This title is for children who would or have enjoyed Pullman's novels, and likewise the movie adapted from the first book of the trilogy. Based upon this reasonable criteria, The Golden Compass is a good game and deserves a score commensurate with that determination - the largest demerit here is that the game has only niche appeal, even for some kids without a taste for "His Dark Materials."

As I reflect on Rebel Raiders: Operation Nighthawk, I'm left trying to decide if the game does anything right. But the more I think about it, the more the game proves itself as nothing more but simple shovelware.

It may only be $10, but considering the genre and the number of games that offer more or do better for that price, there isn't much of a reason to get your shooting fix from this title.

As stated earlier, MotionSports: Play For Real is more of a complementary title to Kinect Sports than a competitive one.

Deep Black: Reloaded shows potential that may never be reached. The proprietary engine shows some promise, and the underwater action isn't that bad compared to what other games try to do. However, the land-based gameplay is quite poor with pretty bad AI, and the hit system lacks consistency. Your hero lumbers around way too much to make the player feel powerful, the weapon variety isn't imaginative or useful, and the water mechanic isn't used for anything interesting. With nothing of value to bring to the table, there's little reason for anyone to pick up this game over other, better executed titles.

At best, The Cursed Crusade is mediocre. The plot is bland, but the cut scenes try to shove the story down your throat at every opportunity, causing an adverse reaction

Toon-Doku fails on all fronts, delivering a painfully unpleasant experience that I would not wish upon anyone without an iron constitution.

There's no denying that Journey to the Center of the Earth is a bad game. It tried to do far too much, given the resources and hardware with which it had to work.

Garfield Gets Real isn't a good game and is one of the worst licensed titles I've played this year so DS owners, Garfield fans and gamers in general will do well to avoid this one. There's nothing remarkable or enjoyable about the gameplay, so you should avoid this one at all costs and not give into the budget price.

A poorly put-together game that suffers from incompetent AI, terrible graphics, mistimed sound effects, repetitive level design, and button-smashing combat.

Turning Point: Fall of Liberty is a prime example of how not to make a decent FPS, and with so many better titles out there now and a lack of budget pricing, it's hard to imagine what the devs were thinking.

Pocket Racers was made for the holiday rush as a cheap, new game that could be shoveled out to parents, resulting in sad kids who have just become victims of the shovelware industry yet again.

Spy Drops is a game with a novel concept but bad execution. The idea of smaller missions for a bite-sized stealth experience is neat, and the game mostly nails the graphical aesthetic of a top-tier game from the original PlayStation's timeline. Everything else, especially the stealth mechanics, are so poorly done that the whole experience feels like an absolute chore to get through. Unless you're the forgiving type who's absolutely craving any kind of stealth experience, don't bother with Spy Drops unless it massively overhauls everything with patches.

It’s good for about a 10 minute trip down memory lane and that’s it, everything else stinks.

It's Max Payne without the bullet-time, the control, the atmosphere, or the fun. Avoid at all costs. Don't even try to get it to have a good laugh - you'll still end up apologizing to yourself.

In the market for a pulse-pounding, white-knuckle action game for the Nintendo DS? Walk into your preferred game store and grab a copy of Metroid Prime Hunters, making sure not to accidentally make eye contact with the dusty, twice-returned Greg Hastings Tournament Paintball MAX'D on the shelf above that has been doomed to helplessly watch the years ooze by.

Not worth anyone's time, and certainly not worth anyone's money, unless someone is utterly enamored of shooting anonymous terrorists in foreign lands with no names.

Heavy Fire: Afghanistan certainly isn't the best lightgun shooter on the PS3. This seems to do neither very well, and when saddled with decent graphics but mediocre sound, it becomes a less appealing game overall.

Ju-On: The Grudge proves that sometimes being different doesn't necessarily mean being good. The graphics and sound may be great for the system, but the poor controls and slow, plodding pace of the story episodes greatly hinder the game's enjoyment.

