It does the hard stuff that most game neglect so well, but it either phones in or omits entirely the easy stuff. [Sept 2004, p.72]

With this new online mode, it's much easier to admit that you like Metal Gear Solid 3. [July 2006, p.93]

There is very little luck involved, lots of direct conflict, lots of room for both tactical brilliance and strategic planning, and a much more complex rule-set relative to popular American games. [Apr 2006, p.61]

The missions, while varied, are wildly uneven in difficulty, and many are totally unsuited for the sort of unit that you're ostensibly commanding...It is, however, extremely good-looking, great sounding, and very entertaining.

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]

It ups the ante on art and style while taking its attempts at being "cinematic" too seriously. This makes it nearly impossible to ignore the general level of mediocrity to the characterizations, writing, and storytelling despite its mostly solid action. [Jan 2004, p.62]

If you found the original game lacking, this add-on isn't going to change your mind.

May be too complicated for many real-time strategy players and a little too silly for hardcore wargamers. If you don't mind making some compromises in either direction, however, there is ample fun to be had.

O.R.B. has a nearly perfect interface, and its graphic engine renders everything from the wisp of exhaust trails to the imposing bulk of planets with great skill. [Feb 2003, p.76]

The biggest issue is that it runs amazingly slow... [but] for a first edition game, it shows an enormous amount of potential. [Oct 2002, p.80]

With solid netcode, short sharp snappy rounds, and game modes that focus the action without limiting it, this is punishing lethal gunplay at its best. [June 2003, p.75]

But for the time being, this is as close you're going to get to a Pocket Diablo, and that counts for a lot. [May 2006, p.93]

Despite the bugs, this is a great baseball game boasting more than enough improvements to keep you from going back to High Heat 2001.

It's so close to being a masterpiece that you'll inevitably be disappointed, but when you step back and look at the whole instead of focusing on the parts, the one thing that stands out more than save limitations or the lack of configuration is the spectacular action.

The best pure simulation of pool currently available for the PC, but it lacks much in the way of frills and simple user-friendliness and warmth.

Even after five years, it still hurts so good. [May 2006, p.56]

Overall, my two main complaints with Rifles are that it feels too generic and that, despite the delayed development, there's a feeling it was rushed out the door before it was completely polished.

Undoubtedly, Alone in the Dark remains one of the most ground-breaking games of all time... Although the second and third games lack the magic of the first one, the collection remains a treat for any adventure fan.

A good, if slow, game. [July 2005, p.62]

Yet another one of those blandly respectful WWII shooters, with all the reverence for history of a five-day bus tour. [Aug 2005, p.90]

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]

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

Quotation forthcoming. [Nov 2005]

Rounds the original game out nicely, providing a surprisingly un-chilling reception to those burnt out on battle.net. [Feb 2003, p.81]

Something that delivers the goods this fast and with such a high smile-to-trigger-pull ratio will be hard for anyone to put aside for long. [July 2006, p.83]

While it's impossible to overlook the game's unforgiving level of difficulty, it is often very entertaining.

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]

The sense of speed is superb, particularly with the visual assistance. [Feb 2004, p.73]

Hardcore combat sim fans with equally serious hardware and a cast-iron stomach for aspirin will find themselves engrossed in a simulation of incredible depth and subtlety.

Rush for Berlin also puts a time limit on your missions, so you can't just wait around while your soldiers heal or your tanks are repaired. [Oct. 2006, p.76]

Breezy, lightweight entertainment at best. As a quick coffee break-style diversion, the product succeeds well enough.

Summoner's biggest fault is the party AI. Sometimes your party members seem incredibly intelligent; other times they seem to have trouble outthinking the average lab monkey.

It is truly a shame that many clever ideas are obscured by the game's lackluster manual, because its blend of real-time strategy and tactics is an innovative re-working of the genre. [July 2004, p.62]

The most distinctive characteristic of Starship Troopers' gameplay is its immersive quality... In Starship Troopers you feel like a member of the squad. You're not actually in the action yourself (ala Quake) but you'll feel connected to the team.

