It's slow-paced, repetitive and a bit unbalanced, the lack of variety in combat really hurts the game, and the lackluster graphics really can grow frustrating at times. The two campaigns are fun, but they're a bit too easy to give the title any replay value.

There are many words that can be used to describe Squirrel with a Gun: wacky, silly, buggy, unpolished, and fun. The premise is so out there that you can't help but be hooked. The gameplay is solid and enjoyable enough that you'll want to see the journey to the end and beyond, even if you've grown tired of the joke and despite the various issues that still plague the title. The game could do with some bug cleanup, but even in its current state, it's fun enough that players who love off-the-wall concepts would be happy giving this one a shot.

It's a very specific genre game, but for those into the genre, Gin Rummy is a great title.

Like its protagonists, Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is flawed. The single-player game is quite short, the story ends rather abruptly, and the difficulty of Arcade mode ramps up a bit too slowly.

As intended, Cars Mater-National Championship will appeal to children who have never played the first Cars game or did really love it, and also the kids who even quite a while after release are still enamored with the movie, or were too young for it when it originally debuted in theaters or on home video.

AGEod's American Civil War: The Blue and the Gray is definitely intended for serious Civil War strategists.

While I wished the Core Combat expansion was in use by more of the player-base, I'm confident the devs will perform the necessary tweaks to draw more players in, because the idea of the subterranean combat is exciting and Core Combat provides a great foundation.

It's more so bland than bad, with most of the game play revolving around finding keys and such. This coupled with the fact that there is really no reason to replay the game once you've beaten it makes the game average at best.

The graphics are blocky and unclear, the storyline is weak, and the combat is uninteresting and repetitive.

In the end, making a purchase decision on Across the 2nd Dimension really depends on what you're looking to get from the game. For a hardcore gamer wanting a button-blistering challenge, this isn't it. If you fall into the casual crowd, however, or are just a fan of "Phineas and Ferb," then there is plenty here to keep you entertained.

Empire of Sin has potential, and I look forward to revisiting it after six months of patches that will hopefully address some of these issues. As it stands today, the game is buggy, poorly balanced, and blatantly half-finished. The initial strong presentation quickly fades to frustration as playing correctly is a fool's errand and cheating the system is the only way to play. That might be appropriate for a Mafia game, but not for this title.

This is a package that contains a large number of fun, classic games that play well enough to pass for whatever qualifies as "accurate" in our aging minds.

For those with the patience to navigate the corridors of office spaces looking for the correct crumpled-up note, or those captivated by the idea of a British political thriller in video game form, The Occupation may just be your cup of tea.

If you want a game that captures what Freakyforms Deluxe tries to do, you're best served hunting down the Drawn to Life games for the original DS. Kids might find the game entertaining in spite of the number of demos, but without a demo, it's hard to recommend risking the cost.

Awful camera movement, less-than-ideal control setups, and some laggy online play prevent this from being a Star Wars title that's worth checking out, even for the hardcore fan community out there. If the series is going to continue its life on handheld systems, it certainly needs to see more of an improvement than this.

The quality and low price and make this game worthy of at least a rental, if not a purchase, but if you're expecting more from your off-road racing title, go with MX vs. ATV Reflex for now and wait to see if there's enough content for this game to warrant a look.

Although I was pretty impressed with the look and presentation of the fledgling sports title, Shaun White Snowboarding left me with a pretty empty experience mostly due to the sub-par gameplay.

By holding back Ys I & II Chronicles from release until now, Xseed has caused the series to go out with a whimper, leaving Western gamers getting their first shot at Ys with a sour taste in their mouths.

If you like the music, DanceMasters is a great companion game to Dance Central.

Gangland delivers where it counts. It’s hard to stop playing, you want to play it when you’re not and it makes you hungry for ziti.

Ultimately, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions is fine. It doesn't take too long to get used to the controls, and the gameplay loop stays interesting as long as you aren't playing the Chaser role. The matches are fun and perfect for short sessions, and the presence of cross-play means that finding a match isn't going to be too difficult once you exhaust the offline content. There are still some rough patches, but with its low $30 price tag, it's enjoyable for those who want to play some Quidditch without digging up a console from three generations ago.

With shoddy aiming, bad enemy A.I. and mission objectives vapid enough to induce a coma, the Medal of Honor series has seen better days.

Collision detection problems and sloppy mechanics plague this otherwise fun title, and multiplayer is really the best aspect of the game.

