El Matador's story, characters, and gameplay add nothing new to the shooter genre. There's nothing here that's stupendously bad, but nothing good that's memorable either.

Jack's narrative is amusing, and pirates are just deliciously cult and cool. But the game walks the plank when you realize that it's a bland, buccaneer version of God of War.

It's all not as bad as it could have been, but nothing you can't get from dozens of other games.

It's all not as bad as it could have been, but nothing you can't get from dozens of other games.

You might have some fun if you've never played another Naruto fighting game -- but anyone who's spent time with the franchise will find this pales in comparison to its predecessors.

The game should be called "Harry Potter and the Half-Assed Game."

You can take a game of tic-tac-toe and throw a whole bunch of spicy house rules on it, but let's face it: You're drawing friggin' circles and Xs. Yggdra is a competent example of the tactics genre, but there are others (Fire Emblem, for one) that do everything Yggdra does more simply and are just a lot more fun.

Pteredon manages to nail a few things fairly well, but it's not enough to light up the entire game, and all you're left with in the end is awesome female Vietnamese voice acting.

MS Saga lies just below the threshold of a good game, and the shine of its customization and gripping boss combat is dulled by lackluster, rote storytelling and lifeless presentation.

There is still a better product for consumers to pick up this year, and this is not it.

As I played through Dynasty Warriors 6, the series' first entry for this console generation, one thought kept permeating my head: "This is exactly the same game I played in college."

Despite the stylishly designed menu display, the attractive mechs, and the occasionally breathtaking clash between LFOs, Eureka Seven Vol. 2: The New Vision is just too uneven a game to recommend to anyone besides the hardcore fan base -- who have already purchased this game.

All of the things EA did right with FIFA World Cup 2006 are overshadowed by the simple truth that what should be the most fun part of the game -- having exciting scoring chances -- is completely negated by shoddy game performance near the nets.

Vandal Hearts may be competent at what it does, but its derivative throwback nature doesn't do much for a genre that's in desperate need of innovation.

The only redeeming factor about Bomberman Land is the inclusion of the archaic (but still awesome) Battle Mode. While it's lacking a bit in options -- only six modes to choose from -- at least it's a blast to battle it out with your buds.

The one bit about Spy vs. Spy that really shines is the presentation. Each level looks radically different than the last, and comes complete with its own, unique challenges.

The voice command system in EndWar is terrific, and hopefully, future games will take advantage of a similar control scheme. It just isn't enough by itself to raise the game beyond "mediocre RTS." It's definitely worth checking out to see voice command done right, but overall, it lacks the depth and substance to bring anyone over from superior PC alternatives.

In its weird little way, it's fun, but not quite $50 worth of fun.

For all its flaws this one's still fun for a short kickaround, but in the end it's really nothing more than a softcore novelty.

Sticking unwanted attitude onto a couple of characters doesn't create empathy -- developers should've learned that from the '90s.

Quirk enthusiasts will be disappointed, mainstream gamers will only find more to support their suspicions about those "weird" games, and Capcom is in danger of believing that small, strange games like this won't do well.

Street-racing nuts won't get the satisfaction they want, while fans of the original Rush franchise will be disappointed that their favorite series has been reduced to another ride-pimpin' also-ran.

Sonic Rivals 2 is a technically complete game, but in the altogether more important areas of inspiration and design, it's sorely lacking.

That the game outperforms its 3D siblings seems to have happened almost by default: the other games are so poor that this mediocre product seems sterling by comparison. Taken on its own merits, though, it's just not particularly good.

Save for a tedious gimmick level in the Hundred-Acre Wood, each stage follows the same basic structure: work towards the first cutscene, which provides the key to the second cutscene, which provides the key to the boss. There are no puzzles or complex paths to work through -- once you've solved one, you've solved them all.

Malice is so generic and mediocre that its release only serves to spoil what little status it had as the punchline of a joke.

Appreciation goes out to Koei for attempting a new direction for the series, but they could have left out the dull repetition. Struggling with the motion controls in the first few stages, being forced to traverse on rails (and when the rails do come off, dealing with awkward movement), and facing wave after wave of repeated enemies just isn't all that fun.

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