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]