Flawed as it is, the sheer replay value of all the races and classes makes Battlecry III a good value at the bargain game price of $29.99.

It transcends the traditionally obscure rally genre and becomes a game that anyone can enjoy, even if their idea of a good driving sim is "GTA III." It's the difference between a good game, in other words, and a truly great one, and the folks at DICE have made a truly great game here.

The atmosphere in Red Dead is the real thing -- not the pseudo-parody of "Dead Man's Hand" -- and that alone should satisfy the audience it was made for. If you can forgive all of its faults, you'll enjoy the few hours you spend in Red's world.

The atmosphere in Red Dead is the real thing -- not the pseudo-parody of "Dead Man's Hand" -- and that alone should satisfy the audience it was made for. If you can forgive all of its faults, you'll enjoy the few hours you spend in Red's world.

Once you've managed to team up with a group of heroes you can get along with, CoH turns into a great game.

Once its player-versus-player elements are fully implemented, Lineage II could become the tense, harsh, and Darwinian experience it's supposed to be. At this point, it's basically an occasionally chaotic, and aesthetically attractive level-grind.

The time travel aspect on the one hand conjures up the best puzzles yet in the series, and also gives rise to the lamest story.

If you're looking for some stealth gameplay in a sandbox environment, this is a great beginner's course into the world of Agent 47. If, however, you're expecting something as revolutionary as the multiplayer in Pandora Tomorrow, or the high polish of Snake Eater, this isn't for you.

If you're looking for some stealth gameplay in a sandbox environment, this is a great beginner's course into the world of Agent 47. If, however, you're expecting something as revolutionary as the multiplayer in "Pandora Tomorrow," or the high polish of "Snake Eater," this isn't for you.

If you're looking for some stealth gameplay in a sandbox environment, this is a great beginner's course into the world of Agent 47. If, however, you're expecting something as revolutionary as the multiplayer in "Pandora Tomorrow," or the high polish of "Snake Eater," this isn't for you.

I was tired of Manhunt long before it was over. I was tired of its violence, certainly, but I was also tired of its AI quirks, tired of its repetitive level design, and tired of the growing impression that I was just the main character in a geek show.

The game basically forces you to drive better without being unfair and your rivals put up quite a fight, but you won't feel frustrated. And that's quite an achievement considering there are up to 21 cars on a track at once.

Painkiller focuses little on AI, puzzles, or plot, and instead sets its sights squarely on appeasing the raw twitch shooter in most of us. At this, the game excels marvelously.

If you can ignore the gimmickry and the middle-of-the-road visuals, you'll find an entertaining baseball game that'll keep you just as engaged as the rest of the crop this year. MVP Baseball has little to worry about.

Its core gameplay mechanic meets, and in some ways excels over, EA's baseball game... and yet, the window-dressing features are all fairly useless compared to MVP's innovative pitch meter and other extras.

Wario Ware is still Wario Ware, and whether you call it "Mega Microgames" or "Mega Party Games," you're still getting a GBA game at a GBA price. But it's one of the best GBA games available, and it works extremely well in a party atmosphere.

The most enjoyable aspect of this game is actually playing basketball. As such, the in-game animations are jaw-droppingly entertaining!

The graphics and control system are almost worth the price of admission all by themselves -- it's rare to find a sports game have this much pick-up-and-play addiction in this age of sim-oriented titles.

The graphics and control system are almost worth the price of admission all by themselves -- it's rare to find a sports game have this much pick-up-and-play addiction in this age of sim-oriented titles.

The most enjoyable aspect of this game is actually playing basketball. As such, the in-game animations are jaw-droppingly entertaining!

Not letting people in the same room communicate with each other while facing imminent death is neither scary nor internally consistent -- the scare would have come in if there had been some kind of communication system (either voice or keyboard) when it made sense to do so, and leave the player isolated when it didn't.

