THQ

CHICAGO – Wrestling games have always been a curious genre. They’ve always treated matches as if they’re actual athletic competitions, where one guy is attempting to beat the other guy within an inch of his life and pin him or make him submit. This is problematic since we all know that a real pro-wrestling match is more akin to a heavily muscled dance number than an actual fight (though they both get colorful outfits) and the excitement of a match - innovative moves, heightened drama, near falls - are all but absent in the “wrestling is real” gameplay model because simply put, the better you are, the shorter and less fun your matches will be, especially against the historically brain-dead AI you find in wrestling games.

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 – “Saints Row The Third” is to “Grand Theft Auto” as “Machete” is to “No Country For Old Men.” They may feature similar themes but one takes the dramatic edge of the other and turns it into B-movie insanity. And I don’t mean that as a criticism. The third game in the surprisingly robust “Saints Row” franchise is a blast. A goofy, wacky, silly, dumb, crazy blast.

CHICAGO – “Red Faction Armageddon” is a stellar game for players who like their action explosive. The last game in this franchise, “Red Faction Guerilla,” was based more on open-ended gameplay with destruction being a key element.

CHICAGO – The video game tie-in for the movie “Rio” should be a total disaster. It has three strikes against it being a movie tie-in, having gameplay aimed primarily at elementary school kids, and the fact that it’s yet another collection of mini-games. So, I’m happy to report that “Rio” isn’t that bad. It’s not going to be any child’s favorite game but it adequately translates the good will they have towards the hit movie into their living room.

CHICAGO – Do you judge a game based on quality or quantity? When players get to the end of the shockingly-brief single-player campaign of “Homefront” (under 4 hours on normal difficulty), they’re likely to think they’re being punked and the fact is that the multi-player is a kid’s wading pool compared to the depth of a title like “Call of Duty: Black Ops.”

CHICAGO – Millions of players remember the worldwide phenomenon that is the witty and cheeky “You Don’t Know Jack” trivia game as a blast from their past.

CHICAGO – Both games based on video games and a large majority of children’s games often have issues with creativity and when the two merge it can result in products that are truly bankrupt artistically. Such is the case with “Megamind: Ultimate Showdown,” a massive disappointment that is so clearly designed to pull dollars from parents of kids who love Dreamworks’ #1 movie “Megamind” but offers nothing to entertain them in return.