For the most casual of the casual gamers who also happens to own a Wii and be a die-hard Grey’s Anatomy fan, this game is for you. For everyone else, the game just doesn’t have enough to offer in terms of actual gameplay.

I had to strain my eyes playing on a 42-inch television, so I can’t imagine what it would be like to play on a smaller set. Despite some problems, Cate West is still worth a try if you’re a fan of the genre, but if you’re not, this isn’t the game that will draw you in.

Mindless, shallow, and temporary entertainment, deserving of a rental and not much more. The way the story is presented as an afterthought is inexcusable, and the repetitive fetch quests and contrived missions can only keep one occupied for so long. It’s not a failure, and it is far from being the worst movie tie-in of the year, but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince once again falls short of being a worthwhile game to add to your collection.

While there is a lot to like in Aliens vs. Predators, it's far from a great game. There's usually something to complain about at every turn, and every great element is flawed in some small way. Despite these faults, mistakes, and missteps, it's still an utterly enjoyable and unique experience, making the game more than the sum of its parts.

There’s about as much to complain about as there is to acclaim, but as a whole, it never rises above the level of an adequate game.

Though scaled back from the depth of a typical Final Fantasy adventure, there’s still a fair amount of value in Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Echoes of Time, but you need to really want it.

In making White Knight Chronicles, Level-5 created a vast, sprawling world, and then failed to fill it with anything original.

Pop does offer mild entertainment, but I found that it only kept me occupied for a few minutes before I grew bored. Even with up to 4 players, it’s only so long before you are ready to move on to another game or find something else to do.

While Star Soldier isn't the deepest, most nuanced game available, it has some pretty tight shooting and fast-paced game play. If you're that second type of gamer who just has to have the highest score, you may find 8 dollars worth of game play. Otherwise, save yourself some money and finger pain.

Something about The Wheelman doesn't feel entirely finished. It could be the graphics, which look sloppy and fall victim to all of the downfalls of the Unreal 3 engine. Texture pop-ins are almost constant, and they don't even look that good once they are fully displayed.

One of the least entertaining real-time strategy games in the past ten years.

The main problem with Need for Speed Undercover is that even though it is a lot of fun, it’s just not compelling or interesting enough to keep you coming back for more. While playing, I kept thinking, “Man, this would be a perfect weekend rental or budget title”, but I never thought about dropping $60 to get it new.

The omission of previously available features, like season mode and create-a-player, make this a serious step down in terms of gameplay and replay value, and what’s left isn’t quite worth the price of admission.

It’s not completely broken, but compared to the other far superior options available, it might as well be. I can’t even recommend this game to give as a gift to a child.

It's as if the RPG elements and dialogue system were developed by a respectable studio under a normal development cycle, and the core gameplay was slapped together over a weekend by unpaid interns.

Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines isn’t a great game. There are better platformers on the handheld, like Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters, and there are better action games to choose from, like God of War: Chains of Olympus. Bloodlines combines aspects of both of those games into something a little less impressive and coherent, but somehow still entertaining.

Old and young should have no problem finding joy in the game, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

While it is nice to finally see a graphically upgraded, SIXAXIS enabled version of Sony’s tactical shooter, you feel a little cheated by the fact that there is no single player campaign. Oh, and there are server issues, many, many server issues. Users have had difficuly connecting to games while some haven't been able to connect to a single one.

While Cradle of Rome does have some unique additions to the formula, it’s not quite enough to make it really stand out.

Hopefully they've learned their lesson, and will make sure that future installments don't feel as fundamentally weak, and outstandingly pointless. Sorry, Moxxi, looks like you'll need to look elsewhere for a new hubby.

With only 22 characters, no unlockables, and a broken multiplayer component, King of Fighters isn’t just a feature-poor package, it’s an unfinished product.

Fracture is a mediocre title released at a time of year when that simply is not good enough. It is repetitive, derivative, and often times boring.

Light on content, strategy, and presentation, this mediocre title fails to innovate in any real way, and instead strips away a lot of what has worked in the past.

Blood Stone 007 just doesn't have a lot going for it. It's got some standard shooting, some decent graphics, and a modicum of difficulty. Unfortunately, there's just nothing here that stands out, or deserves your attention beyond a lonely weekend.

