Its ship combat is weak, and for all intents and purposes the on-foot gameplay is nonexistent. What little story the game has is threadbare at best, and it gives the player no good reason to slog through the grind. It is saddening, as the game could've been something great, especially since there aren't a ton of pirate games out there. However, there isn't much about Skull and Bones that I will remember a year from now.

As it stands, Front Mission Evolved is a decent entry in the series.

A good start for a new wrestling franchise. The fighting animations are fluid, and it's refreshing to see a wrestling game go back to the fundamentals as opposed to gimmicky matches and auxiliary items.

Warts and all, APB has enough going for it that gamers who are looking for this type of gameplay on a larger scale will have a lot to enjoy.

As it stands, A Stroke of Fate is a flawed adventure tightly wrapping itself around WWII's history. At the same time, it sorely lacks the same ambitious spirit behind its gorgeous visuals to make the most of its promising premise.

Spider-Man: Edge of Time is hardly flawless and really could have used more development time to turn a decent game (with an excellent design base) into a great one. It goes back to what 3-D Spider-Man games were like before Spider-Man 2 mandated atmosphere over interactivity, and it comes out a better game than it has any right to be given its abysmal production values. Instead of once again showing you what it feels like to have Spider-Man's responsibilities, Edge of Time goes back to inviting you to feel what it's like to be as powerful as him.

I like the "Jackass" show. I really do, and I don't like coming down on the video game interpretation of it, but without a true director mode, it lacks depth, and once you get your laughs out of the minigames once or twice, you'll be ready to move on.

Front Mission Evolved has some interesting ideas, but none of them are polished.

These levels weren't meant to be played from a fixed perspective, and the addition of several brutal bugs makes for a painful portable experience.

It's not change that I'm against. It's change for the worse that disappoints me so much about this game.

When all is said and done, it is difficult to recommend TRON: Evolution as a game. Though it expands on some of the background leading up to the new film and gives us a bit more insight into Quorra's character, suffering through the tedious gameplay segments just isn't worth it, even for a hardcore fan.

I can't recommend it at its current price point. The car combat is fun for a couple of hours, but everything else is riddled with so many problems.

Over The Hedge is not for everyone, and some players will find it too sugary-sweet and uninspired for prolonged consumption, but many players will find it an enjoyable diversion, and fans of the movie and comic strip will find it both an accessible and an enjoyable translation from the source material to game form.

In short bursts, the micromanagement isn't so bad and watching your park slowly flourish can be rewarding, but over time you may find that the whole thing just feels a little bland.

If it sounds stupid, it's probably appropriate.

With sluggish movement and imprecise aiming, the game does not meet shooter standards, and to make things worse, the terrain is limited and may give you a tough time in finding the way around blocked objects.

In general, Avatar: The Last Airbender The Burning Earth offers a fairly rewarding and entertaining gameplay experience, successfully bringing much of the spirit of the show to the console without sacrificing too much in terms of quality fun.

Altogether, Aliens in the Attic was surprisingly better than I anticipated, even if I was pretty down on it in this review.

In the end, only certain elements of Defenders of Ardania work well.

The Council: Episode 4 - Burning Bridges is the penultimate episode of the game, and it does a good job of making things interesting again, but it does so with quite a number of flaws intact. The unrealistic reactions to big events are the episode's biggest flaw, as all of those shocking things lose their impact when everyone else fails to make a big deal out of it. At the same time, those new revelations open up things just enough to make the final episode more intriguing. Here's hoping that the finale makes the journey worthwhile.

Discounting versions that were developed for dedicated handheld systems, the 2023 version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III represents the series at a low. The campaign is painfully short, and while the open combat missions are a neat idea, they needed more time to feel substantial. Zombies are still fun enough, and the same can be said for multiplayer, but the absence of new maps feels wrong for a brand-new game. If the original plan to make this a DLC package were still in play and the price were reasonable, then one could see it being a recommendation for dedicated series fans. As a $70 full price game, however, what's available is pitiful to the point that gamers should stay away from this title and stick with the older stuff instead.

I thought it was fun to look forward to the next action you unlock, however, I felt it took way to long to actually unlock most of the stuff. This might not have been so bad if the game had more to keep me occupied with besides just watching my characters talk in warp speed for hours.

Overall, I was solidly entertained by Bleach: Shattered Blade. Even though I had to look up some stuff to get a general idea of who everyone was, I found myself sucked into some of the cool combat features, such as the "clash" mini-game.

The production values are slick and well done, but the game itself could've used a bit more tweaking to make it more enjoyable than it wound up being.

Stitchy in Tooki Trouble isn't going to be fun for experienced platform players, but there are also several design decisions that prevent it from being a good choice for younger players who want to get into the genre. From an unremarkable character and story to a lack of urgency in most parts, the excitement of a platformer just isn't present here. Combine that with some flaky minecart segments, a too-sticky vertical camera, and overly long boss fights, and you have a title that conjures up more frustration than fun. Despite the nice overall presentation in Stitchy, you can easily skip this one in favor of other platformers that do a better job of catering to both kids and adults.

Overall, Bleach: Soul Resurreccion isn't very good. It's not an awful game, but the Mission mode is the only thing that salvages an otherwise lackluster action title.

This is a video game that tries — and admirably succeeds — at being, well, "Jackass," low entertainment at its lowest.

Lost Planet 3 fails to have its own identity. It is technically competent, and there are moments of fun to be had by shooting enemies.