It features great graphics and a nice variety of levels, but it's hard not to be concerned by the lack of value.

Despite its flaws, Gothic II remains a fascinating relic, a testament to the ambition and innovation of early open-world RPGs. While its clunky controls, outdated mechanics, and fetch-quest-heavy narrative might not resonate with modern players, its intricate world-building, hidden secrets, and surprisingly complex player agency shine through even today. It's a game that demands patience, but rewards exploration with a sense of discovery and genuine joy in overcoming its challenges. Ultimately, Gothic II's legacy lies not in its polish but in its pioneering spirit. It helped lay the groundwork for the genre we know and love, and for that, it deserves our respect, even if I ultimately choose to leave its clunky controls and endless errands in the past.

In playing this game, your humble reviewer found that at first, it was a lot of fun. After repeated butt-kicking (in which the reviewer was the kickee) some of the bloom came off the rose. Thoughts started wandering through the reviewer’s head. The (few) non-sexual ones included: “I’d bet this would be more fun in multi-player”, “This might make a good gift for somebody new to RTSs”, “Do I really need another WW2 RTS?”, and “I’m hungry”.

Plagued by the exact same issues that hampered its predecessor. There's a huge difference though, it’s the year 2005 now and people expect more out of their videogames.

Gun for the Xbox 360 plays well enough, and is a lot of fun, but simply not woth the money. No improvement in graphic quality on the 360 makes the PS2 or Xbox version a better buy.

A messy experience that just isn't any fun. The graphics look fine and the control is generally pretty good, but you've been here before with far better games.

D-Day Enhanced offers fun gunplay that only sporadically functions 100% correctly, in addition to myriad bugs and a paltry player base. The bugs can be squashed in the weeks ahead, but the lack of players and subsequently poor AI make this one a tough sell.

As much as I enjoy all things Final Fantasy, I find it hard to recommend this version of the game. It has already been released on two other consoles, and the game play has not been changed at all.

NBA Live 07 is an example of a game rushed to meet the deadline without paying any attention to quality. There are so many bugs in the game that any semblance of a basketball simulation is lost.

With instantly forgettable games, ugly graphics and the worst character designs of all time, Fuzion Frenzy 2 proves to be nothing more than a way to get achievement points!

When you get past the poor AI, the messy controls and the poor recreation of the sport, you have the foundation for a very decent hockey game.

Neopets tries to be the cute alternative to your basic dungeon hack, but thanks to some questionable development choices, a sluggish combat system and some truly boring level designs, it's a hard game to recommend to anybody.

Wii Play is about the best reason to pick up an extra Wii remote, unless you have four already.

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2 seems to have everything going for it, but thanks to a questionable control set-up, boring stories and annoying voice acting, it’s hard to recommend this newest fighting game.

Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile will likely intrigue fans of mystery adventure games, but others will likely find the game's somewhat obtuse puzzle structure frustrating. The 70s setting is fun, and the characters are well done, but overall the game feels a bit too mechanically dated to draw in new fans. If you know you like this sort of thing, check it out. But the merely curious might want to keep on sailing.

Maximum Football is a disappointment in its 1.0 version, with stale, robotic gameplay and some troublesome bugs in key places. Still, it does show real potential, and with a base version available for free, there's no excuse not to try it if you're into football simulations.

Brunswick Pro Bowling had the potential to be one of the best bowling games of all time; it has a deep single-player career mode, good graphics and enough locations to keep you from getting bored. Unfortunately this game is marred by the poor control and unforgiving difficulty level.

High on visual appeal, good for first-time city-builders; low on challenge, long-term playability.

Sadly, R&A does not deliver the experience I have been dreaming about for so many years. What is here is a very promising technical demo of parkour in video game form, which is great in terms of the technical accomplishment, but it lacks the game experience. Instead, it becomes a test of your dedication and patience to walk away feeling anything but frustration.

As a spin-off series Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam has a lot of potential, too bad most of it is wasted on this ultimately forgettable PlayStation 2 game.

The game does prove that a 3D fighting game can be done with the Wii's limited buttons...but only if the game is very simple with only one or two attack buttons.

Long on style and short on substance.

Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis is a real mixed bag; on one hand the game's sound and structure is sound, but it's hard to get over the poor play mechanics and the disappointing graphics.

As far as racing games with only one track goes, Indianapolis 500 Legends isn't half bad. Unfortunately its limited scope makes it difficult to recommend over some of the better racing games on the console.

