Divided Nation is a step backward. It's a journey to the past in more ways than one, and not an interesting trip at all. [Oct. 2006, p.73]

Better yet, find the cigarette burn-covered machine buried in the corner of your local arcade.

A feeling of been there, done that, with some poor game design choices that limit the fun.

Decent graphics, an efficient interface, and a massive technology tree with a wide array of units. On the other, its slow speed, awkward unit movement, and abysmal A.I. add up to a less than stellar experience.

The Two Thrones addresses the balance between fighting and jumping around in brilliant fashion. [Mar 2006, p.51]

While it borrows heavily from the "Baldur's Gate" bag of tricks and has a few rough edges, it's still worth a look.

It plays sort of like "Team Fortress" on crack, with a lot of visual flash provided by a new version of the Lithtech engine, but not a lot of substance when it comes to gameplay. [Sept 2003, p.86]

Carl "Kung Fu Fighting" Williams would be happy about the addition of kung fu combo attacks (to the hack-and-slash formula), but everyone else will be bored silly by mindless repetition and deeply flawed design. [Apr 2004, p.73]

One of the best-looking games on the Playstation 2, Cy Girls' character models are absolutely gorgeous, as are the game's levels. [May 2004, p.11]

The designers may have thought they were making some sort of social statement, but the intended point is lost in all the sound and fury of oozing eyeballs and babies being hacked apart. It'll play well with the teens, because they'll think it's edgy and funny (missing the parody and irony, assuming they're actually there), but adults will no doubt find it stupid.

There's a way to remake "Pac-Man" for the 21st century, but it probably involves realistic weapons, stealth, full frontal nudity, and/or Nazi zombies. [Oct 2002, p.81]

But in the end, it doesn't serve gamers, not even the extremely forgiving cadre of adventure game fans. [Sept. 2006, p.63]

If you don't have any friends over 30, the developers have kindly provided 'bots. [July 2005, p.91]

Battles are visceral and exciting in ways that may surprise gamers who haven’t really experienced quality turn-based tactics. [Mar 2006, p.61]

Lacking a concrete sense of direction and any evidence that tender loving care was exercised during its development cycle, the journey unfortunately resembles purgatory more than outright damnation.

A goldmine for fans of historically authentic strategy gaming. [Mar 2004, p.78]

With the addition of any type of multiplayer Yu-Gi-Oh! would have been a solid competitor to other CCG videogames on the market. As it stands, it's merely a satisfying and addictive upgrade to Solitaire. [June 2004, p.81]

There's virtually no effort made to adapt the controls to a PC, so make sure you've got a gamepad handy. Although the far better alternative is to just have a better game handy. [Oct. 2006, p.75]

Despite being too hard for its own good, it's still oddly appealing in short bursts. [Apr 2004, p.75]

The much-touted "realism" vanishes entirely once you get to the military phase of the game. [March 2005, p.87]

Should have stayed where it belonged-on the consoles. This is not a PC game. There is no mouse support whatsoever

A ham-fisted and passionless retreat of "Halo." [Aug 2004, p.70]

But the problems with Eragon the game have nothing too do with the source material and everything to do with its dull and overly rigid gameplay. [Mar 2007, p.75]

On the easier levels, it's a silly exercise in mashing buttons to spew ammo throughout a world of bad physics, cheap animation, and tinny sound. [June 2005, p.90]

A game that breaks the mold and takes dull minimalism to new levels. It seems that scraping the bottom was the goal of its creation.

Making a short game is less of a sin than padding one with endless combats of attrition. [Nov 2003, p.98]

Offers a quick toot of dopey euphoria, followed by twitching hours of comedown and regret. [July 2005, p.90]

As a game designed for entertainment purposes, Restricted Area leaves a great deal to be desired. [Sept 2005, p.57]

Once you've exhausted your ability to be offended, what's left is a sloppily made and at-best mediocre game. [July 2003, p.70]

Individual combats are fast-paced but extremely repetitive, resulting in a truly brutal leveling grind. [Sept 2005, p.70]

Offers a quick toot of dopey euphoria, followed by twitching hours of comedown and regret. [July 2005, p.90]

What a mess. Even when it's not baffling, Big Biz Tycoon gets completely bogged down in thoroughly not-fun minutia. [Sept 2002, p.83]

Has all the trappings of a good game: its setting is unique (there are far too few games set in the old west), and it copies a highly successful formula all the while adding enough flavor to separate itself as a distinct product. But limited game options coupled with bonehead AI make a recipe for disaster in the crowded market of the real time strategy game.

