If you can get past the horrors of the interface and the terrible voice acting, you may find a pretty good, original story buried within.

There is some good fun to be found in Echelon, but it's hidden behind too many problems and unpolished gameplay.

For anyone who appreciates bizarre characters and storylines, the game is especially appealing. The graphics are fantastic, although the gameplay itself is standard overall.

The story and the protective guardian concept both work. And developer Neverland did a brilliant job with the game's controls. The ability to do so much with so few buttons is astounding. The game snags when it comes to the clunky and unrealistic movement of the characters.

What it lacks in general innovation is quickly outshines by familiar, addictive, and constantly fun gameplay.

The game feels more "Mat Hoffman's Pro BMX v1.5" than anything else, giving you more of what you loved in the original and tacking on some minor, unnecessary extras.

It's dripping with blood. Actually, it's submerged in a tank overflowing with bodily fluids, detached limbs, and severed heads. Saucy!

It's not that the game has the wrong songs, but that it has so few of them. For $60, you can't help but feel a little cheated when all you get is Guitar Hero III with a light coat of paint and barely half the songs.

Great story, some good visuals, fun puzzles, and a lot of great dialogue and characters, but the game is held back by extremely tedious combat, some graphical and sound hitches, and a number of troublesome bugs.

If you can put up with some repetition and the simplicity of the management system, you'll enjoy yourself. Most of the mini-games are quite a bit of fun, too, and they make for some good multiplayer sessions.

Too little, too late.

The problem with Homefront isn't just that it sucks, which it certainly does. The problem is that it reveals just how badly many first-person shooters are starting to suck. It's a game that magnifies the preexisting trend of developing to the lowest common denominator.

A very strong, engaging story set in an interesting world. It's what will keep you playing despite the problems.

The established Lego game design wasn't broken, but, after so many games, it was beginning to get a bit stale. Those used to the previous titles might feel a bit disoriented at first, but you'll soon settle in and begin having fun exploring the large hubs and condensed levels.

Even with the minimal use of DS technology and the glaring gameplay omissions, Drill Spirits is a very fun game. It's definitely not the deepest game out there (and no, that wasn't meant to be a pun), but the simplicity is what makes it great.

If you like isometric action games, you'll love Zax. It may not be new, creative, or genre bending, but it sure is fun.

A potentially rewarding but decidedly punishing experience.

Lacking innovation, the repetitive gameplay will only appease fans of the series, but the multiplayer mode makes it worth a look.

A college football game whose gameplay just does not compete with its competitor.

It's a fun, competitive multiplayer shooter that stands alongside its paid sibling. Now if only more people would learn to play the damn thing.

But the problem with Homefront isn't just that it sucks, which it certainly does. The problem is that it reveals just how badly many first-person shooters are starting to suck. It's a game that magnifies the preexisting trend of developing to the lowest common denominator.

In the cold light of day it's simply another FPS that falls halfway between memorable extremes.

While it's hard to fault the good intentions that underlie the creation of Advent Rising, a game of this quality does more than just eventually stink up some EB bargain bin; it misses a huge opportunity to put the medium forward. Advent Rising has fallen -- it's time for us to move on.

A worthy successor to "Close Combat" ... at least until something better comes along.

If you're a Black Hawk Down multiplayer junkie, you'll probably get your money's worth just from the three jungle maps. But everyone else should probably save their $20 until Novalogic offers something more substantial.

Despite its overall graphic luster and enjoyable gameplay, QPR2 is relatively short on variety, and, as such, woefully short on shelf life, particularly for enthusiasts in possession of "ATV: Offroad Fury 2" for the PS2.

It is possible to have fun in this game. The bad news is that there are some underlying structural problems that make the game horribly unfriendly to new players and will probably keep the game from being as popular as it might be.

If you want pure, unadulterated violence, you came to the right place. Still, I can't help but be a little disappointed in this title -- especially coming from Volition, of "Red Faction" fame. It's a little too by-the-book.