Bionic Commando (Capcom; PC, PS3, Xbox 360; rated mature)

This franchise reboot—the original was a 2-D action game released in 1988—misses the mark.

He may have been brought into the world of high-resolution graphics, but even Spencer’s mechanical left arm can’t pull him out of the quagmire.

Using the bionic arm’s grappling hook is occasionally fun, but the combat sequences become routine too quickly.

And while the environments look great, you get to navigate through precious little. These backdrops are like the background screens in old movies; they don’t have much to do with what’s going on.

Good writing and voice acting could have made this game worth working through, but in their absence Bionic Commando gets relegated to the scrap heap.