Action & Adventure Video Games

Inspired by the 2006 feature film directed by Bryan Singer, Superman Returns features an open-ended Metropolis spanning 80 square miles of bustling activity. The Man of Steel begins the game with his superpowers fully intact, including flight, x-ray vision, heat vision, super hearing, super strength, super speed, and super breath. How players use these powers within the urban setting is up to them. Cars can be completely melted or simply cut into, objects can be blown out of harm's way or frozen in place, and more. The storyline follows Superman as he returns to Earth after a five-year sabbatical in space. The city he loves is in constant peril from the likes of Metallo, Parasite, and the indomitable Lex Luthor.

The action takes place from a third-person perspective as players complete story-driven missions, engage in mini-games, and rescue people from imminent danger. Since Superman is nearly invincible, his success is tied to the level of collateral damage experienced by the good citizens of Metropolis. Players must be actively involved in saving pedestrians from runaway trains, tornados, collapsing buildings, and much more. If the city or its populace suffers, Superman will be unable to continue. The game's story-based objectives combine events from the film with new sequences, often involving the superhero tackling archvillains in stages specifically devoted to a lone enemy and its lackeys. Superman Returns also features an original orchestral soundtrack and voice acting from the film's principal actors, including Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, and newcomer Brandon Routh. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

On the back of a fire breathing-dragon is where Eragon stands against the invading army of Shade Durza. Alone or with a friend, players who take the role of Eragon step into a world of combos and magic-based combat, including finishing moves, grapples, and counter attacks, as they journey from the village of Carvahall to the home of Farthen Dûr in an adventure based on the 2006 film. Gamers begin as a semi-skilled hero who is upgraded as the story progresses. Players may execute attacks with arrows, swords, and magic. Using magic, Eragon can push or pull an enemy toward him or knock attackers off platforms. Eragon can also manipulate his environment by creating pathways to previously unreachable areas. During the adventure, players may call for help from Saphira, Eragon's dragon, to complete airborne objectives and deliver attacks from the sky during melee combat on the ground. In flight, players direct the movement of the dragon, delivering tail swipes and fireballs to opponents as Saphira. ~ Gracie Leach, All Game Guide

Splinter Cell: Double Agent takes the stealth-based series in a new direction after three successful covert operations on multiple platforms. After learning his teenage daughter was killed in a car crash, a despondent Sam Fisher is unable to complete his duties for the NSA's splinter cell, Third Echelon, and is reassigned as a NOC, a non-official cover agent who operates from within dangerous organizations. His mission is to infiltrate a domestic terrorist group called John Brown's Army. For the first time in the series, Fisher cannot solely rely on his gadgets or the direct support of the NSA. He must instead fall back on his keen instincts to survive while working deep undercover.

Instead of advancing through linear missions across a series of international locales, players will experience a branching storyline with multiple endings, where decisions made at one juncture will influence subsequent events as the game progresses. Fisher must initially earn the trust of John Brown's Army to become a card-carrying member, so he must engage in carefully orchestrated heists and even an elaborate prison break to get in the good graces of key contact Jamie Washington. If Fisher is successful in befriending Washington, he will be invited to the terrorist group's headquarters, a multi-floor structure that serves as a jumping point for future missions.

From that point on, Fisher will be faced with multiple moral decisions as he walks a fine line between working with the JBA and on behalf of his NSA mentor, Irving Lambert. He will also be partnered with an AI-controlled character in many of the missions, introducing a new twist to the single-player game. Of course, Splinter Cell: Double Agent also features multiplayer modes, including the online cooperative element introduced in 2005's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and a new spy-versus-spy mode that is exclusive to both the Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of the game. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Set during a time of free love, new ideas, communism, and bra burning, Destroy All Humans! 2 re-creates the sci-fi genre of the 1960s with dialogue, characters, and culture that includes hippies, the cold war, girls in poodle skirts, guys in letter jackets, and secretive "G-Men."

Playing as Cryptospordium-137 a Furon sent to Earth to collect DNA, gamers navigate the little grey intergalactic tourist through a variety of environments such as the desert, a California beach town, Japan, Russia, a farm, a military base, and more. The main goal is to collect DNA by blasting humans with one of eight weapons and mind control moves including the Meteor Strike, the Disclocator, the Cortex Scan, PK, Mind Flash, Transmogrify, and more. Upgrades for weaponry or abilities are acquired through the Abduction Vault located on the Mothership. Crypto also has the use of a flying saucer to destroy all humans with if the authority figures on the ground make foot travel impossible. Police, military units, and the mysterious "G-Men" will pursue Crypto based on the amount of damage and deaths he has caused. At first, only the police are called to handle Crypto and his homicidal rampage, but as the damage and death toll grows, the military and higher defensive units are called in to keep the peace.

