Alliance is plagued by some rather lengthy load times, which can put the kibosh on short commute playtime. [Apr 2012, p.59]

Fans of the series know what they're in for, but everyone else can rest their fingers for deeper games. [Apr 2012, p.60]

Wants so desperately to be Burnout: Revenge. Unfortunately, the game feels more like a cheap knockoff than a compelling successor. [Apr 2012, p.60]

The problem here is the convoluted content and pricing structure: 30 bucks delivers a measly three tracks and five cars. [June 2012, p.79]

It demands a level of precision that is tough to pull off with the cumbersome control scheme, making it hard to muster the effort. [June 2012, p.82]

With a flashy but limited move list, it's nothing more than a basic arcade scrapper. [June 2012, p.83]

All this offers is twin-stick controls and slightly crisper visuals. [June 2012, p.83]

However, drastic spikes in the difficulty still pop-up at bizarre intervals, and being asked to shell out 99 cents to skip the random ultra brutal stages each time they appear feels like an insult. Pay to not play? No thanks. [July 2012, p.85]

Clock takes a puzzle-driven adventure game and mixes it up with a side-scrolling platformer. Not a bad design template in theory, but not so great as implemented here. [Aug 2012, p.86]

Resident Evil completionists who missed these simple shooters elsewhere may find them briefly amusing, but casual Move enthusiasts needn't snag both. [Sept 2012, p.85]

This PSP edition has a lot of extra content compared to the PS2 original, though, so fans of the series might want to give it a shot regardless. [Oct 2012, p.85]

Though a competent simulation racer, it's tough to overlook Legends' many shortcomings. [Oct 2012, p.85]

Quests do occasionally offer intriguing objectives, but they're a rarity, and simple kill/fetch structures are the norm. [Nov 2012, p.87]

As a PSN budget title, Trilogy would soar. At $40, though, it's a bit of a turkey. [Dec 2012, p.87]

Paradise's bag of tricks is sadly limited, leaving only a violent juvenile romp we're reluctant to recommend. [Holiday 2012, p.73]

The only real reason to purchase this port is if the prospect of scouting out a Dreamcast and a copy of the game seems a bit pricey. [Holiday 2012, p.81]

Getting to the little bit of original story just isn't worth the hours of tedious combat, frustrating level design, and finger-numbing R2-spamming. [July 2008, p.83]

Ultimately, The Golden Compass proves way too easy, and much of the "game" feels a lot more like "chore". [Jan 2008, p.82]

No, Turning Point has the overall feel of another bad WWII shooter with a fresh--albeit fascinating--coat of paint. Our advice? Turn away. [May 2008, p.86]

Also, the presentation is a mix of cheesy music, mediocre pre-rendered cutscenes, better in-game cutscenes, and bad voiceovers. [Holiday 2007, p.78]

Overall, we recommend passing on this pirating adventure. [Jan 2008, p.84]

However, quantity comes at the cost of quality--because none of the games are the main focus of the game, they all feel shallow and repetitive. [Holiday 2007, p.82]

One small mistake will leave you eating robbot dust. That's just not the Sonic we used to know and love. [Apr 2008, p.87]

To be clear, new battles, weapons, and character moves are present, as expected, but they feel obligatory at best. [Apr 2008, p.72]

Perhaps the most frustrating characteristic of Iridium Runners is its wasted potential. [Apr 2008, p.88]

Stick to LEGO games, Traveler's Tales. [Aug 2008, p.75]

Ixnay on the X-Blades. [Apr 2009, p.82]

Take a game meant for a handheld and put it on the PS2, and all of a sudden every flaw is magnified. [June 2008, p.83]

The fact that I was constantly thinking about what button to push, even as I was rounding into the final set of missions, well...that's just a big design no-no. [June 2008, p.72]

Structurally it's a mess. [Mar 2009, p.77]

Chaos Wars might draw in some--like fans of the obscure games it's based on, especially those who long for the days of hand-drawn characters and tiny battlefields--but its old-school aesthetic isn't enough to make up for the lackluster production values and uninspired game play. [Aug 2008, p.82]