It's about as thrilling as watching The English Patient on Valium.

The 3D engine is incredibly sluggish, delivering mediocre graphics that manage to tax even fast computers and high-end videocards. [Jan 2005, p.69]

In Reservoir Dogs, the game, you might as well be seeing " The Max Fisher Players Present Reservoir Dogs," but minus the charm, and with a bad shooter/driving game as the price of admission. [Jan. 2007, p.69]

There's almost no connection between your keypresses and Lara's movements on-screen. It feels like she's moving through molasses. [Sept 2003, p.74]

At its core, Archangel is all self-absorbed scenario development, and endless circle-strafe packed to its pimpy neck witih occult imagery and amateurish design. [Mar 2003, p.84]

It's viscerally fun, it actually looks and sounds pretty good, and in 15 minute spurts, it's as entertaining as many 3D shooters. [Oct 2002, p.81]

Poorly designed, ugly, and rife with bugs.

As tedious and redundant as "Dead Man's Chest", this cash-in distills the whole appeal of the original "Pirates of the Caribbean" into simple, repetitive, and boring button-mashing combat. [Oct. 2006, p.80]

A good idea gone wrong... A fantastic notion tht deserves much, much better execution than is displayed here. [Mar 2003, p.90]

In the end, Shadowflare simply becomes a chore, lacking any depth or flair that might justify the heat energy spent in the mouse clicking. [Mar 2003, p.88]

A seriously lame expansion. [Sept 2003, p.87]

The gameplay is bad, the "adventuring" is boring, the magnificent Dune story is condensed into something dull and lifeless, but it looks pretty enough, if only when showing the massive and frightening giant worms.

It won’t hold your attention very long, but Ford Street Racing is competent enough to get you through a couple of rainy days. [Dec. 2006, p.80]

Not everything in Konung is bad, but the game's virtues hardly add up to a ringing endorsement. It can occasionally be fun, but by the end it's the repetition that you'll remember.

It's about as realistic as an episode of Hogan's Heroes. Add poor path finding and sub-par combat AI, and you have a sure fire recipe for real-time strategy blandness.

The difficulty is mostly artificial—each mission has an arbitrary time limit—but despite this, the missions are oddly... entertaining.

One final warning to keep you from you buying this game: The sound effect you hear when you gulp a potion is a squeak akin to fingernails scraping a chalkboard or the running of unoiled machinery. [Jan. 2007 p.62]

If you're feeling generous, it might also be called "Halo Done Wrong." [May 2004, p.61]

Provides a fair amount of enjoyment, but it's doubtful that the enjoyment will last long enough for most gamers to see all of the beaches.

In lieu of interesting situations, tactics, thrills, or simple variety, Starship Troopers coughs up a big greasy hairball of run-right-at-you enemies that never stop coming. [Mar 2006, p.55]

Ultimately, the game wears thin—and quickly. The first dozen levels are pretty manageable but then it becomes an exercise in frustration.

Imagine a WWII tank game with lots of pyrotechnics and hearty sound, with fancy graphics of destroyable terrain and tens of friendly and enemy tanks blasting away at one another. This isn't that game. [May 2006, p.51]

Stick some embalming fluid in this one—it's done.

Woody Woodpecker Racing brings little to the genre; even if you don't expect more than a few cheap thrills from a game like this, you're still better off playing... well, you're better off buying a console and playing one of the innumerable superior kart-racing games on your platform of choice.

It's quite faithful to the movie in that it also sucks. [Dec 2004, p.92]

Dated gameplay, wonky controls, and more bugs than an orc's loincloth. [Aug 2005, p.78]

Crime Stories is merely tragic, a paranormal murder mystery whose downfall is its over-enthusiam. [Oct. 2006, p.72]

It's a cynical and soulless exercise that deliberately eschews any aspect of modern game design that might make it accessible - like complexity, stylish art direction, and mechanical variety. [Feb 2004, p.78]

Even though the Steve Saleen Styling Studio is a disappointment, there's enough entertaining racing to make a few nights fly by.

