Fist of the North Star is classic manga/anime property that tells the story of Kenshiro, successor to the lethal martial art “Hokuto Shinken,” which allows wielders of the art to destroy their enemies from the inside-out, in excessively gory and violent fashion. Set in a desertified post-apocalyptic future ruled by violent thugs and powerful war-lords, Kenshiro travels from town to decrepit town in search of shelter and water, while at the same time facing off with lawless thugs who prey on the weak. Naturally, the setting and over-the-top martial arts make for prime action game material. So it is extremely disappointing to know that Fist of the North Star : Ken’s Rage 2 is utterly mediocre at its best, and a tedious chore at its worst.

Bioware recently released its final Mass Effect 3 DLC, The Citadel, which represents the last downloadable content that series fans will see in some time — at least until the company’s new title set in the Mass Effect universe hits store shelves. Commander Shepard’s final adventure, as expected, is both shocking and special. The Citadel is obviously designed to be played before Mass Effect 3′s final mission as much of the dialogue references “one last good run” and “one last night together.” As such, the story and its components, are incredibly sentimental, giving the fans dialogue to satisfy their head cannons.

I never gave Naruto –the anime — a chance. I dismissed it as a Dragon Ball Z knock off for the younger generation. There’s a perverted old man (Jiraiya) who harkens back to Master Roshi. Sasuke’s relationship with Naruto is much like Goku and Vegeta’s. I also noticed that Naruto always seems to be at his lowest point before he realizes his true strength and achieves victory — like Goku. Why watch a rehash of one of my favorite anime when I can watch the “source material?”

Developed as a collaborative effort between Platinum Games and Kojima Productions, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance goes in a direction the Metal Gear series has never gone before: balls-to-the-wall, spectacular action. There are a few minor flaws with the game that detract subtly from the overall experience, which will be discussed later in this review, but overall Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a fantastic and unique action game that reworks established gameplay norms of the action genre to create a refreshing, engaging and extremely fun game.

Cognition: An Erica Reed Story Episode 2: The Wise Monkey, the second in Phoenix Online Studios new adventure game series, improves upon the previous episode in nearly every way. Erica’s new case and the related mysteries make this go around extremely personal for our Psion detective. With a new psychic ability in Erica’s arsenal and great storytelling, the $9.99 The Wise Monkey is one to pick up.

Previous Assassin’s Creed games were a tasty cocktail of action, emotion, mystery, excitement, and relief , but Assassin’s Creed III lost the magic. The story is a bore, combat is sloppy, and the ending is mediocre at best. Ubisoft left the Assassin’s Creed saga open for another installment, so hopefully the next title will return the series to its roots.

Despite a mediocre critical reception, Earth Defense Force (EDF) 2017 managed to attract something of a cult following for its “so bad it’s good” cheesiness when it launched on the Xbox 360 in 2007. Games that are unintentionally or ironically “fun” aren’t typically my thing, yet the game had been recommended to me more than once over the years. Fans would tell me that its dirt-simple gameplay and relative ugliness were all part of its charm — that for all the pretense of being a “next-gen” title, it was arcade action in its purest form.

I ignored all reviews. I disregarded all opinions and stances on Dead Island and went into playing the game with only the glorious and heartfelt trailer that was released months prior to the game’s launch. I revved-up my Xbox 360, waiting to be immersed in emotion and a story-driven experience.

And then the game opens up with the song “Who Do Your Voodoo, Bitch?”

This was only the first of many disappointments that came along in playing Techland’s open-world action RPG zombie thriller, Dead Island: Game of the Year Edition. From uninteresting characters to an uninteresting storyline, the game let me down and made the trailer seem like the utmost case of false advertisement. Let’s delve a bit deeper into this disasterpiece, shall we?

Anarchy Reigns is a modern brawler that could be considered the spiritual successor to Capcom’s Power Stone. Platinum’s title drops 16 default characters (17 if you pre-ordered at Gamestop in order to get the Bayonetta DLC) in a post-apocalyptic warzone where they duke it out on multi-tiered levels; levels that contain poles, cars, barrels, guns, and other weapons that you can use to obliterate enemy combatants.

Devil May Cry defined twitch-based action combat when it was released back in 2001. Devil May Cry told the story of a modern-day demon hunter named Dante, on a mission to defeat the demon king Mundus. By combining swordplay with gunfire and special demon abilities, Dante could slap around enemies near-infinitely, giving players a level of creative control over their combos that truly set the game apart. Devil May Cry was also incredibly responsive, allowing Dante to break off his assault with a dodge or jump to get out harm’s way. The result was a fast and exciting action game that demanded good reflexes as well as enemy pattern recognition. Add a creatively difficult hard mode, and you have a memorable action title that is well worth replaying.