Rather than encourage you to engage this striking world as a real place with coherent rules and consequences, you're asked to internalize its shortcomings and game them mercilessly. When it truly makes good on the open-world stealth thing, it certainly has its moments, and nowhere is this more evident than in the Contracts mode. But even in these cases, its flaws are merely papered-over. If you mean to accept this contract, bear in mind the numerous potential complications.

Though Shadowrun is a first-person shooter, it still manages to include a lot of the qualities that made the original RPG a hit. At the same time, with just a few multiplayer modes and a paltry nine maps, the fun only lasts for so long.

Expect about an hour of play, give or take. If you're desperate for more Assassin's, jump right in. Just be aware that you're only getting half the story.

With so much emphasis on sharing, the fact that there's only local multiplayer is frankly puzzling. More time should have been spent on what matters instead of fun gimmicks to promote hardware functionality.

Dark Void’s single real achievement is the way it blends in-the-air and on-the-ground action without creating a horrible accident of compromise. While the game can be a lot of fun on a mechanical level, it’s not quite different enough to feel like a brand new experience, and there are enough minor-yet-noticeable problems that make it harder to appreciate the overall package.

Fenix Rage isn’t for everybody. Some fans of Super Meat Boy, Flappy Bird and other challenging platformers may want to test their mettle in a new arena, but conquering its trials results in a hollow sense of victory.

It’s a different take on side-scrolling gameplay, but the added depth doesn’t save it from feeling flat.

It's all clearly aimed at kids, but if you let yourself, you'll find it easy to get sucked right in alongside the young'uns. Toy Story 3 is full of non-corrupting sandbox play that's genuinely addicting. As for as movie games go, you can do much worse.

MX vs. ATV Reflex is a bit of a mess. There are some good tracks to race on, but the control scheme is overcomplicated, the visuals are ugly, and the motorcycles are the only vehicles worth spending any time with. Determined players will find some value in it, but for everyone else there are much better racing options available.

It establishes an eerie mood, making you feel vulnerable to what lurks in the shadows. It just gets hung up in awkward moments at times.

Badman is one of those smaller titles that can be rewarding for dedicated players, but the ingredients for success are not so easy to divine.

Mirror of Fate leaves a poor first impression, but the game gradually becomes more enjoyable as you move through it. The game takes time out to puzzle near the halfway point for a welcome change of pace, and has its best moments coming at the end of the game, which you can reach in around ten hours.

Many of the individual games exhibit occasional flashes of brilliance, and the absurdity of the Galactic Dance Off bears witnessing at least once. We just can't recommend picking up the entire package in order to do so.

CounterSpy doesn’t really develop beyond its opening concepts. It’s fun to play the spy game for a while, but it quickly falls victim to tedium and repetition, with an unrewarding ending that comes off as a smoldering dud.

Sonic Chronicles is an admirable attempt to revitalize an aging franchise, but it ultimately suffers from an identity crisis and never really hits its stride.

Offers up more in terms of variety, and can become an oddly compelling game to play for those who enjoy managing their resources. The problem is that it takes a good five hours before it truly becomes enjoyable, which is a lot to ask from the typical player.

Quotation forthcoming.

It's a decent enough showcase for the hardware, and most of the games are genuinely fun, especially with friends, but it's hard to recommend without reservation when you consider how much it'll all cost.

Ridge Racer has enough content to keep you busy, but despite the visual depth, the gameplay is too shallow to hold your attention for long.

The gameplay is sound at its core, but suspect AI, plodding boss fights, and a heavy-handed plot all stand out as flaws that should have been eliminated before mass production. As is, this interesting prototype could be worth examining--just don't expect it to attain peak performance.

Another year, another NASCAR. The sparse updates and thin lacquer are well done, but like their preceding adjectives: meager.

MLB 2K7 is absolutely gorgeous with thousands of animations and all the bells and whistles you’d expect from a modern hardball game. But numerous bugs and gameplay quirks keep it in the minor leagues.

MySims lacks some polish and depth, but the sheer amount of customization will definitely busy any would-be virtual impresario looking for a town to call their own.

The best thing Valley of the Yetis has going for it is the inherent fun that comes from using Far Cry 4’s skills, weapons, and vehicles. Everything else feels wasted.

Dead to Rights: Retribution isn’t the most refined shooter out there. The story is mediocre and it can be rather ugly at times, but if you don’t take it too seriously, the gameplay’s versatility and throat-ripping ferocity is fun while it lasts.

