If you've been any paying attention to the gaming press in the last week or so, it's been hard to avoid the topic of Jeff Gerstmann, former Editorial Director at GameSpot. A short time after posting this video review for the game Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, he was fired. The video review was then removed from GameSpot and the text review was toned down. It would seem that these events - his posting of the review and his firing - were related.

At least, that's what I think.

Kane & Lynch: Dead Men is the latest release from the same people that created Hitman. And quite frankly, I expected better of them. As a shooter it's weak. As a squad based game, it's weak. The controls suck. The graphics can't possibly justify the pathetic frame rate. The story is weak. The characters are both hateful and hateable. And the dialog is a continuous stream of invectives.

This game is an example of just how awful a so called "AAA" title can be.

I have a huge stack of games to both play and review, and it's going to take me a while to get through them all - especially the good ones. But, since I know holidays are coming up and people are starting to look at what games to buy for themselves and as gifts, I figured I'd at least give you my first impressions.

That way, I can play Assassin's Creed without feeling guilty.