Given that all you're doing is shooting everything around you, it's almost essential to give the player a continual sense of progress and achievement by opening up new locales frequently. Otherwise the whole exercise collapses under its own redundancy.

The dialogue frequently doesn’t make sense, then, and the plot often makes even less.

I was looking forward to it, but left very disappointed. It’s completely playable. Being about 7 hours long helps but I spent the entire game waiting for it to get good, to make sense, to make a case for all the incongruous elements of design, gameplay and story, and then it ended.

Remarkably lacking.

If effort counts, then Red Orchestra is not a bad game, and it might even be a very good one. But playing games is about having experiences, and the experience of playing Red Orchestra will leave 95% of the gaming community out in the cold. That other 5% will have the time of their lives though.

I was looking forward to it, but left very disappointed. It’s completely playable. Being about 7 hours long helps but I spent the entire game waiting for it to get good, to make sense, to make a case for all the incongruous elements of design, gameplay and story, and then it ended.

The gameplay is limited in scope and the maps are repetitive in theme, if not design. The visuals are decent enough, but definitely not up to the standards of most modern releases.

If you're already wary of Japanese strategy RPGs, then be sure to stay even further away from Gladius. It's got as many menus, and its battles are slower and less rewarding. LucasArts clearly tried to make everything look and feel good, but Gladius is ultimately done in by the leaden gameplay.

The rest of the Grand Theft Auto series is dirt cheap now, and offers better gameplay in a far more massive world, with vastly superior graphics. So, unless you have absolutely maxed out on all things GTA, it’s unlikely that Liberty City Stories will be anything but a minor curiosity.

Despite a solid concept behind it, NHL Hitz 2002 has neither the gameplay nor the presentation level to deliver.

Though it has numerous pros, courts, and options - including a player creation section that would make World Of Warcraft jealous - and looks as good as Wimbledon on NBC, it is ultimately undone by the most obvious of gaming mistakes: bad controls.

Gameplay as a whole is woefully unbalanced, leading to death after death for no good reason. Each time, you will question your desire to persevere; it's a losing battle.

Nexus plays like a great game that misses the mark almost every step of the way. It’s slick, complex, and ambitious. But the potential here is never realized.

If you're already a fan of point-and-click adventure, then you'll probably dig it. If not, then get out the tissues and be prepared to be bored to tears.

The story could easily have been told in a third of the time, leaving room for more substantial narrative and perhaps even more inventive level and game design.

It's just one gruesome kill after another until the violence loses its punch. Too bad that happens after the first couple missions. If you want a stealth game, there are better ones out there. If you want blood, do yourself a favor a buy a tube of red dye #5, instead.

Top Spin 2 shares a lot of traits with its predecessor, but they’re overshadowed a bit by the maddening difficulty and A.I. fluctuations and graphics that don’t really scream “next gen.”

The lack of variety in the levels was a major factor. But even more so was the constant loading and unnatural, abrupt transitions.

Though it has numerous pros, courts, and options - including a player creation section that would make World Of Warcraft jealous - and looks as good as Wimbledon on NBC, it is ultimately undone by the most obvious of gaming mistakes: bad controls.

It takes a little effort, maybe, but you can make a game for kids that doesn’t bore a more experienced player.

An otherwise solid playing game that comes up short in the control and play modes, especially when compared to "NBA Street V3," which is clearly the better option for those new to the arcade b-ball franchise.

It seems like the slightly retarded love child of Meteos and Tetris DS – a clunky excuse to use the stylus more than a fun experience. Both of those games – despite their own flaws – are miles better than Pokemon Trozei!

It just fails to reach the bar set by the best racers on the system, not to mention it doesn't come close to enjoying the level of polish or fun present in the console iterations of Underground.

Chief among the defects of Rocky is that despite the game's well-conceived interplay of jabs, uppercuts, blocks, power-punches and what have you, it's too easy to cheap-shot your way to victory.

A marginally entertaining third-person shooter whose only real asset is a decent level of personality.

The result of meddling with Joe's mechanics is pure mediocrity. Though lefties will scream in frustration, the action is never bad, merely bland.

Between the dull punchfests, the insanely accurate enemies, and the extra difficulty created by forcing the player to rely on autotargeting, completing Dead to Rights quickly becomes an act of will.

It's exactly what you'd expect in a licensed third-person action/adventure. But that's the problem. We liked the additional characters and multiplayer options, but the gameplay and graphics are uninspired.