Since the combat already feels almost exactly like the standard Onimusha fighting style with the addition of jumping, it seems like it would fit right into a more robust game's engine.

On the PS2, the game shows the limits of the system. For every impressive feature the developers were able to cram in the game, there is something else that holds the game back.

The problem is that every positive quality is hopelessly undermined by a single flaw: the game just doesn't work.

Difficulty and the occasional glitch not withstanding, it's a phenomenal game with more modding and expansion potential than we've seen in years.

The camera and movement control are still the best in any stealth game, the scenes you come across are just as exciting, and the overall experience is superb.

The camera and movement control are still the best in any stealth game, the scenes you come across are just as exciting, and the overall experience is superb.

If you can ignore the gimmickry and the middle-of-the-road visuals, you'll find an entertaining baseball game that'll keep you just as engaged as the rest of the crop this year. MVP Baseball has little to worry about.

It's a brilliant collage of smooth, polished gameplay, solid netcode, unadulterated diversity, and a frenetic pacing few games can rival.

The landscapes have opened up tremendously, the controls have been tightened, and the graphics have improved. They're not great, but serviceable.

Branding aside, perhaps most frustrating is the omission of environmental interactivity -- napalm does nothing to bush and tanks are rendered useless by the thinnest slice of bamboo.

The lighthearted, quirky nature of the Worms franchise remains wholly intact, only delivered in a new setting that may take some adjusting to, but will still not fail to appeal.

The Xbox enhancements aren't all they could have been. The great majority of Tenchu is still the same as before -- the camera's still tough to wrangle sometimes, guards still forget about your presence six seconds after spotting you, and aiming thrown weapons like shuriken is still a crapshoot.

Me, I'll dish out a just 6.5 and demand that the next time a scant offering of maps and modes are going to be released, they'd better cost exactly $5 or exactly nothing.

Nearly everything about the new MVP, from basic gameplay to the advanced Dynasty mode, oozes quality.

This game is the first to go beyond the major leagues and include all the AAA and AA minor-league clubs, adding a level of detail to the Dynasty franchise mode unrivaled by other games.

Since aiming and movement is too difficult to track enemies as they appear, a typical mission will have you die on the first enemy, learn his location and kill him before he can strike back, only to be felled by a second enemy, and so on.

The stealth-based gameplay that MGS introduced has rarely been equaled, and it's as perfect here as it ever was. If I seem disappointed, it's only because there are signs everywhere that this could have been a remake of epic proportions, but the extraordinarily talented creators settled on a port.

Nearly everything about the new MVP, from basic gameplay to the advanced Dynasty mode, oozes quality.

Despite offering some memorable moments, relatively unrestricted gameplay, and the occasionally satisfying play mechanic, Gangland should still be packaged with a bottle of Valium and a straightforward, "your brain has the potential of spontaneously bursting" warning, as it can be damn frustrating.

This is a very serious rally game, much more so than RalliSport Challenge -- tackling a turn incorrectly, or having the wrong tire and suspension setup for the track at hand, will destroy your stage times. As a result, both your driving skills and your car-configuration know-how will be tested at every stage of the game.

It's hard to imagine Battle Chip Challenge appealing to anyone but the tiny, dedicated group of MMBN link battlers to whom it's a love letter.

As an FPS, Dead Man's Hand is nothing special at all. As an experience, though, DMH is a blast.

MTX may be fun to drive, but it's a little short on car-wreck appeal, which probably has to be considered an important factor in an extreme sports game.

The predominant problem with Drakengard is that it's boring to look at. The level designs don't seem designed much at all.

It's just unfortunate, though, that the camera mars a game that is so brilliant and tops everything else in the action/beat 'em up genre in so many ways. Ninja Gaiden is a landmark title that's better than anything similar you'll find, but it also serves as a reminder that even the best isn't necessarily perfect.

MTX may be fun to drive, but it's a little short on car-wreck appeal, which probably has to be considered an important factor in an extreme sports game.

