The true measure of this journey isn't where you end up, it's how fast your pulse is racing when each luminous tube finally spits you out into the darkness again. [Oct 2012, p.92]

Antichamber is many things – a remarkable technical achievement, a smart subversion of its genre, a game that plays you as much as you play it – but you're more likely to respect it than enjoy it.

As a package, it's generous and deep, but Sumo has fallen victim to its own success. While enjoyable in their own right, boats and planes simply can't match the moreish handling of the karts.

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]

This dazzling, determinedly populist experience was not made according to the standards other games are made by, and when judged – or even just described – by those standards, it might seem slender to the point of frailty. [Christmas 2005, p.101]

The action creeps up slowly, starting out like a gorgeous-looking but fairly standard shoot 'em up. However, by the middle of level two, it's pummelling you with a relentless parade of conceptual set pieces so audacious and inventive you'll laugh with delight as you gape in horror. [Sept 2004, p.94]

Here is the rare deckbuilder that doesn't feel like it's merely aping the giants of the genre. [Issue#424, p.106]

In Sky, knowledge can be a powerful thing, an asset that makes you more useful to those who seem lost, as you lead them toward the light. [Issue#336, p.116]

Even for those players who are too young to perceive the winds of nostalgia blowing through Eastward, this is a game that shows the endurance of the Super Nintendo-era RPG template as a vessel for storytelling across decades - and that is a magic of its own, too. [Issue#364, p.118]

Fast, engrossing and perfectly attuned to the needs of a handheld, Lunar Knights addresses the previous games’ failings without feeling like a retreat, providing refinement without too much dilution. [Apr 2007, p.86]

Eden has composed a beguiling, intoxicating hymn to the open road, and every car lover will want to join its chorus. [Oct 2006, p.82]

Provides too little in the way of engaging structure behind its exemplary racing to make it more than a series of thrilling rides. [July 2010, p.96]

A fairytale comeback. Extravagance was one of the signatures of the graphic adventure: extravagance to bring them in, and a cracking story well told to keep them.Both tenets of the Broken Sword series remain intact here, and that's all the devoted fans could have wanted. [Christmas 2003, p.94]

Florence strikes a chord that resonates long after the cello fades. [May 2018, p.120]

Smarter, faster pacing could have made all the difference. When it isn't intentionally hobbled, the combat is spectacular and unique. [Feb 2010, p.88]

Metro Exodus is a mood piece, and it hits the mark brilliantly by building detailed environments and laying set-pieces within them for you to find, as if by chance. However, in its efforts to emphasize that it's a long-form experience, its storytelling comes across as plodding, and every time a glitch or framedrop appears you're pulled out of a 4A's rare, and beautiful, post-apocalyptic vision. [Issue#330, p.106]

As the more intimate title suggests, this may be as much about Croft's brand awareness in the face of unprecedented (and Uncharted) competition. [Oct 2010, p.96]

Beautifully detailed with impressive lighting, accurately modelled protagonists and a terrific sense of speed. A refreshing and captivating direction for the series. [Christmas 2003, p.115]

Sunrise does nothing truly brilliant, but does it with such engaging raw excess that it’s hard not to be sucked in by its fairground attraction. [May 2005, p.88]

If Pocket Paradise makes you want to throw it against something, though, it’s only because it succeeds in making gardening compulsive. [Oct 2008, p.96]

At times it taps into our lizard brain so successfully that hours pass by, our eyes glazing over as we mindlessly follow instructions. [Issue#376, p.116]

It's the tutorials that stick in the mind: Skullgirls' real win is via Zaimont grasping that fighting games needn't be easier to play, but should be easier to understand.

While PixelJunk Shooter 2 may seem more like an expansion than a standalone game, there's no shortage of new ingredients to enrich what was already a lively concoction. [Apr 2011, p.97]

For experienced players, though, this is as fluid as Tekken has been for years, the tagging doing much to revitalise a combo system that, with its over-reliance on juggles and wall combos, was in danger of growing stale. But it's taken a 12-year-old mechanic to do that, and other games in this increasingly crowded genre boast a deeper level of mechanical complexity as well as a more generous welcome to newcomers.

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]

It's becoming a 5th Cell tradition: strong ideas compromised by erratic level design and structural weaknesses. One day, the developer will find the right balance to support its undeniable creativity, but sadly, it hasn't found it here.

As a game, it has problems. Indoor spaces will struggle to contain more than a few players (the maximum is seven) and with no rules governing conduct, smaller players are at a natural disadvantage if competition escalates. Still, as a statement of intent it is extraordinary, and feels characteristic of what Sportsfriends sets out to achieve – a realisation that simplicity and good company are the root ingredients of enjoying games, and that far from being decisive, visual sophistication might actually be entirely irrelevant.

This is a delightfully risky experiment, and the end result is pure alchemy: the blending of two fiercely traditional genres into something both unique and entirely natural. [Apr 2009, p.125]

Atlus's surgery sim is in rude health. [July 2010, p.103]

Its prudence, that veil of simplicity masking a system of astonishing possibility and depth, makes it one of the purest fighting games on the market today.

Ferocious and heartbreaking, this is storytelling with serious clout: against the odds, Stoic has stuck the landing. [Issue#323, p.108]

Where a little Innocence went a long way, this gloomy, protracted Requiem proves that a lot doesn't always stretch so far. [Issue#378, p.104]

There is, after all, something quietly revelatory about a big-budget videogame that has as much in common with the work of Bennett Foddy as Ubisoft's boilerplate sandboxes. Far from a masterpiece, then, but Kojima's first post-Konami release HAS laid the foundations for something greater. Which is fitting, since that's what he's had us doing for 60-odd hours. [Issue#341, p.102]

Its troop AI is better than that of "FEAR," and environmentally more aware than that of "Far Cry." [May 2007, p.84]

It is too stressful to be enjoyable, it's world too dangerous to safely explore, it's story too dumb to take seriously. [June 2018, p.112]

Whereas a more comprehensive reimagining of how Okami would work on DS could have resulted in a less ambitious, more polished game, Okamiden succeeds in preserving both the spirit and form of its forebear, and that makes in rather special indeed. [Mar 2011, p.90]

It's a dazzling experience, combining carefree spectacle with careful score attack, a game that's as concerned with its looks as the precision of its underlying mathematical systems. [JPN Import; June 2009, p.94]

Blood Money feels only slightly closer to the series’ ideal of a gameworld that’s both complex and cogent, and is more accessible and entertaining with it. [July 2006, p.80]

Brutal Legend has the looks and the attitude, and a hefty chunk of original and engaging content to go with it. Whenever it goes near a stage, though, it begins to fall apart. [Dec 2009, p.94]

Creaks may be a break from point-and-click tradition for Amanita, but we're left with a familiar smile as the credits roll, our eyes still wide with delight. [Issue#348, p.102]

Creatively, New Vegas gets almost everything right. Mechanically and technically, it's a tragedy. So, it's a simultaneously rewarding and frustrating game, the gulf between what it is and what it could be a sizeable stretch indeed.

If you were that kid who was pulled away from the TMNT cabinets by an angry mum, who couldn’t wait for Golden Axe to appear on a home console, and who played Streets Of Rage 2 over and over, Castle Crashers is for you. [Nov 2008, p.103]

One corker of an action game. Perhaps the biggest mention goes to the 'vo-cap' tech behind its extraordinary performances. [May 2009, p.88]

Like the grisly cutscenes, Mortal Kombat 11 is fun as long as you don't think too hard or look too closely at it - but that's exactly where the real joy is found in a fighting game. If Mortal Kombat wants to elevate itself, it's time to start overhauling the skeleton underneath all that flesh. [Issue#333, p.110]

Some may argue over what the series should have become, but what’s important is that it has made that tough decision for itself, and established a rock solid foundation for inevitable, now justified successors. [May 2006, p.86]

Generous checkpoints and quick restarts just about cover for awkward platforming sequences. [December 2018, p.114]

It instantly shares the same atmosphere and pleasure as the original Sonic classics did 15 years ago, even if it does little to move them forward. [Christmas 2005, p.111]

The handling hasn’t evolved and a year on, with the masking novelty of the game’s tuning aspects worn off, it’s disappointingly limited and remote. And despite the increased choice and plot introduction the whole exercise can often feel soulless. [Christmas 2004, p.60]

Series veterans may find there's no individual mission that can compare to past highlights like the nails-down-a-blackboard dread of Return To The Cathedral or the emergent possibilities of Life Of The Party, but they remain admirably clever pieces of level design. [July 2004, p.101]

Offbeat, occasionally twisted, frequently funny and never boring, Horace is the best kind of attention-seeker: it demands you sit up and take notice and never stops rewarding you for doing so. [Issue#354, p.120]

The shift from WiiWare to 3DS, meanwhile, may not see Art Of Balance really benefiting very much from either the handheld's touchscreen or the developer's range of depth tricks, but it does add a generous suite of new levels - and it does raise the chances of a larger audience finally discovering this playful, wonderfully-calibrated puzzler.

It can't have the same gobsmacking impact as its inspiration, but this is a simple, engaging and occasionally baffling journey in its own right, with plenty of hooks to snare the newcomer.

Most of all, though, there's consistently something new to experience. The thrill of spectacle, and of the weird, both fade fast - too much of the same thing and it begins to feel mundane. [Issue#337, p.100]

Over the Top has tempered its obvious ambition with skill and understanding, and the result is a game that’s refreshingly quick to take flight.

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]

This serves well as a third chapter, conscripting much of what has gone before while upping the testosterone and providing some glamorous distractions to pry your attention away from how little control you actually have over events. [Christmas 2006, p.81]

The campaign prevents Battlefield 6 from hitting all of its marks. [Issue#417, p.96]

The improvements are largely cosmetic, with everything about this sequel – from the menus to the maps – more polished and user friendly, springing to life on Retina-equipped iOS devices with bursts of colour and character.

Having sacrificed racing integrity in "Double Dash" to side with social silliness, Nintendo has turned 180 degrees into an awkward halfway house. [May 2008, p.86]

Arranger's cheeriness and playfulness thus works its way into every facet of its design, from the craft of its puzzles to the personality of its world and its inclusive embrace. This year has already supplied a pair of best-in-class puzzle games in the shape of Animal Well and Lorelei And The Laser Eyes; now they need to shift over and make room for one more. [Issue#400, p.112]

Much like a summer movie blockbuster, Split Second offers thrills galore, but there's a hint of glossy superficiality to it, too...Yet there are few games in the genre that create quite so many sharp intakes of breath and instances of unintentionally barked profanity as this one, and sometimes that's what racing gaming is all about. [June 2010, p.96]

Halo exhibits a single-minded focus that the modern FPS, with its choreographed set-pieces and thrilling scripted sequences, largely disregards. This is a game about the arc of a perfectly thrown grenade, a game about tense games of cat-and-mouse with foes as powerful as you, a game about constant improvisation with the tools at your disposal. It's a game that always feels tactical, and a game that – even now – has the capacity to surprise.

It’s a game that, for all the intricacy of its systems and the charm of its painterly world, feels oddly empty.

Plenty of games have flourished around the slaughter, scale and destruction of war, but few have managed to realise a soldier’s role and worth - disposable, vulnerable, pivotal - as well as this. [Apr 2005, p.100]

As forgettable as the story mode is, this is a game that should be judged by the pleasure it can bring to a room full of gamers eager for furious arena combat and a splendid variety of team games. And judged by those criteria, it has few peers. [Apr 2005, p.94]

The Last Guardian doesn't just live up to its forebears' legacy, it goes further. Despite the callbacks to Fumito Ueda's previous works, it is a unique creation. Outside of indie experiments, we don't get to say that about modern videogames often enough.

It’s an introspective RPG not just in theme, but in the outlay of time and thought it asks of the player to make sense of what’s otherwise a cosmetically unfair challenge. It’s a work of art, but one on such a dauntingly high pillar that only the most dedicated will appreciate it to the full. [Christmas 2004, p.87]

This is surely Nintendo's finest piece of DLC to date. [Issue#322, p.118]

The handling hasn’t evolved and a year on, with the masking novelty of the game’s tuning aspects worn off, it’s disappointingly limited and remote. And despite the increased choice and plot introduction the whole exercise can often feel soulless. [Christmas 2004, p.60]

There's an incredible amount to do within the confines of a traditional racing game. Flawed, then, but pushing for the top of the podium all the same. [Christmas 2017, p.116]

Blackbar tells a satisfying dystopian short story, one that invites you to engage directly with its censorship theme.

