If you've recently discovered a fetish for selling barrels of picked herring, there is no game better than Patrician III. [Feb 2004, p.89]

If the C&C faithful really build up a strong multi-player community, this game could be a must-buy in a month or two. [May 2002, p.73]

It can take a long time to earn enough money to explore beyond the initially accessible towns. But once you have a nice fleet at your command, it's a continually engaging experience. [Dec 2004, p.98]

Here in beats the heart of a classic.but casual simmers should wait and see if patches fix the problems.

Decent combat system, good-looking engine, mediocre scenario design.

Could have been great. Instead, it's a near miss - a great idea poorly presented and inadequately explained. And that ain't my bag, baby. [Dec 2004, p.94]

For $35, you get a ton of replayability plus new downloadable planes and campaigns each month. For those who don't mind abstraction in the name of fun, DIF is a must-have.

While the game starts off strong, its personality steadily dribbles away, leaving you feeling you've played enough of it and never need to play it again. [Apr 2003, p.102]

After spending a few hours online scouring for a populated server or losing thanks to bad leadership, players will ultimately lose interest—and we'll be left to lament Savage's unrealized potential.

It's not my favorite expansion - that would be "Hot Date" - but it adds enough of a twist to justify spending another 30 bucks. [July 2002, p.80]

It falls into this trap, sacrificing gameplay and strategic choice for the "drama" of heavy scripting. [Mar 2003, p.109]

This roller coaster occasionally stalls and has some long stretches that could have used a corkscrew or even a slight bank. [Feb 2005, p.80]

Disappointment is the litany of B&W2. As an evil god, I can build prisons and worse...but why? There's no payoff. Pointless minigames that eschew the game's central morality conflict end up being stupid, insulting, and/or infuriating.

Fun, pure and simple. And it does a nice job of recreating all the glorious conflict and warfare of the Star Wars saga. [Mar 2002, p.82]

There's never a sense that you could make your way through a level based purely on your own sense of ingenuity and improvisation. [July 2004, p.76]

Shadowbane has jolted much-needed new life into the massively multiplayer genre - a genre that was showing every sign of being drowned in a flood of derivative games. It's a brave attempt at something new, and it succeeds. [July 2003, p.70]

Everything from basic commerce to trade has been significantly revamped. [Jan 2005, p.105]

Incredibly addictive. [Jan 2002, p.110]

It doesn't seem quite as good as the first Spider-Man game from Activision. [August 2002, p.74]

At a high level and still playing? Grab it. At a low level or just thinking about playing? Skip it. [Feb 2004, p.81]

The A.I. in this year's version is so lame, it may be a step backward. [Feb 2003, p.90]

A really good game hampered by the same pesky bugs and problematic A.I. as the original. [Feb 2004, p.78]

The brilliant game design endures, like a sweet-smelling rose atop a giant mountain of dung. [Oct 2002, p.106]

As a simulation of the full flying experience, this one-man project can't compete with the refinement of "FS2004," but for the tinkerer or virtual pilot looking for unique flying experiences, it's a fun toolkit to dive into. [Ver 7.40; Apr 2004, p.93]

The only thing missing from this great, innovative puzzle game: an ending. [Oct 2004, p.78]

Sam II's wild, random charm makes for a twisted Duke Nukem meets Alice in Wonderland sort of roller coaster ride-a perfect change of pace from the scads of grim 'n' gritty shooters steeped in WWII war zones and dystopian postapocalyptic futures. Just don't take it too seriously, OK?

In the played-out field of fantasy real-time-strategy games, SpellForce rises above the muck with ambition, a few original gameplay touches, and some truly spectacular graphics. [May 2004, p.80]

Despite the patient sneaking this game encourages, Contracts seems a little rushed. [Aug 2004, p.73]

While it’s fun to go back in time for a little while, I found my attention flagging after a few rounds of each game. [Jan 2002, p.96]

While it delivers a much better Vietnam combat experience than you might expect, the graphics can be problematic. [July 2003, p.76]

The bimbo of graphic adventure games: both pretty and stupid... When the puzzle solutions aren't illogical, they're horrifically repetitive. [Dec 2003, p.129]

