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

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]

A good-looking shooter that's only fun for the first few hours.

A good naval warfare sim undermined by bugs and missing features. [June 2002, p.93]

If you can get past the unresponsive controls and don't mind the overall tasteless but campless tone, Bloodrayne still offers only a few hours of moderately entertaining carnage. [July 2003, p.85]

The game's biggest annoyance - the finite nuber of saves allowed during each mission. [Nov 2003, p.140]

Why pay when they can find plenty of custom scenarios to download for free? [Apr 2003, p.106]

Some of the quests you'll receive are actually quite cool..., but mostly the chores are mundane and the gameplay very linear. [Apr 2002, p.94]

A game for which the adjective "tolerable" was invented. There's nothing terrible about Harbinger, but there's nothing much good, either. [June 2003, p.89]

A stunning example of why adventure games aren't as popular as they once were. [Aug 2004, p.82]

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.

A tedious combination of elementary puzzles and primitive fighting. [Dec 2002, p.118]

It's easily the best yet, in the sense that it's the first Dragon's Lair you generally won't hate playing. [Mar 2003, p.90]

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.

As dry and inviting as the Arabian Desert. [Nov 2003, p.146]

A game of amazing promise delivers mostly crushing disappointment. [Jan 2003, p.122]

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

It has a few great moments, but it seems like an incomplete collection of half-finished ideas. [Nov 2003, p.126]

With a poor presentation and poor gameplay, War Times feels like an overpriced piece of budgetware that's destined to languish in bargain bins until its desiccated corpse turns to powder and is blown from our memory. [Aug 2004, p.82]

If this game game came out four years ago, maybe. Today, no. [Apr 2004, p.86]

Just a bunch of single-player missions that could have been made with the scenario editor. [Jan 2003, p.118]

Great if you like beautifully rendered landscapes, not so great if you like good A.I. and usuable controls. [Sept 2004, p.72]

Further compounding the game into sheer mediocrity is the downward spiral of the A.I. [Sept 2003, p.102]

A rare combination of frustration and boredom. [Feb 2004, p.85]

For those of you who crave endless realism in your war games, it's probably as realistic a military simulation as you'll get without risking being exposed to IEDs and insurgent attacks. For the rest of us, it simply fails as a game. [Apr 2005, p.87]

Boss battles are so routine as to be laughable, and that's about all the laughter you'll be doing, as NOLF's great comedic dialogue is noticeably absent. The entire game feels slapped together. [Feb 2004, p.79]

Fast and temporarily thrilling, SSC nevertheless lacks the depth and polish today's racers demand. [Apr 2002, p.106]

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]