Hot PC Games

Crysis: Warhead (EA) $29.99 (original Crysis game required, $39.99)

Last year's PC Game of the Year gets all expanded and enhanced this year with Crysis: Warhead. It's still all about on-the-fly, never-the-same, adaptive warfare, but this "side quest" to the original game is heavier handed, and more combat intensive. Still cerebral, still "a thinking man's shooter," but now charged up with a heavy dose of Michael Bay action movie sensibilities. All good. Rated Mature (17+) Blood, Strong Language, Violence


Spore (EA) $49.99

The Sims creator Will Wright has done it again with Spore, a Petri dish of the gods creature simulator that not only has users creating anything-goes monsters and critters, evolving them into a race, a civilization, and finally, the dominant galactic species, but sharing same with millions of others online. There's nothing quite like it out there, and even those that find it tedious are nonetheless drawn to it and drawn back. Those who relish the odd bout of said tedium never actually leave it. Rated Everyone (10+) for Comic Mischief, Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood


World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Activision-Blizzard) $39.99

Nobody likes massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs); people either love them or hate them. There is no "like." Wrath of the Lich King is the latest expansion for World of Warcraft, the bestest selling, biggest money-making MMORPG of all time. The only reason a World of Warcraft fan hasn't bought Wrath of the Lich King already is because he or she has been too busy playing World of Warcraft. Open the door but keep the light out, then peak around to see if there's a copy already sitting atop the pizza boxes or amongst the empty Jolt cans. If not, buy this. If so, lucky you: a fresh 4-pack of Jolt is cheaper. Rated Teen (13+) for Blood and Gore, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence


Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3 (EA) $49.99

Real-time strategy (RTS) has long been a staple of PC gaming, and the Command & Conquer franchise has always stood out amongst the multitude of RTS titles for both technical polish (usually) and a serious sense of cornball humor. Red Alert 3, the latest in the long running series of frantically-paced global domination through micro-managerial mojo, doesn't disappoint on either front. It also adds co-operative "co-commander" play -- a first for the genre. Rated Teen (13+) for Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence


Left 4 Dead (EA/Valve) $49.99

The most fun you and three buddies (or computer controlled buddies if you have no real friends) will ever have saving each other's butts and shooting zombies. Seriously, "ever." Oh, and hordes of zombies. Those are fun too. Rated Mature (17+) for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language

PC DudsM

The Sims 2 Ikea Stuff (EA)
Pay real money so Ikea can try to sell you stuff you don't need. What's wrong with this picture?

The Incredible Hulk (Sega)
Poor Sega, once an industry powerhouse, now reduced to making bad movie-based tie-in schlock for budget-priced computers (and consoles). Might have been a good freebie to throw into a cereal box. Alas.

Dynasty Warriors 6 (Koei)
An inexplicably lousy attempt at bringing a popular if derivative hack 'n' slash console game to the PC environment.

High School Musical 3: Senior Year Dance! (Disney)
A sub-par, rhythm-based music game designed for fans/suckers, this one barely gets a pass as a console game, but on PC, it has you dancing with the arrow keys, which is as lame as it sounds.

Two Worlds: Epic Edition (Southpeak)
Really bad knock-off of the superlative Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, repackaged with fixes and add-ons all in one box where the lot of it remains really-bad.