A functional, pared-down JRPG and a feisty but flawed translation of the side-scrolling beat 'em up into the third dimension. [Apr 2010, p.94]

It's hard to find too much fault in a game that's so in love with its inspirations, but Rise & Shine is at its best when it's being itself. [March 2017, p.104]

It's doubtful you'll endlessly return past the few hours necessary to beat the game, but for now it remains both a welcome introduction to a new system and its own unique and rewarding experience.

It's one example of too much going on in a game that is crammed with ideas, borrowed and new, all fighting for attention. [Issue#347, p.92]

It's disappointing to find that a game so reliant upon riding earthy mounds, avoiding rocks and leaping chasms leaves the player feeling disassociated from the environments. For all the sensory feedback you could as well be controlling a futuristic hoverboard. [Oct 2003, p.102]

Old hands will still find much of the personality and singular vision of the franchise intact, but it's the newcomers, ironically, who might find Insect Armageddon a jarring mix of old-fashioned thrills and modern gameplay trends.

This cosy, likeable platformer gives 3DS players a superior alternative to Arzest's insipid New Island. [March 2017, p.105]

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]

The craftsmanship is easy to admire, but 1001 Spikes can be a hard game to love. [Sept 2014, p.117]

The game feels somewhat tormented by its turgid dialogue and a one-note plot, both given preference over the raw thrills of doing kickflips in hell. [Issue#419, p.108]

You can call it feature creep or over-ambition, but it's the surfeit of content that almost buries the game's achievements. [June 2010, p.100]

The stakes are raised in the closing stretch, but the drama is undercut by the story's brevity. [March 2017, p.106]

It’s worth experiencing for the artistry in its visual flair, excellent cutscenes and one or two inspired directional moments, but as a game? The previous generation God Of War has the definite edge. [Oct 2007, p.86]

With handsomely designed environments, and a deviously three-dimensional approach to level design, Kororinpa is exactly the kind of simple, sustaining software that the Wii needs to build on. [Feb 2007, p.84]

A tasteful translation of an enduring classic, but it remains too cautious to satisfy those looking for innovation. [May 2007, p.95]

Modern Warfare II's problems are old ones, then, as are its strengths. But there are fewer of the latter than in 2019's reboot, and that should concern fans. [Issue#379, p.112]

Rather than creating a character, you're stuck as the brooding, white-haired monster slayer Geralt. Anyone who enjoyed the role last time will be happy to bear with him while the game meanders to its point. Anyone else will need an extraordinary level of patience.

While the appeal of Ghost Rider palls in the long term (the game is simply too samey, unless your thirst for fighting overrides your need for variety and pacing) it’s a strong and well-considered title. [Mar 2007, p.86]

The process of mastering it? Let's just say it's not quite our tempo. [Issue#370, p.123]

There's nothing revolutionary in Lethal VR, but it's an accessible, frequently enjoyable showcase of what its host hardware is best at, let down only by the decision to bring a knife to a gunfight. [Tested with HTC Vive: Jan 2017, p.118]

It is still a little deflating. While some detective work is engaging, too much of it is throwaway, repetitive and, worse, overused. Tailing missions are the worst offender, simplistic, overlong, tightly scripted and seemingly everywhere. In its cutscenes, its combat and its tales of the lives of struggling, troubled, randy everyday people - in all the tings that make it a Yakua game, in other words - Judgment excels. In the things that seek to make it stand apart, it disappoints. Whether this is a one-off experiment, or simply the first of many, remains to be seen; if it's to be the latter, much remains to be done. [Issue#335, p.102]

The island and its minigames, side conversations and beautiful backdrops hold their charm, and part of us earns to remain in Demonschool's world. Unlike Faye, though, we begin to resent that demons keep tearing us out of it. [Issue#419, p.114]

It's in Mafia II's second act that it takes a real dive, and familiarity plunges into cliché. When the writers run out of literary coal, there's little to keep you on the rails, and nowhere to take a time-out. It descends into a festival of stereotypes and expletives, laying waste to the hints of narrative depth proffered earlier and offending beyond justification as it ticks the down-and-dirty genre boxes.