Instead of making controlling your snowboarder easier, the Wii's new motion-sensing controls have made SSX much harder than it needs to be. What once was one of the best extreme sports franchises has been reduced to one of the most disappointing games of the year.

Spiderman Friend or Foe is obviously an attempt to cash in on the holiday rush. It doesn’t have the variety necessary to keep anyone playing for long, and the presentation is average at best.

A game that is a little more fun to play than it sounds simply due to the easy and fun game play. Unfortunately the graphics and story are weak. Also the same easy game play that makes it fun also makes this title quickly find its way to the bottom of your entertainment center drawer.

The Star and the Crescent aims to be a detailed simulation of the Arab-Israeli wars down to the individual vehicle level. It succeeds, but at the cost of being so complex very few gamers will want to invest the time to learn it.

It has been some time since I’ve come into contact with a game that seems loved by the masses that I don’t understand, but that’s Phasmophobia. I don’t understand why it’s ok that you have to have a team of four people in order to find mild success. I don’t understand why I need to spend time looking up a cheat sheet to help understand why a haunt is fun. I hate that I need to do so much outside the game, or to play round after round, just to have a better understanding of what is going on. I’m not opposed to playing Phasmophobia again, but it would take some convincing from at least three friends who are in need of a fourth played to have a full party. I also think each session is very dependent on having a good group of people around you in order to enjoy Phasmophobia, or at least a funny group of people to laugh at the misery of playing.

Be warned: There isn’t any sort of ”game” to the Summerhouse experience. This is a simple, doodling-sandbox meant to allow users to craft serene landscapes without needing any drawing skills. It does exactly what it sets out to do but could easily be SO much more.

Taxi Life: A City Driving Simulator proves that not every occupation can become a worthwhile video game simulation. It’s infested with bugs and soulless gameplay, making it more of a mundane taxi than a crazy one.

If you’ve played any of the previous Tenchu outings you have already seen most of what is in this game.

It has been some time since I’ve come into contact with a game that seems loved by the masses that I don’t understand, but that’s Phasmophobia. I don’t understand why it’s ok that you have to have a team of four people in order to find mild success. I don’t understand why I need to spend time looking up a cheat sheet to help understand why a haunt is fun. I hate that I need to do so much outside the game, or to play round after round, just to have a better understanding of what is going on. I’m not opposed to playing Phasmophobia again, but it would take some convincing from at least three friends who are in need of a fourth played to have a full party. I also think each session is very dependent on having a good group of people around you in order to enjoy Phasmophobia, or at least a funny group of people to laugh at the misery of playing.

Spy vs. Spy continues Vicious Cycles' tradition of graphically strong games that lack solid game play.

Best in small doses, Dawn of Mana continues the downward trend in what really should be a flagship series after the strong start it received back in the SNES era.

A watered down port of an already weak console fighter clone, Shrek Superslam on the DS offers nothing new and a number of frustrations and disappointments to boot.

I think there’s a decent game hiding somewhere in the unfinished code that is Dungeon Lords, but I just can’t be certain. Unfortunately, I must review a game “as is”, and “as is” right now just isn’t very good.

Although Genesis Rising has some interesting ideas, poor design decisions bury this title quickly. There’s promise here, but that soon turns to disappointment.

MLB 2K12 has made some strong strides to improve the overall product. Pitching, as one would expect with the Million Dollar Challenge, is the strongest aspect of this game, and it can be fun if a player enjoys just doing that. The hitting system has taken great strides, but a lackluster My Player mode and many little glitches and graphical blunders take away from an overall product. Improvement still needs to be there in order to get to the big leagues of gaming.

Alpha Protocol has a brilliant concept, but the lack of polish and generally poor execution of basic gameplay mechanics keeps it from reaching it's real potential.

Lost Planet: Colonies Edition has all of the same problems the original game had, only this time with a cheaper price point and a ton of new content.

Hunted: The Demon's Forge tries to hybridize fantasy dungeon crawling and cover based shooting, but the mix isn't exactly elegant. There are a few glimmers of charm but the frustrating combat and linear, generic environments made it hard to stay interested.

For a throwback FPS, it's not too bad and it's priced at $30. The graphics are pretty well done, but there are some aspects of the game that can get pretty frustrating. Expect to die a lot as well since your health doesn't regenerate, but your shield does.

This expansion adds some welcome content for China and Japan, but is primarily just a collection of minor enhancements and tweaks.

This DLC is for those who're dedicated to the Dragon Age brand and that's about it. This short addition does a little to flesh out the Hawke story, but doesn't have the impressive scale that some previous Bioware DLC had.

