Despite the lack of satire and occasional lack of sense, the game is mostly playable. However, the interface and the odd bugs make it a chore. [July 2006, p.65]

What a mess. Even when it's not baffling, Big Biz Tycoon gets completely bogged down in thoroughly not-fun minutia. [Sept 2002, p.83]

Just buy it on DVD and leave it at that. [Apr 2007, p.71]

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]

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

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

The incomplete A.I. and numerous bugs indicate that somebody was more concerned with getting the game on shelves before Christmas than providing a finished product. [Apr 2004, p.68]

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]

One of those half-baked ports of a console game that someone figured might squeeze a few bucks out of PC owners. [Feb 2004, p.77]

Primal Hunt is a collection of annoying "Quickload" moments resulting in a thoroughly annoying game. [Nov 2002, p.84]

One final warning to keep you from you buying this game: The sound effect you hear when you gulp a potion is a squeak akin to fingernails scraping a chalkboard or the running of unoiled machinery. [Jan. 2007 p.62]

There's a way to remake "Pac-Man" for the 21st century, but it probably involves realistic weapons, stealth, full frontal nudity, and/or Nazi zombies. [Oct 2002, p.81]

Overall, you'd be better off just going to see the movie again. [March 2005, p.85]

Ironically, the real sorrow of Seven Sorrows is how laughably, arrogantly short it is: two players can easily finish the entire campaign on the hardest setting in a night. [Mar 2006, p.91]

Do yourself a favor and forget this Keepsake. [Sept. 2006, p.76]

The lack of polish is most obvious in the awful pacing and terrible controls. [Feb 2006, p.62]

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]

A port of a three-year old Swedish game called "Svea Rike III," a lighter precursor to the original "Europa Univsersalis" with weaker AI, sparse strategic options, and an unfriendly hotkey-heavy interface. [Dec 2003, p.95]

Offers a quick toot of dopey euphoria, followed by twitching hours of comedown and regret. [July 2005, p.90]

Never has contract killing, extortion, and prostitution seemed so pointless. [June 2004, p.78]

There is a nice mix of unit types including heroes and the game even gives you spells to cast, but the AI is so poor and the presentation so lazy you'd be much better off buying the boardgame from an import store.

Simply isn't interesting enough to merit sticking it out that long.

The much-touted "realism" vanishes entirely once you get to the military phase of the game. [March 2005, p.87]

It's crude, lewd, incompetently produced, and generally behaves like an ill-mannered 12-year-old. [Oct 2005, p.69]

Pure blah from the opening missions in snowy Stalingrad to the last hurrah on the beaches of Normandy. [Jan 2004, p.67]

New year, same old arcade b-ball. [Jan 2006, p.61]

Divided Nation is a step backward. It's a journey to the past in more ways than one, and not an interesting trip at all. [Oct. 2006, p.73]

To get an accurate sense of what playing Star Wars: Battle for Naboo is like, find a heavy object and bash yourself over the head with it.