This PS1 era antique was restored quite neatly. It was rebuilt almost from scratch (technical issues plaguing the prior Switch edition were eliminated), the gameplay is enjoyable and doesn’t get boring, but mainly because there’s no additional content here and the credits roll out after an hour or so. Basically, Panzer Dragoon’s remake is a short, sentimental journey for the most nostalgic fans. [12/2020, p.63]

The beginning of the game is great and the story gets darker by the minute, but the immersion, mood and tension fall to pieces when you face grotesque, poorly animated enemies. [11/2013, p.80]

Cultic borrows heavily from grandpa Blood, but is a step backwards compared to Monolith’s cult classic. Admittedly, all available guns are fun to use, but even though the game is short, it still overstays its welcome due to bloated, boring environments and repetitive enemies.

Randomized missions are a welcome addition, but their appeal doesn’t last long, because after a couple of hours you recognize all the elements of the procedurally-generated underground environments and start missing Manhattan. [09/2016, p.54]

Onrush takes full contact racing to another level and it is thrilling at times. The problem for me was that there’s very little actual racing left in Onrush. It was replaced by chaos and I hate racing games in which my triumph or defeat does not depend entirely on my skill. [08/2018, p.83]

Double Dragon Neon can be very frustrating, because it's unforgiving, fighting mechanics are a bit clumsy and the main character is sluggish. That's how you played games back in the day. Fortunately you don't have to anymore. [CD-Action 13/2012, p.79]

Move is still a gadget that you can do without – Sports Champions 2 doesn’t change that. [CD-Action 02/2013, p.70]

A solid game that fails to break new ground but was obviously developed by people who understand how platformers should be designed. [09/2016, p.55]

WRC 6 is basically the same game it was in the previous iteration, which means its developers still haven’t decided whether they’re making a simulator or an arcade title (the driving model is decent though) and the visuals are far from spectacular. Additionally the game makes an awful first impression with its terrible tutorial. [13/2016, p.74]

Yet another proof that some games should just be left alone, because they don’t necessarily have much to offer a couple of years later. [09/2016, p.57]

The janky animations of John Wick’s acrobatics spoil the whole movie-to-game experience. And to think that motion capture could have made it one of the most interesting games of this fall. [13/2019, p.65]

A moderately interactive tour of familiar locations and themes (like the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents). It’s not bad, but sometimes the illusion bursts (objects you throw bounce off an invisible cage you’re in) and it’s a short, one time experience. [13/2016, p.77]

Disastrous scoring system encourages some players to cooperate with the killer instead of running from him and reduces promising gameplay to nonsense (e.g. when the killer picks you up, throws you into a trap, resets it, picks you up, throws you into a trap, resets it, picks you up, throws you into a trap, resets it, picks you up...). [09/2016, p.58]

The first F.E.A.R. was scary and good. The second one was scary-ish and good-ish. The third one is... well, indistinct. F.E.A.R. 3 is a generic shooter devoid of atmosphere, built correctly step by step but lacking any quality that could prevent you from forgetting this game. [August 2011, p.52]

It’s hard not to be awed by the artistic direction of Tormentum (inspired by Giger’s work among others), but the game’s shallow writing consists of clichés and pretentious babble. [05/2015, p.73]

Perceptions mechanics successfully imitate the feeling of being lost in an unfamiliar place as a blind person, but in my opinion the developers sacrificed too much in terms of gameplay to achieve that feeling. [08/2017, p.59]

Deceit’s concept is fantastic and the psychological aspect of gameplay is great, but ugly visuals and Early Access level of polish make the game harder to enjoy than it should be. [09/2017, p.72]

More a movie than a game, Fort Solis surprises with top-notch acting and creates a pretty decent atmosphere, but doesn’t offer any real challenge. It focuses on exploration but the protagonist’s sluggish movement effectively discourages it. This walking simulator will either captivate you enough to finish the story in one sitting or bore you in the first fifteen minutes.

