‘BIOSHOCK’

‘BIOSHOCK’

(2K Games) for Xbox 360, PC

Genre: Shooter; Rating: M

Grade: A

From the moment your plane crashes in the ocean and you discover the underwater city of Rapture, “Bioshock” takes hold of you. There’s almost no way of going back — and you wouldn’t want to, anyway.

The game recalls the feelings of the first “Resident Evil” game. You feel totally immersed in a fictional setting that seems almost too real to be a video game.

Rapture is all about creation. Once you’re in the city, you’ll quickly find that inventing your own guns and fighting tools is required and essential. To make it even more satisfying, you perform genetic experiments on yourself to get superpowers that are more effective than any bullet. Why cap enemies in the head when you can freeze them with your ice power and shatter them into a million pieces?

Like “Resident Evil,” “Bioshock” keeps your attention focused. The game is pretty linear, but deviating from the path and exploring the vastness of the city is very rewarding. The game is visually stunning and has a fascinating original story.

‘TOMB RAIDER ANNIVERSARY’

(Eidos) for PSP, Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PC

Genre: Action/Adventure; Rating: T

Grade: C

Calling “Tomb Raider Anniversary” an action/adventure game is not entirely correct — it’s probably better described as a platformer on speed. With elaborate set pieces and puzzles that have plenty of twists and turns, it does not take much to see that there was a strong effort to give Lara Croft fans something to cheer about.

This is important because after the first couple of titles were released in the mid-’90s, subsequent games all rode the laurels of the Lara Croft name and missed expectations wildly. With “Anniversary,” it’s back to intricate puzzle-solving, gunfights and action galore.

The game is all about puzzle-solving. Some puzzles take abnormally long to complete, but the benefit is that you’ll be using all of Lara’s skills to do them. The visuals are serviceable — some camera problems crop up here and there — but otherwise the expanse of each level is solid.

Who knows how much of a future the franchise has in a next-gen world? It might need a total rebooting, but for the short-term, “Anniversary” will happily keep you entertained.

‘MARIO STRIKERS CHARGED’

(Nintendo) for Wii

Genre: Sports; Rating: E

Grade: C

“Sega Soccer Slam” was an old GameCube game that never, ever got old, no matter how many times you played. The chance to play an arcade brand of soccer where pummeling your opponent was encouraged and even required was always a ton of fun.

When the original “Mario Strikers” game came out on the GameCube, it failed to take the “Soccer Slam” concept and translate it well to the “Mario” universe. Now Nintendo has updated the game with “Charged,” and the elements are finally there to make you think they’ve got it under control.

There are problems — mainly that the actual “soccer” being played is more like a rugby scrum or free-for-all. There’s almost too much tackling and body-checking going on for it to seem like a soccer game, and that often kills the flow. But except for that, the game has high replay value, because the multiplayer is excellent, both on- and offline.

—Chris Campbell, Scripps Howard