Thor: God of Thunder is a reminder to players of how licensed titles can be quite lackluster. Bad sound balancing, unresponsive controls, and less than mediocre graphics make for a game that feels like it was released prematurely.

It doesn't have very many good qualities, the gameplay isn't very impressive, it isn't up to snuff on a technical level, and whatever charm it manages to muster runs out of steam in a hurry.

The game engine in Cartoon Network Racing is too flawed to make any aspect of the game fun, and even the unlockable cartoons aren't quality material.

This may be one of the worst abuses of a licensed property in recent memory.

You can replay those games for a little bit of replay value, but the best use of this title is probably as a doorstop.

Turn It Around is nothing less than a slap in the face to Nintendo DS owners everywhere, a spiritual successor to Furu Furu Park in that it combines uninteresting and often non-functional games with painful audio/visual elements and a lack of replayability to drain every ounce of value from the purchase.

I was exceptionally disappointed in Etrom. I wanted so desperately to love this game, as it seemed to have all the makings of a rich, rewarding play experience. (Post-apocalyptic dystopian future?? Sign me up!!) However, the ocean of poor design ideas slays all of the potential before it can even begin.

It has wonderful atmosphere, and wonderful graphics, but the gameplay just isn't as strong as it should be, especially for a rail shooter. Also, the enemy patterns are not very well crafted.

CrossfireX is a mess. If you manage to connect to a server and can deal with a menu that becomes sluggish after every game, you'll find an experience that is dulled by bad design decisions. From a pair of lackluster campaigns to a pittance of maps and modes, there's not much to work with. Combined with tiny maps and shooting mechanics that don't feel good, the shooter is only appealing if you only play free-to-play titles, only care for modern military shooters, don't care for Call of Duty: Warzone, and don't have the Xbox Game Pass.

Like the character itself, Gollum is an ugly, depressing, pitiable mess that's destined for a bad end and with little to recommend it. With a stronger design behind it, this title could've perhaps been redeemed, but the version we got isn't that. It's not good, it's not entertainingly bad, and it's not even interestingly broken. It's just a lackluster, licensed game that doesn't seem to have a point, and it focuses on a character that even die-hard fans don't want to play as.

Much like any Uwe Boll movie, an impressive cast can't change the fact that the settings are unremarkable, the monsters control and fight lamely; without a decent fighting engine or satisfying destruction element, it fails on all fronts. This has all been done better elsewhere years ago.

Overall, Naruto Shippuden: Dragon Blade Chronicles is a really poor excuse for a Naruto game and a video game in general.

It failed in every aspect. The gameplay is frustrating and tedious, the graphics are bland and boring and the plotline is simply incoherent.

Thor: God of Thunder is a reminder to players of how licensed titles can be quite lackluster. Bad sound balancing, unresponsive controls, and less than mediocre graphics make for a game that feels like it was released prematurely.

Even if you're wanting to play a cool mini-golf game on the Wii, I have to say you'd be better off waiting for something else to come down the line rather than waste your money on Carnival Games: MiniGolf.

Even at its relatively cheap $5 price tag, it is difficult to recommend Connection Haunted. The premise could be interesting, but its vague nature means that there's no impetus to pursue the game's endings even though they're short enough to conquer in an afternoon. It is supposed to mimic first-person shooters from the early days of online play, but it looks decidedly worse than most of them, and the performance is passable at best. Worst of all, with no scares of any sort or action or intrigue, the game is utterly boring. Unless you're a collector and absolutely need every single Switch game, it's a hard pass on Connection Haunted.

If you are looking for a tactical military shooter, I recommend picking up either of the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter games, as they are legitimate products of this generation in video games. I think I'll go play them right now just to wash away the vile taste of Raven Squad.

If you are hoping for an updated version of the exceptional Seven Kingdoms gameplay in Seven Kingdoms: Conquest , you will be seriously disappointed.

It just gets kind of boring watching the fights instead of participating in them.

But when the execution is this painful to experience… no. Just no. This is a great game to give to somebody you don't like.