The problem is, despite having everything it sounds like it needs, it's missing what might be the most important element: fun. It's an often joyless experience, and there's absolutely no reason to pick it up over the dozens of other options on the market, even with the low price factored in.

Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron is certainly a victim of its platform’s shortcomings, but it’s also not a very good game to begin with.

As enjoyable as Shaun White Skateboarding was in small bursts, the overall game doesn't really have much going for it.

There's not a single moment worth experiencing. It's a dull, monotonous title that needn't be played by anyone, especially with all of the quality already available on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

The biggest disappointment with Wanted: Weapons of Fate was how close they came to almost getting it right. The few shining gameplay features like the cover system and bullet curving just can’t overcome the numerous flaws the game has in just about every other department.

If there had been a stronger plot, more character customization options, a reasonable difficulty curve, or more unique fighting elements, this would have been one of the best dungeon-crawlers in recent memory. Class of Heroes isn’t a bad game, but doesn’t do enough to make you want to stay with it for the many, many hours it will take to complete it.

It's not a total failure, and there are some improvements worthy of note, but the way it so callously steps on the toes of the previous title's story is a huge disappointment.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen did one thing right: it improved on the previous game in the blockbuster tie-in series. Unfortunately, the last game was a glitchy, broken mess, so that’s really not saying too much. In small doses, Revenge can be somewhat entertaining, but after spending more than half an hour with this game, I was ready for a break.

Accidentally walking into enemies as they’re shooting at you grows very tiring, and nothing about the game’s characters or plot stuck with me other than the fact that each member has a special ability.

It’s hard to believe that the same company that makes the absolutely stellar NBA 2K series is responsible for the travesty that is Major League Baseball 2K9. In all honesty, MLB 2K9 plays like it might have been a good game three or four years ago, but it’s graphical inconsistencies, lackadaisical AI, and gimmicky controls feel very dated in today’s gaming climate.

It’s a fairly run of the mill third-person shooter, with some less than enthralling multiplayer, and an impressive visual package.

It’s a shame that Mind Over Mutant turned out to be just another so-so Crash Bandicoot game, because it actually did seem promising for a little while.

Shaun White seems like a nice enough guy. He’s certainly a talented athlete, and a pretty sharp businessman to boot, but slapping your name on a game that not only disappoints and frustrates gamers, but also makes you look like a complete tool through its ludicrous, cheesy, almost offensively stereotypical cut-scenes can’t be a step in the right direction for “the Flying Tomato.”

Die-hard rhythm game fans might get a kick out of this, but for the average gamer, there’s nothing here worth ten bucks.

While there are some glitches from time to time, there's nothing about it that stands out as being broken or unplayable. That said, there's not a single moment worth experiencing.

Despite its many flaws, Beijing 08 has a certain addictive quality to it. Some games, like many of the shooting and gymnastic events are a lot of fun, especially head to head, and it’s always a blast to wear out your thumbs in the many button mashing events.

Madden NFL Arcade provides a nice break from the more serious Madden NFL 10, and even though it’s not without its share of minor issues, none of them are detrimental to the overall experience.

Turtles in Time Re-Shelled was fun while it lasted, but that time was far too short.

The Half-Blood Prince isn’t worth buying at full price for any system; five hours is far too short, especially for a game this repetitive.

In reality, it is fun and entertaining… for a little while. Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law is actually the perfect definition of a rental game.

With four-player co-op and an appealing art style, there are definitely the makings for an entertaining adventure on the disk. The final product, sadly, is not as good as the sum of its parts, and everything that might be seen as a success is surrounded by a series of failures, leaving gamers with little reason to invest in a purchase, budget price or not.

The only area where SEGA succeeded was in realizing that the game had to blend together the different elements, not keep them apart. Where Airtight failed was not realizing that very fact. In the end, it's worth playing Dark Void, though expectations should be kept very low, and it's not worth picking up at full price by any means.

Beyond being needlessly repetitive, there are some issues with the presentation that make Zombie Driver feel a bit unfinished or, at least, untested.

All of the pieces are there for a successful game, and while there are flaws in the controls and visuals, none of the problems are really all that troubling. It's just that... the game isn't very fun, and the fault is based on the levels themselves, not the mechanics of play.

