Long loading screens and some bad design decisions make this game a tougher sale than it should be, but a great story and excellent voice acting make for an easy rental.

However, as with the single-player game, there’s little personal investment in the persistent world.

Overall, Nier has its ups and downs. There are brief moments where you can see the influence from more brilliant games, such as Zelda and Bayonetta, shining through, but the overall experience is lukewarm at its best moments.

Though Evolution Worlds' tale of Mag and friends can't compete with a more mature RPG, the lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek story and straightforward gameplay can be appreciated for its easy, pick-up-and-play value.

While technically polished, the artistic vision of the first game has been lost. There's just not enough style or substance to DMC 2.

Simply better than the PS2 version. It's smoother, looks a lot better and the gameplay has made a successful transition from frustrating to decent fun.

Sure, it's got plenty of new items and toys, but unless the majority of your Sims have an interest in a show biz career, this star-studded expansion is somewhat hollow and does little to bring the rosiness back into this old game's cheeks.

A clever offshoot of the "Tetris" formula, but winds up rather overcooked.

Like the two aging men at its center, Kane & Lynch is a game full of regrets and missed opportunities. But also like those two men, it’s still got plenty of bullets left in the clip.

A decent, if forgettable, RPG romp through familiar lands, with familiar faces, for familiar goals. Its surprisingly thoughtful and intelligent battle system mostly makes up for its weak character customization, lackluster graphics and overly linear world.

Your Shape: Fitness Evolved is a forgettable exercise game that can nevertheless get you sweating in your living room, but it has none of the depth and longevity of its competitors.

It's great filler if you need a change of scenery, but still a distant second behind "Mario Kart DS."

The game’s sound is as mediocre as its gameplay. Wacky, overdone effects, plenty of cheap voice-acting, some themes that sound like cheap imitations of Indiana Jones tracks, and then the occasional latin-sounding pipes for a touch of authenticity comprise the bulk of the audio.

The video game equivalent of a bag of M&M's: candy coating on the outside, mindless hack'n slash on the inside, and not a lot in between. That was fine the first time, but we expect a little more nutrition out of our sequels.

So it seems like we have a pretty solid game here. Not brilliant, but fun and dorky, maybe a "B." But there's a horrible curse on this game: the worst… loading times… ever. You can spend more time waiting around than actually playing Road Rage.

The result is more sad than monstrous, a beast you’ll put down not with hate, but pity. You’d be far better served dipping into the likes of F.E.A.R. than treading down this overgrown path again.

For years Madden has been improving visually and adding features, but to what end? What you're left with every year is a game with a split personality: An awesome football game that's great to play with your friends or even online, but makes you want to smash your machine if you ever play against the computer.

If the the old school Puzzle Quest is mega-addicting black tar heroin, then the new one is some brown weed that barely gets you high and leaves you with little more than a headache and a bad taste in your mouth.

It had an excitingly original concept but failed to take full advantage of its possibilities. I suppose time will tell if Crash of the Titans is the stepping stone for a proper comeback, or if it’s just another cut in the bandicoot’s constant bloodletting.

a horrible beat-em-up, but as a shooter it seriously applies pedal extremities to hindquarters... This is a really fun game once you play it the way the developers intended.

Online multiplayer in Hell’s Highway depends too much on your teammates adhering to their assigned roles.

We expected to have our sanity challenged by talking dogs and barking women, not game breaking, data corrupting bugs. Still, those of you without corrupted save files might consider a trip to the land of madness – it is a strange and bemusing place, and at least it’s more Oblivion.

The decidedly fragile environments and variety of units give players a sense of having something to fight for in both campaign and multiplayer beyond the unchanging battlefields of the typical turn-based strategy game. More depth and better delivery would have made this war far more civil.

This game's single-player campaign is a decent diversion and serves up a relatively well-produced version of the PC series. Unfortunately, what it lacks in replay value and online play leads to a solider a bit too thin for his britches. Will this war never end?

There's just not enough innovation to bring this stale serving of grey matter to the table for a second helping.

Tales of Valor has some decent content, though there’s not much, all things considered. The previous expansion brought two complete factions, with two complete campaigns, whereas Tales of Valor brings just over five hours of single-player fun and a few imbalanced multiplayer modes to the table.

It doesn’t look like it’s limping, but underneath all the cybernetic equipment and flash, GRAW 2 is unbalanced and awkward. The game looks smart to nerdy; it sounds decent—the soundtrack is far above average for this kind of game; and it has the polish of a next-gen shooter. However, the actual gameplay staggers from bad interface decisions and the weight of its cumbersome support features.

