The relative lack of multiplayer variety, coupled with a disappointing single player mode, make Counter-Strike difficult to recommend to anyone who is not already a rabid fan of the game, and downright impossible to recommend to anyone who doesn’t have a Live account.

Repetition, bad AI, and bad localization absolutely kill this game.

Probably my biggest surprise was the overall fluidity of the controls. Gameplay is the game's strongest asset no matter what way you look at it.

With that said, PPV will not give you any undesired side effects unless you're an ardent hater of puzzle games; beware of purchase though.

About the only thing that I didn’t absolutely hate in The Emperor’s Tomb (but it was still lacking) is that there are a few cool big boss fights.

Although the control is slightly irritating and the lack of modes disappointing, this game is just pure fun on snow.

While it is a little rough in the sound department, a few of the visuals are off, and it has slight limitations on how you can obtain your Pokemon, Colosseum is a worthy of a Pokemon fan’s time. This is the full-on console RPG many Pokemon fans have been clamoring for.

A fun game, but its main mode is a step down from "Guilty Gear X2." However, it is easily the best four-player game for the Playstation 2 (not that it had any real competition here), and Guilty Gear Boost mode is certainly worth a playthrough.

Aside from the actual soundtrack, on the pitch noises are quite fine. Commentating is good and keeps up rather well with the action.

Despite the less-then-mediocre camera movement and control, Dead To Rights is a fun romp through a Hong Kong-like movie with all the thrilling elements and action sequences that would make John Woo proud.

Not only was this game graphically epic, featuring two large cities, but it sported a 3D engine that had some flaws, but never failed to turn heads.

If you are a big fan of vehicular combat games (like "Twisted Metal," for example) or just plain loved Star Wars: Episode II, then The Clone Wars may be right up your alley.

They claim actual dance moves (or at least dance footwork) can be learned from the game, and that the game is much more accessible from a dancing background. Here's the huge problem with this claim - Pump It Up does absolutely nothing innovative with its step patterns at all.

Whichever side of the fence you sit on, it's probably safe to say that Xenosaga II is one of the better movies to come out in 2005.

A minor disappointment, but easily one of the better soccer game experiences I've had.

Depending on what you're looking for, Mobile Suit Gundam: Federation vs. Zeon will have extraordinary replay value and worth for some. For others, getting through the game will be a trial of patience and endurance.

It is a little light on the value side, and you're going to have to put up with a couple of doozies in the way of missions.

Kenshin's first castle invasion mission is one of the most enjoyable experiences I've ever had in this style of game. [JPN Import]

The best game I have played in months. The game managed to create the most complex yet most simple to navigate gameplay mechanism I have ever experienced.

If it weren't for the controls, this would have been a perfect game to add to your gaming collection or Sega collection, but I figure Sega spent too much time on graphics and not enough time realizing that "Hey, these controls are worse than Tomb Raider!"

With full involvement by the Wachowski Brothers to produce new scenes, re-cut footage from the films and an all new ending to the trilogy to better suit a videogame (The directors actually pop up on the screen and tell you why they changed it!), any fan of the trilogy or games can appreciate a title like this.

Beneath the basic plot of guy saves his woman and the world; there are quite a few surprising twists in the story here.

European Assault hasn't broken down any barriers or added much to the FPS genre, but the gameplay additions make it a small step forward and also a pleasant return to form for the series.

First and foremost, the amount of shots it can take to kill your enemies is absurd. It's so inconsistent that not even a headshot will always drop your enemies, and I have a HUGE problem with that.

In a decent little package, Microsoft has managed to gather a nice little bundle that will no doubt be the beginning of a series of “Scene It’s.”

One of those ideal rentals because of its short term appeal. There are some strong qualities here but the lack of difficulty makes any kind of extended play rather limited.

Rent for you loners, buy for you fighter-lovers, either way, you should have a really good time.

A great game for the beginners to start out with, however I can’t really suggest to purchase the game unless you’re a fan of the run n’ gun type games.

Looks good and sounds great, but in a racing game to have the sensation of speed constantly interrupted is very damaging.

The music, puts the game right up over the top giving it an epic theatrical feel that makes it a fun play every time.

Within its current price range it's one of the best games around outside of the Greatest Hits titles, especially for anyone craving a good action game that happened to slide under the radar.

It is action packed, artfully done, and has a wonderful story. Give it a shot.

It is not without its flaws, but it does make some attempts at innovation, which is more than I can say for most licensed games, if not most games period. It's too short for me to wholeheartedly advocate a full priced purchase.

