Action & Adventure Video Games

The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest is an action role-playing game set in a colorful rendition of Middle-earth. From a third-person perspective, players take the role of the great hero, in his adventures as Strider, the Ranger of the North, through his defining moments as King in the final battle for Gondor. The hero faces Sauron's evil minions and monsters, on horseback and on foot, winning treasures and ability-boosting artifacts as he levels up. The game also features an arena mode, which allows players to test their battle skills against challenging enemies in small battlefields set around Middle-earth, with a chance to win special items that can be used in the main story mode. From mission to mission, the game's plot unfolds in the recollections of the hobbit Samwise Gamgee, who recalls the great adventures of Aragorn and the War of the Ring for his family in a campfire story. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Young wizard Harry Potter and friends get the LEGO treatment in this continuation of TT Games' best-selling video game series. Based on the popular building toy line, Harry Potter: Years 1-4 features scenes, characters, and locales from the first four films, offering cooperative-based action viewed from a third-person perspective. The whimsical sense of humor from previous titles in the series, which include takes on Batman, Star Wars, and Indiana Jones, is once again a key part of the experience. Control Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, and other notables while attending classes, earning house points, soaring on broomsticks, conjuring magic, and more. Explore Diagon Alley, the Forbidden Forest, Hogsmeade, and of course, Hogwarts castle, to solve puzzles, confront challenges, unlock secrets, and battle foes. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Based on the Pixar film three-quel and produced by Disney Interactive Studios, Toy Story 3 is a 3D adventure that sets high-spirited action and mini-games in the world of the film series. The game's "Adventure Mode" follows the story of the movie, with players guiding Woody, Buzz, Jessie, and their gang to meet new toy friends and explore new places, as they embark on a long and challenging journey back home to Andy's room. Also central to the play of the game is an open-world "Toy Box" mode, in which players can mix and match parts and pieces from different toy sets, to create their own characters and stories. Players can assemble cowboys, space rangers, dinosaurs, and other dolls and action figures, into new adventures through an interactive playroom. Toy Story 3 is released alongside the summer 2010 theatrical debut of the film. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Sony's twisted take on "capture-the-flag" multiplayer action makes its way to the PSP with all the original maps and six new battlefields in Fat Princess: Fistful of Cake. Players once again put on different hats to switch between the five character classes -- Worker, Warrior, Ranger, Mage, and Priest -- in an attempt to capture an overweight royal whose ever-increasing girth makes "rescue" a difficult task. Online action lets two teams of four go head-to-head in Ad-hoc or Infrastructure mode, and there are now 14 multiplayer maps in which to do battle. Each class has special weapons and abilities, and the hat machines, weapons, and castles can be upgraded by using resources collected by Workers. Fistful of Cake features an extended single-player mode, and new multiplayer modes include "Grim Ripper," "Dilapidated," "Demolition," and "Jailbreak." ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Sony's family friendly mascot Sackboy comes to portable gamers with new platform adventures, new worlds to explore, and new user-generated levels in LittleBigPlanet. Following the "Play.Create.Share" model of its console forebear, LittleBigPlanet for the PSP once again finds gamers guiding their lovable burlap doll through more than 35 themed levels in "Play" mode, designing their own unique levels in "Create" mode, and uploading their creations to the PlayStation Network in "Share" mode. The "Play" mode levels are filled with prize bubbles that reward curious and thorough players with new costumes, stickers, and level-building materials. Once players have completed a series of "Create" mode tutorials they can begin to craft and share their own levels, limited only by their imagination and the number of items they have collected in "Play" mode. ~ Christopher Brown, All Game Guide

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings is a third-person action-adventure game of daredevil leaps, death-defying rides, and ancient puzzles, and occasional fisticuffs with local ruffians and villainous henchmen. In an original story created for the game by LucasArts, Indy seeks to recover the Staff of Moses before it falls into the hands of a never-before-seen adversary named Magnus Voller. With stages set in Sudan, San Francisco, Panama, Istanbul, and Nepal, the globetrotting adventure begins as the world goes to war in 1939. The PSP edition of the game features randomized events and environmental puzzles, created in real-time by the physics engine. In an exclusive opening, players take the role of young Indy and uncover an enlightening backstory. ~ T.J. Deci, All Game Guide