Instead of an outstanding title, all we're left with is an average game highlighted by one outstanding feature.

It's obvious that the game is geared toward the equestrian enthusiast, what with stats and breeding abilities and overall depth, but it won't convert the casual observer. The racing is strategic and toned down rather than an adrenaline rush, and this hurts game's crossover appeal.

There’s some repetition in the layouts for the rooms and floors, and frankly, there’s not much incentive for replay, but it’s a solid, challenging and surprisingly atmospheric, creepy ride while it lasts.

Just like they did with "Def Jam: Fight for NY," EA Big ignored NFL Street's fundamental issues and instead added more flash and one or two new moves. While undeniably fun, EA Big has no right to call NFL Street 2 a sequel.

If you're fiending for some more Lara, and I mean absolutely jonesin'... then I guess you could pick this one up. For the other 99.9% of us, go play "TR" or "TR2" again or even for the first time. Or better yet, forget about Lara Croft altogether.

The game seems geared towards the under 12 crowd, but despite the simplistic controls and goals, Finding Nemo can be a touch hard too quickly in specific areas, such as navigating through the pipe currents or the sliding block puzzles.

Unless you're a completionist, I see little need to spend your precious sovereign on this one.

The music in Blitz 2001 is pretty bad and will end up annoying the hell out of you.

Unless you're a completionist, I see little need to spend your precious sovereign on this one.

Not only is the gameplay starting to feel dated—especially in the wake of Batman: Arkham Asylum’s brilliant combo system—but the few small additions simply aren’t enough to offset the handful of surprising oversights and omissions.

Unless you're a completionist, I see little need to spend your precious sovereign on this one.

The fact that so little has changed combined with the weak GC-ism either suggests that Capcom thinks GC owners are mental invalids, or that Capcom doesn't think much about GC owners at all.

This is not your older brother's GoldenEye. It's been updated, re-skinned, had some control adjustments, and instead of reclaiming the crown of top four-player shooter, it's just another face in the crowd.

New spells and powers don’t mean much once you hop into the game’s single-player campaign, as the action is still mash, mash, mash, mash. The level design is just as it has always been, meaning twisting labyrinth after twisting labyrinth filled with hordes of mindless enemies.

While JA2:UB's combat is unique and rewarding, nearly every other aspect of the game lacks vitality and originality. The graphics are weak, there's no story, no character development, and the villagers never say anything but "They're watching you."

The gameplay becomes repetitive quickly and the campaign is over without much fuss. In the end, this fast-paced game falls victim to its own velocity.

Like Ocean’s Thirteen, there are a lot of amazing individual elements in Dawn of Mana that are worth the price of admission. But they just don’t come together to make a cohesive whole.

The bridge between familiarity and innovation is thin and slippery, and Xenosaga Episode III sits precariously in the middle, demanding a fee.

Really, though, there’s nothing wrong with the game itself, and it will appeal greatly to the legions of longtime fans. The franchise has always been difficult, and dying a lot has always been a part of getting through the games. Yet ultimately, Mega Man 9 is so difficult that it gives newcomers very little reason to pick it up.

If you're intrigued by a puzzle platformer involving duplication and genetic mayhem, Cloning Clyde will provide a few hours of enjoyable entertainment, but not much more than that.

The physics and collision detection are adequate for minor collisions, but are cartoony and simply laughable in major ones.

Shovel Knight was an example of an indie platformer that did hold up its end of the deal on both ends and that comparison doesn’t work in Cyber Shadow’s favor. Its boss fights and soundtrack can compete with other modern indie greats, but the rest of its gameplay inherits many of the antiquated parts that have been stripped out in other thoughtful throwbacks. This dichotomy makes Cyber Shadow a lot like its protagonist as it is made up of parts both old and new. But unlike Shadow, Cyber Shadow is made up of obsolete pieces, resulting in a rusty, defective cyber ninja that’s stuck in the wrong time period.

Aliens: Fireteam Elite sits squarely in the middle of other Alien games. There’s certainly worse out there, but there is also much better. It’s an uninspired struggle through a tired gameplay loop that just happens to be slathered in Alien slime and plays like one of the older Gear of Wars.

Vanguard is more of the same when it comes to the campaign, with very few sparks of innovation. It’s inoffensive, yet bland. Zombies tries something new but goes all-in with a single map that just doesn’t work well at launch. Multiplayer moves the focus away from the brilliant gunplay, pushing chaos above all else and making fundamental errors that shouldn’t be present in the 18th iteration of Call of Duty multiplayer.

