Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

In a year when seemingly every new release is a sequel, it’s tough to get excited about some upcoming games. Some sequels fail to capture the magic of their predecessors, while others outshine them. Killzone 3, by Guerrilla Games, is a first-person shooter sequel to the smash 2009 hit Killzone 2. Does it rise to meet the challenge? Or does it belong on the bottom of your already towering sequel pile?

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Publisher: Zen Studios
Developer: Zen Studios

Originally published in June 2010, reprinted for additional content

Those of you who love mini-golf, but suffer from some condition that prevents you from actually playing the game, rejoice! Zen Studios has brought Planet MiniGolf to the Playstation Network.  For only $9.99 (plus tax), you too can avoid enduring summer weather and even the mildest form of exercise.

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Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Media Molecule
Genre: Platformer
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Let’s face it—cuteness is not a selling point for most adult gamers. Especially male gamers, who spend most of their time saving the universe from an alien scourge or cleansing the planet of the zombie infestation. But even the most jaded gaming veteran is bound to find something in developer Media Molecule’s platformer sequel, Little Big Planet 2, that’ll make them smile and give Gordon Freeman or Nathan Drake a break for a few hours.

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Publisher: Chillingo
Developer: Rovio Mobile
Genre: Puzzle
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Like most gamers, I find myself angry about numerous things that I dare not discuss. I will, however, share one fact about myself: nothing in this world enrages me more than when a green pig with a moustache steals my eggs (or me Lucky Charms). Rovio’s Angry Birds strangely shares the same passion about eggs and rage towards pigs as I do, which makes me no longer feel alone in a world I don’t understand at times. With so many different reviews for this game out there, I wanted to step in and give you the take of an angry gamer.

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Publisher: OG International
Developer: Gusto Games
Genre: Sports
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available now

Golf is a difficult game to master, both in real life and in video-game form. Have you ever played EA’s annual Tiger Woods PGA Tour and thought to yourself, “This is good, but I wish there was something crappier.” This might seem like a silly question to ask, but it had to run through the minds of John Daly’s ProStroke Golf’s developer, Gusto Games.

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Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Ninja Theory
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

If you played Namco Bandai’s excellent Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, you’ll recall a rotund fellow named Pigsy whom you met near the end of the campaign. In an effort to spread the love, Namco has given Pigsy his own adventure in the DLC pack Pigsy’s Perfect 10, available for $9.99 at the Playstation Store.

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Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Cavia/AQ Interactive
Genre: RPG
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Most games these days can be neatly slotted into one category or another, with some of them briefly branching out to other genres for variety. But there are some that try to include something for players of all tastes, giving you some platforming here, some shooting there, with other forms liberally mixed in for spice. Such is the case with Nier, a massive Japanese RPG that tosses in almost anything you can dream up, all wrapped inside a fairly cerebral story.

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Publisher: Ignition Entertainment
Developer: Zombie Studios
Genre: FPS
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available Now

By the title alone, you’d think that Blacklight: Tango Down was a Spanish-language dancing game. This could not be further from the truth, and in confidence, I’m relieved by that fact. No, the only “tangos” you engage in this competitive multiplayer shooter are sighting you from a dark corner and using any of a number of weapon combinations and skill-enhancing weapon tags to make your death as personal as they can while playing from halfway across the globe.

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Publisher: O Games
Developer: Milestone
Genre: Racing
ESRB rating: Everyone
Release date: Available Now

What do you suppose happens when a race-car driver needs to scratch his nose during a tense fender-to-fender battle? What about if they sneeze? It’s questions like these that prevent me from ever pursuing a serious career in motor sports (aside from go-karts), because one wrong move can mean “game over” real quick. This hard lesson was brought to me by Superstars V8 Racing, and although I’m thankful for what it has taught me, race fans should weigh their options carefully before they register for this class.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Romania
Genre: Flight Sim
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

I should start off by saying it is impossible for me to play a flight game without spouting Top Gun quotes. Even while I was playing through Landit Bandit, a game about a pedal-powered helicopter, I found myself trying to fly like Maverick. But I will do my best to keep the quotes to a minimum for this review. Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. 2, by Ubisoft, is a flight combat game that features quick and deadly dogfighing. How was the game, you ask? Well, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you.

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Publisher: Team17
Developer: Team17
Genre: Shooter
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now
Review by: Remy Ransom

You can see a trend in the PlayStation Network that almost follows that of Hollywood: taking an old idea and doing what many fanboys call a “reboot.” We saw it with Batman, and it worked well; it most certainly must work well for games. A guilty pleasure here is Bionic Commando, and now Team17 does it’s very own reboot of Alien Breed, its classic game for the Amiga. Alien Breed: Impact is a new chapter for publisher Team17, and based on its success it should have follow-ups almost like those of a comic book.

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Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Ninja Theory
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

The best games, like the best movies or books, take you on a memorable journey with likeable characters to places you’ve never visited. Too often, however, developers spend more time and effort on the journey and not enough on the characters. Heavenly Sword creator Ninja Theory reverses that trend with Enslaved: Odyssey to the West, a game that gives you not just an exciting trip, but also two compelling traveling companions.

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Publisher: The Bearded Ladies Consulting
Developer: The Bearded Ladies Consulting
Genre: Helicopter Sim
ESRB rating: Everyone 10+
Release date: Available now

The Bearded Ladies Consulting is probably not a name you are familiar with. According to their website, they are a video game studio located in Sweden and they currently consist of five ironically beardless guys. They recently released their first game in the form of Landit Bandit for the PlayStation 3. The game features helicopter physics and high-flying taxiing, but is it worth the fare?

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Publisher: Namco Bandai
Developer: Game Republic
Genre: Adventure
ESRB rating: Teen
Release date: Available now

It never fails. A blockbuster action movie comes out, and with it comes a video-game release. Sometimes the movie is good, but the game ends up being terrible. Other times, the movie is bad, and the game is worse. Clash of the Titans, developed by Game Republic and published by Namco Bandai, falls into the latter category.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: Pandemic
Genre: Action
ESRB rating: Mature
Release date: Available now

Hunting Nazis is one of the most popular pastimes for shooter players, going all the way back to Wolfenstein 3D. But most of the time the hunt takes on a mystical, otherworldly quality, with tales of time travel and the occult tossed in for sweetener. Not so with The Saboteur, a gritty, sometimes noirish open-world action game that piles on the reality, at least for the most part.

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