Publisher: Telltale Games
Developer: Telltale Games
PC version minimum requirements: Windows XP / Vista (Vista64 unsupported); 2.0 GHz or better processor; 512MB RAM; 64MB DirectX 8.1-compliant video card; DirectX 8.1 sound device; DirectX Version 9.0c or better
Genre: Adventure
Release Date: Available now

Synergy is a wonderful thing. For years it’s been the buzzword of the techno world, with talking heads droning on about how our TVs would one day interact with our toasters and broadcast our breakfasts live across the Web for the entire world to enjoy. While this techno-wizardry is sweetly significant, it’s on the fringes that we find its real benefits. For starters, the ability to download anything on demand has breathed new life into beloved gaming archetypes we thought lost to the ravages of time, and this in turn has led to the evolution of episodic gaming, which the fine artisans at Telltale Games have taken up as their cause. Telltale has worked wonders providing adventure gamers with a new lease on life through their expert handling of beloved series such as Strongbad and the sublime Sam & Max. Now joining their growing stable of prized properties is the celebrated duo Wallace & Gromit in their first of four planned Grand Adventures, Fright of the Bumblebees, another example of Telltale taking familiar characters and building old-school adventure games with nouveau production values around them.

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Publisher: ndWare Pty Ltd.
Developer: Firemint
Genre: Flight Simulation
Release date: Available now
Review by: Chris Micieli

As more and more games are released for the iPod and iPhone, one thing becomes clear: games for the device can either be very detailed, take up much of your time and energy; or they can be very simple. Most would think that the simple games would be on the mundane side, but if you can find the right one, you’ll find yourself selecting it over and over again. Developer FireMint’s Flight Control fits perfectly into this category.

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Publisher: Legacy Interactive
Developer: Paramount Digital Entertainment
Minimum requirements: Windows XP or Vista, 1 GHz processor with an accelerated 3D graphics card, 512 MB RAM, DirectX 9.0c or newer compatible sound card
Genre: Puzzle
Release date: Available now

High School. These words sometimes bring out the best of memories, and at other times they bring out the worst of them. Being the new kid in school can either be either a nightmare or an adventure. Legacy Interactive’s Mean Girls turns new-kid fears into a flashy puzzle game.

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Publisher: Disney Interactive
Developer: Disney Interactive
Genre: Music/Rhythm/Adventure
Release date: Available now

I’m going to launch this review with an earth-shattering revelation. We’re talking Da Vinci Code, faked moon landing, Milli Vanilli levels of conspiracy paranoia. I am utterly convinced that tween rocker Hannah Montana (star of Disney’s “reality show” of the same name) and Miley Cyrus (Achy Breaky’s brat), are one and the same. After all, I’ve never seen them in the same place at the same time. Also (while we’re talking conspiracy theories), I am utterly convinced that my editors have installed a covert Webcam in my home and assigned this game to me just so they could catch me lip-synching with Crowley Corners’ celeb crooner in the hopes that the video of a 36-year-old dude busting out “The Climb” would become the next hot Web sensation.

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Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Developer: 1C Company
Minimum requirements: Windows XP; 2.4 GHz Pentium IV or AMD 3500+ 2.2Ghz; 1 GB RAM; nVidia GF 6800 or ATI Radeon R850XT 256 video card; DirectX-compatible sound card; 3 GB of free hard drive space; DirectX 9.0c
Genre: Turn-Based Strategy
Release date: Available now

Odds are you’ll never see me sit down to play a hex-based strategy game of my own accord, yet I find that as more of them are assigned to me, the more my aversion to them subsides. With that personal aside out of the way, I’ll say that while not ideal, Elven Legacy does further whet my appetite for geometrically based strategy. Maybe these kinds of games aren’t so bad after all…

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Publisher: Midway Games
Developer: Midway Games
Genre: Football
Release Date: Available now
Review by: Mark Turcotte

In a world with only one officially licensed NFL game, our choices are rather slim when it comes to football. With Blitz: The League II, Midway once again brings us their version of the hard-hitting sport, abandoning realism in favor of over-the-top action. This arcade alternative to EA’s Madden series tries to be an NFL simulator, but is this crazy brand of football worth huddling up to play?

