For what it’s worth, you could do a hell of a lot worse than The Spiderwick Chronicles. It seems perfectly happy to get through the six or so hours of game time merely meeting criteria to an acceptable standard and never anything more.

It's not that From the Abyss is a bad game. It's just that it doesn't do anything interesting or innovative.

If this was the final project of a programming student who waited to the last minute to complete, then we can at least chalk up all the errors and poorly written storyline as factors needing improvement. Sadly this is not the case.

This is a very basic FPS game that might entertain you for a while, but it’s pretty boring and repetitive and I just couldn’t get that excited about it. Sure, it’s got a lot of flash, but there’s no substance to the game.

It’s never truly bad, so I guess that’s admirable, but now that I’ve been there, I certainly won’t go back again (see if you can catch the nerdy reference in that sentence).

It’s not an abominable game, and is moderately entertaining in short bursts. It’s just that there are so many better alternatives out there that you’d be hard pressed to find a reason to pick this out of the bunch.

An above-average eye(s)-trainer.

Something like Fist of the North Star deserved something better than just a blatant copy/paste job. Ultimately, all the buckets of blood in the world fail to hide this is the same thing players have grown disenchanted with a generation ago.

With its inadequate online play, starved features, and questionable arcade perfection, Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection is, at best, a nostalgic purchase.

Despite the bugs and flaws here and there, the idea behind making a magazine empire is quite compelling, and it’s actually pulled off well. Just be sure to proceed with caution.

Sorry, Victorious Boxers veterans. This game is a step back from the titles you know and love. This was the series’ chance to shine, and it’s been doomed to obscurity yet again.

For a game where the sole mechanic is to draw lines, it’s ironic that not long after starting, you’ll feel like the ink is already starting to run dry.

It may be dubbed the ultimate collection but even on consoles the BFG Edition is far from ideal. As a PC game its existence is highly questionable; any esoteric changes made on id's part have already been done better by a dedicated modding community.

Murdered is a game that does a lot of things sub-par, but what it does offer is an engaging, well written story. You just have to look past the mess.

It's a bog-standard shooter with some cool graphics. Honestly, Alpha Prime feels like the product of a first-person-shooter checklist. It hits all the marks that, if missed, would bring a game's score down. Multiple enemy types? Check. Narrative? Check. Slow-motion? Check. Good graphics? Double check. Aside from the embarrassing acting.

All in all, Entwined is a flawed game with some good ideas, but none of them coalesce in a cohesive, interesting way.

Sometimes it's frustrating and sometimes it puts you on edge.

Archaic button mashers such as Beijing 2008 just aren’t relevant anymore.

The awkward camera, the incredibly repetitive levels, and lackluster enemies make the game seem far more tedious than it should have been. The concept of having a traditional samurai stuck in the middle of a spaghetti Western is hilarious in itself, but it can’t save the game from its own mediocrity.

It looks great and the core gameplay mechanic is solid, but you just can't help thinking we've seen most of this before. It's certainly easier to play than "The Sims" and it features better A.I., but it doesn't feature as much depth as EA's title.

The combat mechanics are easy to exploit, effectively leaving the gameplay unbalanced and somewhat shallow. The utterly lacking multiplayer and somewhat inaccurate motion sensing don’t help, either. But hey, at least your arms will get a workout.

Its simplistic gameplay and utter lack of complicated mechanics make it far easier to pick up, but the shallow gameplay will be a turnoff to skateboarding game enthusiasts.

It's not a bad action game by definition, but it lacks everything that made the series endearing, making it an overall unmemorable outing for fans that fell in love with the white-knuckle action and hair-pulling difficulty found in previous Ninja Gaiden titles.

At around 40 minutes Battle of Forli is also an extremely short piece of DLC. The cheap price of 320 Microsoft Points can justify it, but for such a small amount of content and the same gameplay we’ve already spent 15 hours playing, it isn’t really worth it.

TMNT feels like a really, really early build of Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, stripped to its bare bones and given a movie license to shift copies.

An unfortunate conclusion to a once promising trilogy.

If you’ve grown weary with the formula that Capcom has regurgitated on a yearly basis, Star Force just isn’t nourishing enough.

As an ARPG it’s average at best, but its MMO trappings only compound the frustration.