If not the spiralling success we hoped, this sweet-natured and sincere game provides an afternoon's worth of uplifting altruism. [Issue#347, p.104]

While it doesn't do enough to earn a place in the halls of Valhalla, there is still pleasure to be had in sprinting and fighting through these Elysian fields. [Issue#378, p.112]

As much as The Chant contains a solid action adventure, then, it could do with more suitable clothing. [Issue#379, p.116]

There are flashes of brilliance in Stellar Blade, still, most often sparked by the titular weapon. But it's too broad and with that a little underdone. If only Eve's initial clarity of purpose had been more contagious. [Issue#398, p.106]

This is a welcome conversion of Bliozzard's cherished 16bit strategy actioner and well worth a punt for those who like to challenge their grey matter as well as their reflexes. [May 2003, p.103]

Time and again in The Angel Of Death, a perfectly obvious solution is ignored in favour of an absurdly contrived one, and whenever a puzzle hinges on the responses of NPCs... these prove bizarre and unpredictable. [Nov 2006, p.84]

There's no question that DUB Edition can be pleasurable, especially in the multiplayer games, but the Career mode too often feels like graft. There are tournaments, one-off street races and 'special' events, but each individual race feels much the same as the last. [June 2005, p.92]

Once fluent in Hulk's explosive vocabulary of lamppost-javelins, boulder-bowling balls and tank football, it becomes apparent how much there is to praise in this game. It's hard to think of a superhero title that has come so close in delivering the spirit of the hero's super-ness. [Sept 2005, p.95]

It's in Mafia II's second act that it takes a real dive, and familiarity plunges into cliché. When the writers run out of literary coal, there's little to keep you on the rails, and nowhere to take a time-out. It descends into a festival of stereotypes and expletives, laying waste to the hints of narrative depth proffered earlier and offending beyond justification as it ticks the down-and-dirty genre boxes.

To tackle the more inventive operations dreamt up for Wii with superior tools will be enough to convince the Trauma fans. [Nov 2008, p.102]

This is a soothing lullaby of a game: a leisurely bit of counter-programming that, contrary to forecasts, doesn't disgrace the series' good name. [Issue#310, p.120]

The lead characters are abysmally designed. Waxen, ugly and uninspired, with more than a whiff of committee behind them, they're the most dislikeable aspect of an otherwise magnificent world. [Sept 2004, p.96]

Is this the most violent game of all time? Maybe. Its ragdoll physics may not match the flying limbs and broken faces of Soldier of Fortune, but its throwaway approach to life and death is genuinely shocking, leaving a bitter, metallic aftertaste. This is neither a fall nor an ascension. This is an update. [Jan 2004, p.105]

Rusty Lake is smart enough to keep things brief. [Issue#378, p.114]

Playful touches abound. [Issue#379, p.120]

The story, meanwhile, is weighed down by needless convolution and stilted dialogue, even if its meditations on breaking the boundaries of human consciousness are admirably ambitious - and novel given that Huxleyian mysticism is well suited to the intimate and changeable perspective of a firstperson videogame. [Issue#419, p.120]

Its world may be memorable, but otherwise this is a series falling back on borrowed ideas, as if unsure quite how to properly reinvent itself. There are enough signs of improvement to suggest the next entry could be the fresh start Ubisoft promised this time around. But as a new beginning for Assassin's Creed, Origins is more of a stumbling step than a bold leap forward. [Christmas 2017, p.100]

Realistically, Buraiden's biggest appeal lies in the joyous anarchy of the multiplayer modes. Team up two-on-two, three-on-one or every-samurai-for-himself, replace any absent human players with the game's convincing AI, set the battle parameters, and prepare for the kind of balletic carnage that Tarantino will soon be ripping off for volume two of 'Kill Bill'. [JPN Import; Feb 2004, p.98]

An impressively comprehensive, reasonably captivating though ultimately flawed experience. [June 2005, p.95]

Chaos reigns in the brackish bayous of this endearingly ramshackle racer from Hydro Thunder Hurricane developer Vector Unit. An erratic police presence might attempt to uphold the law, but between the fluctuating prices of its illegal trading posts and the trail of destruction your air boat leaves in its wake – not to mention a frame-rate choppier than the winding waterways themselves – this is a world without order.