Destroy All Humans! 2 features co-op multiplayer action for two players who may complete the entire single-player story together, replay completed missions, or challenge each other to multiplayer mini-games such as PK Tennis and more. ~ Gracie Leach, All Game Guide

Seth McFarlane's dysfunctional Griffin family makes its video game debut as a third-person action title starring Peter, Stewie, and Brian in their own storylines rife with pop-culture jabs. As boorish blockhead Peter Griffin, players must stop English butler Mr. Belvedere's apparent bid for world domination. Wrathful wunderkind Stewie Griffin battles his "sperm brother" Bertram, while cultivated canine Brian Griffin figures a way out of prison. The game features a cel-shaded look to keep it in line with the animated series, and players will visit a number of familiar locales in and around the fictitious setting of Quahog, Rhode Island. Expect characters such as Death, Glen Quagmire, Cleveland Brown, and Joe Swanson to make comical cameos throughout the "giggity giggity" game. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Based on the Nickelodeon series, Avatar: The Last Airbender features four playable characters from the show who blend elemental magic and martial arts by "bending" them. Also known as the "benders," Aang, Katara, Haru, and Sokka represent elemental organizations known as the Water Tribe, the Earth Kingdom, the Fire Nation, and the Air Nomads. As the group travels through the four kingdoms, they master their individual element by learning new abilities and spells. Players will battle with familiar enemies, as well as baddies not seen on the show. ~ Gracie Leach, All Game Guide

Swedish developer Avalanche Studios' first in-house development project is a 3D action-adventure starring a U.S. operative named Rico Rodriguez. Just Cause has Rodriguez attempting to overthrow a fictitious South American island's regime by instigating a revolution. Players will accomplish this by working with citizens, political factions, rebels, and even drug cartels in a series of explosive operations. In the tradition of games like Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Just Cause features a free form world with an estimated 250,000 acres of territory to traverse by plane, car, boat, or in some cases, parachute. Since the island of San Esperito is filled with cities, towns, resorts, jungles, and mountains, players can acquire more than 100 vehicles throughout their tumultuous stay. The main storyline includes over 20 missions with objectives that can be accomplished by any number of means. Hundreds of side and bonus missions are also available for fun or profit, with stunt challenges like parasailing, vehicle leaping, or skydiving part of the itinerary for tropical thrill-seekers. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

When city bear Boog is led into the forest by a mule deer named Elliot, it becomes Open Season for any unlucky hunters who happen to cross the bears path. Raised by Beth the park ranger, Boog is not used to living in the wild, and must tap into his instinctual abilities to make it back to Beth's garage in one piece. Players will guide Boog and Elliot through the forest using their environment to scare hunters away before they make a rug out of Boog's domesticated hide.

Players may throw skunk bombs, hurl rabbits, enlist squirrels to fire acorns at their foes, and perform many other pranks that will have the hunters headed for the hills. Gamers can play alone or challenge friends to compete or cooperate in a variety of mini-games such as rolling in a giant snowball, riding rapids on a floating outhouse, taking a nice leisurely mine cart ride, and more. ~ Gracie Leach, All Game Guide

The surprise hit of 2005 returns for more brick-blasting battles and sci-fi spoofing in LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy. As the title suggests, the storyline focuses on the first three films in the Star Wars saga. Players will choose from a variety of LEGOized characters as they attempt to end the Galactic Empire's tyrannical reign. The lighthearted action is still designed for players of all ages and abilities, but there is now more to see and do. New character-specific special moves are available, from Leia's head-knocking slaps to Obi-Wan's helmet-spinning use of the Force to confuse his attackers.

As players progress through familiar movie scenes in the story mode, they can unlock more than 50 characters and even mix-and-match individual parts and accessories to create custom hybrids for use in the "free play" mode. Also new is the ability to build vehicles such as landspeeders, AT-STs, and speeder bikes, or to ride creatures like tauntauns and banthas. The original's cooperative play option returns with a revamped camera and more team-oriented challenges to overcome. As a special bonus, owners of the first game can unlock 54 additional characters for free play, expanding the roster to include Darth Maul and other fan favorites. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Based on the 2006 feature film starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, itself inspired by Bally Midway's 1983 car combat game, Spy Hunter: Nowhere to Run features a combustible combination of high-speed vehicle chases and hand-to-hand brawling. Cast in the role of Alec Decker, a spy hunter working for the fictitious IES government agency, players must recover a hijacked Interceptor from the clutches of the evil Gomez and his terrorist group known as Nostra. The action follows Decker in third-person, mission-based vehicle stages set amidst a series of exotic locales. While on foot, the character is free to fire weapons or perform such melee moves as body slams, punches, and head butts to defeat enemies. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide