Give OFK half a chance, and just as their tunes will burrow into your brain, their stylishly documented journey may yet see them sneak under your skin, too. [Issue#375, p.116]

There's no denying it's a classy product, and since when do we want less novelty? [Issue#400, p.110]

Despite the odd misstep, Infinity Field is a great dual-stick shooter that moves into essential territory with its controls.

Captivating and uncanny, Paper Beast is a rare one: a distinctively weird game that'll stick with you long after your brain has filtered out the little hiccups and frustrations. [Issue#346, p.100]

The Finals offers plenty of sound and fury, but what makes it worth coming back to is what all that signifies. [Issue#394, p.94

What Fireproof has done, in other words, is to literally wrap the mechanics of a point and click adventure, with its abstract puzzles and occasionally opaque logic, around these fantastical contraptions, before suffusing the experience with an air of ghostly mystery.

Its ideas are streamlined, its tight boundaries narrowing what could have been an overwhelming proposition, plunging players all the sooner into compelling strategic depths. [Christmas 2008, p.99]

Sure, the prospect of spending 30 hours with gaming's grumpiest anti-hero and his bratty kid might not sound like fun, but by the time the pair have finally completed their exhilarating, exhausting journey, you'll be delighted you joined them. [June 2018, p.104]

Full of bravado, packed with features and brimming with invention, this 20-year-old veteran is as vital and relevant as ever. [Jan 2007, p.84]

Of course, horror as reflection of the social and psychological is what we've grown to expect from Red Candle. That it couples here with such a confident step into pastures new, though, means we're keener than ever to see what's next. [Issue#400, p.114]

When it isn't engaging in playful (self-)mockery, it finds ways to explore videogames' quirks in witty, insightful fashion. [Issue#343, p.120]

If Below is a game about the single-minded pursuit of a shape, about making your descent at all cots, it is also a test of your ability to find time for appreciation or understanding along the way. [March 2019, p.104]

Every bit as transportative as "Hypnospace Outlaw", Last Call BBS combines the studio's puzzling expertise and the flair for storytelling it exhibited in "Eliza", serving as both a fine curtain call for Zachtronics and a fascinating portal back to a time long before its foundation. [Issue#375, p.123]

Derivative and at times off-puttingly insistent and flimsy unlocks, it's nonetheless some of Infinity Ward's most considered design in years, and a sign it's ready to get back in the fight. [Issue#346, p.102]

In every respect Forza 6 is an improvement over Forza 5, and yet the game feels oddly torn between two eras, its stodgy insistence on piecemeal progression undercutting a handful of fresh ideas. The series may have found a clear route back to its Maple Valley Raceway glory days, but Forza 6 is a shift in the right direction as it rediscovers the playful soul and personality it first introduced to the sim racer. [Nov 2015, p.118]

Capturing the seat-shifting tension of cinema's finest vehicular pursuits, Swordship perhaps lacks the longevity of other Roguelikes - though this sprint isn't a marathon, but an exhilarating sprint. [Issue#380, p.122]

Isn't a game that does anything obviously or overtly clever or innovative. But any game that takes such a simple premise and polishes it, hones it and refines it until it's this engrossing, this absorbing, and this much fun, is quite obviously doing something very clever indeed. [Christmas 2003, p.114]

A brainteaser that's nervy, humbling, and strangely energising. If you can handle the stress, SpellTower is magnificent.

Super Monkey Ball had the sad fate of being born perfect, which means that, ever since that GameCube launch title, the series has been competing with memory. Not even a spin dash will get you past that. [Issue#400, p.120]

Criterion’s ability to make the technology and design of games seem harmonious is a significant strength in an industry where few can pull it off... Black is a fiery example of what can result. [Mar 2006, p.82]

Nonetheless, LA Noire is a success story. Over its 20-hour-plus length, it cuts a cross-section through the moral, social and geographical landscape of a city that carefully treads the line between a plausible '40s LA and the morally bankrupt City of Angels found in hardboiled fiction.

Even in its current form, there’s a wealth of ideas and a set of powers that few games twice this length manage to pack in.

