2K Games

A port of a PC first-person shooter (FPS), Prey is all about running around and blasting things with a number of different weapons and giggling at the aftermath as heads explode in fountains of blood, bone, and brains. Featuring a sci-fi setting (as opposed to the other standard of the genre-a historical war from human history), the title evokes memories of both Doom 3 and Half-Life.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Partial Nudity, Strong Language

Prey's marriage of scientific and spiritual might not be the best fit, but convincing environments, dynamic gravity, and mastery of genre basics assure its status as a pleasantly solid entry into a very crowded field.

Game Description: Tommy is a Cherokee garage mechanic who denies his past and is uncertain about his future. His world comes to a halt when he and his people are abducted to a menacing mothership orbiting Earth. Tommy taps his latent Cherokee spiritual powers to save himself, his girlfriend, and the planet. Prey is a first-person shooter in which players enter a living spaceship which enslaves alien races and devours humans for lunch. Built on a heavily modded version of the Doom 3 engine, features include wall walking, gravity flipping, and intense single- and multi-player gameplay.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

Game Description: The Da Vinci Code is based on Dan Brown's best-selling novel and Ron Howard's film. A strange murder at Paris' famous museum, the Louvre, leads two investigators to a great secret hidden in the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci. Explore massive conspiracies and shadowy groups—while solving mysteries and puzzles that go beyond anything you have seen or read. Elude danger and stay one step ahead of enemies that will stop at nothing to protect their secret.

The Godfather is generally considered to be a better movie than a book, The Dead Zone is better served as a television show than any previous versions, and even though Battlefield Earth is one of the worst films ever made, it's still better than the novel it's derived from. What I'm getting at, in a rather roundabout way is that, perhaps for the first time ever, a videogame is actually better than the book or film that preceded it. That game? The Da Vinci Code.

By and large, I find Mike's review of Oblivion to be nearly as flawless as the game itself. Everything he said in his main review about the game's beautiful graphics, playability and scope I agree with wholeheartedly. It really is stunning to walk all the way to the mountains at the end of the map, then turn around and be able to see the main city in the distance. Where his opinions and mine diverge, however, is on the subject of the game's lack of focus.

Game Description: Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is the most richly detailed and vibrant game-world ever created. This new chapter uses next-generation technologies to create a fully immersive gaming adventure. After the mysterious and untimely death of the Emperor, the throne of Tamriel lies empty. With the Empire ready to crumble, the gates of Oblivion open and demons march upon the land. To end this growing darkness, you must find the lost heir to the throne and unravel the sinister plot that threatens to destroy all of Tamriel. Next-generation graphics for lifelike towns, dungeons, and the most realistic forests ever created in a game—optimized for high-definition TVs.