Where its online options are concerned, Ghost Recon is simply one of the best reasons to get Xbox Live.

Its only real flaw is that it becomes repetitious so quickly in multiplayer. Individual players' mileage may vary, but you can get just so much out of plain vanilla deathmatch before you crave something more.

Visually, the game has a rather muddy and faded look -- it just isn't up to snuff. Although car damage can affect driving, none of it shows up in the visuals.

Immediate enough to attract casual hockey fans, or even those who don't care for or know anything about the sport. It also provides a deep level of simulation and customization for those who know and love their hockey.

An exemplary model for anyone who misses the constant, uninterrupted gameplay that made great 8-bit and 16-bit games the classics they have become.

The most striking difference of the Xbox version is just how much the game has improved visually. It always looked good, but the polygon count is significantly higher, character models are far less blocky, the weapons look downright incredible, and the texture detail is noticeably more complex in some sections.

Fantastic gameplay.

The inclusion of online racing and the frenetic pace of the races will leave players with a dirt-eating grin.

The engine is a couple years old and not as cool-looking as contemporary games or even "MechAssault" for the Xbox... Also, the audio is unremarkable.

The campaigns are too dry, too random, and the combat too long and thoughtful by half.

While it is disappointing to see yet another rally game ignore most elements that makes rally racing great, the shallow, but exciting, racing is sure to deliver enough thrills for any driver.

The add-in combines a new and intriguing story with plenty of varied gameplay to steal forty or fifty more hours of your life.

The new units are not terribly exciting and the campaign, while well above average, is still far too short.

Textured well enough, suitably brutal, and sporting fairly evolved team-management options, it's too bad the gameplay experience weakens the overall score.

Check Six Studios has clearly designed this installment of the Spyro franchise for very young gamers, and with that demographic, the title works well. Unfortunately, this limited scope will bore anyone familiar with other platforming titles.

There's almost nothing to recommend here save for the novelty of doing a flipside grind into Frankenstein.

If you can get past the graphics and immerse yourself in the gameplay, you might be disappointed at the lack of depth.

Even with the weak campaign, O.R.B.'s compelling and interestingly paced skirmish mode more than make up for it.

A wonderful year-end treat that offers ingenious level design and a ton of gameplay.

If you can still hum the theme to "Gigantor" and the line "I'll form the head!" means anything to you, Robot Alchemic Drive was made for you.

An undeniably solid game... [but t]he lack of variety and the limited number of arenas make the premise wear prematurely thin.

Easily makes up for any shortcomings just by its sheer volume. The missions alone will take over twenty hours to complete. It's hard to argue with a release that features over 500 mini missions, a ton of unlockables, and a complete game that was one of last year's most acclaimed titles.

The developers' attempts to create a zany story, the game leaves you without a sense of purpose.

The balance between the powers, the factions, the troops, and the monsters lends the game tremendous depth and replay value.

Quick, responsive controls do well to round out the positives here, but the time spent refining the countering-a-grapple system make Shut Your Mouth considerably more balanced and playable than some previous installments.

A series of frustrating elements add up to an overall inferior experience.

It's not nearly as impressive now as it was way back then, but just the same, good dungeon crawls never go out of style.

A good and stylish mix of the factual and the fanciful.

As a game, the technical problems affect gameplay to such a high degree that GTA: VC simply cannot be awarded a 5 out of 5 rating. Progress through the game can become a chore, something that never occurred in "GTA3."

Given that there is no ability to create your own rider or play online, the feature set is substandard to other extreme sports titles on the market.

The game tells a finely crafted and interesting story at its own pace, and those without the patience to appreciate it may not understand what all the fuss is about.

Not only a great game, but also a terrific online RPG that is an ideal ambassador for the GameCube's online hardware.

If you are an "Everquest" regular, you'll have a hard time not buying the latest and greatest.

A solid, fun addition to the extreme water sports genre. Borrowing liberally from "SSX's" winning bag of tricks, the game proves entertaining, if not innovative.

The big problem when playing Doom II, however, is just trying to see it.

The flaws in the single player missions are very disappointing, as The Clone Wars could easily have been a near-perfect "Star Wars" title with more imaginative level design. As it stands, the multiplayer is so good that it makes up for most of the shortcomings elsewhere in the title.

Controlling one gladiator is simple enough, but as soon as you add a few more, the game becomes almost impossible to manage.

A broken expansion pack for now, but even if everything worked it would still be a meager addition to such a large game.

Despite the beauty of CFS3 and its engaging campaign mode, the performance issues we experienced kept us from losing ourselves in the experience.

Sadly, true quality storytelling is extremely rare in this age of overblown and pretentious stories so commonly found in the "Final Fantasy" series and its imitators. Suikoden 3 is a welcome and finely-crafted exception.

What brings this game down is its completion time. Most players will finish the game in half an hour.

Quite simply the best skating game for handheld systems ever. Totally worthy.

The new career mode adds a considerable amount of depth to the overall game, while a quick session has more twitch factor than ever before.

Unlike those in the comparatively lively Tiger Woods titles, the Swingerz courses come off as disconcertingly quiet and bland, without so much as a visible audience.

The overall speed of the game slows down substantially when there's too much activity on screen.

It's a real treat to see footage of the original arcade Defender and listen to the thoughts of the man behind it and of the folks responsible for the new one.

The simplistic gameplay of the series is not lost but refined to create a challenge that is both undeniably fun and not entirely impossible.

Not since "Ullamalitzli," the ancient Aztec game where the losers were beheaded has violent sports been so much fun.

Beam Breakers could have been a fun, arcade-styled racing game, but the stop and start mission structure coupled with a distinct lack of depth really pulls its score down.

