The problem with 08 is that it's not all that different from 07. Other than the chance to jump behind the wheel of the Car of Tomorrow or the ability to save races at any point -- which is cool -- there's not a whole lot that's shiny and new about it.

An ambitious, interesting game, but it's badly undercut by terrible AI and annoying and very distracting graphical glitches. They're bad enough to make the game feel like a chore.

While it's likely worth it for fans to get closure from Underworld, expect to trudge through a large amount of frustrating gameplay to get it. Suffering from a distinct lack of polish, Tomb Raider Underworld seems like it could have benefited greatly from a little more attention. If it didn't have so many technical issues, Underworld could have been a brilliant conclusion to Lara's latest trilogy.

Where "GTA" used humor, masses of distractions, OTT violence, and a giant game world with a real sense of space and depth to mask the unimpressive visuals, Driver is the opposite, using an impressive physics engine and city to hide repetitive and languid gameplay that's becoming increasingly difficult to enthuse about.

Only those with 20-20 vision, muscular thumbs, weeks of free time, and patience in overlooking overloaded graphical offerings need apply.

The kiddies will enjoy seeing more Robinsons goofiness, and you won't mind picking up the controller to help them through the occasional tough part.

It feels like we've traveled these claustrophobic corridors a million times before, and there's really nothing here to make you want to put down one of the far superior shooters that can be found on the Xbox.

You'll have to deal with a clunky interface and menu, silly single-player missions, brain-dead A.I., bizarre vehicle physics, horrible net code, dull graphics and sound, and more bugs than a Georgia swamp in June.

When you're not being underwhelmed by Sorcerer's Stone, you'll be infuriated by it.

A visually clumsy representation of the card game with an even clumsier and clunkier way to play against another duelist.

Sadly, a lot of the goodwill generated by Pariah is killed when the bugs come crawling out.

One frustrating game. It gets so many things right and it certainly looks the part, but fans of the genre -- especially those interested in Napoleon-era fighting -- will have a tough time getting around the game's lighthearted attempt at modeling combat.

Of all the versions of Tiger Woods 08 this year, the PS2 offering is the weakest, as development is clearly focusing on the next-gen consoles.

Granted, the snappy graphics are pretty boss, even in standard definition (and you'll notice a difference if you use an S-Video cable instead of the plain old composites), but that's just not enough to warrant the label next-gen -- not when you've got a machine as powerful as the PS3 flaunting its Cell processor.

There's no denying that serious stock car fans that own an Xbox 360 or PS3 will enjoy hitting the track with this racer; it's just a shame it doesn't crackle with the personality the real sport has been known for.

This is, in a nutshell, a piece of dung covered in gold dust.

Isometric platformers are just not the way to go; the tasks are monotonous; the level design is pathetic; and Bugs Bunny without jokes is like Arnold Schwarzenegger without the accent.

Though the game features several imaginative environments, the same can't be said for its pedestrian, trope-riddled story.

A strange beast. While the visuals and sounds are immaculate, I quickly found that after a few hours of playing -- including messing around in all the different modes -- I was a little bored. There was simply too much repetition involved.

Anyone who has experience with other RPGs will probably become bored with this game after an hour or two. Although the quest is relatively long, the gameplay offers little in the way of innovation, insuring that the only people who will see it through are the most diehard of Naruto fans.

Playing NFL Head Coach and having a good time while doing so is a daunting task, one far more challenging than taking the Browns to the Super Bowl.

It's incredible how nasty and trashy this gameplay looks, when something very similar looked so great. There are a lot of really nice touches here, but they're wasted on a game that feels like a high school talent show version of a great movie.

Other M is a sum of imperfect parts and compromised ideas.

At its core, War in the North isn't a bad game; it's merely a disappointing one.

In spite of its solid online multiplayer, good video editor, and fun arcade game, the overall experience can't rise to the level of the game's great predecessors.

Lots of fun as you're mastering the unique strategies of Star Trek: Tactical Assault, followed by a crushing tedium once you realize that it doesn't really get any better, or even any different.

So much of Red Dead feels like it's caught between two camps -- arcade and more modern third-person action -- that it all feels compromised.

The big reason for diehard Warriors fans to pick up Samurai XL obviously lies in its four new characters. Yep. Four. That's pretty pathetic compared to the nine added to "Dynasty 3 XL" (and even though "Dynasty 4 XL" featured no new warriors, its fun new gameplay modes compensated nicely).