Games with movie tie-ins have a reputation of being bad. Chris Holt is unable to lay many accolades upon the abysmal Pirates of the Caribbean MMORPG-but it's rare you get a game that is as deep as it is poorly realized.

Lots to do and explore; fun ship combat.

Buggy; bad graphics; no story; limited PvP options; tedious quests

The loose overarching plot deals with assembling the crew for Jack Sparrow and his ship, the Black Pearl. Each crewmember has hours of chore-like missions for you to do before you can get him/her to join and progress in the story. Side characters and side...

World of Goo is a trippy puzzle game that pushes your knowledge of physics to its gooey limits in a post-modernistic setting. Fun, quirky, and highly-addictive, World of Goo is one of the most entertaining puzzle games to come to the Mac in years.

Clever gameplay; challenging; entertainingly weird.

Soundtrack can be irritating; lackluster multiplayer.

Divided into five chapters and a loose story about a World Goo Corporation that transforms the self-aware Goo into things like beauty cream, World of Goo has hours of amusing, challenging, and just plain weird missions to play through

Deep and varied races make ToCA Race Driver 3 a compelling game for any fan of racing.

Deep gameplay; realistic racing simulations; many cars and tracks.

Very challenging; steep learning curve.

In World Tour mode, you are introduced to your mumbling Scottish crew chief and mentor, Rick. Rick is unfortunately the most attractive human in this game, as the pinup girls you see around the cars all have faces that look like deflated basketballs

Apparently convinced the previous release was devoid of enough cute doodads and aww shucks moments, Maxis goes full pander to the coveted 5 to 10-year old crowd and pretty much ignores the rest of its expansive and screwy game.

Battlestations Midway is a World War II simulator that offers unbridled scale of the Pacific Theater. But the game stumbles at making good on its promise to let you take control of every aspect of the theater for an unprecedented large-scale experience.

Varied missions; historically accurate; large scale.

Bad AI; terrible cutscenes; dated graphics; bad controls.

In the game's American campaign, you take on the roles of a US pilot and a US naval officer as they rise through the ranks and grasp at glory in a difficult war. The mission types are varied and the weather randomly changes, ensuring that no mission is ex...

Battlestations Midway is a World War II simulator that offers unbridled scale of the Pacific Theater. But the game stumbles at making good on its promise to let you take control of every aspect of the theater for an unprecedented large-scale experience.

Varied missions; historically accurate; large scale.

Bad AI; terrible cutscenes; dated graphics; bad controls.

In the game's American campaign, you take on the roles of a US pilot and a US naval officer as they rise through the ranks and grasp at glory in a difficult war. The mission types are varied and the weather randomly changes, ensuring that no mission is ex...

Jade Empire: Special Edition is inspired by Asian history and mythology, and while it feels a bit hackneyed at times, it's still an engaging and fun RPG romp that might merit your attention.

Martial arts action; “open palm” vs. “closed fist” decisions affect story line; no need to go to store to buy the game; works on many older MacBooks.

Problem first registering the game; old compared to Xbox release.

You start out as the promising apprentice to a wizened old martial arts master (really, who doesn't these days), and you find yourself thrust into the limelight as you defend your town against invaders, thus setting off a cascade of story elements that pe...

Players will immediately develop an affinity for this pocket-size kickfest. Incredible graphics, intuitive controls, and deep gameplay make Real Soccer 2009 one of the better games on the App Store.

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Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones offers players a diverse gaming experience with challenging combat, stealth, and platforming elements. While the plot is forgettable and the graphics are dated, it still might be worth a look for those players looking for...

Challenging and addictive gameplay; improved stealth system.

Dated graphics; sync issues; terrible writing; wonky camera-system.

The Two Thrones is the third installment of the second Prince of Persia trilogy, or the third installment of a reboot of a previously successfully series, or maybe its just a shiny new game I get to review three years after its initial release on other pl...

From its visually stunning beginning to its emotionally wrenching ending, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare is a surprisingly deep, rich, and unique approach to the first-person shooter.

Stunning graphics; rich story.

Steep hardware demands; some very challenging missions.

The opening credits deserve mention here too, because you are introduced to the crisis by witnessing the assassination of a Middle Eastern nation's president, from his perspective. It's rare to see a war game that punctures the monotony of combat to actua...