Outstanding writing combined with a good plot, plenty of content, beautiful graphics, and an engrossing soundtrack place Baldur's Gate II alongside some of the best role-playing games ever created.

Somehow, Rockstar keeps the same old ingredients, adds a handful of new ones, and manages to create a great new recipe. [Feb 2005, p.NP-9]

An adrenaline rush in a box...Everything about this game shouts quality.

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

Satan, your game has arrived. It spits up blood and pisses vinegar. It sprouts horns from its head like the proud minion of evil that it is. It shoots lightning bolts, for cripes' sake. It's a game of pure evil. And even purer entertainment. It's also the best action game on the planet.

Now, however, the game is here, the hype has receded...and we're left appreciating what might be the best role-playing game ever made. [Jun 2006, p.61]

The large cast of characters is unforgettable. Although for the most part they are skeletons in 40s garb, with mask-like faces that can be attributed to Day of the Dead festivities, their personalities render them as distinct and memorable as members of an extremely diverse cast from any fine film.

Despite the rather pale storyline (at least within the game itself), watered-down quests and a fair amount of necessary repetition, Diablo is a must for anyone interested in "just plain fun." Action gamers and RPG-ers alike will be enthralled.

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

A spectacular exercise in cinematic excess, accessible gameplay, and bleeding-edge technology. [June 2005, p.87]

This is easily the best version of Civilization ever made. [Jan 2006, p.52]

This is where we've been waiting Relic to take us, and with Company of Heroes, the company has confirmed what many folks suspected after "Dawn of War". This is a developer whose name belongs alongside Blizzard, Ensemble, and EALA(nee Westwood)when it comes to real-time strategy games. [Nov. 2006, p.71]

The reason to keep coming back for more is the game's online multiplayer component. [July 2004, p.7]

Unreal Tournament 2004 might be the superior product, but "Battlefield Vietnam" is the better game. [June 2004, p.73]

The first computer game to capture the grandeur and epic feel of the "Star Wars" movies... An outstanding, if not perfect, game. It is beautiful to look at, exciting to play, and it takes the RTS genre where no one has gone before.

The elegance and accessibility that BioWare made part-and-parcel of this game should be the future standard for this genre. Don't pass it up. [Feb 2004, p.52]

The soundtrack is inspired, with a heavy emphasis on late-'8s/early '90s rap and alternative rock. [Sept 2005, p.50]

A fantastic story and characters, loads of style, and top-notch production value. [Sept 2002, p.2002]

Putting aside concerns about the campaign structure, Gettysburg! may be the best recreation of Civil War combat (or even just combat) of any game yet released. Sure, some of the hardcore data is missing, and Firaxis chose to eliminate supply issues, but it's amazing how realistic this game feels much of the time.

It may be pointless, and also brilliant, but it’s safe to say there’s nothing quite like The Sims. Its possibilities are endless.

It's ultimately Forza that ends up with the win for its more comlete features and player friendliness. [July 2005, p.85]

Blows away its established rival with outstanding controls and AI so lifelike that you feel like you've just stepped onto the pitch at Old Trafford. [Sept 2004, p.66]

It's scary, it's atmospheric, it has a great plot, and it rewards the thinking player more than the fragaholic.

So good, it makes the rest of the series look downright mediocre. [July 2005, p.52]

Enough staying power to keep you busy for years. [Dec 2004, p.72]

The kind of game that makes it hard to keep a grin off your face. You constantly feel like you're getting away with something you shouldn't.

An outstanding game. It looks great, is very well balanced, and is easy to get started with. The game has more strategy and fewer mouse gymnastics than the average RTS game.

A first person shooter loaded with astounding maps, diverse game styles, great weapons, and the best bots in the business.

It might sit a little short of Transcendence, but at four o'clock in the morning you probably won't even notice.

One of the most impressive sports games on the market today, and arguably the biggest step forward for golf sims since "Links 386." [Feb 2003, p.79]

The weapons feel superb, and are among the best ever featured in a real-world first-person shooter...Where MoH falters a bit is in its multiplayer offerings.

Another great feature of Myth is the terrain: it's truly three-dimensional... The level design is excellent, and the different types of terrain require very different strategies.

