The first and most troublesome problem that you encounter in the game is the miniscule size of the player community. [Dec 2003, p.85]

Gives you so many intriguing possibilities, it's fairly engaging even when no fighting's going on. [Mar 2003, p.79]

Battle Out of Hell isn't an essential expansion, but it provides some good practice and motivation to try to unlock everything on some of those original levels. [Feb 2005, p.62]

The cow is missing a lot of the inscrutability - and therefore personality - had in the last game. [Jan 2006, p.49]

It's a modern-day "Spy Hunter", minus the oil slicks and smoke screens, and it's both repetitive and difficult, but in a very old-school "Ghosts 'n Goblins" way that makes it perfect for portable gaming. [Jun 2006, p.93]

Hamstringing Jedi and spaceships to accommodate a medieval, land-based combat system was the easy way out—a capitulation.

If you like big bangs, you'll get unlimited enjoyment when nuclear explosions pepper the late game carnage and shake the entire screen with powerful force. Along with this visual feast, audible devastation also drives the scene.

If you're an action-RPG fan, you definitely don't want to miss this one. [July 2004, p.6]

It's incredibly hard and repetitive, and the stealth gaming is incredibly simple. [Aug 2004, p.59]

Even with the negatives described here, SiN Episodes 1:Emergence is a hard game to critique because it isn't complete. [Sept. 2006, p.59]

The player guild experience is the Shadowbane experience. Get involved with a good one and depth of gameplay becomes clear. Get involved with a bad one and you'll never get past the same old monster farming you've seen before. [July 2003, p.68]

Once you break yourself of the mindset that trade is about money and that taxes are for a treasury, you find this new way of playing much more satisfying. [Feb 2005, p.68]

The Typing of the Dead really shows how anything can be improved by adding "…of the Dead" to it. Just think of "Windows XP of the Dead," or "Civilization III of the Dead."

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.

The Trials areras are colorful, imaginative, and cleverly designed with fantastic monsters and wonderful architecture. [Apr 2004, p.71]

The number of levsls has shrunk with the rest of the package, a bummer revelation that casts a minor cloud on this tropical beach party. [July 2006, p.89]

Left unattended, they are pale shadows of their more vibrant PC counterparts. They seem more vacant and literally dispossessed. [Feb 2006, p.91]

Left unattended, they are pale shadows of their more vibrant PC counterparts. They seem more vacant and literally dispossessed. [Feb 2006, p.91]

Couple this sort of tension with the cerebral challenge of building a hacking career and you've got a game that makes crime pay. [July 2003, p.87]

Quotation forthcoming. [Nov 2005]

A memorable fight. [Aug 2004, p.7]

If you played the original, expect more of the same real-time tactical gameplay with a few new units to use along wthe way. [Sept 2004, p.75]

And it's another clever import from Japan that will remind you why you're not done with your Gamecube just yet. Last generation talent will always trump next-gen technology. [May 2006, p.90]

Screws you in the end with a serious cliffhanger that doesn't actually reveal all the game's secrets. [Aug 2005, p.78]

The one area where the game can be a bit of fun is in the multiplayer mode, in which you can play with up to seven other players and still part take in some of the surreal arcade action while zapping around the attic in a Hurricane.

Although the anhancements are certainly welcome, spotty AI and blatant computer cheating make it impossible to appreciate the game as a whole. [Jan 2003, p.84]

Has very strong and very weak points, and much of the time the urge to see what's around the next corner only barely surpasses the urge to throw your hands up and walk away. [Feb 2004, p.76]

Super Princess Peach...an unremarkable platformer that plays like an introduction to the genre. [Jun 2006, p.91]

While veterans of the SRPG wars might be disappointed at the lack of challenge, this is the perfect introduction to the genre. [July 2005, p.89]

Just Cause adds some crazy skydiving, car surfing, and a grappling hook that lets you parasail, but its storyline missions are kind of dull and predictable. [Jan. 2007, p.72]

An addictive game that's quick to play, easy to learn, delightfully detailed, and almost infinitely replayable. [Oct 2002, p.72]

