The offering does well with what it chooses to present, but it should have incorporated a more multifaceted play experience. Going back to try to get gold medals can only keep you going for so long. Nonetheless, the pure thrill of frenetic combat, interspersed with the humor, makes this title well worth trying.

The unbearably monotonous levels, by themselves, easily killed it for me.

A fun and frenzied shooting romp, but -- as a longtime fan of the franchise -- beneath my expectations.

It's short and sometimes repetitive game play with limited multiplayer doesn't exactly ooze with replay value.

With the various methods of strategic growth, tactical conquest, and diplomatic gains, Diplomacy lives up to its table-bound namesake’s reputation. It is easy to learn, play, and master.

It is limited in a few ways, namely in the number of characters (a total of 16 with unlocks) and the depth of the fighting system, but it is also something I can see as a great party game for groups of casual gamers of any age.

Possesses the single most important quality for a game: it’s fun. Controlling my party of characters to victory over the hordes of enemies that would flood the screen was a blast. Yes, there was a large amount of repetition, but I found myself faithfully returning to the game to move to the next area, or to achieve the next goal.

Cute and charming in a macabre way. The opportunity for reaping rewards from the creative premise is, however, largely squandered. The control problems are almost enough to sound the death knell by themselves, and other issues of balance or polish also interfere with player enjoyment.

The game delivers exciting combat in all forms with intelligence and style.

With the style of game being more action and side scrolling then RPG makes it playable on it's own regardless of having even seen the original, however I was feeling alienated as the story just throws you in; no major introduction or conclusion.

There's plenty of great stuff to be found in this offering, but it just doesn't feel like it's all been pulled together in a tight enough fashion.

If you are looking for a deep story-driven experience with lots of innovative twists parallel to the latest non-handheld computer and console releases, then you are doomed to disappointment and should not purchase this title.

Despite a few shortcomings, such as a disappointing ending, a hard-to-read scanner, and a run-time glitch, Area 51 is ultimately a high quality title worthy of shooter enthusiasts' time and money.

ER was too short for my taste and replayability is a problem as well, but it was easy to forgive these issues. This game offers rich and engaging gameplay and is adequately priced, so I feel confident in giving it the score.

What redeems LSN from being an exercise in tedium is that the touch of a master’s hand can be felt in almost every brushstroke.

While for me not quite as addictive overall as another recent PSP racer, "Wipeout Pure," Ridge Racer is more than worth the money. If you are a fan of the series or if you just love arcade racing, you certainly cannot afford to pass this one up.

Its additions are fine and I enjoyed the game overall, but too many elements are the same as its predecessor, giving the program the feel of a very-polished expansion pack.

With the atmosphere and mood so sensationally presented, Shadow of Rome exceeded my expectations, which might have been questionable since I am avidly interested in the history of Greece and Rome.

From a purely objective standpoint, the poor use of the Source engine's capabilities makes for a disappointing offering. Speaking subjectively, I've enjoyed Bloodlines more than any other RPG since "Knights of the Old Republic" or perhaps "Morrowind."

Micromanagers and fans of "Pharaoh" have cause for celebration with the arrival of Children of the Nile, and should be thanking the god of their choice for the abundance that has been provided.

It’s somewhat ironic that The Bard’s Tale, which satirizes conventional medieval epics and romances, suffers from such a conventional adventure.

Entertaining, but not for the hardcore fighting fan. Every move is very easy to pull off, it's more a matter of learning the best combos, and what each character will throw at you so you can properly defend yourself.

Atlantis: Evolution hangs its hat on being an adventure game, but it doesn’t present the fine challenge that those who are serious about the sport expect, plus it includes too much tedium for those who are casual players.

The single-player campaign does a great job of going against the build-a-base-and-kill-everything grain that is the stock-and-trade of the RTS scene. Plus, it infuses some inspired missions into the mix, keeping you interested and coming back for more.

A fun, yet brief detective adventure that will occupy several evenings of play, but like a watched episode of the show, will probably never be picked up again after completion.

