It all grows wearisome in record time. [Sept 2006, p.79]

As uninspiring as it is harmless. [Sept 2006, p.79]

If you're a Hitman fan, Blood Money will make you fall in love all over again, and if you never dipped your toes in 47's particular brand of wetwork yet, the time has never been more ripe. [June 2006, p.74]

If you're a Hitman fan, Blood Money will make you fall in love all over again, and if you never dipped your toes in 47's particular brand of wetwork yet, the time has never been more ripe. [June 2006, p.74]

A seriously clunky interface, on-demand advice from Negreanu that alternates between canny and staggeringly bad, and unimpressive graphics provide no saving graces. [Aug 2006, p.77]

Now, the circle of Velveeta is complete: Jaws Unleashed is as gruesome as it is cheesy. [Aug 2006, p.81]

Warts and all, Rogue Trooper's a perfectly decent rip, and as comic-book tie-ins go, it's better than most. [July 2006, p.82]

It's a labor of love, yes--and one that you'll love playing. [July 2006, p.81]

Leonardo's inventions were elegant creations, but the clumsy Da Vinci Code game isn't one of them. [Aug 2006, p.82]

Still, you've got to be a real fanboy to want to mash your way through all two dozen or so of its missions. [July 2006, p.84]

Still, you've got to be a real fanboy to want to mash your way through all two dozen or so of its missions. [July 2006, p.84]

At 400 Microsoft Points(or $5), this game costs less than a real deck of UNO cards and comes with built-in-friends. [Aug 2006, p.82]

Despite having tons of unlockable content, the game will hold little thrills for annyone above age 12, and even kids will finish the thing before the weekend is up. [Aug 2006, p.78]

Even at $20, scratch this one. [Aug 2006, p.82]

No matter how fon you are of "WinBack", a Nintendo 64 third-person shooter released in the previous millennium, you're going to be gravely disappointed with this long-in-the-making sequel. [Jun 2006, p.78]

So if you pick up Coast 2 Coast, don't expect any sort of significant evolution of the arcade experience. [Jun 2006, p.87]

As far as gameplay goes, World Cup performs a notch better than "FIFA 06" did(although taking free kicks from midfield is an odd moment with limited options for control and strategy). [Jun 2006, p.77]

As far as gameplay goes, World Cup performs a notch better than "FIFA 06" did(although taking free kicks from midfield is an odd moment with limited options for control and strategy). [Jun 2006, p.77]

So it's dissapointing that instead of the mind-shattering experience that should properly claim "first MMO" honors, we get Final Fantasy XI--a port of a four-year-old game. [July 2006, p.78]

Dreamfall's downfall may be that it's too ambitious. But control issues aside, its epic story has us wishing that we won't have to wait another six years for the series' final resolution. [Jun 2006, p.80]

SNK superfans will covet its three-on-three smackfests, but unless Neowave completes your KOF collection, save your $20. [Jun 2006, p.85]

Classified: The Sentinel Crisis couldn't flop much harder if it had gills and a hook in its chops. [July 2006, p.81]

Unless you're a six-year-old yearning to take every concievable model of Hummer for a spin in a simplistic, arcadey race, this game isn't worth your time. [July 2006, p.82]

Someone desperately needs to declare the Army Men franchise KIA, and spare gamers from any future war atrocities. We surrender! [July 2006, p.81]

So Legend on the 360 remains an 8.0, just like the Xbox version--there's no other game that gives you quite the rush that Tomb Raider has in the past and does now with Legend. [Jun 2006, p.85]

All the glitches make single-play stumble, but the game looks good, sounds great, and runs smooth like butta. [Jun 2006, p.86]

From the moment you leap, dive, or grapple your first cliff edge in Legend, you'll discover that this time around--things just feel right. [Apr 2006, p.70]

Once you get past the self-consciousness of waving your arms around with a midget-sized club, you quickly realize how much fun the game is. [May 2006, p.81]

Though you don't get much for your extra $20, the slight gameplay tweaks make the 360 version of MLB 2K6 the best choice if you've got both systems. [Jun 2006, p.78]

Strike Force is an unusual departure for the series--one that will undoubtedly disappoint fans who loved directing their tiny heroes around lushly detailed isometric maps. [May 2006, p.83]

All told, MLB 2K6 get two out of three major systems right....not bad in baseball numbers. More important, it's a recommendable offering and finally moves the series in the right direction. [May 2006, p.78]

On Xbox Live, Top Spin 2 shines just as brightly as its predecessor. There are leaderboards and tiered matchmaking--all of it lag-free. [May 2006, p.81]

The nitty-gritty of Phenom is the on-court action, which also sees a significant improvement this time around. [May 2006, p.79]

