Also frustrating throughout are the special balls that fly around above you, waiting to be shot out of the sky and used to blow things up/get extra points. But actually all they do is get in your way and distract you from the actual game. We want to be angry, but all we can muster is indifference.

Die hard Sam Fisher fans don't necessarily need to return because they've seen the same thing better, and newcomers are jumping into an inferior version of an easily accessible console game. It's just cheaper to play Chaos Theory at its best.

It only offers a few days worth of play on its own and isn't much fun at all to newcomers. The game is at its best when used as an accessory, albeit an expensive one, to Diamond/Pearl.

If you love this music, go ahead and buy this game in spite of the score below; you’ll love it. Just don’t ask us to sing along unless you found that video we were talking about.

Ugly, last-gen visuals further dampen the fear factor. Muddy textures and low poly counts cause scenery and monsters to blend together into a murky mess.

With the failure of its flagship story mode, Super Monkey Ball Adventure becomes a rather dull product that has little reason to exist.

Fallout 76 has glimmers of the trademark series’ sci-fi splendour, but they’re few and far between.

Lord of Arcana has made a painfully deliberate attempt at riding the wave that Monster Hunter started, and lamentably, it's wiped out.

The actors (not from the film cast) sound utterly bored throughout their lengthy speeches; the only thing that trumps the highly questionable French accents is a guy who actually says "woof woof" on behalf of a virtual dog.

Unfortunately, this genre requires a lot more panache and even more addictive gameplay hooks, something The Chosen fails to accomplish in its quest to push you that much closer to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. At its best, this is a pretty game that seems to understand the target it was aiming for but fails entirely to hit the mark.

A complex story attempts to give meaning to each quest, but even the most hardcore 4Xers will feel betrayed by Elemental. There's very little to love here, and it's so unbalanced and frustratingly crippled no magic will fix it.

Aside from the enjoyable and well-weighted multiplayer, pretty much everything around that core experience of destroying things with big weapons is flaky. Big time flaky. But thankfully, happiness really is a warm gun, even if it is on the 50th respawn before that damn warehouse.

It's the same solid game you've been playing since "Dynasty Warriors 2" came out back in 2000.

It's certainly budget in its lack of polish and its brevity (even with the additional PS3-specific missions added it totaled to barely five hours), so if you really, really have a hard-on for sniping you'll be able to wring some fun from this, but you'll have to swallow some crap along the way.

Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard is trapped in many of the clichés it seeks to skewer, but it’s still a fairly adequate shooter and occasionally gives you a chuckle. It’s just that we were hoping for something truly unique.

Several modes of mindless violence and one mode of a Monopoly-like board game. There's nothing new or exciting about this title.

There was limitless potential here, but it's wasted. Transformers: The Game should be a sleek, cutting-edge sports car; instead, it's an old beater whose driver's seat has a spring sticking out in exactly the wrong place.

It's passable. If you're looking for a 360 party game with something for the adults, this is definitely the candidate you should endorse. But we have to think that's a pretty big "if."

The overall feel of the game is just not engaging – there's no sense of speed, there's no sense of control, and there's no sense of variety.

Silent Hill: The Short Message is an interesting, if not amazing rebirth for the series that proves it can be reanimated for a modern audience. Atmospheric and full of potential it bodes well for future instalments.

Falls short of creating a truly memorable gaming experience for the license with shallow, and tedious platforming gameplay while never fully utilizing the South Park world and characters to their full potential.

Why buy the new one when the older, better version is still available at a reduced price? We know you have a PS2.

The abstruse design and technical flaws leave us cold, but the sheer potential for savage bastardry makes it undeniably fun.

Don't use the lock-on, and the dodgy controls and at best so-so ally AI will end up killing you. The camera system will cause death after death in the infuriating mandatory stealth missions - it's just too hard to get real situational awareness. Despite all that, the game is perfect for the PSP - fun to pick up and play in short bursts.

When the best thing your game has going for it is supplemental abilities to support your primary one-button combat, you know you've got problems.

Crystal Defenders doesn’t do much that’s new or revolutionary, but with very slim tower defense competition on the 360, it’s an addictive distraction.

Soulcalibur Legends does offer some solid hack-'n-slash gaming that'll also make for a nice Wii tech demo to show your non-gaming friends and family over the holidays. But in the end, the title's appeal will likely expire before that half-drunk carton of egg nog sitting in your fridge.

An undiscerning child may have a bit of fun for awhile with Over the Hedge: Hammy Goes Nuts, and adults may even find the wacky, borderline creepy premise of the game slightly bemusing. But if you care about children (or your own sanity), you may want to skip this one and just get the DVD instead.