Majesco's Raze's Hell turns cute and cuddly conventions upside down with exceptionally cute, blatantly cuddly characters that are out to reshape the world their own cute & cuddly image--but you play one of the evil ugly monsters the cute characters are out to uh, convert. Except you don't want to be converted/exterminated.

The story's occasional resemblance to the war in Iraq, suicide bombers, spoon-fed media and worthlessly adorable toys that come with your super-sized kid's meal is not coincidental. It riffs satirical in much the same way as Shrek and similar anti-hero fairy tales, except it doesn't pull any punches--not smartly like Jon Stewart, mind you; Raze's Hell is unapologetically violent and the dialogue is often crass and occasionally foul, playing on its "M" rating for all its worth. With that in mind, it's also downright hilarious in a darkly comedic, slapstickish sort of way: bunny and fruit spewing weapons, healthful suckable guts of the fallen enemy, suicide teddy bears, the works.

Gameplay itself is unexceptional--sporadically loose, sloppy, chugging, etc.--though on par with dozens of 3rd-person action/adventure games currently on the mark (and hundreds before it), but not nearly as good as some of the good ones, like Stranger's Wrath, Jakk, etc.

At its best, Raze's Hell is totally refreshing; familiar to play yet daring in its content. Plus, it hits the market as a "value priced" game but delivers a whole lot more wickedness and wicked fun than many of its $50 brethren and should be applauded for it.

[TIP: While playing Raze's Hell, hold down the left trigger and press A, A, B, B, Y, Y, A, X for infinite health or A, A, B, B, X, Y, A, X for infinite ammo.]