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It's 6:00 a.m. on December 25. Wide-eyed youngsters stir from sleep and race downstairs to open their Christmas loot. They enter the living room only to find Dad poised in […]

Byline: David Kushner Parents have been skeptical of video games. Caught between kids' love of them and their own fears about passive couch-potato play, they've mostly fallen into uneasy acceptance. […]

Of the Xbox 360 launch games, Project Gotham Racing 3 feels arguably the most "next-gen." Building on the core arcade racing gameplay developer Bizarre Creations established with its Xbox prequels, […]

PS2/XB/PSP * LucasArts * November 2005 Targets Acquired: In this massive shooter spanning both the new and old Star Wars trilogies, you'll have the opportunity to blast just about every […]

KATHLEEN: If Dr. Frankenstein made a game, he'd probably patch together something like this self-proclaimed puzzle/platform/driving/actioner. Let's break it down. First, GripShift fails as a platformer: Its twisty, hazard-filled, loop-the-looped […]

XB360 * Activision * November 2005 Targets Acquired: For a young series, Call of Duty already sports a twisted family tree. This Xbox 360 launch title is the direct sequel […]

CHRISTIAN: Frantix is not terribly 2005. It's more of a charming throwback to the late '80s action puzzles that populated the Nintendo Entertainment System-- the kind in which you control […]

XB * VU Games * October 2005 Targets Acquired: On the keyboard-and-mouse side of gaming, few games get bigger praise or more hype than Half-Life 2. The thrilling PC first-person […]

XB * 2K Games * October 2005 Targets Acquired: While other shooters strive for realism, Sam II approaches the genre with a lighter touch. And by lighter touch, we mean […]

CRISPIN: New to this year's Mario Party: hard liquor and keg stands. Well, in my world, anyway. This series needs something extra--a hypnosis tape, head trauma, good old-fashioned beer goggles--to […]

SHOE: 1...2...3...4...5...6...7...8...9...10. OK, I can now calmly write a professional review of this extremely frustrating, poorly programmed mess. This military-themed shooter drops you and your completely useless computer-controlled teammates into […]

JENNIFER: I'm embarrassed to admit how hooked I got on this game. As in last year's version (Bustin' Out, GBA), you directly control a single Sim as he/she eats, sleeps, […]

JOSH: You know a game's gonna rock hard when the menu beeps have been replaced by raging guitar riffs. I didn't just create a new save file; I created a […]

Metal Gear Solid Vs. Splinter Cell They're both cold, calculating superspies, but in the world of solo espionage, there can be only one. So which stealth stud reigns supreme--old-school soldier […]

MARK: Lifting elements from GTA is so rampant these days it's become cliche--carjacking is the new exploding barrel. And yet, in Mercenaries, the borrowed features not only work, but feel […]

JOSH: First the Red Sox win the World Series, then a flock of Arkansas razorbacks flies past my window, now this--a good-bordering-on-great game for the N-Gage. If Betsy Michaels calls […]

SHANE: It's been nearly four years since Game Boy questers last smited an octorock in an original Zelda game (be sure to hunt down 2001's excellent Game Boy Color co-releases […]

KEVIN: There's nothing inherently crap about Asphalt Urban GT...but everyone will forget it ever existed in a year's time (anyone remember GT Advance on the GBA?). Still, with the DS' […]

Resident Evil 4 has lurched into the building, but not in time for us to give it a full review. After some time on the stick, though, a crazy-eyed Mark […]

JENNIFER: The first KOTOR's revolutionary story and solid gameplay made it easy to overlook the game's many minor flaws. But with this sequel, I keep having to remind myself of […]

KEVIN: As the nutters who pay triple figures on eBay for previous games in the series know, there's something about the atmosphere of Suikoden that nothing can compare to. It's […]

But yes, much of Stranger does revolve around shooting one thing or another, which is a good thing since it's the best part of the game. Combat often has the […]