Dark Corners weaves a spellbindingly scary vibe. [Feb 2006, p.89]

The combat is frequently challenging, especially by the time you get to the second disk, and it certainly sets the game apart from the party-based monotony found in most games of the genre. [Apr 2006, p.90]

It's a fun diversion and an enjoyable game in its own right, but ultimately the emphasis on objectives and challenges grows a bit annoying.

While it's a bit unpolished and repetitive, and resorts to action when tension might be better generated through inaction, it still manages to impress. [Jan 2004, p.80]

There are intermittent slow-downs and brief stoppages during play, particularly during aerial acrobatics. The game seems to prefer Voodoo cards over the NVIDIA line, so you may have better luck if your machine is equipped with Voodoo magic.

But as a hybrid of the two genres, SpellForce has a funky sort of synergy that elevates it above the sum of its ho-hum parts. [May 2004, p.58]

Despite the lack of new jobs in the expansion, and the difficulty of the Promyvion zones, there is plenty of new content to warrant a pickup for any but the newest players. [Jan 2005, p.76]

A solid game, but it isn't terribly original.

The game is so addictive that it's difficult to put down—even though a bug could strike out at any moment, or the screen could turn black, locking up your keyboard and forcing a reboot.

Even if Titan Quest doesn't deliver on its promise to hang out with Homer, this is a cut above the average "Diablo" clone. [Sept. 2006, p.69]

It's a respectable johnny-come-lately, rough edges tempered by its newness and straight-arrow Leave It To Beaver charm. It's beach reading, basically.

Ultimately, incisive humor and caustic personality win out over dicey combat and console-itis. [Oct 2005, p.66]

This latest effort seems mired in a war between greatness and mediocrity—and mediocrity has the upper hand.

While everything doesn't quite pull together as well as it should, there is enough here to interest anyone that enjoys cunning design and challenging puzzles.

It's got the same staying power as a keychain, a stuffed doll, or some other memento from this year's tournament in Portugal. [Aug 2004, p.57]

There's enough good in D&D Online to make it worth recommending, but whether there's enough meat to inspire monthly donations beyond the 30 days that currently come with the box is questionable. [Jun 2006, p.80]

If you don't have DOOM II and you've got a Win95 P90Mhz or above, this is the best version to buy! For beginners, it makes loading those .WAD files as simple as pointing and clicking, and setting up a multiplayer game is just as easy.

Some games—AquaNox, for example—seem like they were made up of leftover game parts and assembled in total darkness by a team of deranged, acid-dropping monkeys...What's really crazy is that, oddly enough, it ain't half bad.

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]

Delivers good, slow-boil tension wrapped around an interesting mystery in an atmospheric setting. [Dec 2003, p.95]

It never really takes off, seeming perpetually stuck in neutral rather than shifting to the higher gear it feels like it should achieve. [Jan 2005, p.64]

Ballistics is, without a doubt, the fastest racer ever made. The game is all about speed. Make that insane speed. Reaching velocities that pop the sound barrier, this is a racing game for adrenaline freaks.

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]

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]

Empires isn't flashy or exotic enough to be crowned the new event horizon of the now officially clogged "historical" real-time strategy wheelhouse, but it's likable and shinier than most. [Feb 2004, p.64]

The campaigns are exceedingly difficult—so difficult they diminish the attraction of the game's solid mechanics.

Quotation forthcoming. [Nov 2005]

A very linear game. Like a puppet on a string, you are pulled along a straight path between cut scenes and have almost no control over the sequence of events. Couple this with a rather short story, and you have a release that provides an excellent entry point for those who are new to video gaming.