Combat is occasionally entertaining, but more often than not you're mindlessly blasting or backtracking huge stretches of land on the poorly implemented motorcycle. Invasion simply becomes uninteresting, and it can't be redeemed by an equally tired multiplayer component.

With fantastic visual and audio elements (setting a new standard), an engrossing story, an intuitive interface, and amazing overall polish, Myst IV Revelation has all the makings of a real winner. However, the tortuous difficulty posed by many of the puzzles, even for those with considerable logical abilities, detracts from the mainstream appeal of this offering.

Extremely effective in immersing you in the world of world domination and espionage, while maintaining a wonderful sense of humor... Nonetheless, the slow pacing, imperfect sense of direction, and extensive micromanagement can interfere with your enjoyment.

A tour de force of chronometric detail and almost bottomless options, but the glaring lack of a tutorial, criminally sparse documentation, paucity of things you can directly control and frequent crashes to the desktop doesn’t make playing it any more fun for the uninitiated.

Its updated graphics and method of control breathes some new life into a well-worn building-conquest genre, even if the mission types are the same as most other RTS titles on the market.

While it is fun for a short while, once the novelty wears off its lack of polish really shows through. It completely lacks innovation, doing nothing at all different than what we've seen a 100 times over by now.

There is just so much promise that it's almost unbearably painful to see that potential crippled by a complete and utter lack of content.

The graphics could use as much TLC as the physics received, the sound and music could be fleshed out, and the controls could use some tightening to work more organically.

The failure here is a general lack of content on nearly all fronts. It's too short, the world is too small, there aren't enough monster types, missions, NPC designs or dialog.

It may control like a three-wheeled dump truck on ice, but that’s only scratching the surface of the problems in Conflict: Vietnam.

This title has incredible depth and play value, absorbing you into the ins-and-outs of the economic strategies of transportation management.

Alpha Black Zero isn’t a bad game, but it’s hobbled by so many execution problems that it never really catches wind in its sails.

The vehicle customization feature is engaging if not as deep as it could be, but when it comes to actually racing your creations, the title scores a big DNF.

Overall, this release tries to add a fresh spin to the Anarchy Online universe and succeeds to a certain extent, though it would have been better to open the doors of the expansion a bit wider to let more kinds of gamers through to experience it all.

It pushes the PS2's hardware to incredible limits as it creates very atmospheric environments using amazing graphics and sound; however, Ghosthunter also features poorly conceived puzzles and level design that make for some frustrating moments.

Zoo Empire does add depth to the "Zoo Tycoon" formula, but plays it safe and doesn’t make any effort to change the established norm. If you tried "Zoo Tycoon" but didn’t think that it had enough options or graphical punch, Zoo Empire is for you.

Like the similar P.N.03 for the GameCube, however, extremely repetitive levels and generally bland design detract from the overall experience.

Interface problems, relatively brief and inconclusive gameplay, repetitive backtracking, and uneven puzzles detract from your enjoyment.

The professional mode imposes every rule of the Indy Racing League, making for a truer simulation of actual driving conditions.

The on-foot aspect is near abysmal and takes the wind right out of the sails. The numerous graphical glitches and bugs don't help matters, either.

Arguably the most cinematic shooter on the market, and though the gameplay is flawed in some respects, the lengthy, engrossing single-player campaign is still worth the price of admission. The offline multiplayer component can provide a few small kicks as well, but Xbox Live owners should beware, as online play is dodgy, to say the least.

Strategy war game buffs will find plenty to keep themselves entertained even though some may find the puzzle-like presentation off-putting. If you don’t mind a good strategy puzzle, however, this is your game.

Primal tries to interest gamers with its Viking and fortress theme, but without smooth camera controls and decent pathfinding, the effort feels a bit wasted.

It falls back too often on the war weary build-a-base mechanic as its core, but the robustness and depth of the civilization tree will help ensure many hours of gameplay for RTS and series fans alike.

As an atmospheric "Devil May Cry" knockoff, Van Helsing is a notable success, despite the fact that the experience is only marginally longer than the movie’s running time.