There might be some gleaming light beyond the inch-deep layer of grime and poor design, but it isn’t worth looking for.

Saw, as a tie-in to the series, is wonderful. As a survival horror game, however, it's a much smaller success. A success, mind you, but a small success, and one that doesn't rely on any knowledge of the Saw series to enjoy.

There is so very much wrong with Hydrophiobia that no one should download it. It's not so bad that it's completely broken, but it's bad enough that even players who get the game for free shouldn't bother with it.

Even for absolute die-hard fans, I simply can’t recommend this game.

Zombie Studios has done a fine job with the property, and has succeeded more than most thought possible with the series. Saw, as a tie-in to the series, is wonderful. As a survival horror game, however, it's a much smaller success. A success, mind you, but a small success, and one that doesn't rely on any knowledge of the Saw series to enjoy.

There's very little to like in this package. With a backbone as strong as How to Train Your Dragon, there shouldn't have been much of a problem creating a fun game for children with the license.

By changing the game to more of a true wrestling game and less of a turn-based RPG, the developers definitely took a step in the right direction.

Success or failure, expect to see APB replicated, ripped off, and copied completely in the coming years. It's revolutionary in many ways, even if it isn't actually all that great.

I was hoping for more from TRON: Evolution. Unfortunately, all I got was another disappointing movie tie-in that's not very fun to play.

Mad Moxxi isn't worth the money. It's little more than an additional mode, and it really isn't as fun as the ones found in other games.

Something just doesn’t add up about it, and the real mystery in Alone in the Dark isn’t what happened in Central Park, but what happened inside of Atari’s offices.

Assassin’s Creed: Altaïrs’s Chronicles is one of the best Nintendo 64 games I have ever played. No, that is not a typo, it is just the feeling I had while playing the game. The game is about as suited for the Nintendo DS as a pair of boots is for a slug, and nearly every feature of the game that takes advantage of its “unique” abilities comes off as insanely heavy handed.

There’s just not much more to say about it; there was potential here, but it just didn’t go anywhere. The animals aren’t characterized at all, and look and act about as bland as the game feels.

It’s simply too painful. At one point they might have had something special, but the entertaining combat and interesting leveling mechanics aren't good enough to prevent the constant, boring, grinding questing.

Even for absolute die-hard fans, I simply can’t recommend this game. The track listing is lacking, the gameplay is outdated (by its own predecessor), and the fun factor for this game just isn’t there.

A flawed boxing game with excellent presentation and some features that should make the next Fight Night team stand up and take notice. I stop short of calling it a solid effort because of the actual boxing gameplay, but 2K definitely has something to build on in the future.

The problem with Deadliest Catch is that from top to bottom, it just doesn’t work as a fun gaming experience. The graphical presentation is decidedly last-gen, the control scheme is needlessly complicated, the gameplay mechanic has all the depth of a bowl of crab bisque, and it is quite simply boring.

There are plenty of good ideas in Velvet Assassin. Sadly, they’ve all been done before. The issues in the game are simply too great for more people to give it any thought, and everything besides the basic stealth mechanics aren’t fleshed out enough.

Maybe by the next installment, EA will see that there’s an older audience looking for a solid party title, and give us a little more challenge. As of right now, I’m getting to old for this stuff.

Compared to other WiiWare games, however, it is a different story, and the game's uninteresting, uninspired gameplay and mediocre presentation definitely places it in the "not worth trying" category.

I loved the PC version when I played it back in 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed some of the other Real-Time-Strategies I have played on the Xbox 360. Supreme Commander, however, is a fundamentally broken game.

Unless you are an absolute die-hard Narni-ite, this game belongs as far away from your 360 as humanly possible.

Onechanbara: Bikini Zombie Slayers is not a great game. It’s not even a good game. But it’s fun, it’s cheap ($30), and provides players with some over-the-top action they might be able to enjoy.

Haze's heart was apparently too big for its chest, and the finished product is quite possibly the biggest letdown this generation.

The world could really use an awesome Indiana Jones game. Sadly, Staff of Kings is not it.

Insecticide’s stellar voice-work, quirky tone and enjoyable puzzles just can’t make up for the game’s glaring technical issues and awful combat mechanics.