A fairly enjoyable tribute to the ancestors of modern computer role-playing, but not deep and varied enough to keep me playing longer than I needed to without the impression that I’m wasting my time. [11/2016, p.53]

World Series tries to transplant hero shooters basics into a racer and kinda succeeds at that but as a whole is so bland that after an hour I was sure I will never play it again after I finish this review. [09/2017, p.75]

If you disregard the nostalgia factor, the game is anything but extraordinary. It won’t win over new, younger players... but on the other hand they are not the target audience. [13/2019, p.78]

Rush of Blood has too many moments when you expect a jump scare, hunting for points and goodies is not as enjoyable as it should be and its bosses are boring. [13/2016, p.78]

Subtract the long expired controversy and what you get is an old game that has almost nothing to offer to contemporary players. [09/2016, p.63]

A great way to take a 15-minute break. [06/2015, p.55]

If you hoped for World of Warcraft dressed in colourful superhero tights, Marvel Heroes is not it. It stands somewhere between typical MMORPGs and action RPGs and had considerable potential but fails to kindle any major emotions. Developers will have to work hard to refine this game. [CD-Action 08/2013, p.68]

It’s curious that XSEED waited so long to publish Ys I & II Chronicles, as both games are visibly more primitive than their successors from 2012. Instead of dessert we were served a stale biscuit. [CD-Action 05/2013, p.70]

Every time I gave Space Run Galaxy a chance, I got tired of it after a couple dozen minutes. [09/2016, p.65]

PSP origins of the game are obvious on every step of the way, exposed by ugly character models, low quality textures and small areas riddled with loading screens. I can only recommend it to a narrow group of most enthusiastic jRPG fans. [05/2015, p.77]

Although it's just a movie tie-in with noticeable budget limitations, it's solid, especially in the combat department. I was surprised by Super Soldier's rich combat system obviously inspired by Batman: Arkham Asylum. It can offer a couple of hours of mindless but decent entertainment. [August 2011, p.62]

Great first impression fades away dispelled by primitive run-of-the-mill dungeon designs and the fact that instead of raising the difficulty level by clever enemy designs the game just throws more foes and buffs at you. [13/2016, p.82]

Same old grind, same old lags, still no content promised to be delivered “just after the game’s release”. [06/2015, p.58]

Overwhelming grinding in single player and unbalanced PvP make it hard to find any reason to play HIT. [09/2016, p.66]

An intriguing idea of a game but unfortunately lacks soul. [05/2020, p.77]

A playable Czech cartoon. Short and likeable. Compared to other Amanita Design’s games it’s just a snack – but it still has the studio’s trademark pleasant quirkiness. [13/2019, p.90]

It seems like the writers had solid ideas for the beginning and the end of – but not quite for the middle of the story. Ultimately it is very straightforward, lacks twists and false leads. [04/2020, p.60]

Fun and creative game that would work better on tablets. [06/2015, p.62]

I would situate this game somewhere between ‘acceptable’ and ‘not bad’. Developers had big ambitions and suffered a defeat, but in my eyes it’s an honorable defeat. [08/2014, p.56]

Solid in every aspect but outstanding in none. [05/2014, p.61]

If you expect a revolution in terms of gameplay, you’ll be disappointed. The developers still experiment in search of the perfect interactive cinematic experience formula, but their attempts are too modest to really make a difference. The Devil in Me is not only derivative, but also squanders the potential of its story and setting, and compared to The Quarry, looks like an unpolished project developed on a tight budget.

As a sandbox game No More Heroes is extremely bad – the city is ugly, repetitive and almost completely empty. Those who dig the Japanese craziness will appreciate the game's biggest treasure – its atmosphere and absolute unpredictability. First you save your progress in a toilet, a moment later you run around with a lawnmower doing a side quest, then you agree to assassinate a corporate boss and at last you listen to the protagonist's philosophical monologue about the meaning of life. [August 2011, p.69]

When I look at this game it reminds me of the humorous Diablo 3 logo. The one with the sun, rainbow, clouds and unicorns. It's this game! Having in mind that it wasn't designed for hardcore gamers, I can let some of the boredom resulting from the combat system's simplicity slide. But only some. [August 2011, p.70]

The driving model is better than in the previous WRC game and is surprisingly solid. Despite that it’s hard not to notice that the developer’s budget was very limited. [01/2014, p.72]

When you’re playing with three other people, session includes 1.5h of watching others make their moves. It’s not a problem when you’re sitting around the board of the original Talisman game, chatting and laughing, but it doesn’t work too well in a computer game. Otherwise it’s a great adaptation. [05/2014, p.66]

It's not a bad game, just a lacklustre one. Saber Interactive borrowed a bunch of ideas that are fun on their own but somehow failed to combine them into a great game. [September 2012, p.70]

This game could have been on par with Theme Park or Rollercoaster Tycoon and maybe someday – after numerous patches – it will be. But for now, it is a disappointment to all the fans of amusement parks, rollercoasters, and haunted houses.