There are some good ideas, like the grouping banner and the ability to plunder, that should’ve come off a lot better, but instead thwarted the gameplay.

If you have access to a broadband connection and take well to online co-operative games, then The Omega Strain might just be worth your time and money, primarily thanks to the massive collection of cool unlockables. However, the single-player aspect is so unbalanced and unpolished that the each mission quickly becomes a chore, a menial, labored process.

My conundrum is that despite the issues and glaring oversights, Beyond Divinity is still fun to play.

While it’s hard for UFC fans to go too far wrong at that price, Sudden Impact isn’t exactly a joy to play with its dull visuals, antiquated sound and clumsy, monotonous gameplay mechanics.

Solid graphics and music, decent level design and clever use of vehicles. The Achilles' heel is clearly the squad mate artificial intelligence, which virtually ruins the whole play experience.

The graphics and score are outstanding, but ultimately, the gameplay falls flat with heavy-handed mechanics and tedious goals.

With a decent story, authentic backdrop, intriguing personalities and classic puzzles, there’s a lot to like here.

The graphics and music are still great, showing great polish and attention to detail, but the story and gameplay are a bit of a letdown. What is missing here is the diversity and twists and turns, as well as the mystery, complexity, and enchantment of the outstanding original.

Frequent issues with controlling your avatar coupled with broken quests keep this gem from truly shining up to its full potential. The good news is there’s nothing so wrong with it that a few patches can’t fix.

Neither the graphics, sound nor gameplay are categorically bad, but each is consistently below average.

The way in which science fiction elements play a major part in your exploration and puzzle solving is an absolute treat.

Basically the same old product with a few new bells and whistles. Nobody is calling that a bad thing.

Though the visuals may be showing their age, the gameplay in Return From Darkness is just as strong as it was in the PlayStation 2 version, if not stronger thanks to the Xbox-exclusive features.

If what you’re hoping for is an intense and challenging shooter that harkens back to the classics, with lots of interesting monsters and a few wrinkles added in the form of special abilities, then you’ll be largely satisfied by what you find.

With a superb story, three challenging modes of gameplay, plenty of side quests and missions that can climb to almost an hour apiece, Drakengard could easily consume up to 50 hours of one’s time.

While few titles will ever again brutalize the player as "Shinobi" did, the still relatively high level of difficulty coupled with refinements and improvements to the gameplay should make Nightshade a keeper for fans of the series.

Contrary to what many hardcore gamers frequently assume, I believe there are still a lot of people who would enjoy this kind of brain-free, white-knuckle virtual leisure activity that brings back the simplicity of earlier days.

If you enjoyed the original Echelon, you will no doubt get enjoyment out of this sequel. However, there is not much here that is innovative or that really deepens the gameplay from the original. With little story, mundane missions, and significant control deficiencies, Echelon: Wind Warriors has little to attract new players.

If you can find ways to ignore the RTS component and the confusion brought on by the other generals, Joan of Arc is a great hack-and-slash that plays like a 3D version of a championship arcade game.

It’s a very serious niche simulation that’s got some lumps which will be unappealing to the average player. If you want to “get it,” you’ve got to be willing to pour the time into learning the nuances of the title.

Additional equipment and spells are nice, and the characters are now much more versatile, but design and pacing problems abound.

Less is more in the case of Sonic Heroes, as convoluted exploration concepts are abandoned in favor of pure speed and exhilaration.

Diehards won’t find enough here to make it worth the overzealous retail price point because, while the single-player mode and the deleted scenes are a fun diversion, they’re not enough to warrant the investment listed on the price tag.

Blade & Sword has style. Style enough to make up for the shortcomings of completely unoriginal mechanics, style enough to compensate for the excessive difficulty and style in such quantities to make other developers turn green with envy.

For those of us with excess patience, though, the rewards could be great. Battlegrounds looks fantastic and sports a startling degree of replayable fun. Best of all, in establishing a wide beta tester program early on, Diversions Entertainment set the groundwork for a fanatically loyal player base that will be the key to success in the long run.