Dokapon's fatal flaw is its wait-to-play ratio; since actual engagement between players happens rarely, watching three players take their turns while you twiddle your thumbs wears thin fast. [Dec 2008, p.82]

Seriously, if this dungeon crawled any slower, it'd be going backward. [Dec 2008, p.82]

Unfortunately, this niche sport has spawned a niche game that lacks the more obvious draw of the beach variant, and will interest only the hardest hardcore fans. [Nov 2008, p.83]

Everything about Rock Revolution smacks of a low budget rush-job(except the price)and while the basic note-hitting mechanic remains fun, there are far better places to get your music fix. [Holiday 2008, p.71]

Rebuilding it using the PS2 game's engine just makes it a much more obvious retread. [Jan 2009, p.83]

Best leave this one out in the wilderness. [Mar 2009, p.75]

The jump mechanic is frustratingly finicky. [May 2009, p.85]

The core Dynasty combat system has needed a serious shaking-up for years now, and even the new RPG-style character-building element isn't enough to fix that. [July 2009, p.83]

The game cloaks itself in a ridiculous and oftentimes debilitating darkness. [July 2010, p.80]

Merely a shadow of its console-based self. [Mar 2010, p.72]

Republic Heroes has none of the fun or maturity of its source, the cartoon Star Wars: The Clone Wars. [Holiday 2009, p.75]

A major fail. [Feb 2010, p.77]

Think twice before exploring this planet. [Jan 2010, p.83]

For mech-loving masochists only. [Jan 2010, p.86]

We love a challenge, but we can't begin to pretend this game is something for everybody. [Nov 2010, p.81]

But while all the action is there, the action still feels as soulless and bland as its stock-badass protagonist. [Dec 2010, p.77]

It's not an unplayable wreck--it just isn't worth the time and effort it takes to slog through. [Jan 2011, p.84]

With repetitive gameplay, annoying music, and an overall "fans only" attitude, Dragon Ball: Raging Blast 2 proves creatively spent force is never quite spent, as long as the fans keep spending. [Jan 2011, p.85]

Lights out, indeed. [Jan 2011, p.82]

Thumb-numbing repetitiveness. [Feb 2011, p.86]

Arcana, save for a few inventive designs, looks like every other fantasy adventure that didn't go to the trouble, which is the root of its problems. [March 2011, p.79]

Factor in frequent freezing issues and dialogue-tree selections that don't seem to correspond with the resulting actions and Venetica doesn't stand up to current-day RPG standards. [March 2011, p.82]

Either way, there's more titillation than fun in Qoga. [April 2011, p.84]

It's an adventure best left in our (forgettable) past. [April 2011, p.85]

This is a bargain-bin title. [June 2011, p.81]

Add in a dull audio track, glitches, and game freezes and Rush 'N Attack had us wishing it had stayed covert for a few more decades. [June 2011, p.80]

Dumb fun boils over into awful stew when we, as the Greek Achilles, are forced to stab toes during a two-part and cliche-addled boss fight against a giant statue complete with respawning zombie minions, quick-time events, and enough hamartia to choke mighty Zeus himself. [June 2011, p.75]

The game might shoot for the stars, but it really only succeeds in being a drone. [July 2011, p.83]

The core gameplay simply isn't enough to overcome the technical shortcomings. [Sept 2011, p.87]

This quick-and-dirty movie game lures fans in with the promise of another quality Transformers adventure; sadly, Moon offers much less than meets the eye. [Sept 2011, p.86]

As a game, it's abo - game ever, please try again. [Jan 2012, p.86]

Unfortunately, it doesn't get the basics right. [Mar 2012, p.80]

If you're into the cartoon 12-year-olds, adjust the score up a few points. Otherwise, avert your eyes and move along. [Apr 2012, p.77]

Falls short of its price point - the only difference between this and the $5 app version is the playlist. [Apr 2012, p.56]

Army Corps is Pikmin in hell. [May 2012, p.77]

Though is succeeds in streamlining and simplifying the basic mechanics, it fails in most every other area. [June 2012, p.79]

What makes this really disappointing, though, is that some aspects actually work well. But without good combat, it's all just academic. [July 2012, p.78]

