Taking the speed of a play down a couple of notches may give the game more authenticity, but everything else feels unfinished. [Feb 2004, p.62]

With a mouse or gamepad [sic] in hand, however, it's one of those likeably repetitive games that develops a rhythm that's hard to resist. [Dec p.54]

Like its predecessor, Spellforce 2 is a bad game. It gets so many things wrong. As a real-time strategy game, it's superficial. [Sept. 2006, p.62]

It is, however, perfect for beginner to novice chess players since it candy-coats the ancient game with plenty of vivid 3D graphics, and a built-in adventure game. [Jan 2004, p.85]

The graphics are stellar and the audio is arguably the best in any sports game to date. [Oct 2002, p.80]

If there was ever a game to hook a casual player on the charms of dungeon hacking, or absorb an old vet whose time has become a commodity, FATE is it. [Sept 2005, p.48]

It doesn't help that the rubberbanding AI makes every race a formality until the last quarter of the last lap. [June 2005, p.92]

Dragonshard is more concerned with recapturing the long-lost energy of those dorky all-night session then with remaining faithful to the math and canon per se. [Dec p.53]

And, in terms of design, there's still no better way to go online and shoot people than DICE's battlefield games. [Jan. 2007, p.54]

A sampler of many of the greatest game genres all in one, wrapped neatly with an RPG bow on top. [Feb 2005, p.64]

Little more than a shooting gallery, especially in single-player mode. [Feb 2006, p.88]

Dear Tricky, we miss you. [Jan 2006, p.91]

The story and cut scenes are brilliant, in a kitschy Starsky & Hutch kind of way... Not since LucasArts' "Full Throttle" has a game maintained such a singularly unique style.

It has amazing rendered visuals, well-animated polygonal characters, and it mixes a story-based adventure game with a fighting game... The design is not entirely without merit; it just doesn't excel and, like most hybrid games, risks failing to appeal enough to fans of either genre.

All it does is present some interesting tactical action, a lot of graphically impressive--if somewhat too amber-colored--carnage, and a lot of intense pointing and shooting. And that's more than enough. [Sept. 2006, p.55]

For all Robin Hood has going for it, it's constantly undone by one fatal flaw: the game cannot distinguish between challenge and frustration. [Feb 2003, p.78]

How can you not love a game where people clap for you when you successfully complete a scenario? Brilliant.

The visual artistry that sustains the atmosphere is a bit hit-and-miss. [Sept 2004, p.70]

Little more than a shooting gallery, especially in single-player mode. [Feb 2006, p.88]

With a better interface and a more explicit manual, The Corporate Machine would be one of those thankfully rare and accessible strategy games that you can't tear yourself away from.

Good, and worth the time of BattleTech fans, but unless Microsoft fixes the performance issues it will never be a great game.

It's still the best mass market chess game you can buy at your local software shop, but with a few bugs squashed and the fuller featured online features of last years' version revived, it could be a much better program.

From start to finish, Circle of Blood is a professional, polished work of art. All elements of game play are refined to the extreme, and as with any great novel (or after you've thumbed past the picture section of certain adult magazines,) you'll feel a sense of loss when the story concludes.

Only those hungry enough for the challenge to overlook the stodgy game engine need apply.

Perhaps the biggest plus is that these Elves aren't fey forest pansies like the usual Tolien-influenced woodland folk. They're as dark and pissed-off as everyone else in the Disciples world. [Mar 2004, p.71]

Running a multiplayer league pretty much works as advertised, but it feels tacked on...It's the kind of game that is worth wading through its warts to get to the good stuff. [May 2004, p.64]

There's simply not a sound gameplay model at work here. [Feb 2004, p.70]

Ingenious new ways to beat the typically insane Myst enigmas lends a fresh feeling to an old hat, and gives you a greater sense of control. [Dec p.59]

At a good 20 hours and packed with loads of collectible cards, Acid 2 is classy, original work for the PSP. [July 2006, p.89]

It's designed for people to whom the prospect of merely taking off from LaGuardia and landing at O'Hare is exciting. [Jan. 2007, p.66]