Guitar Hero is accessible to anyone that has a classic rock station programmed into his or her car stereo. [Mar 2006, p.93]

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

If you play through the entire thing, side quest after side quest, and if you take advantage of the immense amount of replay-value, you may not need another game this year, except perhaps the expansion pack. Don't desert us now, BioWare.

Likely the best WWII flight action you'll see for some time, and with user made missions and aircraft in the offing, it doesn't get any better than this.

The emphasis on story and involving missions, combined with great visuals, audio, and exceptional control make this a top-notch game.

One of the best character-action-platform games ever made - right alongside "Mario 64." [Feb 2005, p.9]

it just goes to show that not every game has to be an 80-hour sandbox of something for everyone. [Dec p.87]

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]

It is probably one of the hardest action games in quite some time, and requires extremely quick reflexes and skillful gameplay. [Grade = A+; June 2004, p.12]

The Burning Crusade adds some much-needed high level content to a game that had grown pretty stagnant for the Level 60s who spent all day and night dancing in front of the Auction Houses in Ironforge and Orgrimmar. [Apr 2007, p.58]

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.

For those who would rather explore than shoot, this game is cause for celebration.

Extra marks to LucasArts for giving the game an impossibly large number of options... Ignore the story and immerse yourself in the incredible environments - you may never want to come back.

This spectacular golf sim has plenty of the just-one-more-hole mojo that helped classics like "Links 386" turn everyone into insomniacs. [Dec 2004, p.86]

Its refreshing setting, exemplary dialogue and acting, and downright fun game mechanics are a shock to the system.

Perhaps the single most thrilling instance of how far shooters have come. [Sept 2005, p.44]

If you don't mind some weirdness, have a penchant for the macabre, and love the idea of role-playing in a setting where death is a doorway instead of a slammed door, then Planescape: Torment is just what the (witch) doctor ordered.

The last role-playing game you'll ever desire, and at last, the fulfillment of a genre. [Sept 2002, p.68]

Call of Duty is going to turn heads. It looks amazing, the action is fierce, and the multiplayer game is balanced, with plenty of diverse settings. [Jan 2004, p.58]

EA Sports has developed a game for both the adrenaline-addicted Mountain Dew set and the brainiacs who care more about crafting the perfect playbook than actually calling plays. [Nov 2003, p.98]

For any fan of racing and/or handheld games, this is a perfectly laidback combination of user friendly racing and noncommittal handheld gaming. [Mar 2006, p.93]

A phenomenal game that deserves every penny of its inevitable commercial success. In fact, it's far too big for the simple word "game." [Dec 2004, p.90]

Complaints aside, GRAW is possible the best-produced and most engaging entry in the whole Tom Clancy milieu. [Jun 2006, p.89]

It's a brilliant toy but also a jumbled mishmash of original ideas and mundane gameplay that fails to deliver a cohesive single- or multiplayer experience.

Shatters the shackles of mediocrity and stands atop the PC hockey hill as the undisputed king of the genre.

Batting can be a hit or miss experience, however, offering players control over where the ball goes but ultimately making the effort a matter of timing. [June 2004, p.11]

Quotation forthcoming. [Nov 2005]

Despite a few small complaints about inconsistent AI or disappointing Direct3D performance, this is a tremendously entertaining game.

It's overcooked and to slick, through redeemed by the sheer quantity of stuff you can do. [Dec p.90]

Riddled with shifts in tone and action that keep the pace snappy and engaging. It's even got a completely over-the-top distinct finale that makes it worth playing to the end. [March 2005, p.80]

Perfectly captures the epic sweep of the previous games but adds a bunch of new features that improve upon an already brilliant concept. It's superior in every way to "Civilization II"—and for that matter, any game of this type in recent memory.

Batting can be a hit or miss experience, however, offering players control over where the ball goes but ultimately making the effort a matter of timing. [June 2004, p.11]

There's plenty of visceral thrill in wading into the middle of a convoy at night and letting loose with your deck gun. [July 2005, p.64]

The full PDF manual for Allied Force clocks in at 716 pages. [Jan 2006, p.58]

It's hard to think of anything that you might want to do in civilian flight that you can't do here...an incredible piece of software.