It took some effort to get over the whole prequel paradox thing (as in, if so many cool Force powers existed in the Old Republic, how come we never saw […]

DEMIAN: Lone Wolf will give you a strange appreciation for the hermit crab--though you can climb out of your giant robot and run around on puny human feet, you'll feel […]

KEVIN: Reviewing games based on movies, anime, or breakfast cereals is always a thorny affair--but I'm into the original Fullmetal Alchemist (airing on Cartoon Network), so I feel qualified to […]

BRYAN: Last season's arcadey, tackle-you-so-hard-you'll-come-up-breathing-snot-bubbles footballer proved that publisher EA could squeeze more dollars out of your pigskin-made wallet. And the sequel will again leave you strapped for cash. Like […]

SHANE: Even if you consider Sega's Virtua Fighter 4 the greatest fighting game ever made (and I do), you'll be nonplussed by Virtua Quest. First, throw away any expectations for […]

CRISPIN: Well ain't this a dandy stroke of luck. Before the hoods of our virtual cars have cooled in just-finished games of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, along roars another […]

Platform: PlayStation 2 Publisher: Namco Developer: Monolith Release Date: February 2005 Namco's original Xenosaga was a love-it-or-hate-it experience--its slick production values and Final Fantasy-style gameplay were a hit with RPG […]

Good: Sliding sideways between two trucks at 168 mph Bad: Getting slapped by the hussy riding shotgun when you lose FYI Fanboys: Unlockable Daytona- and Super GT-inspired tracks DEMIAN: Now […]

Because you've already got a sitter. It's right there. It's called a television SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie * PS2 * THQ The simple collection-based gameplay is great for tykes, but […]

Good: Cool new dungeons, weapons, and bosses Bad: FFII's weird experience system MIA: Final Fantasy III SHANE: Call me crazy, but I like my handheld role-playing games to be simple. […]

Good: The kooky but addictive card system Bad: Bad pacing, worse voice acting From the Makers of: Xenosaga, believe it or not KEVIN: Now this is a different experience. Although […]

G. FORD: In a feat that is both remarkable and expected, Nintendo once again delivers a highly impressive update to an N64 classic. Following the lead of Mario Kart: Double […]

BRYAN: The Chinese calendar has it wrong--2004 ain't the year of the monkey, it's the year of the platformer (Sly Cooper 2, Jak 3, etc.). Might as well put Ratchet's […]

When you're ready to take a break from San Andreas' story, there are dozens of minigames to keep you busy. We critique 14 (but there are certainly more where these […]

CRISPIN: Your long-distance girlfriends are giving you grief, crooked cops are cramping your style, and a surface-to-air missile just sheared the wing off your fighter jet. Such is the thug […]

Good: Much of the soundtrack is licensed from the movie Bad: The game's obviously unfinished At Least You Can Beat Up: Fred Durst JUSTIN: If you want a taste of […]

BRYAN: If Goldilocks wandered into the house of the three bears and found a copy of every Jak game, she'd probably call the original too easy and the sequel too […]

Good: Kuon-derful graphics Bad: Dull combat Cliche: Dispatch twisted mutants in a haunted manor JON D: I'd like to order a paternity test for my friend Kuon here. It's got […]

Good: Smashing targets on psychedelic rails Bad: Smashing light fixtures on psychedelic drugs Trippy: Your ghostly video-shadow tracing across the menus ROBERT: After throwing back a few beers with my […]

(ps2/xb) G. FORD: Godzilla's already celebrating his 50th year of scaring poorly dubbed extras and general rampaging, and now the big lug has a new game too. After playing Save […]

KEVIN: Put yourself in the game designer's shoes for a moment. You'd like to make a Japanese-style role-playing game and show those pantywaists over at Square Enix a thing or […]

G. FORD: It's hard not to love a Cinderella story like Alien Hominid. This side-scrolling shoot-em-up--which stars a cute, yellow gun-toting alien--started life as a free Flash game, one good […]