Reservoir Dogs
There aren't very many games that seem to physically hurt the player while being played.  Reservoir Dogs for the Xbox is one of those games.  Every time the controller was picked up, I had this weird feeling that some Eidos CEO was laughing at my plight.  Then again, it might be because I'm such a huge fan of the movie...

Reservoir Dogs the game is simply horrible.  While the other three games might have had some (minuscule) redeeming qualities to them, this title almost has none.  The game features shaky controls, with the targeting being simply atrocious, along with a cliché form of bullet time called “Bullet Festival”.  On top of that, the graphics are just a bit sub par for an Xbox game.  All of the character voices and likenesses except for Micheal Madsen's (Mr. Blonde), are poorly done.  The characters don't even resemble their real life counterparts and the voice acting isn't very good either.  Just like in Minority Report, it's hard to get behind a game adaptation of a film when it's not authentic to the movie.

But shooting isn't the only thing the player can do in the game.  Periodically through the game, there are segments where driving is important.  This is just as frustrating as the on-foot portions of the game, as the cars don't control very well and it's hard to get a good rating on a level when your ability to avoid crashes is barely plausible.  Overall, the game is just those two things, walking and driving, throughout the entire game.  Even worse, is the fact that if a player stumbles into the “Chapter Select” menu, they can see exactly what they'll be doing on what level, making the realization that those two things are all the game has to offer, very painful.

Speaking of the levels in the game -- they're too short.  Fragmented gameplay really hinders a player's ability to get into the story and enjoy the experience.  While the movie was very choppy with its changes in flashbacks to present time, it doesn't work very well in a gaming environment.

One of the main selling points of the game is the ability to “go beyond the film”.  Usually, this kind of thing is actually pretty cool, as it gives the viewer/player the chance to find out what really happened away from the camera.  For a movie like Reservoir Dogs, however, part of the charm was the fact that not everything was given to you.  Take the ending for example (SPOILERS): after the standoff between Mr. White, Nice Guy Eddie and Joe Cabot, Mr. Pink grabs the satchel of diamonds and splits.  While Mr. Orange is telling Mr. White that he's a cop, you hear gunshots and Mr. Pink screaming at the cops in the background.  The viewer never really knows what happens.  Does he get away?  Is he apprehended?  Or even killed?  It was done this way specifically to give the viewer some leeway.  To make the ending their own.  The game then takes that freedom and strips it from anyone who's seen the movie, giving it a concrete ending that really isn't as interesting as some of the endings concocted by fans.  With three different endings to the game depending in the final rating of the player's actions, it has some variety but sometimes things like that shouldn't be touched.

The other thing about this aspect of the game is the fact that the new environment that the characters interact are too bland.  It's mostly either just back alleys and hallways or some big rooms like a mall.  All of the levels are very linear and leave no room for exploration.  Both level and character design are lackluster, as the player ends up seeing the same things over and over again.

There are so many reasons not to play this game, and I'm going to sum it up like this: the movie is 15 years old.  Really, if you're looking for a Reservoir Dogs fix (or looking to find out why everyone liked the film so much), save yourself the trouble and watch the movie.  It's shorter than the game and you'll see Reservoir Dogs as it was meant to be shown.