If you know what the IRL is about then this game is entertaining, but it's not the definitive IndyCar simulation it seems to want to be. [Jan 2004, p.84]

Over the course of seven games and three acronoyms, the Tony Hawk series has inexorably morphed into the Hot Topic of the videogame universe, a game that glitzily packages and commodifies the skater subculture it glorifies. [May 2006, p.54]

Even with its sometimes infuriating difficulty level (think the last 45-minute-no-break-boss-battle from "Serious Sam"), Bandits is an out-of-left-field action game that satisfies your inner Mel Gibson. [May 2003, p.83]

It's a visually sumptuous treat, with incredibly graphic design and tons of interesting details tucked into every corner. [July 2003, p.73]

Still brutally, brilliantly short. [Jan 2006, p.51]

There's no real AI; soldiers have some behaviors, but everything is as scripted as a presidential debate. [Feb 2005, p.58]

CRC 2005 is that rare racing game that perfectly straddles the stark reality of pure simulations like "Grand Prix Legends" and the more relaxed arcade gameplay of games like "Rally Fusion" [Apr 2006, p.65]

While Wild Arms 4 isn't as wonderfully radical....it still makes returning to the weary world of Filgaia for the fith time far more enervating than it has any right to be. [Apr 2006, p.93]

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

NASCAR Heat's glaring shortcomings rip the believability out of the game after its graphics and driving suck you right in.

It's almost more fun to watch than it is to play.

Contains some of the most fiendishly difficult puzzles imaginable. Even after you understand the solution to many of them, you will probably tear your hair out in frustration trying to solve them. [Mar 2004, p.76]

One of the most interesting gameplay experiences in recent memory. If you enjoy freeform play in a universe where you're just one of many players, it's worth a look.

Yet another one of those blandly respectful WWII shooters, with all the reverence for history of a five-day bus tour. [Aug 2005, p.90]

The expansion levels are uniformly superb in both single and multiplayer. But make no mistake, Desert Siege is for expert players only. [Sept 2002, p.85]

Even though the overall experience is filled with cheesiness, clichés, and dumbed-down antics, that's what makes it fun. Those in favor of quick thrills and instant gratification can't go wrong with this title's campy, supernatural shenanigans.

Crimson Skies comes with a few features that aren't mentioned in the manual, such as hardware compatibility problems that can cause lockups or even make the game impossible to launch on some machines.

Has a lot going for it, though it's not the best introduction to this stellar series, and it doesn't offer quite as much bang for the buck as it should to the existing fanbase. [Sept 2003, p.77]

Quotation forthcoming. [Jan 2005]

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 big dumb completely over-the-top cartoon, the game equivalent of "Red Dawn." Shut off your brain and enjoy the explosive ride. [May 2003, p.70]

The game is short and simplistic, but it provides quick-moving action that suits the game's pulp novel feel—likely just what the game's designers had in mind.

A solid if somewhat yeoman-like sci-fi strategy game. [Mar 2004, p.79]

Gives you a lot of things to do, but it's unlikely to light the old sim fire the way you might remember it. [July 2005, p.64]

It’s this emphasis on 3D exploration, as well as older style of gameplay, that might recommend the game to PC RPG folk, assuming they can get past the heavy-duty anime aesthetic. [Mar 2006, p.86]

The PC controls are so awkward that even when you know what to do and where to go, you find that you really need 360-degree character rotation to avoid staggering drunkenly into certain death. [Mar 2004, p.81]

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

Compensating for the lack of visual variety is the sheer wealth of interesting and engaging play modes. [Jan 2003, p.83]

There is so much to do in this game that if you like space opera strategy, you’ll have to have it... One of the better strategy games of 1996, but one with significant flaws. Good, yes; a classic, no.

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

This is essentially a professional quality modification to “Blitzkrieg”, handled by another Russian developer with ties to original producers Nival Interactive. [Mar 2006, p.61]

Despite its flaws, Blair Witch 1 does an admirable job of sustaining an atmosphere of suspense and horror from start to finish, and for some people that may be worth the price of admission.

The new dual-saber and double-bladed staff make for one hell of a lightshow, but they don't have the strategy and finesse of Jedi Outcast's simpler sabers. [Nov 2003, p.94]

It takes the boardgame rules and faithfully translates them to a format that easily allows for greater complexity; however, War!'s simplicity is a large part of what makes it such a blast to play. [Jan 2004, p.69]

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

The best case for Sims in you pocket is on the DS where the conceit is that you’re running a hotel. [Mar 2006, p.89]