If you ignored Dark Sector on consoles, have a reasonable PC, and are itching for a solid action game during a slow release month like April, that meager price tag will not steer you wrong. However, if you've already experienced Dark Sector once, there's really no reason for you to bother with this port.

Poor A.I., stiff controls, and rough game flow may make you turn back around again.

The real appeal of Etrian Odyssey is the renaissance of the classic RPG. Instead of a world that conforms to your level and rewards you with HP every time you level up, you have to strategize about which characters will enter the Labyrinth, how best to allot skill points among your characters, who charges the front line and who stays in back, and how much money you have to spend on reviving dead characters.

The inability of this series to learn from its mistakes is baffling. You'll often find yourself fighting enemies you can't see because some decorative element in the foreground entirely blocks your view, and you've zero control over the camera.

But the bottom line is that buying Retribution is just paying for a new faction and not much else. It's a great faction, to be sure, but beyond that, it's a damn shame that Relic squanders their energy on frippery like the silly campaign when important issues like the AI remain unresolved.

While it's insane stunts and action-packed firefights ooze their own brand of explosive charm, Just Cause 2 falls victim to an unwieldy mission structure and unfortunate lack of variety.

Almost a mirror image of the first game, which is both good and bad. While it has a great story, it also suffers from some of the cardinal sins of action gaming. You'd think that by adding a kick-ass dragon in to the mix that you'd be dealing with a winning formula. It's just too bad, however, that this doesn't end up being the case.

Red Dog may look and sound strong, but with poor controls, its bite is far from threatening. A huge complement of multiplayer games helps bring up the score.

Combine the dull career mode, spin-out crazy physics, and average graphics, and you get a ride evoking the same emotions as when DX Civics buzz down the street with coffee can mufflers late at night. [July 2005, p.78]]

Best administered in small doses, don't expect to spend a lot of quality time with Zombie Panic in one sitting.

It doesn't measure up to "Rainbow Six" for gameplay, and the controls are complex, but Hidden and Dangerous can give you a fun run for the money.

While Potter fans will enjoy seeing Gilderoy Lockhart on their GBAs, uncompelling gameplay makes him just another pretty face.

It's a decent enough game but it isn't the grand strategy RPG experience that we've all been waiting for. [Sep 2007, p.84]

Things get frantic quickly, so it'll be challenging to last for more than a few minutes for most players.

This unconventional handheld port of Capcom's flagship fighting franchise works surprisingly well with the iPhone and iPod Touch's control schemes, but suffers largely due to a lack of online wi-fi.

In the end, it's important to note that this game will likely only appeal to hardcore series fans and masochists. But for those gamers looking for an incredible challenge and yearning for a title that feels like it comes from a bygone era of gaming, these flightless birds could be just the thing for you.

Newcomers to the series will find this a fun and delightful title to play around with. But veterans won’t find anything new here and should stick with the 360 version of the game.

If you absolutely loved Umbrella Chronicles and know the Resident Evil series by heart, you might extract enough fun out of Darkside to make it worth your while. but otherwise, you can safely pass this one by.

While replaying completed levels to raise scores and collect more lums will unlock secret areas, the core simplicity of the gameplay may not tempt many players to romp again where they have romped before.

A mix of intense head-bashing against smart A.I. and an occasional crate-smashing balance out to some solid gameplay.

It's just difficult for the game to be fun enough to surmount the great, big, monstrous control problem the concept inherently carries.

The commentator's unfunny one-liners quickly grate on the nerves, and characters occasionally freeze-up and don't behave the way they should during a game, which is particularly annoying when facing the overly skilled A.I.

While Runespell: Overture is a solid first attempt from developer Mystic Box, it ultimately feels more like an appetizer than a main course.

24 isn't the ambitious action opus it should've been, but its engaging quirks and variety of gaming experiences still raise it above the cash-in gutter.

If you want a battle simulator with support roles and a grand tactical battlefield, play MAG. If you want an old-school test of reflexes and headshot-ing skill, SOCOM 4 is just what the grenade spamming sniper doctor ordered.

The Wii-specific controls are fun for while, but quickly degenerate from thrilling to gimmicky.

A friendly but flawed rehash of "Metal Gear Solid" fused with several interesting (but poorly developed) concepts that intend to give the game a unique flavor but end up tasting stale. [Nov 2004, p.112]

LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 is a fair bit more interesting than EA's most recent film adaptation, but I would've rather seen the developers tackle the project with the same level of creativity as a precocious kid with a pile of LEGOs, rather than squeeze the Potter universe into an existing and well-worn template.