Without robust developer support in the way of patches to add more content, enable dedicated Internet servers and fix disabled features, there’s little hope for RC Cars in the long term.

While the ability to purchase new vehicles by completing challenges isn’t an original idea, it’s executed to near perfection. Admittedly, poor artificial intelligence, sometimes-awkward controls and a fairly small selection of vehicles all keep the game from rivaling titles such as Project Gotham Racing 2, but Evolution is an fine title nonetheless.

Improves on the original in almost every respect, from an enhanced presentation to superior controls and a broader set of skills. However, the fighting mechanics are still a little simple and the ability system is too restrictive, which makes the game feel rather shallow.

X2 contains a great sandbox adventure complicated by an ignorable single-player story and fiendish menu driven control system.

I prefer to think of Invisible War as a flawed diamond rather than a better-than-average lump of coal, as the sheer depth of its storyline and superb graphical quality make up for a multitude of shortcomings.

There are some interesting ideas here and it is fun to play, but the clouds billowing over the AI, graphics, and gameplay never let the bright spots in these same areas ever fully shine.

The developers may have been trying to recreate the success of "Devil May Cry," but instead found themselves in the realm of its disappointing sequel, as an underachieving, run-of-the-mill action title.

It all boils down to short playtime with tons of reused content, and a shallow storyline. Whereas I usually spend upwards of 70 hours to finish a Final Fantasy, I had this one licked in under 40, with plenty of side-quests and exploration included.

Each aspect of Metal Arms illustrates the greatness of which the fledgling Swingin' Ape Studios is capable, but sadly, a number of faults keep the product as a whole from being outstanding.

The plot is absorbing, the graphics are wonderful, the sound and music are enthralling, and the puzzles are challenging. However, interface problems, relatively brief gameplay, and the absence of the critical online component are significant deficiencies.

It’s a noble attempt at a solid strategy / action hybrid, but Defender of the Crown feels more like an amalgamation of disjointed gameplay elements than a single, coherent experience.

A good title if you’re serious about your strategy games. Casual strategic commanders and those that think the sun rises and sets over "Age of Mythology" and the like probably won’t see the draw or attraction.

It’s just difficult to wholeheartedly recommend a title that has a mere five or six hours of game time, and no real incentive to play through again.

The visuals are pretty, the puzzles are engaging and the plot is engrossing, but this release isn’t all that it could be. The interface glitches, puny hotspots, gameplay linearity and absence of deep character development all limit its value.

Should be a hands-down epic masterpiece but is unfortunately tarnished by a litany of problems that should have been addressed before its release. If it wasn’t so doggoned much fun to play, it would be easy to write off because of its betimes infuriating downsides.

There is an undeniably addictive quality about this release, but it is so far overshadowed by the shallow nature of the gameplay that its power to enchant will be tested with all but the most ardent groupies.

Has some fairly innovative features like counter upgrades, paid assassins that can be turned against you for the right price, and the innovative Railroad Building Race mode. Despite these creative turns, however, it’s still a triumphantly average experience.

An uncomplicated and readily accessible approach to experiencing the colorful lives of swashbuckling buccaneers on land and at sea. However, the similarity of the challenges, linear scenarios, substandard sound effects, and deficient artificial intelligence definitely constrain the enjoyment you will experience here.

The shoddy camera system and somewhat unintuitive controls cause far too many headaches.

Although there are some problems with the music and interface, the sheer playability of IndyCar Series shines undeniably through them.

All this title truly needs is the influence of a few sadistic minds to extend the lifespan with complicated tasks, and give you a sense of satisfaction for making it through hellish platform puzzles.

Despite its brevity and sadistic humor, you receive an odd sense of satisfaction when your pranks work. Although hardcore gamers might find this title a bit beneath their level of sophistication, most who enjoy electronic recreation will find this release quite fulfilling.

The core gameplay is involving and well executed, and bolstered by a great camera, solid controls and an intuitive interface. However, the sequel lacks any decisively outstanding or revolutionary features that truly invest the player in the storyline.