The insanely high upkeep costs involved in maintaining new cities, coupled with the dubious payoff of repetitive alien attacks, will probably drive more than a few entrepreneurs back to the friendlier phantasmagoria of "Shadowlands." [Jan 2005, p.67]

Even a game with outstanding eventual depth needs to give players some evidence early on that rewards will eventually apprear. [Mar 2004, p.69]

The weapons are uninspired, as are the levels, and the enemies are just barely smart enough to move toward you and attack. [Sept 2005, p.49]

A perfect example of trying too much an doing nothing in a particularly standout way. [Sept 2004, p.63]

This is more a sop to the converted than an effort to appeal to those who have given up. [Dec. 2006, p.78]

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]

There's not much here that's more challenging than slicking your hair into a Pierce Brosnan pompadour. [Feb 2006, p.93]

This Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Columbo meets Medium concept shows potential, but, in the end, Daemonica only creates disappointment. [Sept. 2006, p.75]

Too long and uninspiring to hold your attention. The game would have been far more entertaining with half as many levels. More can be better...but only if it's good.

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

It's less punishing than "1503 A.D." and not as insufferably cute as "The Settlers." It has none of the depth of "Children of the Nile" or its Impressions predecessors. And it's as mildly entertaining and ultimately forgettable as it sounds. [Feb 2005, p.71]

The only thing separating it from, say, another dystopian gadget-heavy sci-fi shooter like "Project: Snowblind" is the marketing budget. [Feb 2006, p.85]

Despite the superficial resemblance to “Rome: Total War”, Legion Arena is just the latest 3D version of the same simple wargame the developer has been peddling for a while. [Mar 2006, p.55]

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]

If you feel like a little frenetic shooting and don't really care if it makes any sort of cohesive sense, then you won't feel bad about picking up this title. [July 2004, p.67]

That it comes up short isn't too much of a shock; if anything, the fact it holds up as well as it does is perhaps the bigger surprise. [Feb 2004, p.68]

The board game format gives it a bit of randomness, and despite there being almost no challenge, it's still a surprisingly amusing diversion. [May 2003, p.87]

Let's be kind and say that it looks lovely in its plumed cap of mediocrity. [Feb 2004, p.84]

The sort of game that screams, "average!" at every turn. [March 2005, p.83]

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]

The problem with Conker: Live and Reloaded isn't so much that it's bad as that it's superfluous. [Sept 2005, p.89]

All the complexity and depth of a frying pan.

The game certainly looks interesting in pictures, and the soundtrack is psychedelically soothing. All it's missing is entertaining play. [Dec. 2006, p.74]

Little more than a shooting gallery, especially in single-player mode. [Feb 2006, p.88]

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]

Unfortunately, the game's most consistently medieval aspect remains its interface. [Jan 2004, p.74]

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

It has entertainingly plausible physics, thoroughly annoying (though realistic) sounds, and solid controls... Enjoyable in short bursts. [May 2003, p.86]