Games like this are the reason micromanagement is a four-letter word. [July 2005, p.57]

A useless co-op mode feels tacked-on. [Feb 2006, p.86]

Some of the best medieval hack-and-slash to come along in quite a while. [Jan 2003, p.78]

Who would have guessed that some of the most seasoned real-time strategy veterans on the planet would take one of the most well-worn licenses in gaming and turn it into one of the most inventive game in years? [May 2006, p.45]

As is typical of city builders, combat is mainly a hands-off resource sink. An RTS this ain't. [Feb. 2007, p.62]

For action-game fans, Otogi 2 is one of those titles they won't be taking out of their Xbox any time soon. It's stylish, fast-paced, and loads of fun. [Nov 2004, p.NP9]

Design philosophy aside, Battle of Britain is still too rough, unwieldy, and unbalanced. These problems ultimately make it more tedious than enjoyable.

It's a beautiful, creative tale told in the desert of originality, a startling flower in a wasteland of murder-and-loot online games. [July 2003, p.71]

More content for a brilliant strategy game.

It doesn't help that the rubberbanding AI makes every race a formality until the last quarter of the last lap. [June 2005, p.92]

Too random to be called a strategy game, too non-scary to be classified as adventure; think of it as the Cliff’s Notes version of Star Control. [Mar 2006, p.64]

One of the most in-depth strategy RPGs ever. [July 2004, p.6]

Brings the game to another new level of entertainment and challenge. [Sept 2003, p.82]

It's impossible to ignore all of the changes and the improvements made in this version. It looks as if this formerly stagnant series has finally turned a corner. [Feb 2005, p.63]

"Situation Comedy" is very much in the same style as "Culture Shock", though it's a bit easier and even shorter, clocking in at a couple of hours. [Mar 2007, p.67]

Jumpgate is a huge exception to the unofficial rule for online-only games. It is stable, solid, and virtually lag free even over a dial-up connection.

The element that sets Space Empires IV apart from other games in the genre is common sense, which is the glue that binds its components together.

DoD still has incredibly good gameplay, and with things like realistic gun recoil and the near requirement to stand still or go prone for any sort of firing accuracy, it's much more difficult than most WWII games. [Sept 2003, p.84]

Black may not be terrible, but it's repetitive and mundane. [May 2006, p.89]

More of an incremental advance over its predecessors than anything really new, but it incorporates the best features of the other games and plenty of customer input into what may be the best game in the series.

Rarely inconsistent, often frustrating, and always flexible, the world of Gothic II is, for lack of a more appropriate term, the most believable virtual place you can visit. [Feb 2004, p.59]

The game does a fantastic job of simulating the sport. [Sept 2004, p.75]

Until the multiplayer is fully operational, URU is something of an incomplete book, but what's there is simply stunning. [Feb 2004, p.58]

With more careers, more objects, and a better-organized option control, Unleashed allows more versatility and easier movement among features. [Mar 2003, p.80]

They don't feel much different from regular guns and planes. [Dec 2003, p.86]

Although it's still not the greatest-looking game out there at this point, the textures and moster animations have improved tenfold with this expansion. [Feb 2004, p.61]

From a graphics standpoint, Sphinx looks incredible. [Apr 2004, p.9]

From its training mode (which teaches players all the ins and outs of racing a bike) to its responsiveness and intuitive nature, the gameplay is incredibly fluid. [May 2004, p.12]

Nothing else on the market offers the chance to recapture the glory of model railroading on the cheap and, more importantly, without the basement-sized mess.