All Activision's teams needed to deliver the best Call of Duty in half a decade was proper support. It's not V2 rocket science, after all. [Issue#405, p.112]

The most remarkable thing is how smoothly it runs: a flawless 60 frames a second that makes any caveats about the slightly pixellated visuals disappear in the wind. [Dec 2008, p.99]

Any gimmicks would have muddied the waters - what you need to bring a golden-age beat-'em-up bang up to date, it turns out, is a team of fans with the hands of a heart surgeon and an eye for why we fell in love with it in the first place. [Issue#346, p.105]

Nonetheless, LA Noire is a success story. Over its 20-hour-plus length, it cuts a cross-section through the moral, social and geographical landscape of a city that carefully treads the line between a plausible '40s LA and the morally bankrupt City of Angels found in hardboiled fiction.

It revitalises both old and recent characters and, despite the basic environments having the odd clunky element in their geography, triumphantly succeeds as a new breed of fighting game. [Oct 2009, p.90]

It's a smart iOS game that reduces a sport to its basic elements like this - and an even smarter one that can then turn those elements into something that feels entirely new. Three points.

The darling of the indie scene for so many years, it's a pleasure to see the game proving itself all over again. [June 2010, p.98]

A finale that blends Lovecraft and Spielberg seals the deal. [Issue#346, p.106]

This game's focus is its singleplayer campaign, and it's an involving, dynamic, astonishing-looking 12-15 hour bloodbath. A good, old-fashioned bloodbath. [Dec 2005, p.94]

True, there's no single moment to touch the climax of his heartbreaking 2013 debut, Brother: A Tale of Two Sons, but Fares's third - and best - game as director suggests the Oscars' loss is very much videogames' gain. [Issue#358, p.108]

As a sequel, it's not so much an extension as a remix, but one so capable and confident that 'remix' could very well be one of Clover Studio's own personal VFX powers.

And underlying it all, the one thing that didn't take us by surprise: the old catch-'em-all urge, as moreish as ever. Whether it's tickling your head or your heart, Bugsnax ensures they're never empty calories. [Issue#353, p.116]

The control system deserves special mention, as it could so easily have been crude or overwhelming. Instead, it's sophisticated and sensitive, catering solidly enough for corridor-cleaning run'n'guns while allowing ambitious flights of TK fancy. [Aug 2004, p.100]

That there's nothing conventional about this beauty is firmly to its credit. [Issue#405, p.118]

Even as playing boardgames in person becomes a reality once more, we suspect that Trials Of Fire's baggy charms will ensure it keeps us from the table on a fair few evenings to come. [Issue#358, p.110]

There is genuine character in its presentation, too, from the four distinct jingles that follow successful sprints to the anticipation-heightening Cambridge chimes that precede a new run, the leaderboards celebrating the 'top five brave cats' and the game-over text - 'It's cooooooold!' - that somehow mollifies the frustration of a run prematurely ended. It's a reminder that good ideas are timeless. Another 40 years from now, we suspect it won't have aged a day. [Issue#394, p.107]

More than once we extract on our knees, the dregs of life draining out as we hit the button. [Issue#418, p.100]

A debut of rare success in the genre: one at once fresh yet familiar, both visually arresting and mechanically enticing. [Apr 2010, p.99]

Double Fine’s adventure is confident and charming, the studio feeling its way to a comfortable mid-point between the desires of adventure-game fans and its own motivation to move the genre forward – even if only by a small increment.

A truly great detective story needs a satisfying conclusion - and here the Klavins deliver, and then some. [Issue#377, p.116]

Had a few more risks been taken, this too might eventually have been considered a classic. [Issue#418, p.104]

Its flaws are downplayed in the context of its range, its humour, its oddities, and its alternately psychopathic and pandering NPCs. It's as unusual as it is conventional. [Nov 2008, p.99]

This is melee done right, set in an astonishing world, brimming with imagination. [July 2009, p.101]

Jokes are in short supply, as is the serene abstraction often associated with modern puzzle games. The platforming segments and spaced-out checkpoints might annoy the more cerebrally focused, but all told they're a fairly minor part of the game.

RIGS is a compact but deep package, then, and one executed with a confidence that belies its launch-game status. [Christmas 2016, p.112]

Chaos Theory is the game that the original Splinter Cell was meant to deliver: a tight play experience within a trusty framework, one more of enjoyment than irritation, and a game that's no longer exclusively for fans of repeated reloading. [Apr 2005, p.97]

While the streamlined and brisk approach that brushes over some of the minutiae of the previous games might cause some PC fans to baulk, Revolution has concentrated rather than diluted the Civ experience, creating an expression of the concept that's perfectly suited to its platform. [July 2008, p.94]

It's never stronger than in its opening hours, and if it never quite recaptures that first heady whiff of discovery, it at least keeps you on the edge of your seat thanks to its punishing design, the stakes rising in tandem with your achievements.

