Warriors Orochi is really only for the hardcore fans of the Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors franchises. We freely admit that we’re not one of those. You either like it or you don’t. You either care about the story or you don’t. Put Average Joe Gamer and this reviewer down in the “don’t” column.

Imagine an M-rated RPG set in the Virtua Fighter universe with the real VF combat engine. Until that day comes you’ll experience more virtua pain than virtua pleasure with this one.

No amount of clever quips and Master Chief parody characters is worth slogging through a shooter that makes Dark Sector look like an inspired stroke of genius. By the end of the game, no amount of clever enemy character names or profanity-laced outbursts by Neil Patrick Harris can distract you from the fact that you’re simply not having much fun.

Consider Spy vs. Spy a third-person parody of the genre that doesn't add much to the equation.

Combat is occasionally brilliant, but the stealth scenes are a real chore. Developing your characters’ skills adds a lot to the game, but listening to them talk will give you a headache.

Strictly fans-only.

Practically unplayable and should be avoided at all costs.

A depressingly face-value take on a dystopian future that works neither as a game or a parody, except of itself. There's some humor in each arrest procedure, but it wears thin quickly.

But there's nothing in the game that you haven't already heard blabbed around the water cooler. Besides, if you play the modest mess that is Lost: Via Domus you'll never again wonder if the TV series has jumped the shark. It can't possibly get this muddled.

Nothing short of a total disaster.

There’s a good game in here somewhere, but it’s buried beneath a layer of unpolished graphics, clumsy controls, and boring missions.

Blades of Time is a mediocre game, with an inventive combat system utilizing time manipulation. Dreadful writing and one of the most annoying protagonists in a dog's age dampen its charms, while the puzzles between combat show a dearth of creativity.

Two years later, this doesn't look any better than Cavia's earlier efforts -- its visuals are marred by aliasing that's unforgivable at this stage, and the animation blending is so primitive that you can't even reload while moving -- while its design doesn't try very hard at much of anything.

It feels like every single car in the game is driving around on bald tires. No matter what you do, you’ll be sliding off the road.

As a means of killing 20 minutes here and there, the game has merit. We can't condone fiddling with it for any longer in a single sitting, though.

A pedestrian title with the power of the Resident Evil series behind it...However, with a kickass multiplayer, mixed zombie/contemporary warfare, and a high-definition view of Raccoon City's infection, the game holds its own.

A middling action/adventure, The DaVinci Code has some interesting elements and puzzles, but tries too hard to be a jack of all trades. The presentation is mediocre, the combat extraneous and out of place, and the levels uninspired. The puzzles and teamwork elements are the high point, but overall, this is yet another forgettable attempt to cash in on a popular franchise.

If you dig dog-eared InuYasha and his rather violent friends, Feudal Combat is a pleasant diversion.

Despite the dull window dressing, Winter Sports does have lots of game modes. There are more good events than bad ones. The good ones actually show some pretty well thought out ways to use the Wii controls to good effect - a solid effort.

For the hardcore action fans that really need a fix, I suppose Time Ace might be worth a look. There are multiple difficulty levels, plenty of planes and power-ups to collect, and multiplayer battles for you and all your friends who also bought a copy of the game. But really, your money is probably better spent on a game that’s at least trying to be fun.

You know what would be a perfect fit? Tetris on Xbox Live Arcade. It’s really hard to understand why THQ didn’t take that route for this game.

Dark Messiah is a frustrating title, since moments of fun are outweighed by long stretches of tedium.

While it's not really fair to judge the last generation's hardware by the standards of the next one, the PS2 versions of these games are getting harder and harder on the eyes. Koei's development teams have done their best to keep up, and the character modeling here is still pretty impressive, but the drab backgrounds and draw-in show the age of the technology.

Truly stunning visuals, excellent, non-linear map design, hours of playtime, and an innovative magic system help bring it up a notch above the competition. Unfortunately, the control problems, a few technical glitches, a slow start, and a lousy camera hamper the experience.

Great War Nations might appeal to those new to the genre, but strategy vets will want to "erase this memory of Sparta from the histories."

More characters and multiplayer modes would have improved it a great deal, but as it is, there’s plenty of levels and engaging mutant action.

An unfinished, bug-ridden game. Blame Core for being too ambitious. Blame Eidos for shipping it too soon. But don't blame us if you buy it.

Between the dull kill-and-rob action, dopey wanna-be movie plot and the sheer fact that this game is recycled from a game that pretty much everybody hates there's not much to recommend this game – apart from the price tag.