Delivers the best World War II real-time gaming experience to date. [Aug 2003, p.88]

The missions are interesting and, let’s face it, every once in a while, it’s a cathartic blast to wade into the middle of swarms of bad guys and teach them the folly of opposing truth, justice, and the American way. [Mar 2002, p.91]

If only the camera system were half as responsive as the bad guys are. [July 2003, p.89]

You'd think jumping would be precisely tuned in a game about accuracy, but here, it feels like a crapshoot. [May 2004, p.85]

The dated visuals won't grab you, but the game's depth keeps things interesting if not addicting. [June 2003, p.98]

An exciting mud-splattering ride, a comprehensive off-track world, and an approachable price point. [Jan 2003, p.126]

A good game, if not ground-breaking like the original. [Jan 2003, p.108]

A diamond in the rough. [Oct 2005, p.80]

Lame story, lame racing, lame A.I. - lame game. [July 2003, p.86]

What's worse than a mediocre piece of shareware? Answer: a $30 retail game that looks and plays like a mediocre piece of sharware. [Oct 2004, p.81]

Sacred is about as close as a game can get to being "Diablo" without getting lawyers involved. [July 2004, p.73]

Easily the best implementation of a major comic-book character in a game yet... Finally, a game that lets you club your enemies with other enemies. [Sept 2003, p.98]

There's no base building or tedious resource harvesting. Instead, there's tedious resource trafficking. [July 2004, p.74]

The A.I. remains pretty predictable, so most of the single-player challenge is due to the A.I.'s larger armies. Worst of all, there's no PBEM. With battles lasting for hours, multiplayer games are just too difficult to coordinate and play.

Dying repeatedly to learn the magic path can get tiresome, even in a short game. [Feb 2003, p.81]

A complete game experience that's compelling, if sometimes unwieldy. [August 2002, p.79]

If simulating multiple seasons in a sitting is your dream, this is your game. [Aug 2005, p.85]

It believably simulates the pro game, and for a text game, that's the most important thing. [June 2004, p.81]

It’s unfortunate, but the experience – at least for now – is awkward, plodding, and, worst of all, inconsistent. [Mar 2002, p.76]

Trying to please hardcore and casual strategy gamers, Cossacks II satisfies neither. [Aug 2005, p.87]

If only the bugs weren't as deep as its design. [July 2002, p.68]

It has the same kind of addictive magic, suspense, and excitement that the X-Com games had, with the bonus of devious human minds in place of stilted A.I. [June 2003, p.88]

Offers exhilarating combat in a fantastic setting. [Feb 2003, p.85]

Just like the last Blitzkrieg. No, really. [Feb 2005, p.89]

I found myself really disappointed by this unwelcome shift away from the giddy worm-versus-worm combat of earlier games. [Feb 2003, p.88]

It's a maddeningly beautiful game filled with the tedium of being an observer more than a player. [Feb 2004, p.81]

Although the horror element here suffers from one-trick-pony-itis, I was, over time, compelled enough by the story to keep going-not just because I had to, but because I was kinda interested to see how things turned out.

Too bad the lame Career modes can't match the rest of the game's quality. [Feb 2003, p.74]

A good game, but its convoluted interface, some minor bugs, and the lack of a detailed manual make it a tedious and frustrating game to learn for both old-school Europa fans and newbies alike. There are rewards to be had here—but you're going to need to put in some time to reap them.

If you're looking for RTS writ large (and slow), TOD is worth checking out. [Apr 2005, p.89]

The game is riddled with bugs that will bring your computer to a standstill... Just as bad are the incredibly long load times. [Mar 2003, p.102]

I can also forgive the fact that at times, it's just too damn hard, even at the lowest difficulty level. For $20, though, you can get a lot of bang for your buck. [Aug 2003, p.77]

"Starcraft," sans that pesky "fun" thing. [Jan 2005, p.90]

The game was pretty fun—for about two levels. After that, MHPBMX began to feel way too repetitive. [Jan 2002, p.118]

In spite of any number of small improvements, the new game feels more stale and by-the-numbers than the first one. [Aug 2004, p.78]

Forget what you learned in previous games, because it won't apply here. [Aug 2004, p.76]

Threre's little direction to help you along as you try to set up and run a league, and the interface is poorly designed at nearly every level. [Oct 2002, p.116]

Provides solid 3D platforming action with some panache - and the occasional little graphics glitch. [June 2003, p.94]

Although Warlords IV is by no means a horrible game, it's something far more damning: strangely joyless and conspicuously missing the spark of enthusiasm that often manages to find its way into even the worst of games.