With its advanced adaptive learning system, Stacked probably offers the best single-player Texas Hold 'em game currently available.

Warhammer: Chaosbane isn't noteworthy. If you're a fan of the franchise, it might meet your need for Diablo-style beat-'em-up action. If you're not, there's little to recommend it over the horde of other available games, especially since this is selling at full price. Like Diablo III, perhaps Chaosbane can eventually update enough to fix its mistakes, but until then, it's a game for Warhammer faithfuls only.

KoF XII is exactly as average as you can be, being neither wholly unplayable, nor the best of the best.

There's the seed of a good game here, but it's underdeveloped. Garage has style and wit to spare, but its cheap deaths, poor map design, murky graphics, and frequent bugs all add up to a frustrating experience. I'm usually willing to give any zombie game more credit than most sensible people would, and even I can't recommend this.

It's less "Phoenix Wright," and more "Phoenix Wrong."

Skatebird is a charming but flawed game. The cute characters and strong environments are coupled with a camera system that acts haywire anytime you're near an object. The forgiving respawn system becomes brutal when you return to a spot where you're near an object that is difficult to navigate around. The sometimes-dodgy collision detection can make some quests go on longer than they should. It's still a game worth checking out, but here's hoping that some patches can elevate it into something special.

Bubsy: Paws on Fire's biggest problem is its branding. The game is a perfectly fun and competent runner tied to a mascot who (as near as I can tell) only exists for irony value. The game is straitlaced about Bubsy, so it doesn't feel like a joke, but it also seems like the mascot does more to drive away people than to pique their interest. If you enjoyed the Runner3 style of gameplay, then you'll enjoy Bubsy: Paws on Fire. If you didn't, then the addition of a cartoon cat probably isn't going to change your mind. It's still the best Bubsy game to date, though.

Overall, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a mindless and fun third-person action game that should suit the needs of Transformers fans.

It's very difficult to recommend Disney Tsum Tsum Festival. The best minigame happens to be the one originally made for mobile platforms, and the second best is the coin-pushing game. The other minigames have various control and design issues, and they range in quality from OK to bland, so even the great presentation can't compensate for those shortcomings.

Fracture is more than solid. The hook of manipulating terrain to your advantage is used a lot in the game, but it is used in a way that it rarely feels out of place.

Considering that this could be the closest thing we see to "normal" football for a long time, Madden NFL 21 works. However, I can't shake the feeling that more could be done. Some things feel practically untouched. The create-a-player faces are still weird. Why can there be such a discrepancy in head sizes? Why can't I seem to port over the player I created in Face of the Franchise into a regular roster or at least have him available in regular create-a-player? The array of quarterback throwing motions still seems limited, and it pales in comparison to the way players in other sports games are so heavily signaturized. I still feel there's plenty of work to be done with this franchise, and that so-called "next level" we keep looking for can be reached. For now, I might tighten up my Yard skills, see what new decisions I can make in a new career mode, and beef up on my RPO mastery while I hope for more in next year's Madden outing.

Call of Cthulhu is a genuinely fun and engaging adventure game that is unfortunately dragged down by everything else. The story is engaging and fun, the mysteries are creative, and it does justice to the sense of otherworldly terror that is at the centerpiece of the Call of Cthulhu pen-and-paper game. Unfortunately, the stealth and combat sequences pull down the game and prevent it from being an easy recommendation. If you have the patience to sit through some rough patches, there's a lot for CoC aficionados to explore.

I would say the strength of this game definitely lies in its story telling.

The gameplay is disappointing, though, and isn't even much fun in a mindless, repetitive sort-of way. The level design drags the whole event down even more, and the lack of a real save system makes playing the game that much more frustrating.

The entire Wits & Wagers experience tries too hard and fails at nearly every turn.

To make the game really enjoyable, the developers should have added a choice to re-spawn a pinball if it drops through the flippers within the first few seconds. That, in addition to fixing the sluggish flippers, would have made this a game a lot better.

Tangled ends up being another solid children's game from Disney. While it might not necessarily be tough, there's enough meat to the overall game in the form of challenges and hidden items to keep players engaged after the main story has ended.

If anything, it has to be respected for being a filtered and extremely direct version of the Diablo-in-space formula. It may not be great or awe-inspiring, but when you need to hit things for pleasure, there it is.

Truly, I did not want to finish this game. I found it to be as endearing as The Phantom Menace (which does not even warrant an underline).