There's a certain audience that'll find Heavy Fire: Red Shadow to be a decent game. For those people, the turret sequences in other shooters must be their favorite part of the game. For everyone else, including fans of the series, Red Shadow is an utter disappointment. From a regression in gameplay to overly long stages and terrible presentation, there's nothing to recommend here, even if you just want to Trophy hunt. Unless you absolutely need to have every game in the console's library, stay as far away from this as possible.

Perhaps the only good thing that can be said about Dying: Reborn is that you can easily get a Platinum trophy from it, provided you only backtrack after finishing the game. It's faster if you use a guide for the more obtuse puzzles, but the whole endeavor takes only a few hours to accomplish. If you aren't into Trophy hunting, however, there's nothing of value in this title. Poor puzzles that repeat often, dodgy presentation with worse audio, and a story with too many plot holes are all wrapped up in a price tag that's too expensive for what you're getting. On a system that already has plenty of good horror games, there should be no reason for anyone to pick up Dying: Reborn.

Avoid this title like the plague. Not only are you sparing yourself the discomfort of ham-fisted preaching and shoddy game mechanics, you’ll also be doing your part to ensure that this obscene mess of eschatological flotsam and apocryphal jetsam never sees a sequel.

Even if you're starving for a new mech experience outside of the Armored Core series, there's no reason to pick up this game, no matter how cheap it gets.

Normally, a title like this would garner a much higher score; due to the inherent bugs, however, it feels like the game is half-finished. Since it seems only halfway complete, the score will also be roughly half of what it would be in normal circumstances.

If you want to summarize Far Cry: Vengeance, take Red Steel, polish the controls to a mirror sheen, toss in the Predator mode that is now a trademark of the series, and then pull out some steel wool to scratch up everything else.

Ignoring all else in favor of the pool games themselves, Pocket Pool is a fun, pick-up-and-play pool title with more features and better controls than you'd expect, accessible to both pool fans and casual gamers alike.

Unfortunately, the third-party genre offerings on this console are not particularly numerous, and most racing titles out there range from the abysmal to the merely mediocre. But if the Wii is your primary console gaming platform, you're avid about arcade-style racers, and you can tolerate a steep, steep learning curve, Speed Zone may be worth a look.

This pile-on of additional content, combined with a $30 price, makes Aqua Teen Hunger Force: Zombie Ninja Pro-Am a surprisingly good value if, and only if, you enjoy the show.

It truly is a sad day for the gaming world when a video game reviewer asks his readers to put down the game and read the book instead; you're invariably going to enjoy it more.

Crash Boom Bang is a mess. There are too many unneeded features, not enough time was spent developing the important ones, and hundreds of small hiccups and issues make this game feel like it should have gone through more inspections at every level of design.

Sporting an uninspired story, severe clipping issues and boring gameplay, Hour of Victory is one to avoid, which is disappointing because they started out with such an incredible premise and just failed to make good on it.

Basically, Ready 2 Rumble Revolution for the Wii is nearly unplayable. I love the idea of having an arcade boxer on the Wii, and while boxing on Wii Sports didn't exactly blow my socks off, it worked out far better than this game did. I'm not sure that complicated controls for an arcade boxer are the way to go on the Wii, and Ready 2 Rumble proves that more punch types don't necessarily translate into a better boxing experience.

If you're a major fan of the TV show, then Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat might be appealing as a novelty, but don't expect much in the way of serious action.

Traitors Gate II has a few good ideas and some graphics in areas that are somewhat imaginative. This can not make up for the boring game play and downright buggy control system.

There is absolutely no reason to grab this one, especially at its rather high price point.

Past Cure is many things: technically infuriating, a slog, and thematically inconsistent. While one can appreciate the effort of a small team trying to craft a game that does many things, it can't seem to do any of them well enough to warrant any attention. With a glut of better games that tackle similar elements on the platform, it's very difficult to recommend Past Cure to people, even as a quick diversion.

A terrible, awful game.

Unfortunately, Coffin Dodgers is a mess. It squanders its interesting premise, and races are plagued with poor track design, ineffective weaponry, and a lack of meaningful content.