The fires look great, the strategy and tactics are interesting, and it's exciting to rescue people and property, rather than trying to destroy it. [Nov 2003, p.96]

All these new visuals may not change or improve RCT3, but they certainly take it further. [Sept 2005, p.56]

Easily the most polished, intelligent and satisfying wargame since "Combat Mission." [Sept 2002, p.78]

Rush Hour makes it a better game, but it's still missing something that past editions delivered, the feeling you could create whatever you wanted. [Jan 2004, p.78]

With a substantial amount of innovative content, a great orchestral soundtrack, and a fabulous-looking gameworld, Desert of Flames is probably worth the price - especially for high-level players. [Feb 2006, p.78]

Though only the second installment, this feels more like the "Return of the Jedi" of the Battlefront franchise than "The Empire Strikes Back." [Feb 2006, p.52]

Although you get to blast Borg and kill Klingons, these moments are secondary to lackluster level design and a turgid story that gets in the way too often. [Sept 2003, p.75]

It's roughly 12 - 15 hours of play time (on veteran difficulty) easily trumps most expansions, but as in "Doom 3", something just feels missing. Maybe it's the hell. [July 2005, p.54]

It never breaks away from the level of great to become and excellent game worthy of high praise, but also never falls to the level of mediocrity. [Jan 2004, p.72]

The problem with Conker: Live and Reloaded isn't so much that it's bad as that it's superfluous. [Sept 2005, p.89]

A better-than-average expansion pack, worth the asking price of thirty greenbacks, but diminished by its lack of real inspiration. [Sept 2003, p.72]

It's nice to see Duke again, and even nicer to have a great modern platform game. [Sept 2002, p.84]

While the actual gameplay doesn't look as nice as it probably could, the sound is well done and the game's commentators have plenty of good quips. [May 2004, p.12]

Luckily, the frustrations can't outweigh the sheer fun of this expansion pack.

It's about as straightforward as an expansion pack gets. There's just more of everything, and one or two minor interface tweaks.

A perfect launching point for anyone new to the series, but it simply isn't worth the steep $30 price tag for anyone who already owns "Starfleet Command Volume II."

There are few games with such radical swings from "amazing" to "sadistic." [Jan 2004, p.64]

While it's true that none of the individual puzzles glue you to the screen like the latest quest in "Star Wars Galaxies" or "Guild Wars" might, it's still frighteningly easy to sink several hours into this ocean before realizing it. [Oct 2005, p.82]

An innovative game that veterans will find to be a refreshing and challenging change of pace. [July 2003, p.82]

Because of the innate appeal of driving over, under, and through other vehicles and buildings, Midtown Madness 2 feels like the best game in the world—for a few days or hours at least.

MVP Baseball 2003 is a superlative pitching interface in search of a better showcase. [July 2003, p.75]

It's still over too quickly, and there's little explanation why you're running around these ruined buildings beating up drug addicts. [Sept. 2006, p.76]

Everything awful about the modern football player is showcased in Blitz: the League. [Dec p.87]

They just made the experience bigger, better, and easier to share with your friends. [Dec p.92]

The actual story is as sad as it is malevolent. [Jan 2006, p.88]

A mediocre game. Madden NFL 06 is the least necessary installment in this classic football series in some time. [Nov 2005, p.70]

It's fairly hard to put a finger on why it all works. [Mar 2004, p.70]

Easily the most accessible and beautiful Trek combat simulator yet. Ultimately, though, it's only a small upgrade from the previous mission. [Feb 2003, p.72]

There just isn't enough new here to make FIFA 07 a worthwhile purchase. [Jan. 2007, p.63]

The generous slathering of nostalgia for the locations and characters of the old arcade games is a treat. [Dec p.93]

A game of moderately tactical chaos. [June 2005, p.55]

With Rise of the Witch-King, EA has officially left precious few licensing stones unturned. [Mar 2007, p.64]

There's enough new stuff to see to last maybe three or four sim lifetimes, which is a pretty good deal for your $35. [July 2006, p.58]

While Earth 2150 clearly takes its inspiration from the best of the RTS breed, it fails to establish any identity that is clearly its own.

It's tough to sum the experience up succinctly except to say that it's probably worthwhile—more so if you are the tolerant type.

It's a guilty pleasure, but a pleasure nonetheless, and as action-adventures go you could certainly do worse.

For longtime fans of the series there simply isn't enough new stuff to get excited about, however, and for every improvement there are missing features and lingering problems that drag the game down.

Quotation forthcoming. [Nov 2005]

It has the setup, but its drab, by-the-numbers execution lacks any flair.