The overwhelming impression Los Angeles leaves is very slick, but it’s ultimately quite soulless. [Dec 2008, p.86]

A classy, inventive adventure with an absorbing story. [Dec 2014, p.114]

It may not satisfy armchair warmongers used to Supreme Commander’s intimidating depths, but RA3 never threatens to take itself that seriously, and nor would you want it to. [Christmas 2008, p.98]

In an era of flagging service games, it is refreshing to se an old favourite so thoroughly rejuvenated. Blizzard, take note: this is how it's done. [Issue#391, p.112]

And while The Walking Dead had its share of technical problems, here they’re even worse, with lengthy loading times on 360 fracturing the pace and some several-second freezes completely killing the tension during fight scenes.

This is ballsy, brash, confident gaming at its best - a lesson in how games don't have to be perfect to be brilliant. [Christmas 2003, p.102]

A triumphant toolset attached to a decent stab at the karting genre

In remaining more traditional, it fails to provide the kind of innovation that might have made it essential - something that, invariably, Nintendoes. [Issue#417, p.110]

As a cathartic climactic performance ensures Worm Drama get to say farewell to Volcano High on their own terms, the eruption of emotion is likely to be reflected on your side of the screen, too. [Issue#389, p.119]

Enslaved's greatest achievement is standing out in the crowded field of me- too, colour-sapped videogame apocalypses, serving as a vibrant oasis in the otherwise murky brown wastes.

The town-building arc new to 0 resonates because you're renovating an idyllic town you see being reduced to ash and rubble in the game's opening hour. [Issue#419, p.121]

This is Nava's finest hour (or two) since the work for which he's still best known - especially when it focuses on the means rather than the end. [Issue#415, p.96]

It’s a feeling that never quite dissipates over the game’s core 15 missions, a sense of lean and focused game design which prizes the exhilarating tussle of conflict over long, drawn-out army building. [Mar 2009, p.86]

Pacific Rift certainly feels a more complete game than its predecessor, but the state of the art has moved on considerably since the original wowed at launch. [Dec 2008, p.87]

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]

Prey is an accomplished game in an under-served genre. Its problems are those of a game that tries to do more, and give the player more, than most shooters aspire to - and to that extent, they're forgivable. [July 2017, p.106]


In looking outside itself for inspiration, SSX has found a worthy infrastructure to establish an online community and culture. But this same approach has found the brand veering away from some of the fun and fireworks of yesteryear, leaving its more seductive silly side out in the cold.

Once you let go (or are forced to), it all seems a little empty, like perhaps the only thing compelling you onward was the hypnotic effect of watching something go round and round. It doesn't take too many repeats before the theming rubs away, leaving only the exposed machine beneath. How much do we need to feel like we're on an adventure? A little more than this, it turns out. [Issue#357, p.120]

By the time you reach the end of Blacklist everything has grown so big and so explosive that you’re left exhausted but not entirely satisfied, and maybe after all that incoherent action you’ll recall the time when a single flashlight in Chaos Theory’s Panamanian bank made you hold your breath.

Citizen Sleeper doesn't shy away from weighty topics, and excels in managing to explore these while feeling intensely personal. [Issue#372, p.112]

Tekken 7 feels cynically put together, a solid but ultimately 20-year-old fighting system freshened up with mechanical twists and bulked out with gimmicks rather than gilded with the series' signature personality. [Aug 2017, p.114]

Last Light’s pacing – switching as it does between tight tunnels and wide-open abandoned spaces, explosive gunfights and creeping horror, stealth and socialising – could have felt disconnected in the hands of a less-talented developer. Instead it lends its world uncommon depth. The trade-off for a distinctive personality, of course, is that Last Light is occasionally unyielding, but the desire to see what waits in its next tunnel remains a powerful draw throughout.

Though it occasionally goes pear-shaped as an adventure game due to the stinginess of its feedback, Botanicula is never less than a breath of fresh air.

Only a supreme apologist could suggest that such performance dips aren’t as damaging as they are disappointing, but conversely a realist should soon become capable of accepting them, momentary as they are. [Apr 2006, p.95]

There's a solid adventure title here, but it's spread thin over a densely written airport thriller. [Feb 2011, p.102]

It may not be quite as picture-perfect as we'd hoped for, but Viewfinder's most memorable vignettes will surely earn it a permanent slot in your brain's own photo album. [Issue#388, p.121]

It is about delighting in the journey. [Issue#337, p.122]