My wife's out of town for a few days, which means I have nothing better to do than sit around, play Xenosaga, and of course, update the ShackReviews database. We've got five new releases this week, including Freelancer, which means I owe someone five bucks and a round of drinks or two. As usual, if there's a game you want to review but don't see in the database, check first and then submit it!

• Freelancer (PC)
• IGI 2: Covert Strike (PC)
• Rayman 3: Hoodlum Havoc (GC)
• Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (PS2)
• Apex (Xbox)

As I said, I'm playing a lot of Xenosaga. I like the game, but I really wish it had the same sort of dialog-skip function that Shenmue does. In that game (and its sequel), you can read the caption and skip to the next line of dialog before the audio is finished. That makes the game move much faster, especially during mundane conversations. Xenosaga lacks this, and as a result it moves really, really, really slow at times, which I'm finding frustrating. But I'm sticking with it, and have no plans to give up before finishing it, regardless of how boring some of the dialog can be.