An unforgiving difficulty level and harsh time limits <I>severely</I> undercut the fun... [and b]am-powing hordes of goons becomes achingly repetitive over time. [Nov 2003, p.172]

While the game won&#146;t win any awards for originality, it is well-paced and does a good job of keeping the player glued to the tube. [Oct 2001, p.145]

Stiff, robotic controls present the game's biggest hurdle. Most action sequences are a joke, as gun battles consist of standing while firing at a bad guy who is five feet away. [March 2004, p.119]

The action on the track is mediocre, especially once you realize you'll have to wrestle with the touchy control on the same tracks in the same cars over and over. [Jan 2004, p.124]

Shooting up a building/tanker/rival definitely looks good as you drive by at 135 mph, or maybe reverse time to get a second, closer glimpse, but both the combat racing and arena-style battles have been done to death and back by other games, and better. [Feb. 2007, p.88]

Blood sports deep characters, an awesome premise, and an engaging story line that kept me playing long after the novelty of having swords for arms wore off. [Dec 2004, p.160]

Trust me, the controls are sheer, unadulterated nonsense. [Apr 2002, p.141]

Fielding features the sweetest setup in years, with its simple analog-based meter. And baserunning and hitting benefit from less-complex models. Something's still missing. [Apr 2008, p.73]

Deciding whether to fend off those carnivorous foes or sic 'em on your human enemies adds a teensy bit of strategy to the otherwise typical run, gun, and reload approach. [Mar 2008, p.81]

There's a surprising amount of fun stuff here, if you have the patience to see it all. [Feb 2005, p.115]

What they've done is mash together a platform/coin-collecting game with a plodding kart-combat racer, then grafted on some escaped-from-a-cell-phone minigames. It's a Frankensteinian mess.

What a thermonuclear disappointment. To someone like me, who loved all three Fallout role-playing games on PC, this is a power fist to the face - an insult. [March 2004, p.114]

Collectively, the infuriating missions and maddening difficulty swings prove to be overwhelming, sucking away what little fun there is. [Nov 2004, p.136]

It's too simplistic. While the game gives the illusion of Splinter Cell-style freedom in how you want to take out your enemies, Batman only really ever has one course of action: knock something over, scare the bad guys into dropping their guns, then come in punching and kicking.

When the most exciting thing you can buy (aside from slicker clubs) is a new pair of slacks, you know you're playing no-frills golf. [Mar 2006, p.112]

A sloppy mess of nonsensical plot points, dumb puzzles (which often boil down to trial-and-error guessing), and yet more bland blasting sections toward the end of the game, when this whole ghost train really derails. [Sept 2005, p.114]

What's more, the game's confining mission-based, dungeon-crawl layout may turn off fans accustomed to the series' traditional expansive, expressive worlds. [Aug 2007, p.83]

Crisis Zone has the most unique plot to date. [Dec 2004, p.170]

What once seemed so charming and fresh comes across as competent but stale from othe crypt. [Oct 2005, p.120]

Kickoff does a great job of satiating my hunger for old-school videogame football--a yearning I didn't even know I had. [Dec 2008, p.84]

Sadly, match types come in just two flavors: artifact raids or kill sprees, which makes $60 seems extortionate. [Aug 2007, p.78]

What they've done is mash together a platform/coin-collecting game with a plodding kart-combat racer, then grafted on some escaped-from-a-cell-phone minigames. It's a Frankensteinian mess.

Newbies will find themselves abandoned and bored on am ugly, lonely level treadmill that doesn't even introduce basic gameplay concepts. [July 2006, p.88]

I love this game&#146;s stinkin&#146; fast-pitch delivery. Facing a 98 mph heater has never been so intimidating (at least, in a video game). [Feb 2002, p.158]

It's not really a title to play for extended periods but instead something to dip into for five minutes at a time. [Nov 2007, p.112]

The best has to be Ash's undead sidekick Sam (never mind Crispin and Jon D.), since he serves to break up the monotony of the combat (you use him to solve puzzles) and gives Bruce Campbell someone to play off of for one-liners.

Finally, a game that embraces the inherent homoeroticism of pro wrestling. [Jan 2005, p.132]

If anything can bring your romanticized WWII fantasy crashing back to reality, it's inconsistent A.I. [Aug 2003, p.119]