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.

Bionicle Heroes looks good, and has a decent license backing it, but completely fails to capture the magic that made the LEGO Star Wars games a hit. What you get instead is an average, boring shooter that's only worth playing if you have a deep love for the source material.

All that saves Pirates on PS2 from completely walking the plank is Johnny Depp’s boisterous performance, the rare drop in co-op gameplay, and the fact that it’s always fun to be a pirate for a while. But as far as everything else goes...you’ve been warned.

It’s good to see a developer at least trying to break the mold on the system, but Dragon Blade is far too archaic and bland to appeal to either side of the Wii equation.

Instead of rebuilding Spy Hunter's Interceptor from the ground up to make an action-racer that could potentially smoke "Burnout," or adding third-person shooting and grappling control to make you feel like Sam Fisher and Triple H at the same time, Nowhere to Run ends up being a mediocre mix of both.

A horribly repetitive platformer.

Superman Returns looks like a passable game, and it definitely feels like one when you first start playing it. Six or seven hours later, when you’ve done absolutely everything Metropolis has to offer, you’ll be shocked how little they’ve sprinkled over the obscenely huge environment.

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.

Instead of rebuilding Spy Hunter’s Interceptor from the ground up to make an action-racer that could potentially smoke "Burnout," or adding third-person shooting and grappling control to make you feel like Sam Fisher and Triple H at the same time, Nowhere to Run ends up being a mediocre mix of both.

A disappointing game with little to offer. The original had its eyes toward the future, very deliberately trying to do things differently. Great remakes are able to adapt, modifying and expanding upon the previous game’s ideas. Here there’s hardly more than recycled concepts and a total failure to capitalize on the first game’s potential. Improvements are few, and many of the updates make things worse instead of better.

Fans of the movie are going to be put off by an extended story and characters that don’t live up to the original.

X-Blades doesn’t fail for lack of originality or innovation, because that would imply that it met some meager expectations. X-Blades fails because it’s an ill-conceived lovechild of poor taste and even poorer game design.

Wii Sports is still the reigning champion when it comes to party sports games. Deca Sports is, if anything, a distraction, and worth renting if friends are coming over.

Soldier of Fortune: Payback is a one-trick pony of blood and guts. And if that’s your thing, you might be able to overlook the generic shooting mechanic, enemy AI that’s cheap and stupid, and dull level design. But we just can’t.

Fans of the movie are going to be put off by an extended story and characters that don't live up to the original.

Most of the characters, courses, and board types are also locked away from the outset, so getting to any of the worthwhile content is a test of your patience and endurance. The presentation, meanwhile, is average at best. Ultimately, you'll find little value in Adrenalin Misfits. Seek your Kinect thrills elsewhere.

Soldier of Fortune: Payback is a one-trick pony of blood and guts. And if that’s your thing, you might be able to overlook the generic shooting mechanic, enemy AI that’s cheap and stupid, and dull level design. But we just can’t.

Fans of the movie are going to be put off by an extended story and characters that don’t live up to the original.

Final Fantasy XIV is in no way, shape, or form ready for commercial release. We suppose there is potential down the line for the experience to improve with patches and tweaks, but that doesn't justify why the game is in such shambles at launch.

Dungeon Hunter does offer a few moments of fun, but they're eclipsed by painful repetition and clumsy design.

Knights Contract is far too rough around the edges to be worth its asking price. The needlessly frequent cutscenes interrupt the game's flow, combat against the majority of enemies requires little thought, and you'll be constantly fighting either the camera or the level design. The finishing blow is Gretchen's AI, which makes the boss fights annoying instead of exciting.

Despite all of its flaws, Nitrobike has one thing going for it: if you blowup 15 times during your career you can unlock crash test bowling. It’s not particularly fun and uses some whacked-out physics, but at least it will keep you from playing the main game.

The battles are often tiresome, not only because of the activity level associated with the controls, but because fights tend to drag on with rock-paper-scissors type counter attacks, blocks, and deflections. While you can unlock over 50 characters, all of the fighters control the same, and the first-person perspective means you can't even see them in action. Considering the lack of new content and spotty controls, Dragon Ball Z for Kinect ultimately puts the "sigh" in Super Saiyan.

Giant robots or not, Dynasty Warriors: Gundam 2 doesn’t quite have the thrust to wedge this stagnating series out of its fixed orbit.

It's a bare minimum situation that will disappoint even the most desperate player. We have to go back a long way to remember a Madden game that offered so little.

It's a case of missed opportunity with Castlevania Judgment. The concept sounds so enticing, but it doesn't take long to realize that the series has not done a good job of creating memorable characters. It tries to implement creative ideas, but nothing really clicks and both die hard fans and fighting game enthusiasts will be discouraged by gameplay that's anything but immortal.

There was so much potential for Korra when you consider the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a developer like Platinum to work on the combat, but it seems like the Japanese studio’s B-team showed up for this project.

Fuzion Frenzy 2 is like a decent-tasting smoothie of low-calorie gaming activities with a disgusting cherry on top. The game improves a lot if you’re playing at home with friends or smack-talking strangers online, but like any party, it isn’t meant to be a solo affair.