Firaxis Games reinvents a number of core systems in 'Civilization V' for its latest 'Brave New World' expansion pack, giving non-violent players more to do in the later hours of a playthrough.

'Halo: Spartan Assault' is the best Windows 8-exclusive game yet, re-envisioning the beloved first-person shooter series for top-down, twin-stick shooter play.

Harebrained Schemes delivers a Kickstarter-pleasing take on Shadowrun in 'Shadowrun Returns'. More platform than game, the included debut story offers plenty of play along with a promising glimpse at what more we might see.

Overkill Software builds on the great ideas put forward in 2011's 'Payday: The Heist' for a sequel that offers considerably deeper investment and more replay value. Only technical shortcomings hold 'Payday 2' back from greatness.

Ubisoft Toronto delivers a technically impressive action/stealth game in ‘Splinter Cell: Blacklist,’ but fails to tap into the heart of why players still care about these characters.

The latest entry in EA Sports' Madden series celebrates 25 years in style, with new features and revised mechanics elevating 'Madden NFL 25' to 'best one yet' status.

VectorCell stumbles slightly in its remake of Flashback, delivering a capable puzzle-platformer that falls short on combat and struggles to tell its story effectively.

Blizzard's console port of Diablo III improves on the already-strong PC/Mac version of the game with better controls, smartly designed local co-op, and the removal of the hated Auction House.

Pro hockey fans get their annual video game sim fix with EA Canada's NHL 14. Sluggish new fighting controls and performance hiccups mar what is otherwise a solid entry in the series.

Character development is cleverly interwoven with gameplay in Grand Theft Auto V, a key component in what amounts to a series high for Rockstar Games.

5th Cell’s noble attempt to combine the massive DC Comics universe with the imagination-fueled puzzle-solving of the Scribblenauts series falls notably short due to a lack of emphasis in the game on its source material.

Yukes delivers a promising wrestling game in WWE 2K14, but a very well-executed focus on three decades of WrestleMania events is tempered by a very beginner-unfriendly design.

Battlefield 4 stumbles on the uneven terrain of its emotionless campaign, but makes up for that with a stellar multiplayer mode the evolves the series in all the right ways.

Crimson Dragon is an uneven Xbox One launch title, held back primarily by a less-than-stellar technical presentation and an unfortunate focus on microtransactions.

Microsoft's Xbox One represents a massive forward step for the console-maker's gaming technology.

Hello Games delivered a clever take on Joe Danger’s gameplay in the series 2013 iOS debut, and the just-released Joe Danger Infinity builds on that foundation in fun ways.

Double Fine Productions delivers a crowdfunding success story to be proud of in Broken Age: Act I. The game is exactly what fans were promised, but it also offers a meta meditation on the process that birthed it.

Operation Broken Eagle is the first of four planned story add-ons for Dead Rising 3, and it left us wanting. It's more focused on telling a story than it is on giving players a fresh reason to enjoy the open world of Los Perdidos.

The 'Definitive Edition' PlayStation 4 and Xbox One port of Crystal Dynamics' Tomb Raider looks and plays great, but it's still the same game we enjoyed last year.

Young Horses does weird very well in Octodad: Dadliest Catch, turning mundane family activities into riotous, clutter-strewn sideshows.

The Wolf Among Us: Episode Two – Smoke & Mirrors picks up where the series debut left off as Bigby delves into the seedier fringes of Fabletown.

Necrophone Games rises to the challenge of delivering a humor-centric video game in Jazzpunk, a story-driven adventure that compares best with movies like Airplane! and Naked Gun.

Capcom Vancouver's Fallen Angel DLC for Dead Rising 3 improves on some of what was wrong with the first one, but it still suffers from the same unfortunate focus on telling a story no one cares about.

The Sandlot's vision for sandbox action built around shooting giant space bugs (and giant robots and giant UFOs) with giant rockets is realized perfectly in Earth Defense Force 2025.

PopCap Games takes a surprisingly effective first whack at delivering a complex, team-and-class-based multiplayer shooter, but clunky design leaves Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare short of its potential.

Obsidian Entertainment makes magic with Trey Parker and Matt Stone for South Park: The Stick of Truth, which perfectly captures the spirit of the series in a surprisingly traditional turn-based RPG.

The ever-agile indie Vlambeer turns its attention to bullet-hell shoot ‘em ups in Luftrausers, which feels like a cross between Asteroids and Robotron 2084.

Snake is back in Metal Gear Solid: Ground Zeroes, a prologue chapter for The Phantom Pain that establishes Kojima Productions’ new design philosophy for the series.

Blizzard's major overhaul from Diablo III's Loot 2.0 update comes into sharp focus thanks to content in the new Reaper of Souls expansion that builds on the free update's foundational systems shift.

FTL: Faster Than Light - Advanced Edition finds success in taking a great game and making it a whole lot better. Especially that iPad version.

Sigma's 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM is a wide-aperture lens that delivers sharp image resolution. But a high price tag and short zoom makes it a niche lens that's not designed for all.

Moonshot Games' debut, Third Eye Crime, is a mixed success, with a tremendous sense of style and a satisfyingly punishing difficulty tempered by ubiquitous and occasionally misleading in-app purchases.

There is genuine creepiness at the core of Zombie Studios’ Daylight, but the randomly generated elements of the game don’t work well in the context of survival horror.

MachineGames proves itself up to the task of building on one of gaming’s foundational shooters, with a fresh take in Wolfenstein: The New Order that never loses sight of the series roots.