The designers decided that convoluted RPG mechanics and 40 hours of artificially bloated content is what the action RPG genre needs. [05/2014, p.68]

The gameplay tries to accomplish too many things at once and would use more simplicity in exchange for a more interesting, unique story. [04/2020, p.82]

Janitor Bleeds is a retro-style survival horror that has you exploring a haunted abandoned arcade and features a game within a game as its key element. The developers did pretty well to achieve the sense of danger without resorting to jump scares, but as a whole Janitor Bleeds is neither very scary nor easy to recommend.

Playing The DioField Chronicle, I kept thinking of the popular meme: “Mom, can we have Fire Emblem? No, we have Fire Emblem at home”. The DioField Chronicle could have been a competition for the Fire Emblem series, but it’s not as complex as it pretends to be, fails to offer anything more than just solid basics and ultimately turns out to be bland.

It’s the best baseball simulation available, but the biggest new feature is the mode for beginners, not very interesting to PS3 baseball aficionados. And the rest will probably ignore this game. [CD-Action 05/2013, p.79]

The Enemy Within is less unpleasant than Guardians of the Galaxy or Minecraft: Story Mode in the same way catching a cold is less unpleasant than getting a full-blown flu. [06/2018, p.48]

Assassin's Creed meets Grand Theft Auto in the world of Pirates of the Caribbean and tells the story with Uncharted's flair. No, it's too good to be true. Simple gameplay mechanics, plain character models with lifeless faces, weak voice acting, faulty camera and bugs make BackStab a disappointment. [August 2011, p.74]

Mandragora: Whispers of the Witch Tree is a moderately successful soulslike game and is far from perfect. The game's biggest flaws turn out to be the unpleasant platforming elements and the repetitive minibosses.

The PS5 version of Persona 5 Royal is the best edition of one of the greatest games of the previous generation. However, is a set of DLCs and an upgrade to 60 frames per second worth paying the price the publisher is asking? I don’t think it is. Someone should break into Atlus’s Palace and change the hearts of the management, because this rip-off is distasteful.

The longer I played this game, the less I enjoyed it. [05/2014, p.72]

Origins can be a lot of fun, but the game lacks freshness and boldness. The mechanics turn out to be underdeveloped and glaring with numerous bugs. Commandos fans will find something to enjoy here, but it is not the refreshing breath the genre needed.

It was pleasant to relive the birth of one of the most important franchise of the PS2 era... but it’s Resident Evil 2 that shows how one should remaster an older game these days. [03/2019, p.51]

Infinite is a case study on how not to make crossovers. The story mode is really poorly written and if you don’t already know and like the characters, you’ll just waste your time. What’s worse, almost every element of the game is similarly weak. The result is a mediocre game that wastes the potential of its solid combat system. [12/2017, p.54]

A low-budget game with mediocre visuals and audio, laughable story and very basic gameplay which somehow turns out to be addictive as hell. [05/2017, p.42]

There is a fear in Firaxis to truly revolutionize the gameplay and it’s a shame that Gathering Storm’s potentially exciting new mechanics actually modify it ever so slightly. [03/2019, p.52]

I see this game as a tech demo of a good physics engine that can be put to a sensible use in some bigger project. The only thing you'll remember having played through Hydrophobia is that water played it's part brilliantly. [June 2011, p.66]

Gone Home developers tackle the issue of corporate hell aboard futuristic space station. Unfortunately their sentimental style does not go along with the brutally down-to-earth (oh, the irony!) subject too well. [10/2017, p.67]

Mythos failed to win me over for long. Having played through the early stages with two characters past level 10 I faced the necessity to laboriously grind my way up to level 20 and beyond – and that depleted my reserves of time and enthusiasm quickly. I don't regret all those hours spent with Mythos but I just don't intend to spend any more. [June 2011, p.68]

A boring, repetitive and generic action game that's just a shadow of what I believe it should have been. I can recommend it only to Warhammer 40,000 maniacs. [October, p.56]

The beginning of Atlas Fallen is simply awful but later, when the story unleashes the player on the open world, the adventure becomes more interesting. The game features a clever character development system, dynamic combat and very enjoyable exploration, but the developers forgot to polish all the other elements, which sadly represent the level of lower-budget sandboxes from a decade or two ago.

