The potential is for seriously high amounts of frustration and tedium from being stuck in one section and having to play through the earlier sections of a level over and over. I would have opted for the ability to save incrementally.

A serious and right-minded improvement over "Wrestlemania X8," and offers a preferable engine to "Smackdown!" for wrestling purists. If only the single-player mode had anything (and I do mean anything) to offer except a steel chair to your expectations.

Pool Paradise may look like a homebrew video game, feature the most colossal collection of lame characters to interact with since "Tao Feng," but the bones of this game are strong and solid. This plays an exceptional, nay incredible game of pool.

A mixed blessing. It's got some fun and elaborate puzzles, although some get a tad too elaborate to manage at once. Also, certain parts of the gameplay mechanic, such as the responsiveness of the touch screen while steering Mini-Marios around, don't function as well as we would have liked.

A few frustrating moments spoil the fun here and there, but overall Black Hawk Down is an entertaining shooter and an encouraging step forward for the Delta Force series.

If you're a Star Wars fan and need to have the PC version, do yourself a favor and wait to pick this up on sale once all the patches have been released; after all, any game that lets you pick off Jawas and Ewoks can't be that bad.

A deceptively simple overhead strategy game only slightly comparable to "Scorched Earth."... My only real disappointment with [it] is the limited range of weapons.

And yet, despite Shadow of the Damned being a more approachable adventure than the typical Grasshopper creation, it's what you see and hear over the course of the 10-12 hour campaign that really sticks with you.

With multiple paths and endings and a dense story it's totally worth more than a single playthrough, even after you've managed to get through all the head scratching. Like the rest of Wadjet's catalog, Resonance is an absolute must play for any classic adventure nut, and worth checking out for any more modern fan.

The backgrounds are bright, but often make it tough to see the arrows. I prefer the music video levels, where some decent-quality FMV accompanies the song. There aren't enough of them, though.

If you're a hardcore Sims 2 fan and you've greedily gobbled up all the expansions to date, Pets is a great way to give your neighborhood some variety. For players who are just coming into the game fresh, though, the other expansions provide a lot more substance.

Overall I enjoyed Silent Hill 4 just as much as the previous games. Although the initially slower pace and more non-conventional puzzles might annoy some gamers, those who hang in there are in for a hellish treat well worthy of the creepy Silent Hill brand.

If you're interested in even half the songs, I can almost guarantee you'll find at least a couple more surprisingly entertaining. And that pretty much sums up Band Hero for me: It's not a revolution for the genre, but it is a surprisingly solid, well thought-out, and just plain entertaining game.

If you can live with the load times, and don't mind avoiding Kraven, give this game a try; it's a spideriffic and mostly commendable effort.

Despite the occasional missteps, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth is a more than fitting tribute to its literary inspiration. It's also a great way for fans of real horror to give themselves the heebie-jeebies for a dozen hours or so. Just don't play it late at night, alone.

A decent title with quite a bit to offer and awesome multiplayer. It'll just have to be satisfied being labeled one of the weaker Tony Hawk games on the market.

A self-assured but largely unambitious game, content to refine the experience of the previous games in the series without deviating very far from the standard that they set.

Yet even with some new features, you get the sense that gameplay isn't very different from what the series has shown since its debut.

It's a highly polished experience that will satisfy you if what you're looking for is yet another MMO, albeit one with a few more bells and whistles.

The steep learning curve for Pirates of the Burning Sea is a shame, because underneath that crusty exterior is a brilliant naval combat game and one of the more interesting economic models ever introduced to the online gaming scene.

Tales of Phantasia ends up looking like a fossil -- and not one of the cool ones with spikes and sharp teeth. More like a fern or insect, existing mostly to study the past and gauge evolution. RPGs have evolved far beyond this port.

It's a real shame Heroes of the Pacific doesn't include a proper save system and better balancing. Richer multiplayer and instant action modes would be nice, too. Otherwise, this is an addictive air combat game that hits all the right notes: daring, adventure, and non-stop action.

It's hurt by the PSP's awful controls, but that's not unexpected. Fix that d-pad and you'll be set for more Moai-shooting action than you can shake an option at... and that's a good thing.

While there are some definite issues, the single-player game is a lot of fun and the story is engaging (though it could be a bit confusing to new players). Unfortunately, we were a bit let down by the multiplayer, which wasn't as good as it was in the previous games.

With Mutation kicking up the story and gameplay a much-needed notch I became totally addicted to this game. The addition of a sprinkling of some truly excellent boss battles throughout the game helped a bunch, too.

Though it's a bit rough around the edges, Second Sight packs a huge core of ideas into what could have been a standard shooter. Powerful psionics, extensive gun combat, and a great story are all just part of the plan.

The best surfing game on the market.

Granted the Road Trip mode can get kinda frustrating and boring, but experiencing the various levels and checking out the behind-the-scenes video footage is almost worth the aggravation.