The combination of fully adjustable flight parameters and complex 3D plane-editing tools turns X-Plane into the best "what-if" sim on the market. [May 2004, p.67]

As long as you approach it with an understanding that the process is much better than resolution, Missing is one of the most gratifying adventure games you can play. [Oct 2004, p.82]

One of those games that never realize their full potential because of design miscues. [Jan 2006, p.47]

The problems with Sam have nothing to do with the bad guys; there's a lot of them, and they're all weird. [Jan 2006, p.42]

Despite a name that sounds like a new blend at Starbucks, there's a lot to like about Shadowgrounds. [Oct. 2006, p.70]

it's ultimately just another tactical shooter to throw on the growing pile of games that make you truly appreciate your mouse and keyboard. [Dec p.92]

Combined with the recent God of War, a pattern seems to be developing: the gifts Ares bestows come at the cost of a clad torso. [Dec p.88]

The story and setting have some charm, and there's plenty of content along the way. [Dec p.90]

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]

By the end, even if you've blasted your way through the entire game in under ten hours, you get a strange sense of years having elapsed not far removed from an absinthe hangover. [Aug 2004, p.54]

The perfect arcade classic package for hardcore retro gamers, parents looking for something simpler and less disturbing for kids and, of course, thirty-somethings looking to recapture a little of their past glory.

One of its most remarkable accomplishments is the way gunfights play out like gunfights rather than shooting galleries. [July 2003, p.88]

Second Manassas is not a surprise; it's testimony that these guys know what they are doing. [July 2006, p.67]

It's brilliant and obscure and like all the best satire, you probably don't even know that it's laughing at you. [Oct 2005, p.88]

Unfortunately, unless Crypto's race is looking to harvest tedium and repetition from our earthly minds, he's better off just harassing than destroying them. [Sept 2005, p.90]

But, more than any other adventure game, Evidence puts you in a darkly atmospheric world: part fiction, part history, part reality. [Feb. 2007, p.70]

Forgettable. [Sept 2003, p.82]

The writers spent so much time copying classic LucasArts adventures that they forgot to make the game enjoyable on its own. [Feb. 2007, p.74]

It appeals to a man's primal (well, juvenile, at any rate) need to blow stuff up, that part of the pre-adolescent male psyche that puts fireworks in model airplanes, melts GI Joes, and burns down popsicle stick cabins.

This add-on won't win over any new converts, but it will keep the old ones happy. That is what expansions are really all about.

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

Kingdoms doesn't blow open the walls of the RTS genre, it just bends them outwards a bit.

Bright, colorful, and absurdly caroon-y, Worms 3D is great fun to watch. [Aug 2004, p.64]

Despite the amount of promise left unfulfilled in this second add-on, House Party will be a welcome addition if you are still actively nurturing your sims.

But there's just too little substance to recommend this to anyone but the "gotta catch 'em all" motorcycle nut. [July 2006, p.87]

When the missions remain outdoors, Hidden & Dangerous stays fun. It's when you have to go into houses that it begins to fall apart.

In the end, the thing you remember most isn't the graphics engine, the nifty spell and item construction, or even the awful voice acting; it's the frustration of slogging through a poorly balanced game that substitutes saving and reloading for gameplay.

Even though it's a sequel, or maybe because it's a sequel, there's really nothing new here. Start with a ship of goods, three hours later you have a thriving sixteenth century metropolis crawling with busy citizens. [June 2003, p.86]

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]

The most detailed and elaborate simulation of its type, a game whose sheer scope makes it compelling even if it hasn't changed much over the years. [Jan 2003, p.76]

What sets Cossacks apart from other games is its spectacular visuals and its attention to historical detail.