Working out how the game works and how to best profit from your stocks takes an hour’s play, and from then on, it’s no longer about thinking creatively, just economising ruthlessly. Satisfying perhaps, but hardly demanding. [Christmas 2006, p.88]

If only it played as well as it looks. [Issue#310, p.121]

Dante’s Inferno fails to rise above its peers, the punishment for which is not damnation, merely a place in limbo.

Takes great pride in its science-fiction absurdities and provides a genuinely entertaining skirmish game for those who still hanker for the base-building battles of old. [Feb 2008, p.94]

Flying Wild Hog has re-imagined a cult classic while maintaining Shadow Warrior’s unique personality in a shamelessly flawed and flimsy shooter concerned more with laughs and blood-letting than balance, and the team’s bold embrace of the game’s roots goes a long way to excuse the game’s problems.

Sadly, the mixed results even apply to our canine friend, whose limitations clash against the design of many bigger bosses. [Issue#388, p.118]

There was never any doubt that Total Overdose would fall foul of one of its genre's various pitfalls, but it's unfortunate that it ultimately had to be one as irksome as excessive length... At its best, the game still shakes up a loud and spicy Mexican cocktail, but what it’s added to the mix has been more than enough to weaken the taste. [Nov 2005, p.103]

It now feels in need of a shake up to make it bounce back instead of producing yet another diminished return. [Jan 2007, p.75]

Visually, this can be a fascinating journey, with its massive-headed monks and no-headed minstrels, but in service of little more than endless duels, hardly an ideal vehicle to dig into the novel's themes. Black Myth, in short, seems unsure what kind of monkey it wants to be. [Issue#402, p.104]

The most significant addition is Quen marine Seyka, with whom Aloy forms a bond that goes beyond friendship. Yet the two fight more often than they flirt, and the need to either level or stock up between story missions means they don't spend enough time together for the would-be emotional climax to fully land. [Issue#385, p.120]

It's the kind of scrappy contender you want to root for, but while its battle camera keeping you at a distance proves a smart move, the same can't be said for its story. [Issue#378, p.119]

What should be a straightforward tale of coming to terms with loss introduces a few too many complexities and characters, muddling its attempts to explain what happens when we shuffle off this mortal travelator. [Issue#379, p.123]

It is, in other words, a competent handheld version of Killzone, and those who bought a Vita on that promise will be amply satisfied. Others will squint, line up their sights on a speck in the middle distance, squeeze the trigger and hope for the popup confirming their aim was true, and wonder if this is really what handheld gaming should be.

It's simple, enjoyable, and in wisely steering clear of trying anything grand or complex, is an enjoyable if self-contained success. [May 2010, p.97]

In its shrewd monetisation aspects and as a watered-down but sturdy entry in the series, Revolution unarguably achieves its goal. The King Of Iron Fist Tournament is now closer than it’s been for a long time to its arcade roots, but the sense of friendly competition has been replaced with an initially hostile, rich versus poor and, at times, pay-to-win atmosphere.

Engaging, absorbing. [Jan 2007, p.79]

Max Payne isn't a bad way to spend a train journey, but those who've already played the original will have little reason to buy the conversion, apart from to smile at how mini-Max so cutely apes his big brother. [Apr 2004, p.110]

It's well-meaning, but unserious. [Issue#402, p.108]

Metro is at its best deep underground, away from the demands of a modern action game and engrossed in the cultures that cling to its tunnels, the atmosphere boosted by subtitled Russian and the writing and voice-acting creating fascinating windows into a struggling world. [May 2010, p.99]

Magrunnner’s story is confidently told, and it’s a welcome point of divergence in a game that’s too in thrall to the title that popularised this genre. The Mag Glove’s no less capable of sustaining a game than the Portal Gun – it’s quite possibly better suited to experimental, player-authored solutions. But it needs its own game, not just to be inserted into the framework of another.

