Every once in awhile, a game's problems are so offensive, so obvious, that they practically jump out of the screen at the gamer in the opening minutes, and playing further than the first level simply isn't necessary to pass judgment. It's a bad game. Broken. A waste of time, and no amount of progress is going to fix that. Attack of the Movies 3-D is one of those games, and in this case, its problems are literally jumping out of the screen at gamers, just to make it worse.

Attack of the Movies 3-D sees Majesco trying to ride the crest of the latest push for 3D, but without subscribing to the actual new technology. Instead, the game comes with four pairs of the old-school red/blue 3-D glasses, designed to use the in-game filters to make its enemies, projectiles and other gimmicks jump straight out of the screen at gamers. But the cheap glasses are the least of the title's problems.

At the forefront of the problems with Attack of the Movies 3-D are the controls. The Wii version's motion controls might add something to the mix, but on the Xbox 360, the cursor controls constantly recenter and force the gamer to use the analog to reposition to take shots. It is so difficult to get right that even with a couple seasoned gamers playing on Easy difficulty, passing the game's first "movie," Insect Invasion, can be a daunting (if not impossible) task that will likely prohibit most gamers from progressing any further. And it is unlikely many will want to. Casual gamers won't stand a chance against the wall of difficulty up front, but the fault lies with a poorly-designed experience, not gamer skill, making it pointless to waste the effort.

The game thankfully offers the option to play each stage in 2-D or 3-D, but it really makes little difference - it is absolutely ugly either way. The 3-D visual effects are elementary, at best. And not just in the sense of using dated 3-D technology, but in the sense that it is not even used well in comparison to what we've seen elsewhere. It is hard to tell sometimes that the visuals actually are in 3-D, and even when the game features something like a green ball of toxins hurled at the gamer by a blue insect, it somehow manages to lack any off-the-screen feel or even the effect of depth. It is just poorly implemented, poorly animated and mostly an eyesore.

The 2-D versions are less of a strain on the eyes, but no more appealing. The color schemes are generally muted, even though they are focused on primary colors. The "character" (or more accurately monster) designs appear amateur, but even fail to reach that B-level horror and action the game seems to hint at. It simply looks like sloppy work, done in a rush to get a title on the shelves before the big 3-D boon.

The only positive thing to say about Attack of the Movies 3-D is that its nice how, arcade style, friends can just jump into a game. But with the rest of the game being so utterly unappealing, it really only serves to cause more people to suffer from its inability to entertain. Attack of the Movies 3-D deals in uninspired rail-shooter gameplay, without even the minimal effort required to make it look appealing. It features controls that make it frustrating to play, all focused on a gimmick that is years behind in terms of its gimmick technology. Gamers have played worse, sure, but probably not this year.

Final Score: F