Aside from the original PS2 release, this is easily the worst iteration of Snake Eater. The lack of extras, the frustrating controls, and the overall performance issues hold it back from being one of the premier third-party games for the 3DS. Don't be hypnotized by this snake's gaze--this is far from the optimal way to experience this classic.

It's nice to see Nintendo take a chance on a franchise that's untested overseas, but Glory of Heracles doesn't leave a good first impression. It's simply too linear and devoid of the frills we've come to expect from an RPG. With better options on the market, simply being average doesn't come close to the Herculean effort the series needs.

Fans of zombie survival, open worlds, and first-person shooters will find things to enjoy in Dying Light, but it’s a rough ride. The contextual movement and realistic time progression suggest that Techland wants to immerse you in Harran’s apocalyptic plight, but the game’s realism takes a hit at almost every turn whether it’s the graphics, the enemy AI, or the mannequin-like demeanor of the souls you’ll attempt to save.

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror was a great PSP game, but the chop job done to the title on its way to the PlayStation 2 really hurts the product's overall quality.

In all, it's a complex recipe that just isn't prepared in the most appetizing way.

There's fun here, but it comes with some unavoidable roughness. It's tough to get excited about a zombie game that's only decent, but whether it's Yakuza's special history or inimitable blend of drama and absurdity, there's something here that might be worth biting into.

Players who are attached to the franchise won't be burned if they happen to pick the game up, and most shooter fans will be able to squeeze some enjoyment out of it. It's hard to imagine the multiplayer mode keeping much traction as the game ages, though, so look at the game as a short term investment.

A number of fun-halting flaws ultimately make for an experience that's far less polished than the protagonist's shiny shield.

As just another chapter in Arkham City, as is the case if you buy the Game of the Year edition, its single-mindedness isn't such a big deal. But as a $10 downloadable chapter, it's coming up short.

It's a decent time-killer, but serious shooter fans are best advised to set their sights on bigger fish down the horizon.

While it goes through many of the same motions perfected by the best games in its genre, Dante's Inferno never reaches their lofty heights.

Remember Me isn’t quite up to par in terms of craft. But whatever you might say about it, this curious and ambitious game certainly isn’t without personality or interest. It’s up to you to decide if your mind has room to hold such a curious oddity.

The attempt to simplify the controls for just a few buttons has resulted in a game that’s far too easy, yet doesn’t have the moxie to hold up when it’s prodded for depth.

Another year, another NASCAR. The sparse updates and thin lacquer are well done, but like their preceding adjectives: meager.

It's not a terrible deal at around five hours for 10 bucks, but you'll certainly come away hoping that the next New Vegas expansion tries a little harder to temper its idiosyncrasies.

Killer is Dead never becomes anything more than a decent action game. The perpetual nonsense in the story isn’t remotely cohesive and the gigolo missions are nothing more than degrading distractions. While Killer is Dead often looks striking, the game’s other parts rarely match its outward style.

There's a lot of strategy to explore in Fortune Street, but it can drag on with games averaging two hours long, and it's a bit dull even if you like this sort of thing. In the right circumstances, it can be rewarding, but you really need a group of like-minded friends to make it worth your while.

But at the opening price of 20 bucks, players craving something genuinely different will definitely find it in E.Y.E. Divine Cybermancy, without breaking the bank.

Need for Speed Undercover lacks challenge, struggles technically, and practically requires sunglasses to play. The framework for a stronger game is present, but the final product simply doesn't come close to competing with games like "Midnight Club: LA" or "Burnout Paradise."

It is essentially the spiritual successor to Gauntlet Legends. Yet those weaned on games like Diablo will find the content too shallow to merit consideration. The limited loot, lack of randomized dungeons, and loss of leveling ultimately undermines this Alliance before it has a chance to shine.

Almost all of the major control issues have been fixed, the graphics are much cleaner, and the wireless co-op feature is fantastic. But all of the good still doesn’t outweigh the bad--the horribly generic gameplay just doesn’t cut it.

You feel more as if you're performing a repetitive series of tasks rather than surviving by your wits, but there's still a certain satisfaction in overcoming the game's challenge.

Behind all the brush strokes and ink lines lies a rather ho-hum experience.

Major League Baseball 2K9 is really rough around the edges. Smoothing out the frame rate has improved the fielding, but this game really needed a visit from the exterminator before it shipped.

It's all combat, all the time, with the absence of exploration, puzzles, or a free range of movement making the game feel a bit too basic for its 40 dollar price tag. Still, decent production values and responsive controls make Medieval Moves one of the better motion titles on the system, offering plenty of action but little in the way of interesting challenges or variety. It's fun, but after a few repetitive play sessions, you're going to want to rest those weary bones.