Racers has an appealing lack of pretension that suggests it has nothing to prove other than that Ridge Racer is a delight to play. And it is, with no call for caveat – for a handheld, for a ‘remake’, for a launch title. It's simply one of the best pure arcade racers to date. [JPN Import; Feb 2005, p.68]

The scenarios are often ingenious finding fresh ways to breathe new life into familiar systems. [December 2018, p.116]

There’s scope to build everything from a two-hour co-op dungeon crawl to a 100-hour purple-prosed epic. It’s that breadth that makes NN2 as much of an essential purchase as genre fans could ask for. [Christmas 2006, p.88]

All that may dent its mass-market appeal, but for open-minded players The Far Shore could well be 2021's most captivating videogame destination. [Issue#364, p.102]

Above all, it's funny...If anything, this is the most bizarre game in the series to date. [Jan 2007, p.72]

One thing’s for sure: it’s the one we’ve been waiting to play.

The game’s depth is matched by a generous breadth of modes and options.

Despite being all about the numbers, FM2010 rises above them to be unexpectedly cruel, kind, and even visceral at times. [Christmas 2009, p.104]

It is, of course, more of the same, but the concept is as compulsive as ever. [Jan 2004, p.107]

Few focused action-adventure games spin a yarn as well as CD Projekt does here, likely keeping you uncertain about your choices to the end. [Issue#390, p.120]

Guwange appears the most accessible of Cave's late-90s output, even if the latter stages of the game, particularly in the two extra modes featured in this update, will require a combination of dedicated practice and natural skill to overcome. [Oct 2010, p.98]

It may not be the game of stealth the blueprints and lingo of red exclamation marks suggest, but Monaco’s loot and scoot play has a winning personality that’s all its own.

The major strengths of the original title remain undimmed; this is as consumate an example of Koei's design skill as its predecessor and every bit as enjoyable - in spite of having seen it all before. [Dec 2003, p.109]

While it hits all the expected beats as a sci-fi horror, Gnosia is playful and warm, too, with a real compassion for its oddball cast. Despite all the death and deception, you'll keep jumping back in, looking for a way to break the cycle - and to save everyone else, for good measure. [Issue#358, p.119]

It's another shining example of a European developer handling Japanese IP with care, remixing and refreshing the genres Japan's native developers often struggle to enhance and honour.

As we wait for the first of the promised updates, then, there's plenty of reason to hope that this is the beginning, after all –the beginning of something rather special.

Occasional misses aside, then, Starstruck is an outstanding debut performance. [Issue#403, p.120]

The best Alien-licensed game not made by Creative Assembly. [Issue#387, p.114]

The only sour note is the way the game keeps even the most skilled players at a severe leaderboard disadvantage until they've unlocked – or purchased – the final playable character.

This is a game that understands that nostalgia is a core part of its appeal. [December 2018, p.118]

Suddenly the nonsense global scoreboards of Xbox Live and PSN, designed no doubt to validate those services with the suggestion of mass involvement, are exposed as being badly hampered by their own ambition. United’s tight-knit communities are a welcoming, sensible and above all enjoyable blueprint for the way things should be. [Apr 2007, p.82]

Chaos Theory is the game that the original Splinter Cell was meant to deliver: a tight play experience within a trusty framework, one more of enjoyment than irritation, and a game that’s no longer exclusively for fans of repeated reloading. [Apr 2005, p.97]

A great and progressive return to gaming's adventuring roots.

