Bloodlines thrusts you into the world of the undead as a newly Sired vampire. Granted your life in exchange for doing a task for the vampire "Prince" of Los Angeles, you're quickly drawn into a web of conspiracies and backstabbing.

While other RPGs give you the choice of good and evil, Bloodlines has you choosing between humanity and embracing the monster that you've become. At the start of the game you choose a vampire clan, the titular bloodlines, which influence how you play the game through their strengths and weaknesses.

The game warrants multiple playthroughs, not only to experience the different clans and approaches, but also to appreciate the all-star voice cast and graphics. Despite being the first game made using the Source engine, it still looks magnificent.

While not without its share of technical problems, the extremely active community has provided a host of patches to remedy them. This is the best RPG I've ever played and a must-buy.

A solid third person shooter with an engrossing, gritty story, Kane & Lynch: Dead Men follows the titular duo, beginning with their escape from death row and continuing through their exploits as they are forced to do the bidding of mysterious criminal organization known as The 7.

The writing is solid, making the two protagonists surprisingly sympathetic. Their globetrotting adventure takes them on a hunt for stolen money and revenge that spans the US, Japan, Cuba, and Venezuela. Gameplay is cover based, and firefights are hectic and intense. On the hardest difficulty, use of cover and the squad is essential. Other elements such as grenades and blindfiring are useful but not required.

The only complaint regarding this title is the lack of online co-op modes, and the incredibly small multiplayer community. Matchmaking is done through Games For Windows Live, but it seems to be a waste of time. Not enough people play online any more. These issues aside, the game is amazing.

Taking place roughly 4,000 years before the original Star Wars trilogy, Knights is a well-written, nicely paced RPG. The dialog is top-notch, the music is superb, and the characters and locations are beautifully designed. The game is paced well, with very little repitition or frustration.

Combat is turn-based, and can grow tiresome after awhile, but battles are spaced out so as to prevent it from overwhelming the story. The characters are all interesting and have quite a bit of backstory, and the morality system, while a bit black and white, allows for multiple ways to solve the quests.

I happily sunk 40 hours into my first playthrough and am looking forward to an enjoyable replay. Definitely worth playing for Star Wars and RPG fans.