A top-quality production on every level, and is arguably the best hack-and-slash game since the original "Golden Axe."

Its strength is that it gives fans exactly what they expect. But the whole concept is getting a little long in the tooth.

The whole game is embarrassingly shoddy. From the glitch that prevents sound from playing during the opening cutscene, to the finger-cramping control scheme, Conflict Zone fails to ever become fun.

The scenario editor and coaster designer are nice, but don't expect an experience that looks or feels at all different from the first game because you won't find it here.

The story line is in-depth and the development of the characters is well thought out. But the flaws hold this title back from being a top contender in the RPG genre.

A solid story, sharp graphics, excellent audio, great gameplay, vehicles, super weapons, a variety of environments, and topnotch multiplayer action (not to mention the ability to blow up walls) all make this revolution something to shout about.

The lackluster presentation combined with the clunky and often frustrating gameplay makes Fellowship of the Ring more of a chore to play than anything else.

By far the best of the "Yu-Gi-Oh" games to make it to American shores. Fans of the card game will most likely love it.

It's a good premise but the game proves to be boring over the long haul... it's just too simplistic and easy to hold your attention for more than a couple days.

The slick character design and brutal gameplay should be praised. However, stiff animation and chunky battle controls prevent this game from getting [an 80].

Like so many other licensed games, seems to focus more on the presentation and style of the characters than the actual game itself.

If you're the type of player who enjoys naval themes or even if you just like a lot of guns-blazing, shoot-'em-up action, it's well worth sinking your money into this title.

Compared to the numerous improvements and mini-games in the incredibly playable "Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4," Evolution Skateboarding feels as if it were already on the brink of extinction.

Veteran platformers will make it through with little challenge, but that detriment makes it perfect for less experienced, older, or much younger players looking for a cute diversion.

Veteran platformers will make it through with little challenge, but that detriment makes it perfect for less experienced, older, or much younger players looking for a cute diversion.

Veteran platformers will make it through with little challenge, but that detriment makes it perfect for less experienced, older, or much younger players looking for a cute diversion.

In spite of its problems, this remains the best boxing game on the market.

Mission objectives are varied and quite satisfying, the graphics shine, and tons of replay value is provided.

The combination of Freestyle Control, improved AI, and super graphics have elevated this veteran's game by leaps and bounds.

A great basketball engine with improved physics and new moves, finely detailed and rich graphics, and modes both diverse and immersive all combine to make NBA 2K3 the best true representation of basketball out there.

What it lacks in compelling story, it more than makes up for in gameplay and character, and that's really where it counts.

The best Godzilla game to date. It would be a good brawler even without the big green guy, as the fighting mechanics are solid all-around.

The graphics are fine and the gameplay is adequate, but mundane level objectives and a lack of refinement keep it buried in the middle of the extreme sports pack.

It's fun to set up teams and track standings, but the soccer is lackluster.

With such excellent production values, it's a shame that Blinx is brought down by its difficulty and camera issues.

Probably no other racing game this year will deliver as much heart-pounding fun.

The graphics are decent, good enough on the PS2 but lacking somewhat on the Xbox.

The mere history and legacy that the Looney Tunes world and its characters encompass makes for an enjoyable ride. However, history and beauty can only take you so far.

It's a worthy title and Hitman 2: Silent Assasin places slightly above the rest of the pack.

A tremendous improvement over its predecessor. It's just too bad that the original "Real War" needed way more improvement than this to make it a great game.

The game is so cookie-cutter and average that it becomes an empty vessel.

The latest version of EA's yearly hit isn't the quantum leap ahead of last year's, but it's improved enough to keep it at the top, drinking from the virtual Cup.

Great graphics and sound, top-notch AI, wonderfully entertaining dialog, and an impressive variety of gameplay all make this one of the best games of the year.

It's insanely gorgeous... Beautiful graphics, fantastically designed maps, and slight changes in gameplay.

A technically impressive racing game for the GBA, but even more impressive is that underneath the pretty images sits a racing game that would be great on any platform.

The environments are large, and while this is good for gameplay, it puts a strain on the graphics engine. Frequent fits of slowdown occur in the multiplayer mode if the screen is covered with too much activity.

The game really does roughly the same thing as "Dynasty Warriors," but with slightly less complexity, though with some new and flashy magic effects.

Factor in a very mushy and imprecise hit detection system, and Nick's life can drain frighteningly quickly without you even realizing he's being hit.

Factor in the ability to play the Summer Leagues and NBDL, and the game's shortcomings seem minimal.

An average title, with just enough charm to make it worth recommending.

With an addictive pickup-and-play setup, simple directives, and wide variety of settings, Chase is like "Stuntman," just not so sucky.

The level design is mostly uninspired, but there are some great dogfight stages and one-on-one boss battles.

With graphics and a soundtrack that are identical to SBaM, and the eight returning characters unchanged by even a hair, this game is more like a re-release of SBaM than its own unique title.

Although it's an excellent representation of "Law & Order" in playable form, there just isn't much to play.

Exquisitely designed levels...Every moment seems fresh and new and deliberately designed to be fun.

Delivers much of what fans might want from an RPG. And the graphics and music are sweet. But there's a lot here to make players sleepy as well.

The gameplay, levels, and sound definitely make up for the slight slowdown in graphics.

While not the most complicated game of the year, does deliver a small serving of fun. At the least it's the sort of title that forces players to work up a bit of the old hand-eye coordination.

The single player, as compelling as it is, isn't a very good reason to buy this game. Even four-player split screen isn't a good-enough reason. But for multiplayer on your Xbox, Unreal Championship can't be beat.