The game isn't at all involving, with its poor sound and graphics and nonsensical story. There just isn't anything to drive the player along. [Oct 2003, p.95]

A mediocre to average game with just enough in the way of innovations and highlights to make it worth a look. [Sept 2003, p.79]

Suffers from crippling lack of polish, content, and forethought. [Nov 2003, p.93]

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]

This game is beautiful to look at and is, at times, photorealistic. [Oct 2003, p.94]

You have to be jonesing for a decidedly old school arcade experience to appreciate Air Raid, and even then, it's fun for maybe 20-30 minutes at a time, if not in total. [Nov 2003, p.101]

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]

The connection to other players is too abstract to make the game anything more than a vaguely interesting and simple business simulation. [Oct 2003, p.92]

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]

The problem is that it's not very good action. The whole game has a tired feel to it. [Oct 2003, p.84]

Players who tried "Tribunal" and found it enjoyable but a bit underwhelming, this second expansion is easily the best of the bunch, leapfrogging even the original for buffed-up playability. [Sept 2003, p.70]

When getting yourself wet, your vehicle seems intent on steering itself, making what you are really trying to do more difficult than it should be. [Mar 2004, p.82]

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

This is as unconventional as a conventional real-time strategy game can probably get, at onece like everything and nothing you've ever played. [July 2003, p.66]

Value is largely subjective, but PlanetSide does offer numerous perks that you won't find in other games: fast servers, no cheating, larger battles (much larger) with more strategy, more socialization, and a system that makes it extremely easy to meet and play with friends. [Aug 2003, p.82]

It makes the mistake of being repetitive and, worse of all, boring. [Aug 2003, p.86]

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

Forgettable. [Sept 2003, p.82]

It's the type of game experience everyone asks for but rarely receives. [Aug 2003, p.82]

A seriously lame expansion. [Sept 2003, p.87]

By adding interesting new units, rules, and a unique campaign, it defines what all expansions should be - not just more of the same, but rather an entirely new way to play an established game. [Aug 2003, p.84]

It all comes down to you and a rock, floating together in space, with all the action and serene beauty of the docking sequence from "2001." Play some Strauss and go make another sandwich. [Sept 2003, p.78]

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]

Such an absolute mess that even die-hard fans should avoid the temptation. [Aug 2003, p.89]

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]

It plays sort of like "Team Fortress" on crack, with a lot of visual flash provided by a new version of the Lithtech engine, but not a lot of substance when it comes to gameplay. [Sept 2003, p.86]

Once you've exhausted your ability to be offended, what's left is a sloppily made and at-best mediocre game. [July 2003, p.70]

Doesn't come through with enough swashbuckling, ship-boarding flair. For all the many improvements in this sequel, it still has many of the same fundamental problems of the first game. [July 2003, p.74]

A perfect example of how cheap ports don't help anymore. First and foremost, the port has no multiplayer at all. None, nada, zippo. [July 2003, p.78]

An experience that while extremely intense, is difficult for all the wrong reasons and ultimately more frustrating than genuinely enjoyable. [June 2003, p.80]

The main game is still a victim of its own atrocious pacing and doesn't hold up well alongside offerings like "Splinter Cell" and "No One Lives Forever 2." [July 2003, p.72]

An understated, thoughtful game that is highly replayable and continually challening - the sort of game that will still be on your hard drive when all the other games you are playing right now are gathering dust on a shelf. [June 2003, p.78]

Unfortunately, like a TV show, when the game's over, it's over. [Nov 2003, p.101]

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]

While it has personality, it's often homely, and despite the welcome addition of a bit of sleaze, it focuses on the more mundane parts of running a casino. [Sept 2003, p.87]

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

If you're new to immensely detailed simulation games, Restaurant Empire might be frustrating, but it's very accessible, since you can lower the difficulty until you get the hang of it. [July 2003, p.80]

It gets the feel of the character right, and while the levels and controls can become annoying at times, most of the gameplay - particularly when fighting - is entertaining. [July 2003, p.82]

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]

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

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]

A dark, thrilling, and ultimately satisfying wargame, so long as you don't think too hard about the carnage and terror that accompanied the real-world event. [July 2003, p.76]

A dry exercise in bald number twiddling. What's worse is that it's hardly any different from the first Interstellar Trader. [July 2003, p.81]

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]

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

Problems with artificial intelligence cause foes to run in one place, refuse to shoot you at point-blank range, and opt out of taking cover. [July 2003, p.86]

Making a short game is less of a sin than padding one with endless combats of attrition. [Nov 2003, p.98]

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

Enclave isn't a clever game, nor is it an ambitious one... If your looking for a quality fantasy beat-em-up with more brawn and beauty than brains, it's a winning choice. [May 2003, p.81]

Considering the thin gameplay and locked content, it shouldn't be any surprise that Operation Genesis is a console port. [June 2003, p.81]

An intense and unrelenting stealth shooter, and it treats its subject matter with respect. [July 2003, p.85]

If you want to run a franchise and delve into all of the other options that the game offers, the horrid interface combined with the franchise mode shortcomings make it impossible to recommend. [June 2003, p.86]

An accessible, action-packed outer space role-playing game with plenty of personality and a marvelous online component. [May 2003, p.74]

The Gladiators means well, but in the end, it exists only as chewing gum for the eyes and should be factored into any gaming budget or scheduled accordingly. [May 2003, p.80]

