IGN

• X360
• 7.5 / 10
• États-Unis

Serious Sam doesn't try to be anything more than a gory, adrenaline-fueled shooting gallery. For many, that is all that is required for a good time. It does get repetitive, though. There are definitely cheap thrills to be had here but don't expect the substance that modern first-person shooters like Half-Life and BioShock offer. If you just want to kill some stuff, Serious Sam will certainly do.

• PS3
• X360
• 7.8 / 10
• États-Unis

MX vs. ATV Reflex is another very solid release from Rainbow Studios, though the franchise hasn't changed a ton in the gameplay department despite some pretty hefty on-paper features. The controls are still great, the track design is at the top of its class and there are enough events here to keep you coming back for ages, not to mention a very solid and capable online component. If you're a fan of offroad racing, this is definitely worth a serious look, though don't go in expecting a completely different racing experience.

• WII
• 5.9 / 10
• États-Unis

Belive it or not, I had fun playing Avatar on Wii. I just can’t be ignorant to the issues at hand. It’s a solid action game, but on the flipside, the storytelling is the pits, the framerate staggers, the co-op two player is sloppy at best… There’s a good game here in Avatar on the Wii, but you’re going to have to deal with a lot of loose ends in order to find it.

• DS
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

WireWayis a game that sounds great on paper and looks pretty good at first glance. The process of flicking your way through a series of levels blindly, however, just doesn't work very well.

• X360
• PS3
• 6.5 / 10
• États-Unis

It doesn’t have the depth of a sim, nor does it engage players fully as a standard arcade styled football game, but Madden NFL Arcade provides some amusing football action in spurts – provided that you’re willing to overlook some shortcomings. The controls could be tighter, the game changers could be harder to acquire and disperse and there could be a season or franchise mode to play. The price would also be a large stumbling block for many people. However, if you’re looking for a diversionary match and aren’t expecting a ton from your cartoonish football, NFL Arcade will have what you’re looking for.

• DS
• 8.9 / 10
• États-Unis

Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is a downright awesome strategy game, pure and simple. The visuals are a beautiful mix of classic Super NES designs while using DS's 2D capabilities to its fullest, the music is captivating and well-produced, and the story is surprisingly rich, filled with characters I actually cared about and plot twists that were well executed. There are some definite areas for improvement, including the removal of some of the game's inherent guess work that comes with learning new units, jumping into battles, or taking out bosses, but the effort you'll put in is greatly rewarded. The game's story mode will take players well over 30 hours, and it's filled with side quests, bounty hunts, puzzle battle challenges, hidden units and artifacts, and some great characters along the way. Leading the pack is the battle mechanic though, and it's the game's crowning achievement to say the least. The five races are well balanced, units are a blast to use, level up, and strategize with, and the core system itself is strong enough to facilitate plenty of expansion in what I hope flourishes into a full-on franchise. You may not care about Might and Magic, or you may love the series to death; it doesn't really matter. Clash of Heroes is an all-new experience built exclusively for the DS, and it's hands-down one of the deepest and most rewarding games on the system. It's a big year for DS, and there are plenty of games you could sink your cash and time into. Just make sure Clash of Heroes is one of them.

• PS3
• X360
• PC
• 6.8 / 10
• États-Unis

Avatar: The Game feels like all of the development effort was put into building out the look of Pandora. In 3D, if your TV or monitor can handle it, the world comes to life. Even in standard HD or SD, the lush jungle is inviting and exciting. Take all of that away and you aren't left with much worth talking about. The gameplay feels like it needs more work. Loose controls, bad melee combat, weak mission design, and a wonky camera dull the experience. Middling storytelling doesn't help matters, and it ultimately fails in matters of motivation. The thrill of the fight just isn't here, and that's a problem for an action game.

• DS
• 7.1 / 10
• États-Unis

• WII
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

• X360
• 7.8 / 10
• États-Unis

Stoked: Big Air Edition is certainly an improvement over what the first Stoked brought to the table. There are two extra mountains, the snowboarding has stepped up its game slightly and the career mode is designed with fun in mind, but that doesn’t stop the overall experience from having a lack of guidance and an overall uninspired flavor. It took Destineer two attempts at Stoked to get the majority of the game right, but even now the finished product, while solid, still isn’t all that awe-inspiring.

