With the difficult camera angles, blurry death sequences, bugs and glitches, playing Manhunt 2 really was like doing to the doctor — it'll hurt like hell, but something tells you that you have to do it. I shouldn't think of a game like that.

It has slapdash controls and is riddled with gameplay issues, but the game achieves what it sets out to do: be a temporary distraction that's good for relieving a bit of tension.

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.

Ultimately, El Tigre is a solid game for anyone who is a fan of the book or television series. The narrative is great and follows the series well, and even though it does have its shortcomings in gameplay, it is still a good game.

This title would be a very good candidate for any child who's a fan of the "Cars" movie or enjoys cartoony racing games.

Guitar Hero III is a great game — at least as good as its notable predecessors. In the title's PlayStation 3 version, however, the deal comes with a caveat: For a seamless, uncomplicated experience, you can't bring your old Guitar Hero gear with you.

On one hand, it's Guitar Hero. Messing it up would've been sacrilege, and Activision did a pretty good job of not doing that. It's just as fun as it ever was, and the song selection is pretty great. On the other hand, they could have done a little more. Revolutionary new steps forward weren't exactly expected, but Guitar Hero III feels a little too much like more of the same.

It's by no means terrible, and by no means as bad as you might expect, but by the same token, it's not as good as, after the opening game sequence, you begin to hope it might be.

It's very scary, but it's held back by an annoying save system, limited inventory and respawning enemies.

Instead of fleshing out the most gore-filled and evil FPS series yet made, Mindware has instead managed to flog a dead horse. As a final insult, this is the most poorly performing version of Painkiller yet; it loads more slowly now than ever before, even with my updated hardware.

The game definitely passes, but it belongs to a niche favorable to genre-addict gamers.

Jericho is a title with great ideas. The squad-switching mechanic works very well, the various magic abilities are mostly sound and the plot is potentially very interesting. However, great ideas don't make up for shoddy execution, and Jericho just isn't a $60 game. It's far too short and easy, and the complete lack of any post-game content is almost unforgivable.

Conan is an average action game that seemed content to borrow from other titles without really taking full advantage of its source material. If it's a thirst for blood you have, though, this title will definitely quench it.

From the moment you power on your PSP to the moment you turn it off, Castlevania: Dracula X Chronicles does a remarkable job of pulling you into the Castlevania universe and immersing you in the difficult, but ultimately rewarding gameplay.

This title is not bad, but it's not particularly good, either; it simply blends into the crowd. That trait may be great for a ninja, but it's not so good for a console title.

A title that's running on autopilot. It looks better than the previous Ace Combat offerings, but little else has changed.

To put it bluntly, Zack and Wiki: Quest for Barbaros' Treasure is one of the best games out for the Wii, and any gamers who own Nintendo's new system owe it to themselves to at least give this title a try, if not a buy.

Mega Man ZX Advent tries to outdo the last game in the series, and in doing so actually ends up as a less satisfying experience.

It's been a great run; court is adjourned.

Oddly, the problem is that, it feels too much like a classic hack-'n'-slash RPG. Games like Diablo and Baldur's Gate used the same formula over 10 years ago, and they did it better.

Future is a great game in its own right, despite its positioning to show off the power of its publisher's platform, despite the fact it does very well show off the PS3's capabilities.

A collection of games that have been slightly altered to work with the Wii's innovative controls, but it's ultimately a simple title made for the enjoyment of the nostalgic masses.

A disappointment for fans of the series. A story with as much depth and variety as Naruto should have been an epic role-playing game, but the end product with which we are presented is remedial and random, seeming very much as though the producers of this title were told to slap something together at the last minute, shove the Naruto characters into the game somewhere and get it to market in a hurry.

Frankly, developers of this type perform a gross disservice to other practitioners of the medium, and THQ should have never let this one out the door, no matter how much revenue they'll earn in licensed sales.

Victorious Boxers Revolution should have been great. Hajime no Ippo is about the closest you can get to an animated version of Punchout, and the Wii is almost custom-made for boxing titles. Yet the poor Wii controls, short length and lack of extras make it hard to recommend this game for anything but the most die-hard fans of the Hajime no Ippo manga.

I found the gameplay in The Sims 2: Castaway to be quite entertaining and, to a point, addictive, especially after delegating a large amount of the repetitive resource gathering to island primates and other castaways.

Flight Simulator X: Acceleration adds a respectable amount of content to the original Flight Simulator X, especially for the $30 price tag. Although you only receive three new aircrafts, they offer significantly different flight experiences and challenges that are exemplified by the new, well-designed and interesting single-player missions.

What's incredible is that Big Huge managed to introduce so many fresh ideas to the game yet still maintain the essentially balanced gameplay that remains as addictive as it always was.