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• CNET Editor rating:
  4.5 stars Spectacular

  Overall score: 9.0 (4.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 7 reviews

The Bottom Line: The latest Sims game is also the greatest, striking a terrific balance between the fresh and the familiar. Read review

Specs: Teen, The Sims Studio, Virtual Life, Miscellaneous - virtual life, Realistic

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.4 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 4.5 stars out of 10 reviews

The Bottom Line: Try to become the most notorious street racer alive. Read review

Specs: Teen, Black Box, Driving, Racing / driving - GT/street, Realistic, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.5 stars Spectacular

  Overall score: 9.1 (4.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 8 reviews

The Bottom Line: Rome: Total War is the very definition of an epic strategy game. Read review

Specs: Teen, Creative Assembly, Strategy, Real-Time Strategy, Historic, 1-8 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.5 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: This stand-alone expansion modernizes Total War while remaining true to tradition. Read review

Specs: Teen, Creative Assembly, Strategy

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 4 reviews

The Bottom Line: Need for Speed returns to its roots with hokey cutscenes, wild cop chases, and solid racing action. Read review

Specs: Teen, EA Black Box, Driving, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.0 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 1.5 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: Incompetent artificial intelligence and some weak gameplay mechanics hamper what could have been an interesting real-time strategy take on the popular board game. Read review

Specs: Teen, TimeGate Studios, Strategy, Strategy / tactics / wargame - wargame, Historical, 1-8 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.5 stars Spectacular

  Overall score: 9.0 (4.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.0 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: Robust and challenging single-player modes, strong online multiplayer, and gorgeous visuals make this a must-have for any fighter fan. Read review

Specs: Teen, Capcom, Action, Action - fighting, Fantasy, 1-2 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.0 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: A lazy porting job hinders Bully's classic classroom hijinks. Read review

Specs: Teen, Rockstar Vancouver, Action, Action - adventure, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: Guitar Hero III delivers the rock to PC owners, but it does it with the performance capability of a second-rate bar band. Read review

Specs: Teen, Aspyr, Music, 1-2 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.4 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 2 reviews

The Bottom Line: Need for Speed Underground 2 is pretty good, but unfortunately most of the stuff you do in between races keeps you away from the game's best moments. Read review

Specs: Teen, EA Canada, Driving, Racing / driving - GT/street, Racing / driving - stock car, Realistic, 1-4 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.9 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: Star Wars: Battlefront delivers a satisfying team-based shooter experience that many hardcore Star Wars fans will probably enjoy greatly. Read review

Specs: Teen, Pandemic Studios, Action, First-Person Shooter, Sci-Fi, 1-32 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.3 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 2 reviews

The Bottom Line: Performance and control issues make the PC version of Spider-Man 3 more problematic than its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts. Read review

Specs: Teen, Beenox, Action, Action - adventure, Science-fiction, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.9 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: This stand-alone expansion to last year's Napoleonic Wars doesn't add a lot that is noteworthy. Read review

Specs: Teen, GSC Game World, Strategy, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.0 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: Playing The Sims Medieval is like looking at your neighbor's vacation slides: You're hearing about someone else's grand adventure rather than having one of your own. Read review

Specs: Teen, The Sims Studio, Simulation, Miscellaneous - virtual life, Realistic

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.4 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: As befits its source material, The Battle for Middle-earth is a huge game, and there's a lot of great real-time strategy gameplay to be had in it. Read review

Specs: Teen, EA LA, Strategy, Strategy / tactics / wargame - real time, Fantasy

• CNET Editor rating:
  1.5 stars Poor

  Overall score: 3.5 (1.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: While it may be a lot smoother and simpler than its predecessors, Empire Earth III has been dumbed down to the point of irrelevance. Read review

Specs: Teen, Mad Doc Software, Strategy, Strategy / tactics / wargame - real time, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.6 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: Kingdoms suffers from a long list of problems that collectively prevent it from exceeding its ancestor or from rejuvenating a tired genre. Read review

Specs: Teen, Cavedog Entertainment, Strategy, Real-Time Strategy, Fantasy, 1-8 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.9 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 11 reviews

The Bottom Line: The Sims 2 is a great sequel and a great game in its own right, and it's recommendable to just about anyone. Read review

Specs: Teen, Maxis, Virtual Life, Virtual Life, Realistic, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.0 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: The Sims 3: Supernatural is filled with charm and ambition, but issues with zombies and lunar cycles cast a shadow over its best parts. Read review

Specs: Teen, The Sims Studio, Virtual Life, Miscellaneous - virtual life, Realistic

• CNET Editor rating:
  4.0 stars Excellent

  Overall score: 8.2 (4.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 3.5 stars out of 31 reviews

The Bottom Line: Those looking for a complex and interesting real-time strategy game with fantastic good looks and some historical flavor will find just what they want in Age of Empires III. Read review

Specs: Teen, Ensemble Studios, Strategy, Strategy / tactics / wargame - real time, Historical, 1-8 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.5 stars Abysmal

  Overall score: 1.4 (0.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: Ambulance Driver is a horrible mistake of a game that should never have been made. Read review

Specs: Teen, Antidote Entertainment, Driving, Simulation - car racing, Simulation - medicine, Realistic, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  0.0 stars

  Overall score: 0.0 (0.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

Specs: Teen, Ensemble Studios, Strategy, Real-Time Strategy, Fantasy

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.0 stars Good

  Overall score: 6.7 (3.0 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: Master of Orion III is a disappointing follow-up to the two most significant space empire games ever. Read review

Specs: Teen, Quicksilver Software, Inc, Strategy, Turn-Based Strategy, Sci-Fi, 1-8 Players

• CNET Editor rating:
  3.5 stars Very good

  Overall score: 7.8 (3.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 5.0 stars out of 1 review

The Bottom Line: The WarChiefs expansion adds some interesting new elements to the tried-and-true gameplay of Age of Empires III. Read review

Specs: Teen, Ensemble Studios, Strategy, Strategy / tactics / wargame - real time, Historical, 1 Player

• CNET Editor rating:
  2.5 stars Average

  Overall score: 5.8 (2.5 stars)
• Average user rating: 0 stars No reviews, write one!

The Bottom Line: This 2-year-old PlayStation 2 game may have been enjoyable on the PC--had the graphics and gameplay not been compromised so much in transition. Read review

Specs: Teen, Fluent, Driving, Mission-based Driving, Science-fiction, 1-2 Players