We appreciated specific parts of the game--such as the leveling, animations, and Followers--but it's still the bottom of the JRPG barrel. [Sept 2012, p.87]

If that wasn't bad enough, the glitchy, jerky graphics are further ravaged by a spastic camera that literally had me woozy at times. [Holiday 2008, p.84]

A shallow, repetitive rhythm game. [Oct 2008, p.86]

As of launch, though, I can't recommend Quake Wars to anyone but the most dedicated masochist. [Aug 2008, p.68]

This mega quiz is a mega bore. [Holiday 2007, p.78]

In fact, a character in the game even tells you that while you may not like all the mini-games, you have to play them all to get through the game. [Mar 2008, p.89]

All in all, we found the experience totally unsatisfying. [Mar 2008, p.85]

Frustrating. Unbalanced. Dull. [June 2008, p.83]

The whole game screams "last-gen." [Aug 2009, p.72]

None of this will ever be worth $50. [Feb 2010, p.81]

Niche-dwelling masochists will thrive on mastering the murky depths of Heroes, but everyone else should throw a smoke bomb and run away. [July 2009, p.83]

Utterly unneeded. [May 2009, p.85]

The PSP version of this third-person actioner, in which you play as lightsaber-wielding Jedi and blaster-packing clone troopers, is worse than the already broken next-gen title. [Holiday 2009, p.83]

There are better games out there, even for the youngest sprogs. [Jan 2010, p.87]

How the hell is this considered good enough on a system that just got Gran Turismo? [Dec 2009, p.81]

After only a four-hour playthrough of the campaign and every poorly rendered suit unlocked, there was nothing left but to try deleting the experience from our memory bank. [July 2010, p.81]

Though not technically broken, the ill-conceived Prison Break should be considered cruel and unusual punishment. [Jun 2010, p.83]

Factor in the semi-frequent bugs and Iron Man 2 bears the all-too-familiar mark of a game rushed to meet its tie-in movie's release date. [Aug 2010, p.85]

We see the appeal in sitting down with a son or daughter and playing through a level or two, but it's likely that children will lose interest even before the parents' owned feigned attention lapses. [Aug 2010, p.87]

Worst of all, any "fun" inherent in teddy bear-offing only lasts as long as it takes to commit every heinous act in the game: about an hour-and-a-half. [Oct 2010, p.83]

Everything about this game seems to be a loud, obnoxious effort to suck out the fun with a bloody straw made from an empty sausage casing. [Feb 2010, p.84]

Most everyone else can pass this one by and spare their teeth some trauma. [April 2011, p.79]

We love the idea of controlling defeated enemies' minds and using these subservient souls as combat partners or diversionary sitting ducks, but the execution here is simply irredeemable. [April 2011, p.75]

As diehard Ghostbusters fans, we can honestly say this is the first time that busting absolutely did not make us feel good. [July 2011, p.83]

The kindest observation that can be made about Panda 2 is that it looks reasonably attractive...when nothing is moving. [Aug 2011, p.83]

Forever eschews any hope for a decent story or interesting gameplay in favor of shoving as many boobs in our face as possible. As a result, the game comes up short in every way possible.

Even for a budget title the combat system is nothing short of a clunky mess, with slow animations and unsatisfying combos. [Holiday 2011, p.83]

Just a hack with a medium-hot license - play the real thing instead. [Feb 2012, p.85]

The gameplay, inferior graphics, and "kill all aliens" story hover so staunchly between terrible and mediocre that we couldn't recommend Battleship even if it were a $15 download. [Aug 2012, p.87]

Even diehard fans of the Adult Swim cartoon will have an extremely hard time jjustifying a $30 novelty purchase, because that's the best this game could hope to be. [Jan 2008, p.86]

Take our advice, vote with your dollars and buy a used copy of "NFL Street 2" instead. [Apr 2008, p.76]

Clash of the Titans is the worst kind of bad: ill-conceived, poorly executed, and depressingly uninventive. [Oct 2010, p.81]

That it costs money is criminal. [Feb 2011, p.85]

Bad game design is bad game design. [Feb 2011, p.86]