I won’t even buy a game that has no single-player campaign, but I must admit, Twisted Metal would have been just as fun without one. Not that I didn’t enjoy playing through the characters’ stories, it’s just that the split-screen and online options are without hesitation the most genuinely fun multiplayer experiences I’ve had since playing Twisted Metal 2 on the original Playstation.  On the downside, there’s a certain sheen that I have grown to expect in the graphics of major PS3 exclusives, but where Twisted Metal lacks in that extra make-up, it compensates for it in nostalgia. Let’s face it, if you didn’t play a few rounds of Twisted Metal back in the day, you won’t fully appreciate the franchise’s adrenaline-pumping car combat, though you may come close, and it’s never too late to start. If you have or haven’t experienced the totally chaotic, yet deeply strategical competition of a Twisted Metal tournament, get the game and some friends and prepare to wreak havoc, split-screen or online.

I originally tried Miner Warfare with just two players, which is clearly not the way to enjoy this strictly local multiplayer game. A minimum of three is needed, so keep that in mind. Miner Warfare has kind of a Liero feel to it in the sense that you have to dig out much of the level before the real gunplay can start. Being a “miner” game, though, the main objective here is to collect gold. Killing your opponents is extra. The different guns are fun to use and pack a satisfying punch, but the problem is you don’t start with a gun. Your initial “weapon” is a pickaxe, and digging through the dirt with this thing is a tedious process. The pickaxe can hurt other players, though, leading to many up-close tussles that are pretty much void of strategy. Again, you have to find better weapons for the game to be fun, but when one player has a gun and the other player is still stuck with a pickaxe, Player 2 is suddenly at a huge disadvantage. It’s not easy to run away, either. These balancing issues keep Miner Warfare from being a truly good multiplayer game, so I’m reluctantly giving it a thumbs down, even if it’s built on a solid foundation.

Over a year ago, I reviewed Hoard for the PS3 and decided it was awesome. I recently picked it up on Steam for $2 and some change with the DLC, and it’s actually an even better experience. Unfortunately, there still isn’t a lot of people playing it online, but this game was made to be played up close on a PC. Sitting on a couch looking up at a TV just doesn’t do it justice. The graphics on the PS3 version are worse, and the DLC is unavailable. The reason I feel like recommending this version now is that, by playing up close, I can see the detail I need to find a new love for HOARD mode. You have to survive as long as possible on a map by yourself while the game throws as much as possible at you. It starts out a little slow but easily becomes overwhelming far before the gold medal time. With the DLC’s refreshing desert and snow terrains and extra maps, Hoard feels like a new game.  It’s perfect for 10-15 minutes at a time when I need a study break. The menus are still incredibly clunky, and the game isn’t perfect, but as I said before, I have a crush on Hoard.

From the minute motion gaming became all the rage, I wanted a Star Wars game. Thanks to Kinect Star Wars, I finally got one! Sadly, the motion tracking is just too slow for you to accurately use the lightsaber most of the time, and you’ll find yourself just swinging at the air while you try to reflect blaster bolts back at your enemies. The good thing is that being a Jedi is not the only thing the game has to offer. You also get the chance to podrace, dance, and rampage through countless Star Wars locales. Podracing is fun, but it still has serious motion tracking problems, especially for actions that require precision, like steering. Thankfully, dancing and Rancor Rampage are both as near perfect as can be. Dancing is especially fun as you get to dance to Star Wars parodies of various popular songs that are so completely awful, they’re awesome. Rancor Rampage plays like a Hulk Kinect game, which makes it one of the most adrenaline-pumping good times I’ve had. Definitely pick this up; just don’t expect much from the Jedi levels.

Some of my best memories of the last gaming gen are of long summers spent playing through Devil May Cry. So I was understandably pretty stoked when I heard about Devil May Cry HD Collection, but maybe I shouldn’t have been so excited… For starters, the original Devil May Cry has not aged well at all. The fixed Resident Evil-style camera angles make the game a chore to play and will no doubt be a major cause of frustration and death for the first few hours. After you get past that, though, the action-packed gameplay more than makes up for it. Devil May Cry 3 suffers from none of these issues and manages to make the gameplay even more mind-blowing and stylish than the first game. Thanks to the Special Edition of DMC3 being included, there’s also tons of replayability in the form of replaying the game as Dante’s brother, Vergil. The only possible problem that you could have with this collection is the difficulty, but as long as you’re patient and competent at action games, then you should have a blast. Oh yeah, stay away from DMC2. It sucks.

Considering Fable’s legacy and Lionhead Studio’s reputation, I was expecting something a little more substantial than what Fable Heroes ended up being: a two-button beat ‘em up clearly aimed at children. But even kids will have more fun with Castle Crashers or Crimson Alliance, so why bother? The gameplay in Fable Heroes is overly simple with linear levels, repetitive enemies, uninspired and obnoxious power-ups, and a leveling system that relies too much on chance. You roll the dice and move around a board after each level to determine what you can upgrade. Seriously. This Mario Party theme is taken a step further when, at the end of a level, you can choose to fight a boss (but don’t; they take forever to kill) or play a mini-game (don’t do that, either; they’re pretty dumb). What’s left to look forward to, then? Even if the simplicity of the normal action appeals to you, it’s too hard to follow due to unhelpful camera angles, bright colors that blend together, and the presence of stupid AI teammates who can’t be turned off. Fable fan or not, there’s just nothing here to get excited about.