The UnderGarden can't quite decide what it wants to be. Is it a simple puzzle game in the vein of Ecco the Dolphin, or is it a Zen experience? Had the developers focused on one or the other this could have been a great alternative to Call of Duty and Halo, but as it turns out this is yet another soothing game that goes nowhere.

Zack Zero stumbles through his adventure to save his beautiful girlfriend. Unfortunately, the game's puzzles are too simple and the story is never compelling. On the other hand, the graphics are incredible and there's a lot of variety to the stage backgrounds. Fans of 16-bit platformers will get a kick out of some of the concepts, but you're better off finding a Sega Genesis on eBay!

Fracture believes in itself from beginning to end, manufacturing a world crafted 100% around and for Terrain Deformation. This unswerving dedication builds a consistent universe around itself, at the expense of color and variety in gameplay.

Completely overshadowed by the competition's new hardware, Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock doesn't quite bring the house down. It's marred by a controversial selection of songs and no real innovations. The 93 songs will keep players busy for away, but it's hard not to think of this as yet another extension of Guitar Hero 5.

This RPG seems to miss the mark in just about every way.

Easy Piano is an excellent peripheral bundled with a disappointing game. It has a lot of solid content but it's presented through confusing music theory minigames, when the game should have put more focus on learning the basics.

This is by no means a sophomore jinx, but without fully keeping stride with its GTA role model, and without fully stepping out on its own from under that shadow, Saints Row has found itself stuck in an awkward, uncertain tween stage of the series’ life.

If the story were better and there was more variety than just rote cover-based gunfights and frustrating car chases, Blood Stone might be up there with classics like GoldenEye and Everything or Nothing, but as it stands it's more of a 007 side story than this year's movie stand-in.

In the end, it's an obviously low-budget game that lives up to the lowered expectations you must entertain in order to enjoy it.

The tracks become monotonous, and once the novelty of the LEGO characters wears off you’ll be wishing you bought a different Rock Band title.

Overall, it's a short DLC that doesn't have much in terms of role playing.

Don't be fooled by the name, this is one game that won't make you feel like a real guitar hero!

Despite some advancement in storytelling approach and liberal borrowing from Bioware's Mass Effect approach to gameplay, Dragon Age 2 on the PC has a lot of bugs and is populated with re-used settings that make this feel like a play performed on a stage with two sets.

In almost every way Guitar Hero: On Tour Decades is exactly like the original. It still hurts your hand, has tinny audio and doesn't feel quite right.

Just be aware that you're getting in to a game that's got a few rough spots that you'll have to navigate to find the good bits. You'll also have to brown bag it when you walk out of the store.

It is a family oriented action game that sticks to the mold of the genre from beginning to end. The younger gamers will thoroughly enjoy the adventure and older gamers won't be completely annoyed by having to either watch or play along.

Rubik’s World has the right idea, but counter-intuitive puzzles, less-than-helpful instructions and finicky controls make this game more aggravating than mind-bending.

Some clever ideas wrapped in a lighthearted romp, Magicka partially collapses under its own weight of the innovative but overly-complex magic system.

On paper Rocketmen: Axis of Evil sounds like fun, but we've played this game far too many times before.

Simple mechanics, tough difficulty curve, lack of feedback and a sophisticated simulation make for a mixed bag. Recommended for those with an interest in global politics, strictly optional otherwise. A better game than the original, but also more expensive, so it comes out in the wash.

Gatling Gears has many faults that contribute to several bland qualities from indiscernible visual changes between levels to battles that feel repetitive and mundane. Setting up your own boundaries for challenge is one of the few intriguing elements to playing the dual-stick arcade shooter. That, and the gratification of temporarily overpowered weapons when power-ups are picked up.

There’s still a lot of work to be done before the Wii has a truly excellent wrestling game, but the semi-natural controls, competent graphics and breadth of gameplay in WW Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 make it a good choice if you’re a Wii-only person.

Even though I found myself somehow drawn in when I played, it often felt more like work than play.

A decent-enough fantasy action-RPG, Divinity II: Ego Draconis misses the mark a few times too many.

It's certainly worth a try, and perhaps a buy, although it's up to you whether it's a better-than-average story-based game, or just a below-average role-playing game.

In two hours of gameplay, you'll fight a few old and new creatures, but you won't find the compelling content BioWare has become known for. Ultimately, the DLC to Dragon Age: Origins comes down to two more hours of battles playing under the role of a bard.