It takes a while for the card-based gameplay of Episode III to grow on you, but once it does, it'll get its hooks in as firmly as the other PSO chapters.

The game's well-polished; it would have been hailed as revolutionary a few years ago, but now it's just another decent, 10-hour-long hop-n-bop to add to the pile.

There's just nothing new at all on the gameplay end, and nothing very compelling on the external-polish end. It's hardly the first GBA game to be guilty of this, but it won't do much to compel people to buy it.

The game's well-polished; it would have been hailed as revolutionary a few years ago, but now it's just another decent, 10-hour-long hop-n-bop to add to the pile.

The game's well-polished; it would have been hailed as revolutionary a few years ago, but now it's just another decent, 10-hour-long hop-n-bop to add to the pile.

It's a great feeling seeing something you shoot explode into tons of little chunks (which looks similar to when buildings explode in "Return of the King" -- another EA blockbuster title), and some of the racing scenes define the word "epic."

It's a great feeling seeing something you shoot explode into tons of little chunks (which looks similar to when buildings explode in "Return of the King" -- another EA blockbuster title), and some of the racing scenes define the word "epic."

It's a great feeling seeing something you shoot explode into tons of little chunks (which looks similar to when buildings explode in "Return of the King" -- another EA blockbuster title), and some of the racing scenes define the word "epic."

The controls are unbelievable -- they're more fiddly than an Irish wedding. Every button on the PS2 pad is used, and many actions (like firing a weapon) require multiple presses when one could've sufficed.

A disappointing compilation of ambition without practical delivery. It's a game broken into several fundamental components that never work on their own and never contribute to a whole that can be appreciated.

The game's main "problem" is that it badly needs four players. I say "problem" because that's only a problem if you don't have three friends to play with.

The final problem for me is that Nightshade doesn't provide nearly enough of an incentive to rise to the challenge.

The up-close character portraits and overwrought voice acting is gone, but everything else is there -- the mazelike caverns, the glorious level-raising, the seemingly endless array of equipment.

The game's main "problem" is that it badly needs four players. I say "problem" because that's only a problem if you don't have three friends to play with.

It's a shame that the <I>really</I> original firearms (including a cannon that shoots evil spiderlings) don't get introduced until the game's almost over, leaving you little time to enjoy them.

It is quite possibly the most ambitious, comprehensive and successful remake ever attempted for a game of this type. Far more than a mere graphical upgrade, MZM expands on its source material with refined control, gameplay ideas retrofitted from its sequels, new plot hooks for subsequent chapters of the saga, and some jaw-droppingly cool innovations which add new layers of complexity to the series.

Throw out the multiplayer and other gimmicks, and it sounds like a basic action RPG, doesn't it?... FFCC's core gameplay is older than the hills, and The Game Designers Studio hasn't done much to keep the 25-or-so-hour experience very engaging for solo adventurers.

Fans of the system should have no reservations about picking up a copy; it was put together under the supervision of several of the console's original programmers, and their love for Intellivision shines through in the detail and polish of the package.

Since aiming and movement is too difficult to track enemies as they appear, a typical mission will have you die on the first enemy, learn his location and kill him before he can strike back, only to be felled by a second enemy, and so on.

Long stretches of each stage can be severely frustrating and annoying, but when they're not, it's still pretty fun -- and getting "in the zone" to complete an especially hard part in one try is always satisfying.

Long stretches of each stage can be severely frustrating and annoying, but when they're not, it's still pretty fun -- and getting "in the zone" to complete an especially hard part in one try is always satisfying.

There's just something about raising hell and experience points in Dark Alliance II that makes it more addictive than any of the Dark Alliance clones out there.

Every robot smashed feels satisfying, and it captures the feeling of being "in the zone" while wading knee-deep in enemies better than any other Stylish Hard Action game has yet -- all while being challenging, but still possible.