I wish Mirage were the game I’ve been waiting for as a fan of the franchise, but it’s not. The developers’ desire to make it similar gameplay-wise to classic installments of the series is obvious and welcome, but as a whole, this is a surprisingly bland product with an average story, poorly written NPCs and embarrassingly weak dialogues. Moreover, Basim’s adventures do not bring anything valuable to the series. It’s a hollow, shallow and basically unnecessary game developed to showcase the Middle Eastern setting.

The game is short (2-3 hours) but had it been longer, babysitting the two-year-old could have become a burden instead of an adventure worth experiencing. [08/2014, p.71]

Broken Roads is narratively competent, philosophically aware and relatively complex in terms of dialogues, while the moral compass mechanic stimulates the player intellectually. However, all the other elements of the game are not as exciting (or even solid) and gameplay is marred by bugs.

Aerena does not overwhelm you with rich content or impress with technical ingenuity, but it works well in the most crucial area, offering a deep tactical gameplay. [08/2014, p.73]

Thanks to its Warhammer 40,000 setting you won't confuse Necromunda with any other FPS and the design and scale of the environments are impressive. For a simple, old-school shooter, it also offers surprisingly deep and fun character development and weapon customization options. It’s a game of contrasts though, and I can't hide my disappointment with terrible enemy AI, mediocre bonus missions, poor character models, rough animations, crude visuals, and god-awful equipment screen. [08/2021, p.36]

Valhalla had many flaws typical for Ubisoft’s titles, but it was easy for me to turn a blind eye to them, because the game was simply enjoyable. Wrath of the Druids lacks that quality. Ireland is pretty but lifeless and artificial, the story is bland, few new features fail to evolve the gameplay, and the whole thing is just more of the same. [08/2021, p.37]

I had an impression Digital Extremes wants to make a deal. They pretend to have developed a great game (which they haven’t) and I was supposed to pretend I’m having great time (which I didn’t). [CD-Action 06/2013, p.54]

Child of Eden is an abstract interactive music video trying to induce the state of synesthesia. This significant journey is short though – all the game's 'worlds' can be discovered in two hours. It's hard for me to recommend the game to anyone but dance music enthusiasts who are additionally able to hear red C-sharp vibrate hypnotically. [June 2011, p.83]

The graphics have been refreshed beautifully, but I don't think it is a necessary change, as the original still stands up well. Not mentioning the optimisation problems and the exaggerated price... Eh, Sony, why are you doing this to yourself?

Desync is a niche game that has no chance to appeal to wider audience. Most people will quickly grow tired of its unforgiving difficulty level and return to Doom or Shadow Warrior. Those interested in overcoming their limitations however will enjoy it. [05/2017, p.62]

The biggest advantage of Metal Gear Solid: Master Collection Vol. 1 is that it lets you play the early installments of the series on modern platforms. As a fan of the franchise, I enjoyed additional content such as Master Books, screenplays, visual novels, and the soundtrack, but unfortunately this is not enough to rave about this bundle. Konami could have done much, much more for these classics but didn’t and missed the opportunity to reach younger players with them.