A solidly entertaining stealth game, but its emphasis on puzzle-like level design, and an unforgiving difficulty level makes it as frustrating as it is entertaining. [June 2003, p.82]

The new pilots are smarter, making for more challenging - and more convincing - air combat. [June 2003, p.76]

Remains the best game on the market for simulating fictional leagues and playing in a multiplayer league with friends, but after five versions, it's time to focus more on fixing what's broken rather than adding more features. [July 2003, p.86]

The developers have hand-placed absolutely everything, robbing the whole game of any sense of exploration or freedom. [June 2003, p.85]

The additions are more serviceable than inspiring. [June 2003, p.87]

As you spend more time with the game, you realize that much of it is out of your control, thanks to the most annoying and unpredictable AI since HAL 9000. [May 2003, p.76]

Once it gets started, the tension on each level is practically unbearable, and the final room of the final level provides the perfect ending to a game that sneaks up on you and never lets go. [Apr 2003, p.72]

A nightmarish collection of bad ideas, bottom barrel production values, and exists only to steal $19.99 from the pockets of passionate Civil War fans that deserve better. [July 2003, p.86]

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]

The result is four cool-looking monsters running through poorly rendered cities that blow up blandly, and arcade thrills nowhere near the level achieved by equally mindless arcade coin-ops 20 years ago. [May 2003, p.85]

But be warned, this isn't a beer and greasy snack-style arcade racing game - this is the real deal, as intense, deep, and accurate a simulation as exists on your computer. [May 2003, p.78]

One of the deepest and most addictive racing experiences availalbe for any platform. [May 2003, p.84]

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 AI in the aging "Half-Life" was better; the sond in "Medal of Honor" blows this away; and the cut scenes and exposition in the "No One Lives Forever" series leave this in the dust. [Apr 2003, p.68]

The stars of the show here are clearly the new maps. It's as if the team at Digital Illusions discovered exactly what everyone like about the game and created new battlefields made to directly stimulate the adrenal gland of its players. [May 2003, p.73]

There isn't anything painfully awful about Highland Warriors, but there's very little to get overly excited about. [May 2003, p.82]

Because the game adheres so much to real-world city-building, it's harder and harder to build the city of your dreams. [Apr 2003, p.76]

Boredom becomes a factor partly because of a limited number of combinations with which to experiment. [Apr 2003, p.78]

It's a game about nothing... It's a world entirely in the hands of its players, so the possibilities for creativity and expansion are virtually endless. [Apr 2003, p.74]

It's incredibly good-looking and very LEGO-esque, and that's always a good thing. [May 2003, p.87]

It has terrific graphics, better sound and music (the LEGO songs are great), and surprisingly entertaining gameplay. [May 2003, p.87]

It offers all the epic space opera milieu of a game like Master of Orion but none of the micromanagement.

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

An amusing waste of eight hours for adventure game fans, but other than its core gimmick of solving a murder before it happens, it's something we've all seen before. [May 2003, p.86]

The mippy-mappy goodness of the new graphics system makes you just shake your head in awe at some of the landscapes and creatures. [Apr 2003, p.71]

The whole thing has a "what the hell is going on here?" sensibility that never lets up, even after the game is over. [Feb 2003, p.70]

In the end, Shadowflare simply becomes a chore, lacking any depth or flair that might justify the heat energy spent in the mouse clicking. [Mar 2003, p.88]

Outside of its swanky opening credit sequence and the appearance of the classic Bond theme throughout, it lacks any sense of style or sophistication. [Feb 2003, p.66]

Has something for everyone who has a joystick connected to his computer. [Mar 2003, p.83]

An ambitious mess, a noble mess, certainly a well-intentioned mess, but ultimately a mess nontheless. [Mar 2003, p.78]

A lame expansion... Towers, cars, and six worlds. These are the sort of additions that belong in a patch. [May 2003, p.79]

A good idea gone wrong... A fantastic notion tht deserves much, much better execution than is displayed here. [Mar 2003, p.90]

Really just a glorified scenario collector. [Mar 2003, p.85]

A technically excellent, but ultimately shallow and mechanical, experience. [Mar 2003, p.77]

At its core, Archangel is all self-absorbed scenario development, and endless circle-strafe packed to its pimpy neck witih occult imagery and amateurish design. [Mar 2003, p.84]

It's move to 3D makes for an attractive, enjoyable, and relatively easy game, at least until everything comes to a screeching halt during the awful boss battles. [Feb 2003, p.79]

It will take at least a full game or two (or three) before you have any idea what you are doing, but even before you learn the ropes, Europa 1400: The Guild is strangely addictive. [Apr 2003, p.85]

There is a great deal of depth in the game's history for the developers to build on, and a great deal of depth in the skill system for players to explore. [Mar 2003, p.82]

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]

The game plays as if it's on a cocaine buzz... It's packed with non stop dunks, supersonic fast breaks, and point guards that block three-pointers with relative ease. [Feb 2003, p.84]

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

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]

Considering that the AI seems modeled after a hybrid of suicidal human wave tactics and bumper cars, it's hard to make any sense out of whatever paper/rock/scissors system Zuxxez was trying to create in the name of historical authenticity. [Mar 2003, p.81]

But for every warm fuzzy old-school feeling it invokes, there's an annoying old-school counterbalance, including a litany of bugs (some of whihch have been patched) and a tired, predictable plot. [Jan 2003, p.70]