The whole thing feels more like feature creep in a box than an expansion pack. [Mar 2006, p.84]

25 to life sets the gaming bar about as low as it can go. Then trips over it. [Mar 2006, p.82]

A total rush job, from start to all-too-sudden finish. [Feb 2006, p.73]

A few patches from fun. [Feb 2006, p.72]

System-wide bugs, which range from the entertaining (my character did a jumping jack each time he left his office) to the annoying (pathfinding issues) to the aggravating (frequent desktop crashes). [Jan 2005, p.106]

A by-the-numbers blast-a-thon. [Feb 2006, p.71]

X3 sometimes morphs into a derivative on-rails shooter during scripted story missions. [Feb 2006, p.74]

If the VC don't kill you, the pesky game-crashing bugs will. [Feb 2006, p.81]

Besides a game-killing lack of a chat function, Diplomacy's negotiation interface makes it impossible to propose long-term deals, except for the all-encompassing "permanent alliance."

Good lord! This game wasn't created, it was excreted... Basically, you'd have more fun putting starved ferrets in a feedbag and strapping it to your crotch. [Jan 2006, p.46]

Next time, use the million-dollar PVP cash prize to improve gameplay. [Oct 2005, p.78]

You will find mothing but carpal-tunnel-inducing mouse clicking, pointless chitchat, and a stat system that plays out like a shallow "Sims" rip-off. [Oct 2005, p.80]

It looks and plays like it was made by two guys in a basement - which, in fact, it was. [Oct 2005, p.78]

Dungeon Lords is a disaster.

A tedious, tasteless mess. [Aug 2005, p.76]

In the end, though, there's just not enough fruit underneath all the rind. If it's an all-in-one medieval strategy game you're after, just Alt-Tab really quickly between "Medieval: Total War" and "Castles II"--that'll come closer than Stronghold 2 does.

If this game is any indication, the SOG soldiers were blind and deaf, and had the tactical sense of lemmings. [Aug 2005, p.76]

A $20 game that plays like a $10 game. [Aug 2005, p.77]

Proof that not everything made in nine months is a bundle of joy. [Aug 2005, p.78]

Simply without depth. [Aug 2005, p.87]

Like David Hasselhoff's singing career, Settlers is popular in Germany and just sort of barely tolerated elsewhere. [June 2005, p.96]

The game plays a lot like "Sims 2" - just without the charm, animation, possibilities, freedom and, and ability to generate a desire to keep it installed. [Apr 2005, p.84]

WCT barely qualifies as a game, let alone "good." [Aug 2005, p.84]

Winning battles is more a result of mass and aggression than tactical coordination. [March 2005, p.76]

The only thing Legacy leaves you with is a feeling of relief when it's over. [Apr 2005, p.88]

A lot like "Freelancer," only boring and with a monthly fee. [May 2005, p.94]

It's the exact same game you've been playing for about the past four years. Except with ninjas. [Feb 2005, p.81]

Don't expect anything pretty, but with this kind of war game, you basically have to accept that the meat is in the mechanics... Solid, smart, and old. [Apr 2005, p.89]