It's basically the same game we had fun with a year ago – it features the same city and almost the same story with a new main character. It's not a bad game but I can recommend it only to the diehard fans of the series. [November 2011, p.61]

The whole ‘turning your console into an HD arcade’ feature is a hogwash (pixels look like paving slabs and there are black stripes on the sides of the screen), but it’s a nice blast from the past. [CD-Action 06/2013, p.65]

This game can be charming (its surreal setting is wonderful), but not charming enough to turn a blind eye to boring gameplay and numerous other shortcomings, like faulty collision detection (yes, in a game that’s all about collision detection). [CD-Action 07/2013, p.62]

After ignoring the lackluster graphics and when the game failed to annoy me with a bug for the last 15 minutes, I did have some fun with it. The series is still experimenting and looking for its identity, and yet falters when it comes to basics. [13/2019, p.42]

The game lacks some decent content between fights. [03/2014, p.66]

Seven managed to combine things that seemingly should not come in pairs: fantasy aesthetics with a post-apocalyptic world, mechanics of a traditional isometric RPG with a stealth game that does not avoid action sequences, and – unfortunately – some great ideas with tons of bugs and flaws that buried promising work. [01/2018, p.38]

It’s a pretty remaster, but when you look at this game dispassionately, you notice that it is too easy, too short and unnecessarily cluttered with annoying minigames. [06/2017, p.58]

Capcom’s collection of 31 classic titles (dating back to 1984-2001) creates an enjoyable illusion of standing in front of a real arcade cabinet. There are a couple of problems though. The free version of Arcade Stadium offers just one game (1943: The Battle of Midway) and unlocking the rest means either paying for all of them at once or buying them in three smaller bundles. It means you can’t simply choose the games you want. What’s more, Capcom will charge you additionally for the god mode option (ridiculous!), and some of the titles are lagging. [08/2021, p.58]

Warcraft Rumble has solid gameplay mechanics and very nice audiovisual side, as expected from Blizzard. However, its economy is rather unfriendly. While it’s not a pay-to-win situation, the game forces you to grind heavily and turns fun into a chore.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III lost the chance to be great when Activision Blizzard decided to turn a DLC for the previous installment into a stand-alone title. As a result, Sledgehammer didn’t have enough time to properly polish the game, and that took a heavy toll across the board, from the absolutely deplorable story campaign to the disappointing Zombie mode to the multiplayer.

The game is too long, too simple and not thrilling enough to be enjoyable for anyone except the fans of the children’s books and the Netflix animated series it is based on. [08/2021, p.64]

Let me make a list of all the changes introduced in the HD version of Age of Empires II - higher resolution. [CD-Action 06/2013, p.77]

While the base game attracted players with the vastness of space, this add-on narrows down the scale and has you complete missions on foot. Sadly, this pretty exciting idea was executed poorly. New tools (e.g. blowtorches and scanners), cool planetary facilities, and procedurally generated missions won’t prevent you from being swamp with repetitive tasks and samey visuals. Additionally, Odyssey is unstable and poorly optimized. [08/2021, p.67]

The game is so repetitive that a couple of hours offered by the single player campaign is too much. [CD-Action 10/2013, p.73]

Homesick can be visually dazzling and sounds great, but the elements that should really encourage players to explore its world – story and puzzles – are just not up to par. [09/2015, p.48]

Pocket Camp is worse than main renditions of Animal Crossing in every aspect. Nintendo took a great franchise and taught it nasty mobile habits. [01/2018, p.51]

During the first three hours I laughed, zoomed in often to watch the ridiculous action closely, and made o ton of screenshots. However, halfway through the monotonous campaign I was completely fed up with the game’s repetitiveness, tired of its lame AI and annoyed by its poor physics. [06/2021, p.66]

Her Story met with extremely different reactions among our staff (from “this trivial babble makes no sense at all” to “the story captivated me and is still in my head”). [09/2015, p.49]

It’s a one trick pony, and that trick is moderately amusing and entertaining. [03/2014, p.79]

20 years ago Parkasaurus would have been a huge success but compared to contemporary games by Frontier (Planet Zoo or Planet Coaster), it looks like, well, a dinosaur. Actually, even RollerCoaster Tycoon (1999!) was deeper, more complex and better designed than Parkasaurus. [11/2020, p.44]

A horror game disguised as a dating sim. First couple of hours are boring and written poorly to the degree of being hard to digest for me, then things get better, but the story is still shallow and the substance plays second fiddle to the form. [01/2018, p.61]

Most of the puzzles were well-designed and I appreciated the chance to put my problem-solving skills and spatial awareness to the test, but the game is insolently short. I finished the campaign in approximately two hours, but it can be done much faster even without skipping the cut-scenes. [11/2020, p.54]