Ultimately, the promise of Far Cry's early enjoyably beachy facade doesn't entirely pay for the derivative sins of its latter half. [Jun 2006, p.83]

As wrestling goes, XX is quickly learned and mastered, particularly against the computer. [May 2006, p.83]

Aside from the odd cut-scene, the game basically has no story, and the four campaigns essentially differ only in their starting-territory distributions. [May 2006, p.84]

The following is the biggest qualifying statement we've ever made: Full Spectrum Warrior: Ten Hammers is a great game, but you will hate it by the time you make it to the end, if you make it at all. [Apr 2006, p.84]

Still, the big missions get a bit too big by the end, especially when you keep thinking you're going to fight the last guy, only to be forced to endure one tedius jumping puzzle after the next. [Jun 2006, p.83]

If staring down a virtual swarm of Japanese Zeroes gets your heart racing and your under-used flight-shooter trigger finger itchy, this game certainly has the scratch. [May 2006, p.71]

The game still has looks to kill for and offers up the identical Xbox Live modes and challenge of the 360 version. [May 2006, p.71]

As with many simplistic racers, winning comes down to judicious use of power-ups and figuring out where the shortcuts are. [Jun 2006, p.81]

There's actually a story, but you'll ignore it to get to the wall-bashing action. [Jun 2006, p.61]

It's all beautifully violent yet terminally one-dimensional once the story wraps. [May 2006, p.73]

Take heed when staring at Oblivion on a store shelf: Your $60 will go father than it ever has, but prepare to get hooked for the long haul. [Apr 2006, p.69]

Parallel Lines is an impressive overhaul and creative recovery for a series that had hit its nadir. [May 2006, p.77]

So even if The Meltdown doesn't aim high on the innovation scale, it accomplishes just enough, well ebough, for a few hours spent on the couch with tweenie Ice Age fans at the next family gathering. [May 2006, p.74]

Team Rainbow's colors have never looked so bad. [Jun 2006, p.85]

The Outfit does not aspire in the slightest to reflect the sights and sounds of real-life combat in dubya-dubya-two. It aspires to be one thing and one thing only: fun. [Apr 2006, p.82]

Now this is the right way to do a Platinum Hit! [Jun 2006, p.81]

An impressively fun merger of colorful undersea graphics and gameplay standards from the arcade's yesteryears make this one-player treat a name that's hard to stop nibbling on. [Jun 2006, p.62]

So whether you're easily dazzled by superb graphics or are itchin' for some multiplayer-lovin', GRAW scores on both fronts as an impressive new chapter in the series. [Apr 2006, p.79]

In reality, what's here is competant, but this version just doesn't stack up to any Xbox Ghost Recon--next-gen or otherwise. [Jun 2006, p.76]

If you held off on Xbox and you dig the college game and atmosphere, this is your best(and only)bet on 360. [Apr 2006, p.81]

Burnout Revenge for 360 is a fantastic experience, capturing the essence of the series better than any of its predecessors. [Apr 2006, p.81]

Deceptively simple, jewel quest can be very challenging on the higher levels, but constantly addictive throughout. [Jun 2006, p.64]

It may be initially enjoyable and easy to pick up, but the thrill doesn't last and it never quite distinguishes itself enough from the rest of the FPS pack on Xbox. [Apr 2006, p.75]

There's a decent--heck, maybe even somewhat fun--fighting engine burried somewhere beneath the GTA-clone templated debris, but it never has the chance, or find the energy, to rise above the ashes. [May 2006, p.74]

You might have some fun if all you care about is channeling your grade-school hacky-sack sessions, but if you're looking to actually play street soccer, you'll wonder why your soccer pitch turned into a circus act. [Apr 2006, p.77]

Even though Fight Night Round 3 for Xbox isn't the jawbreaking work of staggering genius that the 360 version is, that doesn't mean it isn't a great game. [Apr 2006, p.74]

The prospect of racing everything including the kitchen sink should be a recipe for disaster, but for Toca 3, it's not. [Mar 2006, p.80]

Forget pushing game design forward--Sonic Riders doesn't attempt to do anything particularly new or inventive on the mascot-racing circuit and offers up only short-lived fun tailored strictly for Sonic's most diehard fans; [Apr 2006, p.85]

To put it simply, Fight Night Round 3 kicks our ass. [Apr 2006, p.74]

Cars with guns should equal good times, but Full Auto’s skin-deep thrills last only as long as it takes for a quick easy test drive. [Mar 2006, p.77]

The perfect way to approach it is to shelf your hardcore gamer pride, download a walkthrough to get your through the annoying bits, and just wade into its rampant creativity with both eyes wide open. [Apr 2006, p.77]

Following the action and its muddle of player bodies is the only real issue, and a tighter, less far-flung camera could have fixed it. [Apr 2006, p.77]