The premise for Ian's Eyes has potential. If done correctly, a horror game that revolves around a glorified escort mission can be a tense and entertaining experience. However, there's nothing here that can be considered well done, as the game simply strives to emulate all of the bad parts of the old survival-horror games without the good parts with that came with it. Even if you're a die-hard survival-horror fan, there's very little that's worth checking out in Ian's Eyes.

Samurai G has some good ideas but ultimately fails to deliver.

It's deeply flawed, with awful game design and mechanics marring the entire experience.

If you're looking at this as a music game, stick with either Rock Band or Guitar Hero. They might not feature real guitars that you can plug into an amp, but at least you'll get a better gaming experience and more players with whom to share the experience.

World War II games have a bad reputation right now, and titles like Air Conflicts: Aces of World War II aren't going to help one bit. The game falls short by nearly every measure and earns a dishonorable discharge for being a poor example for soldiers everywhere.

If you're looking at this as a music game, stick with either Rock Band or Guitar Hero. They might not feature real guitars that you can plug into an amp, but at least you'll get a better gaming experience and more players with whom to share the experience.

I can only recommend Damnation to anyone who has a very particular special interest in alternative history, especially concerned with the American Old West. Even then, rent it first.

Tedious and only worth trying out if you can laugh at a game with very few redeeming factors. It's too long, it's too uninspired, and it just isn't much fun.

There's barely anything salvageable in Down to Hell. The backgrounds look nice enough, and the music is decent if you aren't too picky about your metal. Everything else is a cautionary example of the kinds of sins that game developers should avoid. Even if you were to find the title for less than $1, there are a plethora of similar games on the Switch that do a much better job, so there's no reason to look in the direction of Down to Hell.

I imagine that someone could find something to like in Double D Dodgeball if they really tried, and I'll admit that the title does play pretty much as promised. However, the lack of a solid single-player experience, coupled with the complete lack of online players, makes the title not worth checking out before the download even begins.

Beyblade has never been a good subject for a video game, and Beyblade: Metal Fusion only strengthens that opinion. The long, tortuous single-player mode is only made more tiresome by the lack of story, and it neither looks nor sounds exciting. Controls are spotty, and the online lag only makes things more frustrating. The presence of multiplayer saves the game, but when the core mechanic can't be correctly interpreted into video game form, it feels rather pointless. Only die-hard fans may find some enjoyment out of this and even then, it might just be better to go for the real toys instead.

Bad control, mediocre graphics, bad voice acting, bad sound, boring and extremely flawed gameplay, and worst of all, nearly criminal abuse of an intellectual property, make this one game that is most definitely not worth anybody's fifty dollars.

Infernal: Hell's Vengeance has a neat premise, and that's it. The gameplay is botched in every conceivable way, and the graphics and voice acting will grate on you endlessly.

After popping this game in, I was immediately impressed by the amount of features available.

For non-gaming dorks out there looking for some amusement in this title, the sonic aspects of it are where it's at.

Army Men: Soldiers of Misfortune is something that even a youngster can easily tear through in a few hours, and that might be worth something to someone. For everyone else, though, there is nothing redeemable in the awkward graphics, shoddy hit detection, simplistic missions and frustrating protection details. If you don't have a young child who may enjoy Soldiers of Misfortune despite these flaws, there's simply no reason to shrink down to the low standards of this title.

Suffers from mediocrity. It is a solid game, but there is nothing outstanding about it that would draw players to it, or make the title worth acquiring. The game implements the two signature characters poorly, which makes for annoying gameplay, and there is no multiplayer portion whatsoever.

The developers are obviously fans of the tough-as-nails older PC RPGs and were trying to emulate that experience here, but their obvious inexperience with development has created a glitchy, cookie-cutter type of game that does not belong on anybody's hard drive.

