A guard tries to stop your character from uncovering the truth in "The Da Vinci Code." Puzzles can't overcome the tedium in "The Da Vinci Code."

The Da Vinci Code" video game is partly about extremists killing over religion. That sounds like the gist of both world history and certain modern warfare. But as you'd imagine, "The Da Vinci Code" is mostly a religious mystery based on the novel and the movie. It is also quite awful.

"Code" doesn't use the voices or likenesses of Tom Hanks or other actors from the flick. But the plot and characters are on the same track. You play as a detective-type guy who looks for clues in works of art and corpse parts to uncover supposedly long-hidden secrets about Christianity. Guards of these secrets try to stop you with violence.

It's this boring: You walk around clicking one button on your hand controller to examine barely visible clues, while strolling the grounds of the Louvre and other points of interest. That means you walk-and-click stupidly forever until you want to set fire to the game disc.

There are puzzles to solve, and a few religious henchmen to outrun. But those more exciting moments aren't enough to overcome the tedium. Fittingly, your character randomly utters the lines, "There's nothing really relevant about this" and "I should move on, this isn't important."

I couldn't agree more. So I decided to quit playing this abomination and catch up on another poor, if interesting, movie-based game.

I don't understand why many James Bond fans are gung-ho about Sean Connery's version of 007. He was manly but dull. Pierce Brosnan looked more the martini type. And Roger Moore was sassier while seducing women with such lines as, "When one is in Egypt, one should delve deeply into its treasures."

That said, it was a cool idea that Connery's image was resurrected for a retro "From Russia With Love" game for the handheld PSP. Too bad it's mediocre. Bond's world should look big and grand, not small and rote. You point guns at rogues and kill, over and over. It's like a shooting gallery where bad guys pop up willy-nilly. It neither shakes nor stirs you.

• Correction: I panned "Final Fantasy XI Online" because it was frustrating and time-consuming to even start. The game demanded I input my phone number, other personal information and codes just to tap into its online abilities.

I erred, though, when I said you have to pay $50 a year for Xbox 360 Live's "gold" membership. You can sign up for the free "silver" membership. You still pay $13 a month to tap into vital parts of the "Final Fantasy" gaming network. A representative for "Fantasy" claims fans of such games are used to such fees.

Whatever. "Fantasy" costs $50 retail. I bet I could buy eight awesome used games for that amount alone, not to mention what I could do with $13 a month.

("The Da Vinci Code" for Xbox and PS 2 -- Plays like an incredibly dull series of clue-finding and puzzle-solving. Looks decent. Challenging. Rated "T" for blood, language, violence. One-half star out of four.)

("From Russia With Love" for PSP -- Plays rote and small. Looks average. Moderately challenging. Rated T" for alcohol reference, suggestive themes, violence. One and one-half star.)