Another Transformers movie means another Transformers game. For many longtime fans, Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, and the other robots in disguise are special characters, and hope endures that someday, a Transformers game will come along that does them justice. Unfortunately, Dark of the Moon is not that game. The action in this third-person shooter isn’t bad, but it also isn’t anything remarkable. There aren’t any surprises or standout moments during its brief campaign, and the shallow multiplayer isn’t likely to keep you coming back for very long.

Made by the masters behind Project Gotham Racing and Metropolis Street Racer, Blur is a racing project by Bizarre Creations that aims to take arcade-style action and realistic driving physics to a whole new level. The game drops players into heart-pumping, electrified racing action with 20 cars on a track all targeting the finish line and battling each other as they trade paint and collect intense power-ups, including the ability to blast other cars out of the way with huge bursts of energy, boost their speed, and more.

The game features Need for Speed Autolog where players compare racing stats and automatically get personalized gameplay recommendations from their friends. Need for Speed Hot Pursuit players can also experience the thrill of the chase and the rush of the escape as they play through full careers as both a cop and a racer – solo or connected. The high speed busts and heart-stopping getaways are all connected via Need for Speed Autolog.

The Darkness II takes players down a brutal and personal path as Jackie Estacado, wielder of The Darkness — an ancient and ruthless force of chaos and destruction. Based on the supernatural horror comic book series created by Top Cow Productions, Inc., The Darkness II breaks out of the sea of conventional first-person shooters with its fervid Quad-Wielding gameplay, which will allow players to slash, grab, and throw objects and enemies with their Demon Arms while simultaneously firing two weapons. The game is layered with the use of dark versus light, steeped in deep and twisted storytelling, and engulfed in stylistic violence that is visualized through a hand-painted graphic noir technique that stays true to its comic book origins.

The Sims return yet again in this third full evolution of the long-running and always-expanding sim series.

The Sims 3 allows you to immerse your unique Sims in an open living neighborhood right outside their door, interacting with other Sims using the new, deeper personality system. The game also allows you to customize anything, anywhere.

Rico returns to action in the sequel to Avalanche Studios’ gargantuan action game. Just Cause 2 stars Rico Rodriquez, back to wreak havoc once again, this time with a new destination — the huge playground of the South East Asian islands of Panau. The sequel features more stunts, vehicles and weapons than ever before and an incredible overhauled grappling hook system.

A bold new direction in open-world freedom, storytelling, mission-based gameplay and online multiplayer, Grand Theft Auto V focuses on the pursuit of the almighty dollar in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California.

For the most part, the reaction to the last few Need for Speed games was the same: “Why aren’t they more like Need for Speed Most Wanted?” “Where are the cheesy cutscenes and the over-the-top cop chases?” It seems as if EA heard those cries, because for better or for worse, Need for Speed Undercover feels like Most Wanted.

Heists figure into some of the most legendary plots in movie history, and now with Payday: The Heist, this cinematic trope becomes an interesting shooter concept. Overkill Software has done a great job with this innovative idea, which throws up to four players into robberies modeled along the lines of those depicted in flicks like Ocean’s Eleven and Heat. The PC/PlayStation 3 game is geared for multiplayer, although the artificial intelligence is good enough that you can play solo without missing out on too much of the crazed intensity offered up by robbing banks and shooting it out with the cops who invariably want to stop you from making off with any ill-gotten gains.

Noted poet Thomas Earl Petty once told us that the waiting is the hardest part, a lesson that is painfully taught once again in Stronghold 3. The Firefly Studios game of medieval micromanagement may have been a long time coming, since Stronghold 2 was released back in 2005, but despite the years since and the opportunity to do something different, Stronghold 3 sticks close to its predecessor’s template, offering up more slow-moving gameplay that sees you doing more waiting and watching than constructing a Middle Ages empire. What could have been a good city builder has been buried under this design flaw, not to mention other serious issues with bugs, mission repetition, a tutorial that doesn’t do much tutoring, and simplistic combat.