With a little elbow grease and perhaps a dash of maturity, Postal 2 could've been a harrowing psychological tale of one man's collapsing psyche. Sort of like the movie "Falling Down" realized in an interactive 3D environment.

Sure, there is a deep convoluted plotline and beautiful backdrops, but the deficiencies in interface, action sequences, and conversations are quite serious.

Falls into line behind countless other film conversions, boasting low production values, an obviously rushed release and highly conventional gameplay that struggles with the controls.

Certainly replicates well the sounds and sights of the ancient Middle East, and the production values are quite high. However, it is extremely challenging for any developer to find the perfect blend of action and adventure in any release claiming to combine both elements, and the balance here seems a bit skewed.

The decidedly unreasonable degree of difficulty prevents any of it from developing into something entertaining.

The gameplay can't hold a match to even the most basic competition, since the distinct lack of modes, oversimplified approach and lackluster execution combine to make a release that's the exact opposite of what a party title needs to be.

A textbook movie-to-game cash-in. Everything in it is halfheartedly done; the graphics and sound are canned and formulaic, as is the gameplay.

Many of the puzzles are creative, and the graphical style is pleasing; but the frustrating ways that the dialog revelations and trivial sequencing of actions are implemented largely ruin the whole experience.

Because of its brevity, it doesn't come close to justifying the $15 price tag.

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

It’s one thing to put original characters into an old game type, but it would be another thing entirely to use those same characters and impose new standards on the genre.

The Carmageddon series has clearly run out of steam. Providing the same old cheap gore and guts does not have the same impact in 2000 as it did in 1997.

Problems such as an awkward control interface, overbalanced gameplay, and easily confounded AI sadly undermine the innovations.

Entertaining, but somewhat difficult in design, and occasionally unforgiving in control.

As it stands, however, Championship Surfer should only be reserved for the die-hard surfing fanatics and PC owners who have an undeniable penchant for extreme sports.

What with so little variety in weapons, foes, or physical settings, the game loses what little charm it has in a mere matter of minutes.

In modern times, however, when even simple retro-games like "Frogger" get massive face lifts and hordes of options, there is little room for a game that prides itself on pure simplicity and repetitive action.

In many ways this is a generic quality game - not embarrassing in any area, while at the same time not being outstanding either.

It never should have been released on the PC, in part because it exploits none of the features possible on computers, such as saving at will, better graphics and configurable controls.

Fighters with minimal moves at their disposal, unbalanced characters, and an AI that can't hold up its end of the bargain conspire to make Kakuto Chojin feel like an empty shell.

Its interface is horrendously convoluted, its gameplay painfully tedious and sluggish, and its graphics are outdated.

Only the most desperate sled-junky should bother with Arctic Thunder. Clearly inferior to its ancestor, this jerky ride suffers from terrible frame rates, sub-par sound, twitchy controls and mindless, repetitive gameplay.

If you take the time to fully understand its mechanics and enjoy the menu-based format, then SaGa will prove to be a unique, rewarding experience. As the alt text for this section says, only hardcore fans need apply.

A bland experience with nothing innovative to free your mind from concentrating on the annoying aspects of the gameplay.

Despite the presence of distinctive licensed racing classics, the actual driving experience is both bland and homogeneous.

Gamers have already seen, heard and played everything Team Factor has to offer - and had more fun doing so.

The unnecessarily tedious unit movement coupled with the debilitating difficulty level of many battles leaves this title stranded with too many moments of frustration for the average user.

The combat is engaging, but it grows repetitive and is extremely time consuming.