PC

CHICAGO – After playing Life is Strange shortly after its launch, I thought it was the type of game that would make a minor splash then fade relatively quickly into obscurity. The concept was genius, but the execution, particularly in terms of visuals and dialogue, was severely lacking.

CHICAGO – Double Fine Productions delves into the deepest, most repressed parts of the imagination and brings the wonders it finds into our reality. I took a long while to play and review “Broken Age,” the company’s Kickstarter darling, not because it was long or overly difficult, but because I was left thinking about the game constantly once I finished.

CHICAGO – Dontnod Entertainment struck potential conceptual gold with “Life is Strange.” Iterating on Telltale’s point-and-click episodic narrative adventure formula, they’ve crafted a truly intriguing world that begs to be explored through the lens of protagonist Max Caulfield’s eyes.

CHICAGO – The odds are if you own a “Borderlands 2” Season Pass, or are a member of its “Premiere Club” you’re very likely very pleased at the constant stream of high quality content being delivered to your Xbox 360.

CHICAGO – I’ll get right to it. Overall this is one of the best games of 2012. “Darksiders II” has already gotten some very good marks from reviewers and I can’t say I found much to challenge their observations. This is a hugely involving game that offers a massive geography, a whopping 20-hour completion cycle and another few dozen hours for those who want to chase all the side quests.

CHICAGO – Our fourth and final calendar could be your most essential! When is your next addictive video game hitting store shelves? And how can you pre-order it early? Bookmark this page and come back for a regularly updated list of what’s upcoming in the world of video games complete with links to buy them!

CHICAGO – Forget the “Ridge Racer” you thought you knew. “Ridge Racer Unbounded” leaves behind the somewhat simplified gentility that defined its previous look and feel, embracing a high energy approach that offers destroyable environments and a harsher, more competitive edge.

CHICAGO – The genre of video games based on feature films is a notoriously weak one in terms of creativity. There’s often the sense that these are mere marketing tie-ins with no passion or spark behind their development. Like their theatrical counterparts, Pixar video games are often an exception. “Up” had some inspired energy (especially on the Nintendo Wii) and “Toy Story 3” is arguably the best video game based on a kid’s movie. So there’s reason to hope when you open your copy of “Brave: The Video Game,” now available for the PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, and PC. Sadly, that hope dissipates due to uninspired gameplay, mediocre visuals, and thin storytelling. It’s not a total mess but the film’s fans deserved better.

CHICAGO – It’s an amazing time to be a fight game fan. For years, it seemed like the genre was on life support, waiting for someone to unleash the fatality that put it out of its misery. There seemed to be a distinct lack of creativity in the arcade-based form that once gave us titles like “Mortal Kombat” and “Street Fighter,” games so popular that they even spawned movies.

CHICAGO – The highly-anticipated “Mass Effect 3” has been devastating and dividing fans for about a month now while we played through our copy of the title and tried to figure out how to fully capture it in a review. It’s difficult to address a title this complex, this emotional, this epic, and this popular.