It's a terrible system and it's sure to alienate all but the hardcore C&C nerds. But those of you who stick around, those of you who are willing to put up with the ugly graphics, the pointless online-only requirement, and the mandatory grinding are liable to end up as the small dedicated player base for yet another one of Electronic Arts' disastrous attempts at online gaming.

As a mashup of :Need for Speed: Carbon" and "Need for Speed: Most Wanted", Undercover is ultimately fairly successful. For many, though, in a post-"Burnout: Paradise" world, the question has to be raised: "What does this give me that Paradise doesn't?" The answer to that is "cops and robbers," a mechanic that has worked well in single-player since the days of Hot Pursuit, and works even better online when played in teams of 4-on-4 in Undercover.

A throwback to the good ol' days of "Diablo 2"-style dungeon exploring, PSU is a value-packed, worthwhile action-RPG that finds its biggest challenge not in its modern-day peers, but in escaping the shadow of its predecessor: "Phantasy Star Online (PSO)."

The game does provide a few improvements, bringing revised flight controls and new cooperative mission modes, but For Answer lacks what a great series needs in order to stay relevant: progress.

Crates and barrels aside, Batman Begins is generally a well-produced game. Its visuals are often striking, and are distinct in style from those of the film.

Ratatouille is otherwise a very charming game...when you're not playing it. Its biggest failings are, in the end, the built-in limitations of the hardware, and the genre that most developers keep trying to superimpose -- sloppily -- on top of it.

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.

If you're one of those players who simply can't make do without a Tales-like RPG experience every few months, Arc Rise Fantasia might have enough of what you're looking for. But for most players, the game will simply be a flashback to the bad ol' days of the mid-'90s, when shoestring localization budgets botched many an epic RPG adventure.

While the controls are frequently irksome, Exit DS is a challenging, rewarding, cleverly designed game for any puzzle fan.

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.

I understand that the game is meant for a younger audience, but there are quite literally hundreds of other titles out there that provide a far more enjoyable experience.

Soccer fans will find it boring because it's too fast and too vapid, while nonfans will probably find it little more than a mildly distracting ball-themed action thing. It's reasonably well executed for what it is, but it could very well be something that no one wants.

A title that isn't all that great and doesn't make a hell of lot of sense.

A fun game and a worthy sequel to Godzilla: DAMM. If it had been afforded a little more finesse (especially regarding the Challenges) and a little more authentic Godzilla flavor, it'd be even sweeter.

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.

So much of the dialogue and story changes depend on your choices that it's absolutely worth revisiting at least once after the credits roll.

For players willing to fully invest, Spectrobes can prove to be as interesting and fulfilling as a Seaman/Pokémon hybrid. If the thought of excavating and incubating ancient creatures doesn't thrill you, though, you should probably consider collecting monsters that are a bit easier to catch.

If you can round up three of your buddies who are ready to get their bumper car on, then you'll find more than your money's worth with Big Bumpin', and only that way. The drop-off from multiplayer to single player is vast.

MLB 2K8 on the Wii just didn't sparkle enough to make me overly enthusiastic. It's a fun novelty play, but I'm taking a Cubs fan-style "wait till next year" approach with what could very well blossom into a must-play by next season.

With combat that is just easy enough to engage the younger crowd, borrowed elements that keep the game from being boring, and a storyline that the kids already love, Eragon on the DS makes for an adequate movie-licensed RPG-lite for adventuring tweens everywhere.

Even though it's a bit rough (bad A.I., the same repetitive mission grind of AC, the out-of-character boss battles, the approximately five-hour length), Bloodlines is saved by its generally solid adherence to the Assassin's Creed formula. Using the hidden blade to brutally counter some Templar makes up for silly boss fights and lame levels -- plus I get also some decent swords for Ezio's villa.

Infuriatingly, it's just the sort of thing that would have been exponentially more fun with other people involved.

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.

What keeps me coming back to War in the North is the fact that the game does a remarkable job of divvying out loot. Enemy drops, breakable items, and eager shopkeepers are all there to make sure that you always have a consistent IV drip of high-fantasy swag at your disposal.

I enjoyed Triggerheart, but the game's length is both a good and bad thing -- it has only five levels, and most players will be able to beat them all in about 30 minutes.

While the game does a solid job of recreating the console tracks and maintaining a steady frame rate, the scaled-down visuals don't always depict how your competitors are wrecked, which sucks away a lot of the appeal of the experience.

Wii Music may have a hard time winning over the skeptics who just want to laugh at it, but give the game the chance it deserves. You just might realize it's pretty damn fun being in on the joke.

It's got a few design holes, but in part because of those, Lucidity presents a type of game you don't see very often.