Eidos

There are few more frightening and iconic figures than the riot control police officer. Dressed entirely in black with faces obscured, carrying clubs and grenade launchers, viciously beating people as they lie helpless on the ground. Their worldwide uniformity makes it seem as if there's a single organization out there passionately dedicated to clubbing the world's protestors. This makes Urban Chaos: Riot Response an unbelievably hard sell, as it portrays those very stormtroopers as the game's heroes entirely non-ironically.

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

Game Description: Urban Chaos: Riot Response puts you on the streets of a decaying city in modern day America. Gang warfare is destroying its interior, and you've been authorized by the government to meet them with a military response. Use a mix of lethal and non-lethal means to take the city's enemies down. Start out on your own, but as you play you'll recruit local police, firemen and EMTs into your unit, creating a local army that's powerful enough t o take the gangs down once and for all.

It's entirely true that Rogue Trooper could be classified as a standard third-person military combat game, but it's also a perfect example of where flawless execution and intelligent design make the difference between something that's average, and something that should be recognized as noteworthy.

One of the first things I learned about reviewing videogames was the importance of always reviewing the game I played, rather than the game I would have liked to have played. Every now and then, this is harder to do than it sounds. Sometimes a game is very close to being good, close enough that it almost seems like a tragedy that the developers didn't go the extra mile to make the game just a little bit better—in those cases it becomes nearly impossible to judge the game on its own terms.

According to ESRB, this game contains: Language, Suggestive Themes, Violence, Blood

Game Description: Europe is at its knees, Germans have reached the English Channel forcing the allies to evacuate. A new force is needed to take the fight back to the enemy. On Churchill's order a new breed of super solider is born. Their objective: to conduct strategic missions, disrupting German operations in advance of the main allied assault force. Commandos: Strike Force takes you right into the heart of the action, as you fight to win the Second World War. You'll take control of the three members of the "Strike Force" unit, each with their own abilities. Use your stealth skills to strike at the heart of the enemy.

I agree with Andrew that Blood Money feels different from past Hitman games, and not always for the better, but I don't agree that it relies less on stealth. Depending on one's perspective, stealth is more important in Blood Money than ever before.

The safety and relative ease with which the player can now experiment robs Blood Money of its predecessors' nail-biting tension and perhaps only in retrospect can we realize how much the unknowability of the simulation made it all the more engrossing.