To get the most out of GTR 2, you have to be willing to invest a serious amount of time in becoming both a confident and a successful race driver. [Jan. 2007, p.64]

It's overcooked and to slick, through redeemed by the sheer quantity of stuff you can do. [Dec p.90]

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]

Gorgeous, polished, groundbreaking, and a lot of other impressive-sounding adjectives, but it's also chaotic and lacking in the precise micro-management and complex planning that endears many people to the genre.

The unit AI is good enough that you can give broad orders without worrying about your men and monsters doing too many dumb things. [Jan 2003, p.60]

For anyone with an interest in complex, combat-heavy, lovingly produced RPGs, though, Fallout is a must buy. In an age where many are predicting the death of traditional RPGs at the hands of multiplayer extravaganzas, Fallout is a glowing example of the genre, one which positively radiates quality. Fallout – it's da bomb.

If they could have made it into the underpinnings of a stronger combat system, perhaps the other areas of the game where they played it safe wouldn't have seemed so grossly rehashed. [July 2005, p.88]

This is the champagne of tactical wargames, and the best vintage at that. [Jan 2003, p.72]

Unlike previous versions, the home field advantage is huge. [Oct 2004, p.9]

The look of Guild Wars is magnificent. [Aug 2005, p.84]

A beautiful game full of memorable moments, suffering only from a clumsy attempt to mimic the writing style of old detective novels.

The second edition in the legendary sports-sim developer’s new soccer management series is every bit as addictive as it predecessor, which is to say that the damn thing should be investigated by the FDA. [Mar 2006, p.52]

Batting can be a hit or miss experience, however, offering players control over where the ball goes but ultimately making the effort a matter of timing. [June 2004, p.11]

one of the best-looking and wide-open Castlevanias since the series began. [Dec p.93]

This game will definitely bring a smile to your face when that black number three bumps you, just before he takes the lead away from you on your last lap at Daytona.

The whole thing fits together elegantly, quickly becoming intuitive and fluid, which isn't something you can say about many computer wargames... This is traditional wargaming at its best. [Sept 2003, p.81]

One of the best games of the year. It migh t even be the best adventure game of the year. The plot is deep, the characters are brought to life effectively, I haven't found almost any bugs, and they didn't leave anything out.

Gameplay is ultimately what we're interested in, and in this area, Duke is the king. But so what? If 3D Realms really wants to impress us, they can move beyond this type of gameplay.

Despite some rocky stretches, FarCry delivers one of the best action game experiences of recent vintage, a superior blend of technical sophistication and gold old fashioned visceral combat. [June 2004, p.76]

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]

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]

There's more than enough refinement to bring the Descent franchise up to date, and those who liked the first two games will absolutely love Descent 3. Those who didn't really enjoy them won't be converted, though. Ultimately, Descent 3 is "more of the same," but it's MOTS done <I>really well.</I>

In essence, what adds real finesse to Curse of Monkey Island is that no one element screams above the rest for recognition. It possesses that "unity of style" across the board for which everyone strives but so few achieve.

The controls prove the best out of the recent crop of first-person shooters; the hand-to-hand combat system is spectacular. [Sept 2004, p.7]

It looks fantastic, it's a blast to play, and its the best football game out there, period. [Nov 2002, p.89]

A driving game with no damage model and no good reason to stay on the track. [July 2005, p.85]

Nintendo sweetened the pot with what feel like dozens of mini-games, and you're liable to find two or three that can hold your attention. [Sept. 2006, p.81]

A must-have. It's an incredibly beautiful and artistic game that manages to balance eye-candy and gameplay gimmickry with truly solid game design, all paced with perfection. [Mar 2004, p.68]

Players who are wary of all things pecuniary can elect to leave the stock market alone, and those that are truly phobic can opt to play in "sandbox mode" without any competition or monetary concerns at all-kind of a fancy virtual train set. Those that do will be missing out on one of the best features of the game, however.

The challenge and entertainment comes from learning about flying, recreating historic flights, and plain old barnstorming. [Nov 2003, p.90]

All 14 new planes are superbly detailed inside and out, with intricate virtual cockpits and comprehensive damage models...With Microsoft's patch (included with the game) and FirePower, "Combat Flight Simulator 3" goes from an also-ran to a top-notch simulation. [May 2004, p.66]