Dark Void

Dark Void is one of those games that you'll play, beat and forget ever existed. There's nothing noteworthy here.

Dark Void's hook is that it gives you the chance to be the Rocketeer. You'll get the jetpack early on and be able to leap into the sky to hover over the bad guys or fly around at breakneck speeds. When you're hovering you'll have access to the same two weapons you're allowed to carry when you're on foot, and when you're flying you'll shoot with the unlimited machine guns on your pack. Neither mode is all that spectacular. 

When you're flying you're going to be up against ships that are only programmed to get behind you. You'll start to get shot at from behind, do a 360-loop to get behind that ship, and try to get a few hits in before it falls behind you again. When you're close to a ship you can perform a "skyjacking" and hop onto the aircraft to try and bust in, but the process of doing this is a drawn out, repetitive affair. By the end of the game, I had gotten so sick of taking ships down this way (and getting cheaply killed while doing it) that I found the equally repetitive mission of trying to dogfight them to the ground to be the better alternative because it seemed faster. 

Divinity II: Ego Draconis

Provided you're willing to put up with the blandness of the first few hours of gameplay, Divinity 2 can be an interesting, rewarding experience. There's little here that's really unexpected or surprising, but what's presented in terms of content is executed well enough. The exploration, item drops, and narrative get better, especially once you manage to unlock your Battle Tower and dragon form. Unfortunately, the combat and enemy behaviors remain stilted and awkward the whole way through, and the range of character skills consist entirely of genre standards that fail to generate any real excit...

Global Agenda

In the wake of severe global disaster, the political face of 22nd century earth has changed and player-created factions scheme against each other for power. Traditional full-scale wars a thing of the past, factions must rely on covert agencies, teams of elite special operatives able to seize and defend key facilities. The future of humanity is their battleground, where knowledge is power, technology is a race, and everyone has an agenda.

Global Agenda is a fast-paced action MMO using Unreal Engine 3 set in Earth's near future, a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. The players control the world of Global Agenda, forging alliances with their peers and executing lightning strikes against their enemies. They determine which factions to aid and which to oppose, while the only thing that stands in their way is other agencies.

Wings Of Prey

Wings of Prey is surprisingly attractive both to arcade action junkies and to the hardcore TrackIR crowd. Naturally, in trying to please both camps, the game contains a fair number of compromises and concessions that are sure to cause aggravation at either end of the spectrum, but the flexibility and fidelity of the different flight models allows players of all skill levels to enjoy the game. The fact that the game pulls all this off while still managing to provide lots of historically appropriate content, first rate visuals and an easy path from novice to ace is even more incredible. On the downside, there are some basic functionality problems and an upper limit to the realism that's sure to aggravate hardcore players.

Wings of Prey is a bit of a survey sim, offering up a range of dozens of flyable planes and a few more you can (but won't bother to) purchase. While it's cool to share the sky with B17s, I-16s, Ju87s and Hurricanes, some gamers may be a bit bothered that the campaign is focused on only a narrow range of flyable planes. I'll forego my usual rant about the lack of any Pacific Theater action and instead just complain about the campaign's focus on the Allied side of things. Sure, it's nice to try the Spitfires and Mustangs and Sturmoviks, but eventually you'll start wondering what the War looks like from the cockpits of the 109s and 202s.

The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood

Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood may have a smaller land mass than its last expansion, The Mines of Moria, but it does not lack in playable content. Turbine has managed to create an immersive introduction to this expansion with excellent use of graphics, music and quests. An expansion targeted toward the high-level crowd, this expansion is digital download only and is well worth the $20 price tag. New players will also find this a bargain as the Siege of Mirkwood also includes all previous expansions and content updates.

Mass Effect 2

Games like Mass Effect 2 don't come around often enough. Look at any aspect and you can be sure it's great. It's incredibly personal while still retaining a sense of epic sweeping scale. The combat and mission design are outstanding. The visuals, voice acting, soundtrack, and direction are miles ahead of the competition. Perhaps most impressively, Mass Effect 2 manages to fulfill its incredible ambition while only suffering from very few technical hiccups. The only real caveat I should mention is that some of the revelations and plot twists won't be quite as powerful if you haven't played Ma...

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars

 Chinatown Wars is a mere third of the price for the original Nintendo DS game, making it one of the best gaming values on the App Store considering just how much stuff is packed in here. While I did have a few problems with the control set-ups (the virtual buttons are too small yet still crowd the screen) and menu arrangements, the narrative, mission variety, and production values easily overwhelm those shortcomings. This is 2010’s first must-have iPhone game.