and combat systems.