The original art design and wide array of funny and original characters keep the experience fresh and engaging. [Holiday 2004, p.88]

You'll frequently dodge the oafish enemies instead of fighting. [Mar 2004, p.84]

It's a good concept set against an intentionally silly story. But the game is all style and little substance. [Apr 2003, p.110]

For true devotees, Breakthrough is probably worth the $29.99 price tag. For everyone else, Breakthrough is an appetizer: good while it lasts, but lacking the substance of an entree. [Dec 2003, p.140]

Good, but we crave more. MORE BRAINS! [Feb 2006, p.78]

A marginalized blockbuster. [June 2004, p.81]

A big step backward for the Commandos franchise. While the game would like to evoke "Saving Private Ryan" and other WWII films, sadly the movie that actually comes to mind while playing is "Groundhog Day," only with Nazis and a Quick Load button.

Exhausting, repetitious gameplay. [Feb 2002, p.100]

A.I. nations will usually disintegrate, and you can conquer half the world without much trouble. [Feb 2003, p.94]

The new campaigns take advantage of a larger supported map size, allowing for longer and more complicated scenarios. [Oct 2003, p.117]

Despite the arcade emphasis, flying these planes is a bitch. [Mar 2004, p.90]

FlatOut doesn't have nearly enough variety in its tracks. Though the layouts will change (sometimes only slightly), there are only a few landscapes, and they do get repetitive. This minor complaint aside, FlatOut is a great arcade-style racer.

A cheese-filled jalapeno of action. [Jan 2005, p.98]

An exciting puzzle game, and the ending creatively explains the link between the locales you've visited. Despite Stone's imperfections, this nicely improved sequel is worth digging up. [Aug 2003, p.86]

The main problem with Zoo Tycoon is its lack of a fast-forward button: A single year of gameplay consumes a grand total of six hours. [Feb 2005, p.85]

A political campaign would be nothing without dirty tricks, and The Political Machine gives you a whole arsenal of them. [Nov 2004, p.84]

There's nothing in TSOAF you haven't already seen; in fact, there's a lot less here than what I expected. [Sept 2002, p.73]

Any excitement that might have been generated by the explosions and mayhem cannot hope to compete with the boredom of constant reloads, or the aggravation of hearing the same "witty" banter for the fifth time. [June 2003, p.86]

It may have spectacular AI, but it's still just an elaborate virtual pet forced to perform a tedious sequence of often frustrating tasks. [May 2002, p.89]

A shrug-inducing "so what" game that - judging by the barren servers - seems to be keeping players away in droves. [May 2004, p.86]

Checkpoint placement is consistent only in its inconsistency. [Feb 2004, p.83]

Despite the amount of stuff to do, JPOG isn't particularly deep. [June 2003, p.100]

A deep game worthy of exploration and discovery - you'll just have to exhibit nigh-infinite patience with its glacially slow build-up and general unfriendliness. [Mar 2004, p.86]

The game's stunt-loving, high-flying target audience will find a treat...but even they may eventually grow weary of its foibles. [Mar 2006, p.83]

It isn't a great game, but it's a decent challenge. [June 2002, p.87]

As it should be with an add-on pack, most are expert-level missions, but at least they start you out slowly. [August 2002, p.78]

The newest addition to the offensive game-Freestyle Superstars-allows you to execute a dazzling and fun array of passing, shooting, and dribbling moves with your star players. Unfortunately, the joy of these moves is counteracted by the extremely frustrating inability of players to make layups and other close-in shots.

A year later, the presentation isn't dazzling anymore, and the shell is even emptier. [Mar 2003, p.108]