Perhaps unwittingly, Shadows of the Damned accomplishes what it set out for, by providing a B-level experience in video game form. It has more than its share of groan-worthy one-liners and irritating gameplay mechanics, but there's enough oddness and variety for it to pull in a cult following.

Despite the new additions, Epic Mickey 2 feels phoned in. The charm and novelty of the paint mechanics are starting to fade, and it lacks the ambitious decision making that helped to distinguish the original. What's left is a mediocre platformer, and all its allusions to Disney's rich history can only help it so much.

The Skylanders concept still feels novel and you get the feeling that there's a lot of potential waiting to be squeezed out of the experience. However, it's clearly being held back by the focus on peddling collectible toys. There's a decent game in here, but it's ultimately hard to justify the substantial investment you'll have to throw down for all the figures required to get the full experience.

Risen 2 has more than a few issues, but there's plenty of buried treasure waiting here for players who are willing to dig for it. Unfortunately, the excavation is demanding, and the slaphappy combat and bland quest structure might prove too overpowering for players who want to sample one of the few examples of a genuine pirate roleplaying game.

The impulse to go back in time for inspiration serves this SideScroller well in creating an attractive visual identity. But failure to properly consider what makes shoot'em ups fun, past and present, holds this PixelJunk project back from greatness.

It's hard to recommend Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. It's too complicated for kids, and too convoluted for adults, If you're the creative type, you'll enjoy fiddling around with all the parts, but if you're looking for an accessible game that you can play in short bursts and make headway, then steer clear.

Need for Speed Undercover lacks challenge, struggles technically, and practically requires sunglasses to play. The framework for a stronger game is present, but the final product simply doesn't come close to competing with games like "Midnight Club: LA" or "Burnout Paradise."

Though it gets off to a decent start, Sands of Destruction fails to keep up the pace. The battle mechanics deteriorate only after a few hours, and the story fails to compensate you for time invested.

With options that are barebones and gameplay that can be at one moment exhilarating and the next maddening, PilotWings Resort isn't a great showcase for the 3DS' capabilities. It's a different kind of game that will appeal to specific players, but the lack of content won't keep anyone coming back for long.

Need for Speed Undercover lacks challenge, struggles technically, and practically requires sunglasses to play. The framework for a stronger game is present, but the final product simply doesn't come close to competing with games like "Midnight Club: LA" or "Burnout Paradise."

If videogames are systems of learning, then Bangai-O is a scatterbrained professor teaching advanced calculus.

Players new to the formula may enjoy it for a while, but the uninspired random levels quickly get monotonous even for first-time dungeon crawlers.

You can get through the main story in a casual weekend of playing, and the extra mission objectives aren't exactly compelling. Tack on some seriously under whelming visuals and a problematic camera, and you're left with a game that has its moments, but is ultimately disappointing, even for true believers.

Contrary to its namesake, One Piece: Unlimited Adventure is more of a spirited Easter egg hunt than anything else.

If you don’t have any friends to play with steer clear, but if you live with a group of buddies or have a lot of siblings it can become incredibly addictive.

Lightsaber Duels is an average fighter with solid visuals, but it doesn’t deliver on its most important element. There’s plenty of fan service, and swinging the Wii remote around can be fun at times, but the payoff just simply isn’t enough. This one’s still a padawan in training.

Mario Super Sluggers is fun to pick up and play for a short session with friends, but as a game to play by yourself it's shallow. It also doesn't make much use of the system's capabilities with limited motion control and no online play.

There's no mistaking that Tales of Graces was originally released on the Wii, and it seems that little effort was made to bring it up to PS3 standards.

Major League Baseball 2K12 could desperately use a new engine and some more polish to smooth out the rough edges, as the batter-pitcher interface, commentary, and MLB Today mode are all solid. There are simply not enough changes or fixes to make it worth paying full price this year, though. It seems that each time this series appears to be heading towards home, it trips on third base and stumbles to the ground.

A straightforward stealth game that's capable of scratching a particular type of sneaky itch for many players, but also feels slightly dated and accomplishes little that hasn't been done before and done better.

You can get through the main story in a casual weekend of playing, and the extra mission objectives aren't exactly compelling. Tack on some seriously under whelming visuals and a problematic camera, and you're left with a game that has its moments, but is ultimately disappointing, even for true believers.

