WARHAMMER ONLINE: AGE OF RECKONING

3 1/2 stars = Very good
Ratings explained

The debt that Blizzard's "Warcraft" series owes to Games Workshop's "Warhammer" fantasy universe is paid off a bit with "Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning" (PC; $49.99, plus $14.99 monthly fee after first 30 days; Teen), an online role-playing game that any veteran of "World of Warcraft" could pick up and play without even checking the key bindings.

Not that the games are identical, although their worlds are similar in many respects. True to the franchise background, the game focuses on inter-player conflict as players fight for control of the "Warhammer" world itself.

"Age of Reckoning" breaks its opposing factions, Order and Destruction, into six smaller groups fighting one another: Dwarves fight the Greenskins (Orcs and Goblins), the human Empire vies with Chaos, and High Elves battle Dark Elves.

Each faction has a set of unique character classes, such as the mutant Chaos Marauder and the clever Dwarf Engineer, with more promised for the future.

'VIGILANTE 8 ARCADE'

3 stars = Good
Ratings explained

Set in an alternate-history 1970s during the oil shortage, "Vigilante 8 Arcade" (Microsoft; Xbox Live Arcade download, $10; 800 Wii Points; Teen) puts players behind the wheels of several cars, armed to the teeth and ready to fight.

Each of the arena-style levels is littered with weapon pickups, from mortars to rockets to vehicle-specific special weapons, and the levels are full of objects to interact with (read: destroy).

If that sounds a lot like "Twisted Metal," it is. And if it sounds like a lot of fun, it's that, too.