• WII
• 6.5 / 10
• États-Unis

• PS3
• 7.9 / 10
• États-Unis

Digger isn't the most original game but it still offers a fun arcade challenge and this is a great retro package. Slick new HD graphics, new multiplayer modes, the classic computer game, and a stylish menu system make this a feast for old school gamers. If retro games aren't your thing or if a Dig Dug clone doesn't sound like a good use of $10 you can probably pass on Digger HD, but if you're going to resurrect a classic this is how to do it.

• SNES
• WII
• 8 / 10
• États-Unis

Indiana Jones fans will really get a charge out of this SNES production from Factor 5. I played the game to death when it came out in 1994, and I have enjoyed coming back to it as the new film casts a shadow over pop culture. Definitely check it out if you are a fan of classic platforming, as it provides a good challenge as well as being a great example of how to make a licensed game.

• WII
• 4.5 / 10
• États-Unis

So, like Valhalla Knights and Valhalla Knights 2 before it, this third installment in XSEED's on-going action/RPG series is a conflicted design. It has some elements that inspire interest, and could be especially appealing to players who value character customization -- the options for creating a custom hero here feel nearly endless. On the other hand, though, there are some extreme presentation faults that make such basic actions as being able to actually see what's happening on the screen an exercise in frustration -- so you could very well have your very own custom hero just the way you want him, and watch him die again and again because you couldn't tell that that slab of grey in front of him was a dead-end wall, since it looked exactly like the slab of grey that you'd just been running on as the ground. Some good, some bad. It all washes out to be somewhere around mediocre. (Just under mediocre, actually. The negatives outweigh the positives in the end, since no game should be so dark and drab that it forces you to have to crank your TV up to brightness level 99.)

• X360
• 6 / 10
• États-Unis

It's too bad the mini-games don't live up to the slick presentation in Encleverment Experiment. These exercises are either too easy to be engaging or they're just not fun (developers please note: math is not fun). While the single-player is a total bore, things do pick up in a multiplayer game. But these are pretty uninspired brain exercises.

• WII
• 9 / 10
• États-Unis

If you're making a purchasing decision about a Mario Kart game and you have a Wii, you now have four different options -- Mario Kart Wii, the most recent release. Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, infamously 7.9'd and playable through the system's backwards-compatibility with GameCube discs. Mario Kart 64, also available through Virtual Console download, and, now the original Super Mario Kart. Each one of the four has its own appeal, and you'll find diehard supporters that claim each one of them is the best in the series. (Well, maybe not so many for Double Dash.) Where each of the N64, Cube and Wii installments of the series have focused on multiplayer, more characters and more crazy items, though, this SNES original keeps things simpler -- emphasizing, instead, the actual racing instead of the combat within each race. It's a different take on the same idea, which is interesting since it's the original take on that idea. So stick with the other Kart games if you want the multiplayer chaos, but come on back to this very first racing adventure with Mario and his crew. It's absolutely worth 800 of your Wii Points to re-experience, or to play for the very first time. And though it took a while for Super Mario Kart to finally arrive on VC, now that it's here we should be truly thankful. Year 4's getting started right for the Virtual Console.

• WII
• 7.5 / 10
• États-Unis

• X360
• PS3
• 5 / 10
• États-Unis

The Tony Hawk franchise was in dire need of a reboot, and hopping on the peripheral craze generated by Guitar Hero and Wii Fit wasn't a bad idea. The board itself is solid, which leaves only the execution to blame. Tony Hawk Ride never came together. It straddles an uncomfortable line between casual and hardcore without being satisfying in either respect and it lacks the polish and presentation necessary to cover up the gameplay shortcomings. Kids might have fun hopping around on the board and watching the game play itself on casual mode and the soundtrack is indeed a great one. If you're looking for a realistic skating experience, you'd be better off buying a skateboard and heading outside. This one just doesn't cut it. File this one under "gimmick."