Dragon Ball: Raging Blast certainly feels and plays differently than your typical brawler, which is a good thing, but the dizzying camera limits its appeal to hardcore enthusiasts of the anime series instead of the general public.

Wielding the game’s powerful spells can be a lot of fun, but the repetitive shooting and tedious trekking from barrier to barrier make you feel like you’re paying penance for someone else’s crimes.

Shank sure sizzles, but it isn't much more than a flash in the pan.

Explorers of Time does very little to expand upon the original entry into the series, and relies too heavily on the Pokémon brand.

The extra modes are more forgettable than fun, but the core Monkey Ball experience passes muster, though keep in mind that using the gyroscopic controls kills the 3D. For best results, pick your primate, turn your circle pad on, and the 3D slider up.

TNA: Impact! is an impressive debut for a wrestling franchise, but when held up against its contemporaries it’s still got a ways to go.

Kinect Adventures is good enough fun for a couple of nights, but it's by no means the most exciting or novel use of the hardware at launch. For that, look to games like Dance Central or Kinectimals.

Spend an hour or two with Power Stone Collection and you’ll wonder what the big deal is.

Take a dated game engine and add in some dated, unrefined gameplay and you’ve pretty much got Painkiller: Overdose in a nutshell. The original was mindlessly fun, but Overdose is just mindless.

Warped charm makes these bizarre critters and their zany game world likeable enough, but Rabbids Land falls woefully short of the Mario Party format it attempts to mimic.

PaRappa is a relic of a bygone era. Had Sony decided to make this PSP re-release a PaRappa collection of sorts, including maybe PaRappa 2 from the PS2, or the pseudo-sequel UmJammer Lammy--or both--this would have been a sweet UMD.

Combat quickly grows repetitive, even with talent trees and new abilities. Advancement is slow, and many missions and challenges seem more like busywork than fun.

If it’s a game you want, the Birdman may not be the best video game attorney for the job, but when it comes to cracking cases to go with funny bones Harv is a class act.

Project Sylpheed is determined to separate itself from its arcade roots, and that’s fine. But a sub-par story, iffy controls, and mundane gameplay keep it from reaching the modern age.

Guardians of Middle Earth gets the basics right--it's a playable MOBA that you can drive with a control pad. But in the process of streamlining this notoriously complex genre, it sacrificed a bit too much at the altar of accessibility.

ZombiU does deliver a distinctive survival experience, albeit one stymied by awkward meanderings and dull undead. It's not likely you'll die of boredom per se, though the good sections are strung few and far between. More than anything else, ZombiU feels like it was rushed to launch, which is too bad--a little more time in the incubator and it could have been something special.

It will scratch that itch if you’re looking for nothing more than some mindless gunplay mixed with dangerous doses of testosterone, but there’s nothing going on upstairs. And for a tactical shooter, that’s not going to cut it.

What stand out the most H.A.W.X. 2 are the annoyances and spin-cycles of flight combat. The dogfighting neither feels particularly realistic nor particularly fun, and as a result, the most enjoyable missions are the ones that avoid air to air conflict.

There are some rough spots, and it’s far too challenging for its preschool target audience, but older players that can get past the glucose-coated exterior will find it to be a decent platformer with a fair share of challenge.

A poor man's Mass Effect. It's too heavy on frivolities and too light on gameplay.

While the mesmerizing patterns and fast-paced combos provide brief bursts of excitement, Galaga Legions DX lacks the challenge and variety needed to maintain interest beyond a single play-through.

Virtually every Kirby game since the original has had some kind of feature to add some depth, but there’s nothing like that here. Without that hook, Squeak Squad is a gussied-up throwback to the original NES game, that just doesn’t hold up today, but should be a hit with the little ones.

Think of it as a way to spend some personal time with the girls from the fighting game. If that doesn’t interest you, and you don’t have a thing for well-endowed video game chicks, you’re probably out of luck.

Somewhere, there's a decent game hiding camouflaged in the canopies. When dinging levels leaves you feeling blue, even a Navi eco-terrorist will run for greener pastures.

The package just lacks the substance to keep you coming back. Mario Sports Mix is good for a diversion, but it ultimately makes for an underwhelming trip back to the Mushroom Kingdom.

Excite Truck has about as much in common with Excite Bike as Mario Kart does. Looking at the game on its own merits, it’s a shallow experience with a simple, yet finicky control scheme.

Cursed Mountain is an earnest attempt at staking its own niche in the survival horror space, but uninspired gameplay and clumsy controls keep it from reaching its own summit.