Pirates' Carnival isn't the buried treasure party-gamers have been looking for. It's more like the fool's gold of party games.

If the only console you own is a Gamecube – steer clear of Splinter Cell: Double Agent. But if you happen to own a PS2 or Xbox – pick up one of those versions and you will have an awesome holiday.

Haze is just the latest nail in Sony’s coffin that finds me using my PS3 more as a Blu-ray movie player than a gaming system.

It’s only appeal lies in playing with your friends and settling a grudge match. The stilted and repetitive gameplay may bore you quickly, and even more so played solo.

The guitar is underutilized, the music selection (despite a few gems) is merely average, and the graphics are very last-gen.

The gameplay is bland and mercilessly repetitive, the cars and their AI drivers are all the same except for the paint, country music saturates every free moment, and Jeff Gordon has flames on his sleeves.

After playing this game I came to the sad realization that being a gangsta isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Maybe I don’t want to be a gangsta anymore. It looks like I have to come up with another dream.

While I commend Human Soft for packing in as much content as they could, the single-frame stills from the console and PSP movies are no substitute for the actual movie, and the total lack of voices, especially considering the amount of humorous Pac-Man and Orson banter, is just too detrimental to the overal presentation and gameplay experience.

About the only people that are going to enjoy this game are the ones who really get into alternate history settings, or people who really like a lot of details in their units and can put up with the problematic RTS glitches. Be prepared to micro-manage. Be prepared to save and reload. Often.

The game offers very few moments of entertainment and for the most part you are simply going through the motions, and on the Wii those motions are painful and repetitive.

If you are looking for a great military game set during the Vietnam War then I can rattle off a list of about four great games and three good games. Unfortunately, Elite Warriors: Vietnam will not appear on any list other than war games to avoid.

Shining Force EXA is most likely going to be enjoyed by fans of Shining Force Neo, as it is essentially a sequel. If you're not one of those gamers, then just skip it.

It seemed more like a collection of exercises or training scenarios rather than a flowing adventure.

Fans of the comics and the films will be sorely disappointed, so if you feel obligated to purchase this game out of fan loyalty, at least wait until it hits the bargain bins.

I am not going to lie to you, I got so bored playing this game by myself that I didn’t finish it.

There are so many more and better offerings for kids on the Wii. Slide past this one if you see it in the store.

There are 30 songs available in the game yet less than half are really suited for dancing or at least the intense dancing that DDR and Dance Central has made us come to expect. The sound quality is awesome, but sadly, all the best dance songs are also the hardest and most difficult to play, let alone master.

As I stated earlier, this entry into the Harry Potter video game franchise is not broken (except for the music). The game functions well, and even looks pretty good, but there is very little incentive to play. The combat can be frustrating, it's the worst translation of the story among all the different media that it is currently available on and the music is simply non-existent (for me anyway).

The PC version is definitely preferred over the console versions with better graphics, shorter load times, and a $10 savings off the retail price. Play with a controller and you'll be playing the 360 version that all Xbox owners wish they could be playing.

Silverfall is a title that had some potential, but suffers from a lack of quality control and an abundance of poor development decisions.

DICE –the game – features a high-school story with grammar school gameplay. Only those who are willing to put up with the boring-est of the boring button mashing games will be able to see DICE through to its end.

The game isn’t that long and it’s also an easy game to play thanks to plentiful weapons, ammo, and power-ups. You seldom even worry about dying unless you are totally careless.

Does a remarkable job of simulating just about every aspect of the IndyCar season and the world famous Indianapolis 500 right up to the point where you get behind the wheel. The car setup, the schedules, the teams, the racers, everything is perfect and you won’t find a more authentic presentation of IndyCar racing - just don't drive this out of pit row.

Alphatetrix never rises above the combined concepts of the games that inspired it.

Don't waste your time with the Order of the Phoenix unless you just can't get enough Harry Potter, no matter how low the quality.

Spyro: Shadow Legacy is surely a dark day for the Spyro franchise, but I suppose the good news is that it probably couldn’t get any worse. So if and when our beloved purple hero returns to the DS it can only be a better game.

There are some cool concepts here and I respect the designers for trying something new, but there just needs to be more varied and balanced gameplay.

It's not that Herbie is a bad game; it's just way too simple and way too short to hold your interest, and your money could be better spent on any of several other GBA games out there, racing or otherwise.