It ain't particularly exciting, but it ain't exactly bad, either. [Dec 2002, p.272]

The story spews more cheese than blood, the wonky camera hides foes, and the duo of poorly placed save points and lack of health pick-ups can turn Nanobreaker into a controller-smashing affair. Proceed with caution. [March 2005, p.120]

While intriguing, the game is never captivating. [June 2007, p.94]

This premise would still be stupid even if Shadow didn't suffer from slowdown issues, a nonexistent lock-on system, a horrible camera, and bottomless pits in which to fall. But it does, and it is stupid--just like this is a stupid way to spend 50 bucks.

The levels are too drawn-out and repetitive, and I odn't really care for the theme, but underneath it's a no-bull shooter steeped in classic gameplay juices. [Sept 2002, p.148]

It doesn't take a mutant psychic with precognition to figure out this one's a renter. [Feb 2003, p.138]

Any joy you might glean from Tao's progressive treasure collecting and monster slaying will be completely drowned by your tears of boredom. [May 2006, p.108]

Despite its adventure game pretentions, Dino still suffers from annoying time limits and short overall length. [Oct 2002, p.179]

The gripping story line is the only reason to struggle with a frustrating and monotonous combat system, to wander in repetitive environments, and to suffer through predictable gameplay. [Mar 2003, p.116]

As a fan of stealth-action in general and the Xbox Chaos Theory in particular, playing the DS version is like reuniting with an old friend...who's gained weight, lost his hair, had his limbs chopped off, his brain sucked out, and been through one of those car-crusher things. And smells. Like cat pee.

The targeting system is useless, the levels are bland and filled with countless invisible barriers, and the camera is so hard to manipulate in tight spaces that you'll often end up staring right at 50's face as he gets ventilated by the dozen enemies he just can't see.

While xXx does nothing to expand on the old genre of big-guy-with-big-guns action games, it does provide a solid five or six hours of decent platforming action. [Oct 2002, p.204]

The movie might be OK. But the game? It's a lifeless, mediocre beat-em-up.[Mar 2003, p.134]

The play-style variety may be decent--and you get to upgrade abilities--but each character's level sets grow horribly repetitive and pointless, with stingy checkpoint placement compounding the frustration [July 2006, p.91]

Regis’s few spunky chime-ins will severely disappoint his extremist fans, as well as nauseate everyone else with how much they sound like assembly-line verbal by-product. [Sept 2001, p.148]

Don't count on using this stuff the way it was intended, though. Unlike the routines real wrestlers choreograph, these matches are absolute button-mashing chaos. [Dec 2003, p.194]

It's the general gameplay that's busted. Picking up an object is needlessly complex, tricky jumps seem to require more luck than skill, the camera is craptacular, boss battles are tedious, the vehicle-based levels are a joke, and the actual fighting action is bland. [Dec 2004, p.150]

Sure, there's a little car crushing, but not wanton crushing, and that's what I want in a monster truck game. [Feb 2004, p.110]

This premise would still be stupid even if Shadow didn't suffer from slowdown issues, a nonexistent lock-on system, a horrible camera, and bottomless pits in which to fall. But it does, and it is stupid--just like this is a stupid way to spend 50 bucks.

Only players with a "Top Gun" level of dedication will persevere. Everyone else will start looking for the eject button. [Aug 2006, p.88]

The debilitating, clunky controls had me spewing so many expletives in the heat of combat that passersby probably thought I had Tourette's syndrome. [Sept 2003, p.132]

If "Driver" married its cousin, there's a good chance the spawn of said union would look a lot like The Dukes of Hazzard: Return of the General Lee. [Oct 2004, p.129]

The fact is, just about every task the game asks you to play is simply no fun. [Jan 2002, p.230]

NFL Tour's last-team-with-the-ball-wins emphasis on offense deflates whatever air this pigskin had left in it. [Feb 2008, p.76]

You absolutely need more than one (perhaps two) friends to get past the game's flaws: bland menus, a ridiculously annoying announcer, and less than 50 minigames that get old fast. [Mar 2007, p.88]

The scale of the town maps and the repetitive graphics make navigating around the map a laborious chore. [Oct 2001, p.148]

It's painfully obvious that Astonishia does nothing to ebb the flow of downright disappointing roleplayers on the portable Playstation. [Aug 2006, p.92]

The gameplay is the equivalent of chewing a piece of gum all afternoon - inoffensive, but you just want to spit it out after a while. [Sept 2004, p.99]