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Tigon Studios
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now

There’s an old saying that goes, “borrow widely, steal wisely,” which is very fitting of the action hero in Vin Diesel’s new game, Wheelman. This mission-based driving opus takes its inspiration from two mega-franchises: Burnout and Grand Theft Auto. From Burnout, Wheelman takes a more arcade-like feel with its vehicles, and like GTA it features the freedom of sandbox gameplay. Though a promising formula, the resulting product fails to capitalize upon what made its predecessors so great: their reliance on the things that appeal most to the players. With its attention divided between car and on-foot action, Wheelman comes up short on both.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft Romania
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ryan Asher

The Tom Clancy brand is dominating the ground war with its impressive Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six series, and now it’s looking for air superiority with HAWX. In HAWX, you trade in your MP5 for a seat in the cockpits of some of the nastiest fighter jets in the world. I think you’ll agree that it’s a pretty decent trade once you make the sound barrier your “female dog” for the first time.

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Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment
Developer: Guerrilla Games
Genre: FPS
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

Killzone 2 is one of the most anticipated PS3 games released so far. The “too-bad-it-wasn’t-true” E3 ’05 trailer might’ve been spun a bit too much, but after the smoke cleared, even after the first “real” screenshots were released, the hype machine continued chugging along like some gargantuan generator, hardly scathed. So it’s here now, and I have it. Perhaps I should just break out the Seal of Excellence and get it over with.

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Publisher: Mommy’s Best Games
Developer: Mommy’s Best Games
Genre: Side Scrolling Shooter
Release date: Available now
Review by: Christopher J. Troilo

The age of home gaming was revolutionized by the NES, and most owners had a few staple titles in their collection. If the mood struck you to run-and-gun your way through endless bad guys and aliens, then most likely you were popping in the all-time classic, Contra. While the age of shoot-em-up 8-bit games is long gone, there are still some trying to improve upon their designs and introduce their brand of fun to a new generation of players, which is where Weapon of Choice comes in.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: 7 Studios
Genre: Action
Release Date: Available Now
Reviewer: Christopher J. Troilo

It wouldn’t be a new month without a new minigame compilation being released for the Nintendo Wii. However, this new game has the distinction of being branded with a household name in its title. The Six Flags chain of amusement parks, known for their rides and carnival games, has been converted into a party title for the Wii, aptly named Six Flags Fun Park.

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Publisher: Take 2 Interactive
Developer: Rockstar Games
Genre: Action
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ryan Asher

Niko Bellic’s Liberty City was so good the first time, it only makes sense to double dip and head back. Only this time you’re not reprising your role as the mass-murdering Eastern European immigrant. You’re playing as the pit-bull-like Johnny Klebitz. Johnny is the vice president of the Lost Motorcycle Club, and as the Grand Theft Auto IV expansion pack The Lost and Damned begins, he has just returned to the role of second fiddle with the release of the club’s previously incarcerated president, Billy Grey.

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Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Redwood Shores
Genre: Action
Release date: April 7, 2009
Review by: Michele White

Okay, confession time: I never saw the Godfather movies (despite popular myth, I was too young when they came out), and I’ve avoided them since their release because of a rumor about a horse. That said, the NYC girl in me has always been fascinated with the Italian mob and the books and films describing it, so when I received a surprise package from Electronic Arts containing developer EA Redwood Shores’ new video-game adaptation of The Godfather II, I couldn’t wait to dive into the blood-soaked world of the Corleone family.

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Publisher: TikGames, Creat Studios
Developer: TikGames, Creat Studios
Genre: Puzzle
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

There’s grandma, quietly putting together a jigsaw puzzle by the fireplace, listening to Bing Crosby and yelling single-syllable curses at the fichus plant. Flash forward two generations to Tetris; two lines from the top and all you want is a @#$%! straight piece. I could go on further about color matching, role-playing elements and a host of other complications that can cause unpredicted swearing in the puzzle genre, but I won’t. I’ll just say that Cuboid is a dirty little %#@$ and its simplicity is beautiful.

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Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Longtail Studios
Genre: Adventure
Release date: Available now
Review by: Ed Humphries

True confession time: I’ve never seen an episode of Grey’s Anatomy in my life. My brain boggles at the notion of how the once geeky Patrick Dempsey pushed McSteamy aside to be stud du jour. I guess this makes me the perfect critic to check into the virtual Seattle Grace and review Ubisoft’s licensed game from ABC’s hot property Grey’s Anatomy. There’s no question that the show has grown to be a ratings powerhouse inspiring legions of fans, but does Grey’s Anatomy: The Video Game offer enough entertainment to someone who doesn’t know their McDreamy from their McLovin’?

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