Max Payne hasn’t graced video gamers’ screens for nearly nine years, and when we reacquaint ourselves with the former New York City detective, we find a man drowning his troubled past in bottles of scotch and prescription pills.

From its core out to the fringes, “Prototype 2” has a lot — arguably too much — in common with “Prototype.” But the one significant change — outside of a new main character, and more on that in a bit — is a good one.

The more credit you give “Ninja Gaiden 3” for re- specting your ability to play it, the likelier it is to make you rue the thought.

Are you willing to suffer for your hobby? Because “Kid Icarus: Uprising” may be the best game you’ll ever have to endure literal pain to enjoy.

Everything you do in “Asura’s Wrath,” you’ve done before … except, perhaps, the part where you have to fight only with your feet because your arms were ripped off during a fall from space.

The Final Fantasy franchise, now in its 25th year, has one of the most enthusiastic fan bases in all of video games.

Bioware wants everyone to enjoy “Mass Effect 3,” which is why it’s instituted options that allow players to enjoy it purely as a third-person shooter

As you can probably guess from the title, Reckoning is a role-playing game set in a quasi-medieval fantasy world. Once you create your character — male or female; human or elf; fighter, sorcerer or rogue — your lifeless body is dumped in a pile of rotting corpses.