The spell effects are fantastic, and the arenas are cool-looking, but the duelist models and the in-game videos clearly needed some more work, both on the graphical AND content fronts.

Had there not been a load of stability problems and random crashes, this game could have easily been of A quality. This baby is really an incredible war strategy otherwise.

If you’re willing to take a bit of a downgrade in control and gamble with a bit of frustration in exchange for a terrifically paced story that unfolds in just the right way.

Also when you have friends, the multi-player is a beast to handle, so have fun.

If you're looking for the next great RPG, look elsewhere; Sudeki won't satisfy you. One the other hand, if you want a fairly light game that's heavy on combat with just enough puzzle solving to keep you engaged, then Sudeki may indeed be the game for you.

Sonic Heroes takes a simple concept and makes it complex seemingly for the sake of complexity, and the result is an overly frustrating game that feels more like work than fun.

It's great fun, and I don't know how Koei does it, but they manage to keep this series fun and entertaining without really changing the overall mechanics all that much.

Simply what a game is supposed to be. No tricks, gimmicks, and no need for hype. It's pure, addictive, mind-buzzing gameplay.

The best dance game on the market today, despite its imperfections.

I can definitely say that it does add to the lifespan of DW3, and that it is definitely worth a rental if you have the original and enjoyed playing it, maybe even worth buying if you can find it for under $20, like I did.

I'd recommend renting it, or at least trying it out to make sure you can adapt to the control scheme. If you can, then by all means, give this a whirl.

I really wish it had been made more accessible - cute without being cloying, tricky without being frustrating, and so forth. While a decent intro to the dating sim in the United States, it will require a lot of work before this can ever catch on.

A very well crafted game with great balance and a surprisingly large strategic depth. It offers a long enough gameplay to last well beyond the 2004 Presidential election, and because of the lack of violence and sex, it is accessible to people of all ages.

I wouldn’t recommend a purchase unless you’re a hardcore F1 fan, or even more desperate than me for racing games on the GC.

This game needed to get a big kick in the pants in the gameplay and graphics area, and that plot seriously needed to be worked on. This could have been a lot more fun...but it definitely needed a lot more work.

The game could have been excellent if they would have worked out the bit with the cel shading properly. The game could have been above average if they would have added a decent quick-save, and not pissed off the remaining few who did like the game by adding in a decent ending with a hint of closure.

There's something immensely satisfying about plowing through hordes of monsters with a group of friends, and Heroes does that exceptionally well, despite its other flaws.

To conclude, there's no game here, limited staying power, and no real incentive for you to buy this game. In fact, it looks, feels, sounds, and plays like something a programming major might make in Flash. My recommendation: Trick your buddy into buying the game and borrow it once.

There's absolutely no reason to own this game. Even a shooter fan like myself isn't going to find enough reason to keep this game around any longer than 3 days tops.

CT Special Forces introduces few new ideas, but offers an impressive collection of everything good in 2D action platformers.

Mediocre, like Lee Majors.

If NBA Courtside 2002 would have included a customizable season/player, added a ZONE defense and bumped up the AI a few notches; this could have easily been my favorite basketball game to date.

Fire Blade does not have an engrossing plot, pre-rendered cinematics or a popular license. What it does have is an assload of rock solid gameplay, and an impressive game engine to boot.

The control, along with a small number of other poor design decisions, takes the game from being a blast to being an expensive bundle of frustration.

A guy can only sample for minerals, craft Mighty Rods of Fishing + 1, and shoot the same crap for so long before they realize that it's just freaking boring.

If it looked nicer, and was a bit more player friendly, I'd probably be buying this one. But as it is, it feels like the developers just wanted to make this hard enough so that you couldn't beat it on a rental time span.

Incomplete, plagued by gameplay bugs and experiencing more technical difficulties than any other game since the infamous "Pool of Radiance 2."

The gameplay, although amusing at first, is far too shallow to be interesting in the long run and you’ll end up feeling cheated even if you rent the game.

Spy Hunter mangles a beloved classic arcade game beyond belief, and doesn't even take advantage of the capability of the GameCube in the process.

Everything about this game has been done before. However, it has rarely been done better.

Within Draglade, there are several good ideas and the basic seeds of a solid fighting game. At its best, it plays like a stripped-down version of Jump Ultimate Stars.

Wario World has many of the same qualities as its protagonist. It’s slightly rotten but likable, a bit too short, and awfully greedy.

If you’re already a MMORPG fan, or are looking to get into them, this game is cream of the crop.