Sword Art Online: Lost Song is a game for fans of the anime. It relies heavily on players recognizing the story twists and turns and grasping how the anime mechanics translate into gameplay.

Fans of the WWII era or the RTS genre — or both — will get the most out of Sudden Strike 4. It is a high-quality product in terms of graphics and immersion, and the title provides a great experience full of tense and satisfying moments. There's a lengthy campaign that'll take more than a dozen hours to get through, and multiplayer and skirmish modes offer endless playability. The multiplayer portion requires planning ahead with friends or joining the small online community. Gamers who are on board with all of that will be fine with buying the title now, but others may want to wait until the price drops a bit.

Bleak Faith: Forsaken has a lot of potential, and the developers seem dedicated to updating the game, so it's possible that a lot of this review will be outdated in a few months. At the moment, it's a testament to the difficulty of making a good Soulslike. All of the pieces are there, but they don't fit together properly, which exacerbates the genre flaws more significantly than any other type of game on the market. Bleak Faith has some strengths if you're willing to work past its flaws, but it doesn't stand out among the absolute glut of similar titles on the market.

At $15, Islands of Wakfu is a fine (but only fine) addition to a brawler fan's library.

I don't think I've enjoyed a wargame as much this one since I played the original Combat Mission game all those years ago. If you have an interest in simulating realistic modern warfare, and specifically seeing how the new Stryker concept would fare in battle, you can't go wrong with Combat Mission: Shock Force.

Konami could easily have saved its reboot of Karaoke Revolution. Redo the graphics to a less creepy style that brings back the energy, keeps the mechanics, and chooses a much stronger song list, and the sequel to this game could be immensely satisfying and bring this series back from the brink. For now, when I want to sing, I'm sticking with EA's Rock Band 2.

Inferno Pool may offer an interesting variant of the main game, but it doesn't do much else to make it a good alternative to fans of the video game representation of the sport.

As a stand alone release Broken World doesn’t merit anything more than a bargain-bin purchase.

Although Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles does many things right, the semi-repetitive missions, frustrating save system, and lack of replay value won't impress the average, seasoned gamer.

In the end, In My Shadow just isn't very compelling. The lack of control when jumping is a bad combination for both the finicky object placement mechanics and the precision needed to make those important leaps. Meanwhile, the story lacks focus, which makes the ending even more unsatisfying. The game may be fine for those looking for a platforming challenge, but everyone else won't miss much by skipping this one.

There is a good game somewhere under all of this, but it is buried under the weight of every part of Dakar Desert Rally being unlikable for some reason or another. There are the briefest moments where it shines through, the sun is hitting you just right, and you're blasting through the stage skillfully at top speed. The problem is it's at that moment that you round the bend and slam into a random truck or the game hitches and you suddenly understeer into a rock wall. Substantial patching would do this game wonders, but as it stands, it's a joyless mess that delivers frustrations at a far greater rate than podiums.

Wanted is mediocre and too short, and it's only of vague entertainment even for players with prerequisite interests.

A game in the purest sense, even if there aren't any bosses to defeat or coins to collect. You could have been playing this game for 10 years (and, as the dated midi rumblings prove, this game shows its age), and if you haven't yet, I've got to maintain that your GBA is the best way to experience it.

All in all, Texas Cheat 'Em plays fine, and the cheating aspect is handled really well.

Your enjoyment of Survival Kids is going to be heavily dependent on your appreciation of difficulty in games. If you want something breezy or you're playing alongside someone who lacks the patience for a typical survival game, then what you'll find is fine for those wanting to get some satisfaction without putting in a ton of effort. However, if you're expecting a game that builds upon the lineage of the series, prepare to be disappointed because those elements have been drastically toned down, leaving you with a very casual experience that lacks any challenge. Unless you've got young kids playing alongside you, this is a title you may want to pass on unless it is marked down.

A very average title. Good-looking graphics are plagued with frame rate problems and questionable camera angles.

Without a doubt, the improvements that have been made to Ship Simulator 2008 are a giant leap forward for the franchise. There are still a few wrinkles to be ironed out, namely an awkward information display panel, some less-than-realistic physics, and some random game crashes.

Agents of Mayhem is by no means a bad game, but it lacks ambition. That's particularly damning since it spawns from a franchise that rarely held back. If you want to blow up robots, collect some items, and hear amusing humor, then Agents of Mayhem fits the bill. If you're looking for something as off-the-wall as the Saint's Row franchise at its best, this is not it. There are enough glimmers of greatness and individually well-executed moments that it can be easy to forgive the bland filler. If you can't get past that, though, then there's not enough meaty content here to make it a satisfying experience.