To put it bluntly, Tamarin is messy. The story isn't that interesting, and the characters try to make it sound important but come off as pompous. The platforming is decent once you learn that you have useful moves, but the finicky nature of some elements and the slippery physics mean that asking for precision is inviting frustration. While the thought of resurrecting a Jet Force Gemini-style game is intriguing, the execution fumbles greatly due to it casting aside the advances that have been made in third-person shooters in the last 20 years. Unless you're craving an exercise in frustration, steer clear of Tamarin.

It's difficult to not view the NCIS game as a blatant cash grab. It may be available at the lower price point of $40 ($30 for PC), but the four cases only take about four hours to complete and there is zero replay value.

No matter how starved you are for some serious RPG action on a system ruled by mini-game compilations, you can do better than this.

It's best to simply pretend that the Star Raiders remake never happened.

The Expendables 2 should have been better, especially since the game just needed to get a good handle on shooting. Instead, a bevy of technical snafus and odd design decisions drag down the experience and uphold the belief that licensed games are rarely more than mediocre. The game isn't horrible, but shooting fans can certainly find a better title to play before settling for this.

For the most part, I found M&Ms Adventure to be a pretty disappointing 3-D platformer, and I think that fans of the genre will even agree that it feels pretty bland and uninspired.

Visually, it's not the best-looking game on the system, and the character models are pretty disappointing, as is the art direction outside of the mini-games. I had some fun with this title, and I'd recommend renting it to see if it's your cup of tea before jumping into a purchase.

The stylish storytelling and the possibilities posed by the setting can't hide the embarrassing localization, the unexciting fetch-the-key gameplay that most every other FPS has moved beyond, and issues with the graphics that might have you reaching for the nearest bottle of pain relievers and asking what happened to quality testing.

A bad camera and bad controls, however, quickly shoot down this game with little to no hope of it getting better as you progress. For fans of the movie and the character, it would be best to hunt down the GBA game to get their fix. If you don't have a system that can play that, however, your best bet would be to hold off on this and hope that someone will come along and do justice to this revered character.

It trades off tried-and-true design decisions for things that would have made great bonuses in a better-made title.

The movement is torture, but does it really matter whether or not you get exactly where you need to go, since you don't have to worry much about the hordes of wolf guys and lizard dudes the game will constantly throw at you?

Amy is the special kind of bad that rarely comes along, spoken of in the same breath as Superman 64. The plot is incoherent and unenjoyable, the characters are bland and unlikeable, and the setting is poorly established. The gameplay is broken and awkward to a degree that would be inexcusable in 2000, let alone 2012. Not even the budget price of $10 can come close to making this remotely worthwhile.

ATV Quad Kings isn't a great title by any stretch of the imagination, but at the same time, it does what it sets out to do, and it does it well enough to get by. The racing is basic but fun for an hour or two, when you're not fighting against certain control issues. If you're looking for a realistic racer, or a polished one, for that matter, this isn't the game for you, but if you do have $20 to spend and you're not sure what to get, you could do worse than this.

Storm City and Visual Impact managed to take two genres that really can't be screwed up (board and casino games) and merged them into one hot mess with Vegas Party.

It’s obviously slapped together for a quick buck, but it isn’t worth yours. With poor gameplay and underpar production values, you won’t be seeing this title praised by anyone.

Any player who acquires this game should seek psychological help, as the title has managed to avoid having any redeeming qualities whatsoever.

Iron Man for the PC is another casualty in the sad and lengthy history of failed movie-game tie-ins.

Not every shooter has to be a triple-A title of the first order, but there really isn't much to Code of Honor 2: Conspiracy Island's shooting-gallery action that hasn't been done better by today's discounted specials or even by the venerable classics.

Zombeer is bad. The humor is scattershot and groan-inducing, while the gameplay is barely functional.

The game does have its perks, and those would all belong to the graphics, which are very well done and match the TV's character design.

If you really want to play a volleyball video game, stick with the older titles that focus on beach volleyball or pray that someone can come up with a better take on the indoor version of the sport.

This isn't a game, as there's no real reward for doing well other than unlocking more tests, and it's not really a brain-training device because it doesn't teach you anything.