However, not all is happy in the Netherworld. The graphics are wildly inconsistent, with some nice-looking areas ruined by truly terrible textures and effects. You get stuck on nigh-invisible polygons all the time, and pop in is worse than it was in Turok on the Nintendo 64. Ok, so you don’t play a game like this for eye candy. But you do play for combat – and the actual hand-to-hand mechanics are as dull and repetitive as can be. Sending your minions to do battle and deciding how to divvy up your colored units is a blast – but you’ll inevitably need to come in and hack at the baddies yourself, which highlights just how lame having one move (you press A and swing your weapon – that’s it) really is. The less I say about the crappy camera (also mapped to the right stick – along with minion control), the better.

It’s frustrating, because these are fairly minor issues that could’ve easily been fixed with perhaps a bit more time in the oven. It’s an “A” game saddled with “C” game issues, but it’s still an addicting experience. I routinely found myself playing into the wee hours of the night, butchering gnomes with glee; camera issues (and all sense of morality) be damned.