My biggest complaint about FIFA is its name. It simply isn’t a FIFA game, it should simply be called World Cup 06 or something that accurately describes it and distinguishes it from the game that EA wants you to believe it is when you’re buying it.

This is definitely more geared toward the kids and core fan base than someone like me, so if you're not already a fan, you can safely skip this title without missing anything.

Overall, Hood: Outlaws & Legends is a strong effort that has a lot going for it. It's different and often fun, and when it works, it works. The current experience is dampened by a lack of meaningful content and a few balancing issues that frustrated me to a point where I had to stop playing — but I always came back for occasional matches. If Sumo Digital manages to keep the momentum going with much-needed updates and additional content and if the community stays active, Hood could be a very fun multiplayer title across the board. Until then, I'll wait to see which direction Hood takes over the coming weeks.

The campaign mode is outstanding and provides quite a few hours of fun and mayhem. Who can resist fun and mayhem? The lack of multiplayer severely hurts this title for me, but the cost helps ease some of the pain.

With randomly generated levels played at a breakneck speed, Velocibox is definitely for those who thrive on frustrating challenges. Few will have the patience to get through to the next stage without quitting in frustration, let alone fuss with online rankings.

With the performance hit, lack of customizable heroes, poorly executed strategy map and inept AI I cannot in good conscience recommend this game.

The final "silver lining" to this entire affair is its price: as a low-cost title, it's absolutely worth your money. TopWare has released this far below the current average for a new PC title, a practice I wish more publishers would adopt.

If you love the photo puzzle subgenre, this will be a very enjoyable experience for you.

It's not the perfect game and will probably lead some kids into early carpal tunnel syndrome and hand cramping, but for the five hours it takes to complete, Monster House is a blast to play.

It's gorgeous (if you have a high-end system), it's fun, and it has some truly unique features that set it apart from the pack. With time, there might even be some patches that clear up the remaining oversights, like the interface and the auto-save.

Dangerous Driving feels just like Burnout, but it doesn't look or sound the part. Due to Three Fields Entertainment's limitations, the game feels like it has a crisis of character. The gameplay is edgy, explosive and violent, while the snowy terrain glistens or the sun peeks over luscious mountaintops in the background, peppered with only the revving of your engine and the pitchy screech of your tires. The solemnity doesn't ruin the experience, but it'll make you scratch your head. At the end of the day, Dangerous Driving scratches a very specific itch that I'm sure many have been waiting to scratch —just like paint against a cold metal guardrail.

I've gone on a fair bit about some of the issues with Aedis Eclipse: Generation of Chaos — difficult to learn controls, some inevitability in the tactics — but overall, it is a surprisingly different and a well-done strategy RPG title.

The problem is that the Mario Party franchise hasn't really evolved or changed much from its days on the Nintendo 64. Yes, there are new characters, stages, and mini-games, but despite their clever designs, they're quickly growing repetitive and stale.

On one hand, it's a pretty robust billiards game for the Wii, and it certainly tries hard to make the game as broad and enjoyable as possible. On the other hand, there are Internet-based Flash games that have better physics and comparable graphics, albeit with a shorter feature set.

Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz HD is exactly what one wants from an arcade game. It's simultaneously pithy and filled with content, fun and challenging, and energetic and thoughtful. Like the little monkey you control, Banana Blitz HD has mastered the art of balance, and it shows.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate - Deluxe Edition can be a fun game if you're able to get past the stumbling blocks.

In just about every regard, Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 is repetitive and average.

A Marathon title on XBLA could have been a fantastic way for Halo fans to see their favorite developer's roots, but thanks to bad controls and an illness-inducing interface, the game struggles to even serve as a window into the past.

Overall, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar - Tempestfall feels a bit rough around the edges. Technical issues and a shallow and repetitive combat system keep it from being a standout VR title. Tempestfall's visuals and environments are often breathtaking and a joy to explore, especially if you are a fan of the franchise. It feels like Tempestfall could have used another year of development time to iron out some of its technical difficulties and to make combat more engaging and deeper to carry the experience.

