Spec Ops: Ranger Elite

Ranger Elite is a well-functioning trooper, but this title merely gives extra missions to the series. The shadows and draw distance are still atrocious, and this Spec Ops even takes away Stealth Patrols' red targeting square, leaving you to fire in spurts at foes until you finally make contact. Regardless, you'll come away feeling you could run the whole military with just the change in your pocket.

The graphics still blocky and pixilated look worse when compared to this year’s crop of PlayStation games, and the controls are still frustrating and complicated. The only improvement easier missions exposes how short the game is, as you’ll finish it in a couple hours. Ranger Elite isn’t dreadful, but don’t buy it just because it’s $10 you’ll get what you pay for. If you want a real bargain, buy an older classic for the same price.

Spec Ops has some good ideas that are poorly implemented here. Of course, the game is only going to run you $10. You’ll get some bang for your buck, but not much.

Spec Ops: Ranger Elite is a bare-bones squad-based game that feels incredibly stripped down. So stripped down, in fact, that it probably would have fared better had it been developed as a straight action game. The squad premise of the game serves only to throw a few meaningless options into an otherwise thin game.