A worthy distraction in small doses.

The biggest drawback to the game is that it relies heavily on multiplayer. The single-player tasks are fun, if benign, but the AI is pretty rudimentary and your behavior has no real long-term effect on your relationship with other residents.

The game is somewhat short however, and there are some frustratingly cheap places for the monkey king to blow it. Which, in turn, blows some of the games potential replay value.

What Big Air Freestyle lacks in originality and trick accessibility, it makes up for in scope and replay value.

In terms of visual presentation the game is a total letdown, with flawed 3D graphics that even at their best are not all that striking or impressive.

In addition to standard team-based first-person shooter action, Battlefield 1942 incorporates the brilliant gameplay concept of vehicles and other machinery.

A great example of how to translate an existing property into a videogame, as it incorporates the elements and characters of the show in such a way that you don't necessarily have to be familiar with the cartoon to appreciate the wacky production design or gentle humor.

Like a truly interactive horror movie, The Thing unfolds at a suspenseful pace...One of the most unique and compelling story-driven games to hit console systems in some time.

Misfires slightly as a stand-alone first-person shooter, as it's not deep enough to warrant too much replay. But in connection with the Guncon2, the game outshines any recent competitors.

It's a meaty release that doesn't bog the player down with complicating control configurations, drawn out cut scenes, and plot development that gamers will likely be familiar with already.

It keeps most of the basic gameplay elements intact, but a little bit of polish (along with a few additional features) could have made this a spectacular title, rather than a merely solid one.

Enemies in Blade II display some of the worst AI to date. They tend to attack only when you get close to them. There are no variations in enemy attacks.

Feels as if it's beneath the once-great franchise.

Despite the absence of much role-playing, or perhaps because of it, Westwood has created a game that is quite a lot of fun to play. In fact, it's one of the few MMORPGs that is enjoyable even if you choose not to interact with any other players.

The problem is that most of Turok feels as if the developers were trying to emulate another game (mostly "Halo"), with exceedingly mixed results.

A magnificent game.

Seems intent on trying to incorporate all the cool stuff in other, better shooters. The problem is that it doesn't do it very well.

Anyone looking for a great hack-and-slash adventure will be more than satisfied with Onimusha 2. You still have to put up with funky camera angles, but the overall control is more than sufficient to get you though this 10-hour-plus trek.

A real treat... However, the occasional way-too-difficult mission leads to some frustrating repetition, and behaving while driving around so as not to blow the last leg of a driving mission can become slightly tedious.

The frustration factor, however, runs needlessly high in SOCOM as a one-player adventure.

So the engine is clunky and the pathfinding is bad. Ultimately that doesn't matter much. This is a great RPG.

If you're up for the puzzle-like gameplay and the repetition, Prisoner of War greatly expands what a stealth game can accomplish.

The variety of moves at the player's disposal only makes the accessibility of the controls more impressive. Mario is immediately responsive to any command and makes flips, spins, wall jumps, and other complex maneuvers easier than you would think.

The graphics are sharper and more vivid, and some of the backgrounds are jaw dropping.

The series has always been strong, but never as good as it is this year. In fact it's all but perfect, needing only a few tweaks, a few polishing strokes, and Microsoft's promised Xbox Live! service to make it ideal.

An uncompromising game in its presentation, scope, and challenge level. It's well-made, intricate, functional, and deadly, much like the weaponry of that distant time.

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 came so agonizingly close to being a great one. With some camera tweaks and a more effective method of combating multiple foes, this could have been a truly special title that would have appealed to more than just devotees of the "Buffy" show.