XBLA

CHICAGO – Are you exhausted by the original maps in “Call of Duty: Black Ops”? Have you played them so many times that you literally have them memorized to the point that you can dream about their every twist, turn, and hiding spot?

CHICAGO – There are very few companies as talented at taking retro properties and making them new again as Namco Bandai and they’ve worked wonders again with the excellent “Pac-Man Championship Edition DX,” a totally-addictive variation on the arcade classic that merely proves once more that sometimes downloadable titles can be even more satisfying than some of the most-publicized disc-based games of the season.

CHICAGO – One of the most anticipated games of the next several months has to be EA’s sequel “Dead Space 2,” a title that promises more incredible action and sci-fi scares. To prime audiences for that title, EA has released a DLC prologue to the game called “Dead Space Ignition” that can be purchased or activated with a pre-order of the January title. An odd mini-game, “Ignition” feels only loosely-related to the “Dead Space” universe and a missed opportunity at something that would truly remind players knee-deep in mega-titles of the season like “Fallout: New Vegas” and “Fable III” that there’s another great game coming soon.

CHICAGO – Everything old is new again. It’s fall 2010 and there are millions of gamers playing a new incarnation of “Castlevania” (review here), a reboot of “Medal of Honor” (review coming soon) and yet another variation on another of the most legendary franchises in gaming history in “Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light,” an immensely-enjoyable downloadable title now available on both the Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

CHICAGO – The incredible world of “Red Dead Redemption” gets a bit bigger today with the release of “Legends and Killers Pack,” a downloadable expansion for the multiplayer portion of the game of the year.

Video Game Rating: 3.5/5.0

CHICAGO – “Castlevania: Harmony of Despair” (or “Castlevania HD” for those who like to be overly clever) is not unlike a remixed version of your favorite CD. The creators have taken already-existing elements including graphics, levels, and characters and increased the beats per minute to ridiculous levels in an attempt to turn something you loved before into something you’ll love again.

Video Game Rating: 4.5/5.0

CHICAGO – If you’ve ever played a solitaire matching game online like “Bejeweled Blitz” or “Chuzzle” then you’ll be familiar with the basic structure of D3’s remarkably addictive “Puzzle Quest 2,” now available on Xbox Live Arcade and for the Nintendo DS. And if you’ve ever been addicted to one of those popular solitaire matching games, clear your schedule and tell your friends that you’re going to be busy for a while. This is the best game of its kind in a long time.