In two hours of gameplay, you'll fight a few old and new creatures, but you won't find the compelling content BioWare has become known for. Ultimately, the DLC to Dragon Age: Origins comes down to two more hours of battles playing under the role of a bard.

Dead to Rights: Retribution is a lukewarm 3rd person shooter, whose redeeming qualities are overshadowed by overly repetitive gameplay.

Innovative game mechanics and solid execution are held back by difficulty issues and a lack of tactical depth.

It’s a real shame that WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2009 has such unorthodox controls. There is a lot of game to be had here, but the stylus controls for the sake of stylus controls make it hard to get to.

If you're not already a fan of the series you won't be won over by this clunky installment. With an enhanced sequel coming out later this year, there's no reason to fuss with this eight year old PS2 game!

WWE Legends of Wrestlemania is what I like to call casual core game, easy to learn hard to master, and excels at giving fans nostalgia for the past glory days of wrestling with the Relive, Rewrite, and Recreate modes.

Back to Stone is an honest try at a puzzle/actioner hybrid, but its technical limitations mire it in the past. Sketchy graphics, frustrating controls and an archaic password save system kept the game from being immersive enough. Still, the story and gameplay were solid, and there is definitely room for a sequel.

Violent, absurd, and even a little fun--Shank 2 is a decent enough way to kill a few hours' time.

This is a great family game and a good deal at $30.

Simple mechanics, brutal difficulty curve, lack of feedback and a sophisticated simulation make for a mixed bag. Recommended for those with an interest in global politics, strictly optional otherwise. A bargain at 10 bucks.

A decent action RPG with some interesting and unique character development. It may take some time to appreciate, and many won’t. It’s worth a look, but it’s not for everyone.

Lips: Number One Hits is a more polished version of the first game with some Avatar support. It's too bad you have to do a disc swap if you want to sing the songs from the first game. A nice little easy karaoke game for those what enjoy singing with easy accessibility for all skill levels.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on DS is a whole lot better than the terrible movie and a decent action game in its own right. The online Battle for Earth mode offers new content for months to come, but don’t be tricked into buying both the autobots and decepticons versions of the game—they’re basically the same thing with a different coat of paint.

Dead to Rights: Retribution doesn't try to reinvent the wheel; instead it's perfectly fine wallowing in the franchise's past successes.

Death Track Resurrection is one of those PC games that would be better on a console. If you want a PlayStation-esque gaming experience on your PC, by all means give it a try. Otherwise, not so much.

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on DS is a whole lot better than the terrible movie and a decent action game in its own right. The online Battle for Earth mode offers new content for months to come, but don’t be tricked into buying both the autobots and decepticons versions of the game—they’re basically the same thing with a different coat of paint.

Too combat heavy, Mothership Zeta really isn't that much better than the first DLC.

The great graphics and expressive characters aren't enough to make this two year old port worth $20!

Operation Flashpoint: Red River trades the series' previous focus on open world tactical innovation for an improved focus on storytelling, and still offers solid tactical gameplay, but loses some of the key features of the series in the process.

Monster Kingdom: Jewel Summon shows a lot of promise, but it spends too much of its own time wasting the player’s.

NIS has done some phenomenal translation work with Hyperdimension Neptunia, and it's too bad all their great writing and jokes are wasted on this technical mess. I really recommend checking this game out though. Despite all the flaws, you might fall in love the same way I did.

Matt Hazard: Blood, Bath, and Beyond is a fun little romp from start to finish. If you like the classic 2-dimensional side scrolling shooters of old, this game will be right up your alley.

It's fun but lacks refinement. Bad AI and inconsistent graphical performance really detract from the amazing potential. I recommend it if you know what you are getting into or if Bohemia Interactive can iron out the wrinkles.

While I found StarDrone to be enjoyable, the novelty wears off pretty fast. Players can fly through a majority of the stages at a quick pace and not find much reason to revisit them again, which could turn a lot of gamers off. If you enjoying challenging yourself to top your personal scores, there is quite a bit of replay value to be found, but I don't think a majority of gamers do or will...

Like most of Destineer's other games, this is a niche title for a specific group of people. If you're one of those people then it probably doesn't matter what I say about Spitfire Heroes!

A solid port that improves upon the PS3 version of the game but still falls short of the PC version and other games like it in the market.

Triple Crown Championship Snowboarding may come from the same publisher as Stoked, but don't confuse this twisted mess with that solid snowboarding game. With its lack of depth, short story mode and ho-hum controls, you definitely get what you pay for when you buy Triple Crown Championship Snowboarding!