Given the decidely mixed gameplay, you have to have a certain love of kitsch to get far in Hard Truck Apocalypse. [Oct. 2006, p.68]

It's crude, lewd, incompetently produced, and generally behaves like an ill-mannered 12-year-old. [Oct 2005, p.69]

Quotation forthcoming. [Jan 2005]

Clever ideas don't make up for shoddy craftsmanship. [Jan 2003, p.75]

Flaws like this keep State of Emergency 2 from being anything more than a straightforward third-person shooting gallery. [Jun 2006, p.92]

Only for blindly hardcore fans of Anne McCaffrey...Everyone else will find the entire experience tired and uninspiring.

While no one is going to sling a gold medal around its box, it's much better than its predecessor in almost every way, which boosts the quality from abysmal to merely okay.

Such an absolute mess that even die-hard fans should avoid the temptation. [Aug 2003, p.89]

One of the worst games you'll ever play. [Sept 2004, p.72]

Farscape the series has been cancelled. The game was not. Nobody wins. [Jan 2003, p.75]

Despite the lack of satire and occasional lack of sense, the game is mostly playable. However, the interface and the odd bugs make it a chore. [July 2006, p.65]

Jazz and Faust is hard-pressed to make your pet bulldog sit up and take notice, despite the rump roast you cleverly glued to the screen. [Sept 2002, p.79]

Archlord is nothing but a grind, one with very few players. [Mar 2007, p.63]

Despite non-existent AI and a lack of polish, the simple mechanics and decent missions provide some minor entertainment. [Oct 2004, p.87]

It's terrible...This is just the sort of game that gives movie license titles a bad name. [Nov 2004, p.87]

The problem is that the gameplay itself is just downright awful. The missions are poorly thought out, excessively long, and inadequately defined. [May 2004, p.12]

Finding [four] people who would sit still for a single session of Alien Blast would serve as a remarkable testament to the power of sedatives. [June 2004, p.80]

From opening the box to viewing the end credits, playing Timeline in its entirety takes roughly an hour and a half...Are you still here? What the hell is it going to take to convince you not to buy this?

Street Supremacy's visuals are as drab as the gameplay, and they are further marred by technical glitches. [Jun 2006, p.93]

It's ugly, bland, boring and nondescript. Kind of like the average mall.

The problem is that the gameplay itself is just downright awful. The missions are poorly thought out, excessively long, and inadequately defined. [May 2004, p.12]

On the whole, Evil Dead isn't horrifically bad—just surprisingly limp-wristed.

While the story-based gameplay is a did, the free-roaming modes and mini-games are pretty entertaining. [June 2005, p.60]

Game-crashing bugs? Check. Horrible enemy AI? Check. [July 2005, p.66]

Your best bet? Leave this game at the store and pick up a VHS copy of the "V" miniseries if you really need a cheesy alien invasion fix.

An incredibly boring corridor shooter. [July 2005, p.49]

It has a nice wrapper and the budget price is right, but as soon as you hit the second or third mission, you'll be ready to break the disc in half and return the pieces to the store for credit.

You have to be jonesing for a decidedly old school arcade experience to appreciate Air Raid, and even then, it's fun for maybe 20-30 minutes at a time, if not in total. [Nov 2003, p.101]

As a third-person action game, 25 to life is kind of a "Max Payne in the Hood," only without the quality gameplay. [Apr 2006, p.62]

The board game format gives it a bit of randomness, and despite there being almost no challenge, it's still a surprisingly amusing diversion. [May 2003, p.87]

There's little for you to do other than play with staffing percentages and earn some cash to purchase new styles of coffee. [Mar 2007, p.67]

A decent start. The rest is an unmitigated disaster. [Feb 2003, p.82]

It's hard to imagine for whom this game was made. It's certainly not for gamers. And it's even more certainly not for nongamers, who are going to be entirely confounded. [Feb. 2007, p.68]

The mess of a control scheme, stilted animation, and poor transitions obviously shows that Daydream Software must have been daydreaming when it decided to leap into the world of 3D. [Feb 2004, p.85]

A great concept gone horribly wrong... It's too short, too dull, and too poorly executed. [Oct 2002, p.75]

Romping through "Diablo" one more time is both more gothic and more fun. [Apr 2004, p.75]