IGN

Ninja Blade isn't necessarily a bad or broken hack-and-slash game. There are a few elements that could use a bit more polish, such as the awkward jumping or the occasional collision detection errors. The whole package is serviceable, even if the majority of the action tends towards the mundane and tedious far too often.

BattleForge seems like a great idea and, in fact, it contains many seeds of greatness within it. The visual style of the world and the tremendous range of creatures and powers are definitely the strengths here. But watching these battles in action will give you an inflated sense of the fun you can have here.

It's a shame that Stormrise had to suffer under so many issues, including inefficient group control and poor unit AI. The Whip Select system was a good idea and the basic premise behind Stormrise's gameplay is appetizing, but the entire project just doesn't come together properly.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena is a difficult game to judge. The first half of the game, Escape from Butcher Bay, certainly shows its age, but is still an innovative game. The sequel, however, comes off as a poor imitation. It's far more frustrating and seems more shooter than anything else. It's not a terrible game for a sequel, but it's inferior to Butcher Bay. If you played the original back in 2004, then there's little reason to pick this game up.

I have nothing against short games, so long as there is proper incentive to play multiple times. Wanted lacks any such incentives. Something as simple as an arcade scoring system or in-depth stats might have been enough to make a second playthrough interesting. Even though the first time through is enjoyable (yes, it's fun at times!), there's a real lack of content. This is best as a rental, since you can beat Wanted in one sitting.

Ceville is a fun, high-quality PC adventure with the additional advantage of being well-acted, well-localized and hilarious. Fans of the point-and-click shouldn't miss it. The story is unique, the dialog is a riot and the mechanics make the game a worthy heir to the legacy of the old-school point-and-click adventure. Players when done with the game are likely to miss the world of Ceville enough to play it again.

Considering the general dullness of the setting and narrative conflict, however, the game gives you little reason to stick around other than to drive up your characters' statistics and learn new attacks.

Grand Ages: Rome is an enjoyable game, but if you've played any of the other city-builders that have come along in the last ten years, you'll quickly grow bored of this one. The pieces are all in place in terms of city structures and jobs, but keeping people satisfied is relatively easy and is repeated in each and every mission to the point of becoming tedious. More variety and more challenge would definitely help to improve the game's appeal, as would a more lively visual style.

Men of War is not for everyone. It's not even for every fan of real-time strategy. The high level of challenge and the more realistic handling of combat goes against many of the current conventions of the real-time strategy genre. Toss in some unreliable pathfinding and a surplus of micromanagement tasks, and even the hardcore crowd might balk at picking this one up.

Peggle is pure happiness distilled into a low-cost digital download. More puzzles and challenges would have been nice, but it's hard to complain about the way this port to the Live Arcade was handled. Peggle may be a casual game at heart, but it can hook you like few other games. Don't let the bright colors turn you off, no matter how hardcore you think you are. This is one that everyone can enjoy.