You could plunk your money down for worse titles from Nanco, but that honestly isn't saying much this year. When someone figures out how to put together an actual game with depth, challenge, and uses the touch screen as more than a gimmick, get back to me.

This latest RTK game is the best yet, but the franchise long ago subscribed to the Madden philosophy- incremental changes to what is essentially the same game year after year.

The learning curve is low and the atmosphere engrossing enough for this game to be the perfect introduction to the adventure games genre.

It is visually impressive, has some decent audio features, and some great ideas. Too bad the crystal system became a pain and the game was so short.

There might not be any online multiplayer, but Freedom makes sure that the player never runs out of things to do. And where else can you find cats who cook for you?

I liked the game's attempts at innovation through the weapon system and the devil forging bits, but ultimately, you're just going to be mashing the X button nearly all the way through the game.

Every character has a good, neutral, or evil status. However, these statuses are jokingly trivial, as they have no bearing on the story and change simply by choosing to attack friendly creatures or not. Seriously, it is hard to see why this is even included in the game.

While the plot does advance quite a bit, Bandai got a little sloppy with some of the threads, and you get the sense that they fell in love too much with the idea of a cliffhanger.

The designers didn’t make the modifications to make this more than an N64 game with a different controller, and the changes that were made hurt the game rather than help it, for the most part.

This game isn't as revolutionary as I'd hoped, and what was changed for the most part was changed in a way that I didn't like so much.

There just wasn’t anything very impressive at all here. Weak visuals, gameplay that runs through its total variety in the scope of an hour or so, and sounds that just don’t seem to be there at all combine to spoil the experience.

It's easy to see that the DS was made for adventures like this, but I'm sad to say that unless they get better, we're going to see the point-and-click genre die out again. Trace Memory gives old-school gamers something to be excited about-- but only for a little while.

If you’re only going to play one game in this franchise, .hack//QUARANTINE is the one to get. A powerful plot (including the series’ conclusion) and access to most of the gameplay from the prior three games makes it the definitive title in the series.

Just the fact that this game has such variety in a limited genre is more than enough reason to give this game a spin. It's interesting to see how they jazzed up party gaming.

The best way for me to describe it is the same of everything you love about kart games rolled into one. There is nothing shockingly new here.

Lovers of Batman (the cartoon or old-school) and proprietors of Nintendo will have a comfortable 10-hour romp.

The game just doesn’t scream “play me” after the first time or even after a few hours. The interesting little hooks are just too few and far between.

Overall, Luminous Arc has a lot going for it, and manages to deliver a mostly-solid TRPG performance with only a few flaws.

You have no idea how badly I wish this worked. For a game that offers so much promise and nostalgia for its huge fan base, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 on the Xbox Live Arcade turned out to be a travesty.

Its also a little short and can be beaten in around 24-35 hours.

So without the best gameplay, CIMA: The Enemy should hold you in for the long run to unravel the great plot and adventure. For those who are more into puzzle solving than fighting, this should have some appeal as well.

A very strong game! In fact it's one of the best available for the GC.

Flourishes offline but falls apart when trying to take it Live.

There are many better DDR mixes out there, ones with actual challenge and ones where you can use better third-party mats. It's not that DDR Mario Mix is bad. It just doesn't take enough classic DDR elements and bogs the game down with too much extraneous junk.

Pokémon Ranger is one of the big misses in this franchise’s history. It can be entertaining for a short time, but uninteresting game mechanics and utter lack of difficulty will result in most players putting this game aside for good even before the relatively short story is completed.

I can't even recommend renting this one just for the amount of time you're going to have invest for so little payoff. This is a game that tried to do everything by the numbers, and it missed even being able to accomplish that.

I could see a couple of dedicated Guitar Hero fans picking this up purely for completeness’ sake. But beyond that, it should be avoided. It’s just too much for too little good stuff.

You are going to want to hate it, but the simplicity and mindless fun behind it will probably have you coming back.

Unparalleled graphics, improvements to the combat system and a longer gameplay experience don’t completely make up for a weak storyline and other annoyances, but the result is still solid.

The game is just plain sloppy, and smacks of being rushed out the door to capitalize on Donkey Konga's popularity before it was too late.

All in all, the easiest thing for me to say is that it's not worth your time or money.

May not be the best Banjo Kazooie, nor is it very long, but it's sure to be enjoyed by BK fans and any person who is looking for a fun little game to play on their GBAs. If you didn't like the first two games, then chances are you won't like Grunty's Revenge.