Excellent. The rhythms of the day quickly become second nature and hypnotically absorbing. There're never enough hours in the day. [Jan 2004, p.106]

To those who treat mould-breaking games as life's milestones; those who can still smell the silver coins on their fingers ... this is dangerously close to the best in the genre. [Oct 2003, p.94]

In opposition to its marketing pitch, then, it's perhaps best to view FEAR less as a horror show punctuated by action than a blistering action spectacle that likes to play games with its guests. [Dec 2005, p.98]

This is a case study in how to get it right the first time - and, finally, students of this genre will discover what happens when devs don't have to spend the first 12 months of a loot game's life knocking it into shape. For one, the future looks bright. [Issue#332, p.108]

The payoff is feeling like the Red Baron and Luke Skywalker rolled into one when you emerge from a tricky dogfight. [Oct 2015, p.112]

OutRun 2’s heady caricature of driving is some kind of high-water mark for how much beautifully slick, instantly fluid and, thanks to the excellent use of joypad rumble, gloriously tangible play can be squeezed into five minutes of flamboyant autoerotica. [Nov 2004, p.98]

Never has a physics-based vehicular puzzle game bestowed such a vivid sense so generously before. [Issue#331, p.114]

The GBA original invented a new way to tickle your brain, conceived by gamers for gamers and loaded with unabashed enthusiasm. And now you can play it with your friends. What better excuse for throwing a party? [JPN Import; Christmas 2003, p.118]

A series that has spent too long paying bashful tribute has, at long last, emerged from the shadow of its classic debut. [Issue#332, p.112]

Tiny Tower's ongoing tick-tock of cash and happy bitizens is a fantastic toy.

In reckoning so candidly with the conflicting emotions we've experienced over the past few years, Mediterranea Inferno achieves a purgative potency few of its peers can match. [Issue#390, p.135]

Earned In Blood might not seem like a radical departure from the original but the gloriously cascading AI and open maps have effectively transformed it into a very special WWII experience. The fact that there's nothing quite like it in such a crowded genre speaks volumes. [Dec 2005, p.103]

It’s all a bit of a muddle, suggesting an unwarranted lack of confidence in the core systems, and at times the most keenly anticipated game of this new generation leans too heavily on the conventions of the past.

Extraction is not just a gun game that happens to work on Wii; it's a gun game that couldn't work on anything else. [Nov 2009, p.90]

Previous Forza entries showed glimmers of personality, hinting at a broader approach to accessibility, but were too shy and reserved to truly let loose. Horizon boldly goes there. It's a magpie game, assembled from pieces of other series, but it delivers a driving game precision engineered to offer all levels of player the best possible experience.

Masterful use of haptics and audio ensures that when your finger, so often an unstoppable force, meets an immovable object, you hear AND feel it. To play is to experience the pleasure of successfully picking a lock, or cracking a safe, or perhaps even repairing a watch: there is a constant sense of tension and release, as you find ways to free those gummed-up gears, to oil that rusted sliding-bolt mechanism, to feel the click of that tumbler dropping into place. [Issue#390, p.139]

Despite the familiarity, the longer you spend in your scaled-down village, the more you’re soothed into a gentle, constructive daydream which is every bit as charming as in all its other incarnations. [Jan 2005, p.89]

Plagued by imbalance, the Round 3 career can serve up over 50 bouts before one goes the distance. The new stun punch – a thunderclap of a haymaker – helps to ensure first to third round knockouts for the vast majority of fights. [Apr 2006, p.82]

The seamless integration of voice commands into a polished, thoughtful upgrade is Harmonix's slick finishing move. Dance Central 2 is a typical music game sequel – it works better, offers more, yet feels fundamentally the same – but it's a practised improvement to an already eye-catching routine.

This is as satisfying a finale as any devoted FFXIV player could reasonably have hoped for. [Issue#368, p.106]

It lacks the infectiousness of 80 Days, but as a story and a reckoning with history, it leaves most videogame fantasies in the shade. [Issue#332, p.120]

Nioh 3 is ultimately less of a leap from its predecessor than Elden Ring was from Dark Souls 3, but that's to be expected from a direct sequel versus the introductory act of a new franchise. [Issue#421, p.96]

It makes no spectacular breaks from the past, but it does reclaim the mood – if not the tone – of Diablo II. It's living proof that the values of 2001 still have worth over a decade later.

Isn't a game that does anything obviously or overtly clever or innovative. But any game that takes such a simple premise and polishes it, hones it and refines it until it's this engrossing, this absorbing, and this much fun, is quite obviously doing something very clever indeed. [Christmas 2003, p.114]

Levels feel more segmented and less regimented, and the better for it. There’s no cheap, wholesale reduction of difficulty, just what feels like a more balanced play experience. [Jan 2005, p.84]