Disintegration is a game of would-have-beens. The combat would have been nice if you weren't stuck to a vehicle that made everything floaty and slow and you could change weapons. The strategy elements would have been nice if your teammates didn't have to do everything and had enough intelligence to stay alive. The shooting/strategy meld would have been interesting if the objectives changed for some variety, and the journey would have been exciting if the story were interesting. There can be some enjoyment in if you look hard enough, but we have already seen better first-person shooters this year alone, so it's difficult to recommend Disintegration.

While the idea and story remain intact, the actual gameplay manages to suck all of the charm out of the characters and plot, and while there are some slight variations and mini-games that attempt to keep things fresh, everything else about this title is stale.

Your enjoyment of Wavey The Rocket is going to be highly dependent on how well you adapt to the controls and sine-based movement. Get used to how things work, and you'll find the game to be challenging in a fun way with plenty of bite-sized levels to keep you entertained. Until that happens, though, prepare for some frustration because you'll experience failure over and over again, even in the early stages. If you don't mind that inherent challenge, give Wavey The Rocket a spin.

VR really makes the Jurassic World: Aftermath Collection experience enjoyable, and while the move to the Switch isn't terrible, it still loses something in the process. The slow walk and run speeds make for a sluggish-feeling experience, while the controls feel awkward when compared to other first-person games on the system. The stealth experience shines at first, but the repetition makes it dull by the halfway mark. The story is fine but doesn't have the chops to keep you glued from beginning to end. The effort is admirable, but unless you're a big "Jurassic World" fan, you're better off waiting for a VR headset before experiencing this one.

PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure certainly isn't a perfect title on the Wii, but I think it's worth checking out for younger Pokémon fans.

Manhunt 2 doesn't quite live up to the hype of its predecessor. It is incredibly violent, but it doesn't have the same effect as the original due to the muted kill sequences.

If you're not fully convinced or scared off, give it a rental and try it, particularly if you're a big fan of RPGs and want something a little more plain and old-school. Not everyone is going to like it, but those who do will probably love it.

The beautifully hilarious Ratchet & Clank series did well when it was ported to the PSP, but devs got lazy porting it back; the best features of the portable version are gone, and nothing has been added. What works perfectly on the PSP works very badly on the PlayStation 2, and Size Matters is proof.

Trying to straddle the line between simulation wrestling game and fetish video, Rumble Roses XX invariably fails. Like most beautiful people, RRXX has a great package on the outside and glaring faults within.

Senran Kagura: Peach Ball is hampered by a lack of content. The five different storyline paths are fine, but the presence of only two tables hurts the game. The two tables are designed well, even if they're similar to one another, and the ease with which one can achieve high scores makes it encouraging for both pinball newcomers and veterans alike. At the moment, you need to be a huge franchise fan to pick up this title, but if you're a pinball fan who doesn't mind the overly suggestive look and the ridiculous story, Peach Ball is worth checking out if it goes on sale.

If you haven't played DW before, or if you're a fan but you've found it overwhelming, this is the sweet spot. There is no better time to get involved with this interesting – if over-exposed – series than right now.

It’s the most fun I’ve had without getting naked.

It's certainly more of the same when it comes to the stealth action and FPS genres that it follows, and doesn't really rise above or try anything particularly new in order to provide that little bit of an edge that it needs to make it out of the realm of mediocrity.

I enjoyed swinging through Spider-man 3 even though I felt that game tasks were becoming more and more repetitive as I progressed.

Bee Movie Game will provide a satisfying experience to younger fans of the film, but it'll fail to hold the interest of older players for a prolonged amount of time.

It's really the technical things that stop Nat Geo Challenge!: Wild Life from being the best available nature-focused trivia title.

Offering zero replayability and little incentive to complete even a first run-through, Atomic Betty has the potential to entertain only those youngest of gamers who are still easily dazzled by controlling familiar characters on a tiny screen.

For now, I'd pass on NASCAR 2011: The Game. The multiplayer is completely busted, and I'm a big fan of voting with your dollar. If you're a NASCAR fan, maybe you should let your vote be heard by not picking up this mess. For those of you who did, I really I hope that the patch delivers on the promised fixes because I'd be greatly upset if I had spent $60 on this.

In the end, Spellspire is a fun game that's best played in short sessions. The focus on speed is exciting, and the RPG elements make it so that you're forced to put some thought into each of your fights. It can feel rather repetitive since you're always stuck with 10 letters and the monster roster per stage doesn't change. Having said that, it's perfect for the Vita and is a complementary title for those who've already played Letter Quest Remastered.