Tormented Spartan warrior Kratos journeys to the underworld to battle mythological creatures in Chains of Olympus, the anticipated debut of Sony's blockbuster action series on PSP. The storyline in this original title precedes the events chronicled in 2005's God of War. As penance for past transgressions, the son of Zeus agrees to become an indentured servant to the Greek gods for ten years. When the world suddenly plunges into darkness and renders their powers useless, the gods beseech Kratos to return Olympus to its former glory. Kratos will journey to the Gates of Hades and beyond to fulfill his solemn obligation.

With a look and feel designed to replicate the same fast-action mechanics from the first two God of War titles on PlayStation 2, Chains of Olympus offers a few subtle changes to combat. Once again Kratos wields the Blades of Chaos, twin swords chained around his wrists, with each swing punctuated with light trails to enhance the theatrics of the combo-heavy fighting system. As players string together multiple hits, "vicious," "gory," and "savage" words of encouragement will appear. Enemies include Persian soldiers, Cyclopes, minotaurs, and the screen-enveloping boss encounters the series is known for. Defeating bosses allows Kratos to learn powerful new magic-based attacks.

Kratos can also parry blows and perform evasive dodges, with the latter now initiated with a button modifier due to the lack of a right analog stick. A new windmill-style move has been added for taking out multiple enemies, at the expense of leaving Kratos temporarily vulnerable to subsequent attacks. Also featured is a more dynamic camera system designed to show off the atmospheric stages without interfering with combat or the game's various action-oriented puzzles. Veteran character actor Linda Hunt reprises her role as the game's narrator. Chains of Olympus is independent developer Ready at Dawn's second PSP game after 2006's best-selling Daxter. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Ben 10 makes his PSP debut in this adaptation of the Cartoon Network's hit animated series. Players guide ten-year-old Ben Tennyson across 14 cel-shaded levels as he sets out to stop an alien invasion led by the diabolical Vilgax. To help save the universe, Ben must use his wristwatch-like Omnitrix to transform into one of five upgradeable alien forms: Fourarms, Heatblast, XLR8, Cannonbolt, and Wildvine. Each alien alter ego offers distinct powers needed to defeat enemies, from Cannonbolt's rolling ability to Heatblast's fire control. More than 80 combo moves are available to use in combat, with the developers borrowing the same style of mechanics used in God of War. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Submit to the seedy streets of Vice City in this portable prequel to the top-selling PlayStation 2 game of 2002. British developer Rockstar Leeds revisits a familiar open-ended world while creating an original storyline with new missions and design elements. Lance Vance's brother Vic is the game's lead protagonist, and players will follow the ex-soldier in his bid for power and respect in 1984's corrupt, Miami-inspired metropolis.

The mission structure, controls, and perspective are similar to those introduced in 2005's Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories, albeit with several notable enhancements. The draw distance has increased, allowing players to see more of their surroundings, the missions are more intricate, and the variety of vehicles has expanded. Players will zip through the narrow streets in various sports cars and motorcycles, take to the air in helicopters or jets, and bob along the water in speedboats or on jet skis.

One of the Grand Theft Auto franchise's distinguishing features is its high production values, and Vice City Stories showcases professional voice acting, cinematic cut-scenes, and radio stations rife with licensed music, satirical commercials, and quirky personalities. More than a dozen '80s era songs include such hits as Dio's "Holy Diver," Ratt's "Round and Round," and Pat Benatar's "We Belong." Multiplayer options offer a mix of cooperative and competitive games playable over an Ad-hoc wireless connection. ~ Scott Alan Marriott, All Game Guide

Based on the innovative PlayStation original, this PSP edition of Ape Escape sets loose a whole new round of siren-helmeted simians, and challenges players to catch them all before they rewrite history to put themselves at the top of the evolutionary ladder. In the role of the absent-minded professor's plucky companion Spike, PSP gamers must use stealth tactics and an array of goofy gadgets to capture more than 200 escaped monkeys, hiding throughout more than 20 levels on eight historically inspired game worlds. ~ All Game Guide