Deadlight has all the style, substance, and gameplay you could want, with none of the originality you need. The word "cliche" never left my mind, even for an instant. If you loved Limbo and want to recreate that experience, you could spend $15 on this, or you could just play the game you already own and have a much better time.

Not recommended for those who crave speed. Remember folks, you won't be driving a Skyline, NSX, or even a Gremlin. You will be at the helm of a big diesel monstrosity. Head down a straightaway, give your 500hp vehicle some juice and your will notice an 80 mph top speed.

The biggest problem, though, which ultimately makes F1 2015 “not recommended” is that the racing gets rather tedious.

While certainly not a revolutionary game or even a difficult one, it does hit the nostalgia chord perfectly and then, with perfect timing, quits.

Ultimately, The Novelist was not the Pulitzer Prize winner that I was hoping for, but rather a fairy tale for grown-ups who want to believe that, no matter the outcome of their decisions, somehow things will work out for the best anyway.

There's really nothing 'wild wild' about it. The game starts out bland and moves on to hoist unoriginal game goals that overshadow a clever yet underdeveloped Challenge mode.

Out of the Shadows is yet another bad Ninja Turtles game. Between the game's loud and ugly UI and the glitches, bugs, and general sloppiness, there's only enough hope for the good intentions to improve next time.

Like I said before, unless you have some sort of undying affinity for this series, I recommend you steer clear. Seriously, there are plenty of other titles on the PlayStation Store worth your hard-earned cash.

Hunted has potential. It has the art design and spark, but the attempt at a genre hybrid ultimately falls short.

The only shadows Okage: Shadow King is going to be ruling at my house are the ones under the stack of other games I'd rather be playing.

With 13 levels, 7 bonus round incarnations, and 5 boss fights, Sonic 4 Episode 2 can be easily played through in a single sitting,and doesn't take much longer if you're really looking for completion. It doesn't so much give that feeling of nostalgia, as much as it reminds you of what the series used to be, and for me, how much I'd rather play Sonic 2 again; especially when the first three entries in the series can be purchased (along with a host of other Genesis classics) in compilations like Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection for the same price as-or less than-this $15 episode.

Hunted has potential. It has the art design and spark, but the attempt at a genre hybrid ultimately falls short. Though the idea of a fantasy RPG with a third-person action mentality, from Gears of War or Resident Evil 5, is innovative, it just isn't polished enough to make it work.

Legacy looks great and sounds great, it has a few good hooks and a solid story to tell, but it fails on most levels to be a compelling experience.

Hunted has potential. It has the art design and spark, but the attempt at a genre hybrid ultimately falls short. Though the idea of a fantasy RPG with a third-person action mentality, from Gears of War or Resident Evil 5, is innovative, it just isn't polished enough to make it work.

It just doesn’t have any real character to speak of, just passable. Forgettable.

With minor gameplay upgrades and some significant graphical tweaks, Day of Reckoning 2 feels more like a patch than a true sequel. Then again, patches usually make games better. This one damages the gameplay and commits a huge oversight by failing to let players import their custom characters from the last game.

A fun hour or two and worth renting if you've got the flow and a lot of food, but otherwise it's just another rehashed old game.

FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup lets the goalie out of the box by telling us the name of the game's only mode right there in the title. What it fails to mention is that there's nothing else here for FIFA, Winning Eleven, or soccer fans in general.

Merely a bad stealth game chained to a limited action game. While mauling people as Agrippa is fun when you get the chance to do it, the combat system isn’t revolutionary or deep enough to warrant the effort of dealing with the crummy Octavianus bits.

Arkham Origins serves to bring Batman back for more in an acceptable, if unbelievable narrative, but Origins Blackgate does nothing for the character, nothing for the player, and nothing to further the Arkham series. It’s not a complete and totally broken mess, but it’s not the portable game Batman deserves and it’s not the Vita game we need right now.

Unfortunately, I feel like fixing this game goes beyond patching glitches, fixing bugs, and then cramming in expansions. To bring this game up to the must-play level, many aspects of the game need a full overhaul.

The concept is great, but the fact that this title doesn't set itself apart from other sport-themed games is dissatisfying, especially since it involves one of the most beloved characters in video game history.

Little Hope’s namesake has somewhat of a dual meaning. It is the name of the town in the game and it’s also representative of the little bit of hope that Supermassive would learn from its mistakes and get back to making classic horror adventures. But its multiple thematic troubles, pathetic cavalcade of jump scares, and abysmal twist ending paint a dark future for The Dark Pictures Anthology, leaving little hope that it’ll ever recover from two disappointing adventures in a row.