An above-average handheld movie tie-in. Half of the game plays well, and keeps you coming back for more with missions that don’t take too long, and offer a nice level of challenge. The other half, however, is a tremendous chore that seriously hurts the experience as a whole.

Ballers is just too glitchy, ugly and frustrating to be worth even a rental.

Despite its many flaws, there is some fun to be had. Poor design choices, sloppy controls and a lack of any soul or polish keep it from being anything but a brief distraction, but hacking your way through the armies of Sauron to the tune of Howard Shore’s epic soundtrack is enjoyable up to a point.

Via Domus is really light on any actual action; as Elliott, you’ll mostly be solving puzzles and trying (and failing) not to get lost and frustrated while wandering around the jungle, in between conversing with other plane crash survivors and trying to figure out who you are and what’s going on.

The shame of it is if Sega had just allowed Edge of Reality to copy and paste the formula from Ultimate Destruction, this game would’ve been awesome. Instead, they saw what came before them and trembled at the thought of following it up.

Backbreaker is an attempt to simulate real professional football from the player's perspective, but due to its lack of balance, constant turnovers, and brain dead AI, it feels more like a game of junior high school ball.

The constant glitches awful enough to dissuade even the strongest at heart from playing for more than a few hours, and Rise of the Argonauts might be one of the most disapointing games of the generation.

Visually it’s a success, with wonderful blur effects and animations accompanying the colorful world. The gameplay is even something worth paying attention to, as it shows that Sonic Team hasn’t entirely forgotten how to make a Sonic game. However, it falls apart, and the repetitive nature of the missions can become grinding.

Only mildly entertaining, and even with up to four players being able to compete both online and off, the fun factor is very limited. Even more limited are the repetitive events, and you’ll probably have played all of them in under an hour.

There are things about Sonic Unleashed that reminded me of how great this franchise could be when done right. It’s just a shame those parts weren’t the true focus of the game.

Other than the A+ character creation and the B+ graphics, the best thing about this game is the ever-so-busty ditz of a ring girl that shows up between rounds to semi-flash what’s under her robe.

The Fable II Pub Games are sort of a strange case, as they are just barely games and in no way worth the $10 no matter how excited for Fable II you are.

WarioWare Snapped! might have set the bar for DSiWare, but it didn’t set it incredibly high. The amount of time it takes to set up the camera usually outlives the amount of time that can be spent with the game, and the limited number of microgames included is regrettable.

It’s definitely got some control issues, and some of the tasks get repetitive and boring, but there is fun to be had in this game.

Littered with horrible dialogue, a cast that has no redeeming qualities, and gameplay that simply is not fun.

A bad shooter with worse excuses, and there’s little chance you’ll enjoy playing it as much as Vicious Cycle enjoyed making it. The developers relied too heavily on cheap laughs, and didn’t take advantage of the satire nearly as much as they should have. Instead, they used it as a crutch, explaining missing features and other problems on the game’s premise – an excuse that grows thin quickly, as far too often, it’s used to the detriment of the player instead of to their benefit.

If the game were actually simplified and released as a downloadable title for the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, or Wiiware service it might be worth checking out, but as a full title, even at a discounted price, it isn’t worth the trip to the store.

With its baffling design choices and shoddy controls, Rygar: The Battle of Argus fails to deliver as much fun and satisfaction as the original game.

Odds are if you have access to any other console, there are plenty of better tower defense games to enjoy.

It's not a broken game, just a joyless one, and it's obvious that there were far too many hands in the pot.

A bad shooter with worse excuses, and there’s little chance you’ll enjoy playing it as much as Vicious Cycle enjoyed making it. The developers relied too heavily on cheap laughs, and didn’t take advantage of the satire nearly as much as they should have.

The story is a snoozer, and without previous exposure to the characters and their world, it won’t make much sense. It’s also short, ugly, boring, tedious and unbalanced, and offers nothing new or innovative to the genre.

This decent idea got buried under glitches, a bad camera, and frustrating gameplay, and there seems to be no reason for that to have happened.

While I don’t recommend it for most things in life, in this case, judging a book by its cover works just fine. X-Blades is exactly what you expected it to be; a mediocre fantasy action game with a heroine that appeals to the basest of men’s instincts.