What Silent Storm does better than most strategy titles, even those not of the type, is create dynamic, diverse situations that players must adapt to using an insane number of weapons, skills, and evolving strategies.

There's just something about raising hell and experience points in Dark Alliance II that makes it more addictive than any of the Dark Alliance clones out there.

The cel-shaded visual presentation is about the only element AM has going for it, so if you're really attracted to this particular aesthetic, then this is your game. On the other hand, if you're into racing games, chances are you already own something like "Need for Speed Underground," and AM really isn't even in the same ballpark.

Most importantly, though (especially for fans of the PC Fallout), you've got an RPG without any sort of enticing story.

Most importantly, though (especially for fans of the PC Fallout), you've got an RPG without any sort of enticing story.

PS2 is the best version. I prefer a comfortable controller over mildly better graphics any day. The extra highlights on Xbox are barely noticable. And the smoother textures on GameCube don't make up for that confounded controller.

NFL Street could have benefited from a faster pace, which would have enriched the gameplay. It takes a little getting used, but once you do, it's worth it.

NFL Street is definitely easy to get into. Smooth controls also make this game assessable and welcoming for those who are unfamiliar with typical football games.

A fun game to bash around with, and it's one of the best Sonic offshoots the series has seen so far. If you can get over the odd balance, you'll find that it's also one of the best pick-up-and-play fighters on the GBA, too.

Long stretches of each stage can be severely frustrating and annoying, but when they're not, it's still pretty fun -- and getting "in the zone" to complete an especially hard part in one try is always satisfying.

If you play Counter-Strike, you'll find little more than a small assortment of some new laid atop a whole lot of old.

Defiance stands as a solid title that fans of "Devil May Cry" and even the recent "Castlevania: Lament of Innocence" should have plenty of fun with.

A GBA game that successfully <I>feels</I> like Payne, even though everyone's tiny and doesn't curse as much.

So merely by presenting the clearest puzzle design and most interesting combat yet seen in survival horror, Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly has already staked a strong claim as one of the genre's finest moments.

To "normal" gamers that just want a bit of old-school flavor now and again, this cart's fine and dandy -- in fact, I hope it gives Nintendo some inspiration for a NES compilation of their own.

It's hard to even say what's good about the game, because every attempt to get at the fun parts is like swimming to shore with lead weights on both feet.

All of this is handled well enough, but there's nothing special to it.

Stands out in a sea of competitors not because of an enormous budget, years of hype or an expensive movie license, but because it's simply unique and fun.

Every bout of loading takes 20-30 seconds, and there are so many of them that it really starts to kill the atmosphere after a while.

The controls hold up better than in most platformers, the levels are well-designed, and your character has a good repertoire of attacks.

The controls hold up better than in most platformers, the levels are well-designed, and your character has a good repertoire of attacks. There's a lot of variety, too.

Please God, afford Egosoft the time needed to rework the game via some sort of expansion, patch or Gold Edition so that I may finally be content with existence. As is, this bizarre flip-flop of "Freelancer" that features no interface or enjoyable action but a ton of diversity and extended appeal just isn't any better than all right.

May not be an outstanding game, but darn it if it isn't enjoyable. Its biggest fault is its lack of inspiration.

I haven't played a better game all year.

It's not the best-designed shooter of the year, and it's far from the nicest-looking, but it is one of the most fun to play, thanks to solid controls and some of the most drop-dead hilarious cutscenes in recent memory.

The end result is a good-if-you're-into-it, poorly performing, but interesting social experiment that seems more geared toward determining how players will react to certain situations than challenging them in new and exciting ways to accomplish tasks that are fun and engaging.

Too many corners were cut to ensure the timely shipping of this PS2 release, and Rockstar Vienna's lack of care shines through.

Since nothing, not even "Undrentide," is as polished and well done as Hordes, the expansion is still an obvious purchase for fans of the series who may have every user created module to date.