Desert Child is built upon the promise of solid ideas that don’t quite come together. And sadly, they’re so deeply intertwined that a mistake in one aspect of the game critically injures the other part of the game. Hoverbike racing is a neat central mechanic but it wears thin and is stifled by its lack of difficulty and useless upgrades.

Probably because when compared to the likes of World Series of Poker and World Poker Tour, even Hello Kitty: Poker Party would look like gold. Stacked is better than that fictitious mess, I think, and might be worth a rental if you'd like to see some decent poker-sim A.I.

Even if EA and DICE decided to do an about face and remove or lessen the effect loot boxes have on gameplay, they're too wired into Star Wars Battlefront 2. It would take a full overhaul of the leveling and progression system to straighten up this mess. It's a shame because Battlefront 2 is really a great game underneath the predatory microtransactions.

A quintessentially average game... These particular skies are partly cloudy, with average temperatures. Bring a sweater for later.

NFL Gameday 2004 has visited the dermatologist and cleared up a couple blemishes, but the overall countenance isn’t that attractive.

The lack of modes and overly complex control could be forgiven. Hell, I could even overlook the lack of voices (characters <I>and</I> announcers), but no save feature? WWF Raw really feels half-finished.

In an industry where it seems like just about everything has been tried before, Miitopia's willingness to try something new is commendable, albeit uninteresting in execution. It's a simple game with a couple great ideas that are often let down by a story that is too timid to step outside its comfort zone.

The game mechanics, voice acting, and enemy designs are all wonderfully polished. But if people could live on polish alone, there’d be gourmet restaurants serving linoleum and fingernails. A game should first and foremost be enjoyable. G-Force’s downfall is in its repetitive puzzle design, bland visuals, and antiquated 3D technology.

Small innovations such as the camera jostle and dash screen blur would normally indicate a developer's attention to detail, but a slew of minor frustrations add up to make Killzone a cardiac in a jewel case.

It feels as though every single idea pitched for how to update Tiger Woods Pro Tour 08 somehow all got approved, regardless of merit. Instead of refining the fundamentals, the title concentrates on unedited excess that doesn’t blend well with a realistic golf game.

Has its share of problems. It is entertaining for a brief spell, though. I mean, who can resist cute, cuddly stuffed animals blowing the tops off their evil counterparts?

Story is thin and uninteresting.

I got a plate of old brains, stale brains, brains that had been stuffed in Tupperware, stored in the fridge and briefly reheated in the microwave.

Some of the new features just slow the pacing down and for a fast game like Bionic Commando, that's just fatal, while others are just serious issues that should have been ironed out before release.

The steady mechanics and sheer brutality of The Punisher save it from the slaughterhouse and lead to a decent rental, but repetitive gameplay and some stupid design errors make it hard to commit to Frank Castle's crusade.

Some of the new features just slow the pacing down and for a fast game like Bionic Commando, that's just fatal, while others are just serious issues that should have been ironed out before release.

Thoroughly mediocre.

Much like "Yoshi Touch & Go," the Pac-Pix's cool tech demo roots are supported by a frighteningly flimsy frame, resulting in just another misuse of Pac-Power.

This scene is getting old.

While fans of the franchise will get a kick out of re-enacting their personal favorite battles, most folks will probably be wishing that hacking up hobbits was more like blasting Ewoks. And even if you do get a kick out of it, much like dating a crazy hot chick, the enjoyment will be short-lived once you start to look beyond the surface and see the glaring flaws.

As a fairly big defender of the "walking simulator" genre, I feel really let down by Dear Esther. It needed more of something, whether it be a better story, more gameplay than wandering, or more interaction with the island. Definitely needed more than a feeling of "huh" when it ended.

The Simpsons Game may just be the funniest video game ever, but funny is not the same as fun,and it's just not a very good game. I found myself wanting to finish the game just for the humor, even though I was screaming at the TV after falling down the 10,000th pit or when the camera showing me the wall again while i get killed.

I also have to wonder what part of the world Uncle Sam dug up my own squad mates. They could often be seen running in circles and constantly blocking my line of fire. At least they were resilient; one of the guys was turned into Swiss cheese by an enemy bayonet and shrugged it off like nothing happened. Tough guys&#133;tough guys.

It’s good to see Nintendo keep trying new things to refresh an aging title, and taking advantage of the unique opportunities the DS offers. But by putting a little bit more thought into the music and graphics, they could have made a pretty good game, instead of one that is merely okay.