Microsoft

In Mike Doolittle's review of Crimson Skies, although he had many splendid things to say about the game, I was surprised to see a rating that was just above average. Perhaps I tend to immerse myself in a game world too deeply, from reading the backstory to wondering what experience the designers expected me to have as the roguish pilot Nathan Zachary. What I found at the end of my journey was a far richer experience overall than Mike gave the game credit for.

Game Description: Halo 2 continues the story of Master Chief, the heroic super-soldier who defied the invading alien Covenant and survived. The Covenant leaders within Halo are angry at this unheard of event. To save face, they launch an invasion of our planet. Earth's defenses are breached, and we're all in danger—unless Master Chief can lead a small military squad to victory against Covenant forces, in all-out guerilla warfare!

But despite such overwhelming expectations, Halo 2 is essentially a bigger, badder version of the first—nothing more, nothing less. It refines and expands upon many of the original's strongest concepts, stumbles over a few repeated missteps, and offers an experience distinctly similar to the first that fluctuates between modest tedium and prodigious epic.

According to the ESRB, this game contains: Blood, Violence

Game Description: Top Spin delivers all of the intensity and realism of a hard-played professional tennis match. Use the Player Creator to put your virtual self in the game, and work your way up the ranks to play real pros in top tournaments. Train with a coach to master slices, drops, lobs, slams, and powerful serves. Earn professional sponsors as you climb to the top. Play on courts all over the world: clay, hard court, and grass...all affect play differently and all must be mastered to become a champion.

I confess—I don't know the first thing about tennis. Sure, I watch it on TV every now and then when something big is happening, but I never paid much attention to it or really understood all of its rules and nuances. After playing Top Spin, though, I gained a newfound appreciation for the sport.

To treat Fable as an exercise in simulated ethics or as a game with serious messages regarding issues like violence and theft is to doom the game to failure. This has been posited and then proven by Dan's review. The question, however, is whether there is any other reasonable way to approach the game.

Let's say Hitler was walking down the street one evening, alive and well and a hundred and twenty or so. It just so happens that this street is in the bad part of town, so it comes to no surprise when some socially maladjusted punk comes up, stabs him to death and steals his Social Security check. Was that a moral or immoral act? Most people would agree that killing Hitler is a good thing. But the person who killed him wasn't aware of who he was, and killed him out of greed, which most people would agree is an immoral act. So was the act moral or immoral?

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