The limited campaign, awkward interface, and other niggling issues result in a gme that even sim fanatics will have to work to like. [Nov 2005, p.71]

It's the kind of racing game you might fire up just to find out what happens next, rather than to go once more around the track. [July 2003, p.81]

Feels like a breath of fresh air, an unpretentious and stupidly entertaining little game that has little grasp of reality but delivers serious fun. [Oct 2004, p.83]

It just plods along in mediocrity from start to finish, smiling contently all the way. And there's nothing innately wrong with that. There just isn't anything innately right with it either. [July 2004, p.58]

The only problem is that each episode is getting easier. The episode is still worth $8, though barely so. [Apr 2007, p.68]

An uninspired effort, the kind of competent, workmanlike, and by-the-numbers type of product Hollywood itself churns out. [Sept 2003, p.85]

The dullness of the story, the combat, and the character development ultimately overshadow the game's main draw. [Sept 2005, p.88]

It's a cute idea in the age of SARS and avian bird flu, but the real draw is the Petit-Guinol gore. [Feb 2006, p.93]

Quotation forthcoming. [Nov 2005]

The truly shocking thing about Nemesis is that it is, for all intents and purposes, identical to "Celtic Kings," with the only noticeable improvement being the name. [July 2004, p.64]

Koios Works is building the best ancient wargames since the "Great Battles" series of the late nineties. [Aug 2005, p.74]

Caesar IV deserves an ovation, if not a triumphal procession, for merely reminding people what a good historical city sim looks like. [Jan. 2007, p.68]

You can finish the entire single-player game in a single evening, with time left over to take a dinner break, watch an hour or two of television, and then turn in early. Some demos are longer. [Feb 2003, p.75]

Forget technology trees - this game has a technology forest that spans 17 pages. [Sept 2002, p.85]

If your teammates are dumb, the enemy is positively moronic. "Braindead" doesn't begin to describe the terrorists you'll face.

The series still sims seasons faster than any other game out there, making it a quick and entertaining play for wannabe Billy Beans. [Aug 2005, p.79]

What's truly satisfying is these games make history entertaining. [June 2005, p.90]

Until things change, this series is treading water, and it's a tough sell at $40. [Jan. 2007, p.53]

If you are entertained by style alone, this game may be right up your alley. If you also want truly challenging puzzles and combat that rewards creativity, however, you may be a bit disappointed.

It's very short, and can be beaten in a matter of hours, but at $20, it's an excellent buy as it is inspired, and engaging. [Aug 2004, p.70]

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.

While it functions properly, Motor City Online simply doesn't have anything that makes it worthwhile as an online game... All of the things that make it "online" add up to fluff.

Anyone looking to quickly dismiss it as just another ripoff in the same vein as "MTV Sports: Skateboarding Featuring Andy Macdonald" had better take a long second look, as this game is a great experience in its own right.

While the game is not very impressive when it comes to graphics, it makes up for it with goofy character designs and brightly colored backgrounds. [June 2004, p.12]

Pokemon fans will indeed enjoy the game, but there's nothing here for anyone else. [July 2004, p.6]

Seems like more work than play. [Sept 2005, p.53]

It's goofy, satisfying, and unapologetically drenched in hilarious M-rated cussing, blood and ragdollery. [Sept. 2006, p.81]

The techincal aspects of Sonic Heroes are handled well, with the exception of the camera and voice work. In fact, the camera is worse than "Mario 64's" (and that's saying a lot) and the voice acting is downright repulsive. [Apr 2004, p.9]

Left unattended, they are pale shadows of their more vibrant PC counterparts. They seem more vacant and literally dispossessed. [Feb 2006, p.91]

There's a lot of physics to encourage you to turn over tables and throw things, but your time is almost always better spent just shooting. [July 2005, p.90]

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]

They're made something complex and sophisticated and then locked most of it away under a dazzling imaginative front end. [Feb 2003, p.74]

While Sheep isn't a good choice for the die-hard fragger on your shopping list, puzzle fans, Monty Python lovers, bad punsters, and anyone with fond memories of Lemmings will find hours of challenging fun within this appealingly ridiculous game.

You control territories: It's like a much more fleshed-out version of the gang warfare in "San Andreas". [Jan. 2007, p.72]

Resurrecting a long-dead style of gameplay--the kind requiring pen and paper as well as a mouse and keyboard--AGON creates a surprisingly tense, engaging mystery about an ancient boardgame once played all over the world. [Oct. 2006, p.72]

It's best suited for those who are already familiar with "Warhammer", as there is a lot here to make a diehard grin from ear to ear. [Feb. 2007, p.60]