Any game that has seen nine iterations must have either required a phenomenal amount of improvement or honed a hugely successful formula. Chalk up this new Winning Eleven in the later category. [Mar 2006, p.74]

Arena Football may be a little rough around the edges, but it has the potential to grow. [Mar 2006, p.77]

You're just a little spaceship trying to collect crystals while dodging mines and various creatures. [Jun 2006, p.61]

The awful controls are a hhindrance, the missions are pedantic, and the levels are apparently designed by LevelBot 3000. [Jun 2006, p.83]

Torino's 2006's lack of ambition and polish keeps it in the corner to be quietly steamrolled by college hoops and MLB spring training. [Mar 2006, p.78]

Marble Blast Ultra is not just a lot of fun to play; it's(dare we say it?)a blast. [Jun 2006, p.60]

While a few arcade ronin might still hold on to the old ways, most will find this Samurai is an obsolete relic. [Feb 2006, p.82]

So while the hitting mechanic and improved ballpark creator are cool and the integration of a live ESPN sports ticker is sweet, you'll need to think long and hard about buying what is largely last year's game sans major league appeal. [Feb 2006, p.77]

At least there's an online-enabled multiplayer mode, but it sure isn't worth suffering through the dismal single-player campaign for. [Mar 2006, p.82]

Fan’s of Itagaki’s “jujitsu-jousting” philosophy….can comfortably mark DOA 4 as the most refined version of their beloved fighter to date. [Mar 2006, p.73]

Stick with "Smash Tv" for similiar action with more thrills and better co-op play. [Jun 2006, p.64]

As the cricket-like Wik, you use your tongue to collect grubs to feed your slow-moving monster and snatch acorns to spit at your insect foes. [Jun 2006, p.64]

It's a damn good hack'-n'-slash game based on and sharing a name with the game that spawned the genre. Elf may be about to die, but let's hope this series doesn't. [Feb 2006, p.78]

Backed by identical(and cheesy)interfaces and feature sets, all three do an excellent job of re-creating there respective game, though their finest hour comes over live multiplay. [Jun 2006, p.64]

Backed by identical(and cheesy)interfaces and feature sets, all three do an excellent job of re-creating there respective game, though their finest hour comes over live multiplay. [Jun 2006, p.64]

Backed by identical(and cheesy)interfaces and feature sets, all three do an excellent job of re-creating there respective game, though their finest hour comes over live multiplay. [Jun 2006, p.64]

Polished, clever, and full of fun, Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones wraps up the Prince's saga with the style and grace it deserves. [Jan 2006, p.82]

Playing alone, you'll remember why simple arcade shooters got left behind in the smokey pizza parlors of yesteryear; play along side a friend, the experience into a frantic race for survival that's well worth the small pittance for admission. [Jun 2006, p.60]

Three deal-breakers emerge in this weak pool game. [Jun 2006, p.62]

It's reasonably fun, but "Jewel Quest" is better, deeper, and more addictive. [Jun 2006, p.62]

It starts to get a bit mind-numbing by around level 20 if you play solo, but when you bring some friends along for the adventure, your evening will quickly disappear in a puff of fun. [Jun 2006, p.61]

The concept is incredibly simple--Asteroids on crack, essentially--and there's not much strategy beyond "don't die," but Geometry Wars still has the ability to put its hooks into you and not let go. [Jun 2006, p.61]

Hexic almost single-handedly kept out 360's from collecting cobwebs during the post-launch lull, and we still found ourselves firing it up when we don't have a time for a marathon "Oblivion" session or some "Fight Night" brawling. [Jun 2006, p.62]

Sadly, this flashback is best left in the tar pits of old-school. [Jun 2006, p.61]

Mutant Storm is a lot like "Geometry Wars", but less frantic but more full of power-ups. [Jun 2006, p.62]

A space-station--building sim? It's not for everyone, but it's a hoot. [Jun 2006, p.64]

Anyone who loves "Bust-A-Move" will enjoy this aztec-themed variation in which your stationary frog idol fires different-colored stones into a revolving chain. [Jun 2006, p.64]

The story is almost laughably bad, but a laugh would give it some value, and it really is value-less! [Feb 2006, p.79]

Playing through Kong is one of the freshest gaming experiences we've had all year. [Holiday 2005, p.34]

Throw in some bland graphics, awful voice acting, and AI unable to react to events in teh environment - like a grenade landing at its feet - and not even a two-player co-op mode can save this one. [Aug 2004, p.79]

Quotation forthcoming. [Holiday 2005]

Rounded out by strong play-by-play announcing, good A.I. on both sides of the ball, and solid visuals, 2K6 is your best bet for college hoops this year. [Jan 2006, p.74]

Just having the Quake name alone isn't good enough anymore. [Jan 2006, p.70]