It's just a shame that this unique combination of still-alivers didn't result in something truly innovative.

What Omega Five lacks in purity, it gains in bombast. [Mar 2008, p.102]

Combined with the weight of nostalgia, Visions is thus a strangely conservative game. While not lacking the conveniences of modern design (the fast-travel system balances speed with a sense of scale), it's merely evolutionary. [Issue#402, p.112]

As a proof of concept, Reality Fighters is convincing, but it's sub-par as a high-priced fighting game, trailing the competition and offering novelty in place of substance.

How do you craft an RPG around a character defined entirely by movement? We’re not sure that you can, and BioWare hasn’t proved otherwise. [Dec 2008, p.96]

It leaves nothing to blame when disaster occurs but your own failure to understand logic's laws. [Issue#402, p.114]

Energetic if simplistic, shallow yet enormously replayable, it's the kind of game you'll forget about for months, rediscover during a party, and within ten minutes everyone will be shouting, laughing and clamouring to join in. [May 2017, p.119]

At worst, the game's deliberate openness means theme and gameplay have a tenuous relationship.

The plot proves strong enough to keep even the most disappointed player clicking through the dialogue trees, and in the final chapters the endless conversations finally give way to something more engaging. [Mar 2007, p.80]

There are neat touches: you've got infinite ammo, brilliantly, and inhaling gas leaves you with a temporary cough that ruins your aim … but it needs a few more tactics to make it more than the sum of its admittedly solid parts. [Christmas 2003, p.116]

As an example of unabashed, often exuberant Britsoft that pulls out the SRPG's staples and rebinds it in approachable ease, Future Tactics is remarkable, deserving of cult status. [Aug 2004, p.99]

How curious to find Nintendo's most contemporary tale hidden in a format so beholden to the past. [Issue#402, p.120]

For all its flaws, The Evil Within felt like the work of a singular voice. This feels like several shouting at once, eventually settling their differences by compromise. The black bars are gone; instead, it's convention that keeps The Evil Within 2 constrained. [Christmas 2017, p.108]

While Genesis may already be fading from our memory, those looking for nothing more than 15 hours or so of punchy, demon-slaying action will no doubt have an appropriate response. It matters not. [Issue#342, p.110]

The meat of the game remains enjoyable yet underwhelming. [Dec 2007, p.96]

If you find its imperfections endearing there’s much to position Apocalypse as one of the bolder attempts to further the art of the click-fest. [Dec 2006, p.85]

None of this feels like a refinement, … just a slight bulking up. With Legends, you’re buying into an upgraded suite of presentation – of lengthy career modes, of yet more movie-faithful music – than anything else. [Nov 2004, p.105]

Wild Hearts has inherited just enough from Monster Hunter to keep us on the hook - and when it does sporadically come together, it feels like a worthy rival. [Issue#383, p.106]

A game of this size may please those who equate volume with value, but despite a handful of sensational moments, Shadow of War mostly proves that more can be so much less. [Christmas 2017, p.112]

A party game collection for which you have to work far too hard to get much of a chance to party. [Jan 2007, p.82]

All the games, even the good ones, outlast their welcome. [Jan 2008, p.90]

It's just a shame that this unique combination of still-alivers didn't result in something truly innovative.

Assuming you're simply content with content, Ubisoft busies you with donkey work. [Jan 2014, p.110]

There's a lot going on here, much of it captivating, some of it just for appearances and some of it annoying. [Issue#338, p.92]

Real strategic thinking is less useful than exploiting the single-mindedness of the enemy AI. That rings true of many SRPGs, but can leave a cheap aftertaste to an otherwise decisive victory. [Sept 2004, p.102]

In quests played with up to three friends the experience improves, but the game does nothing clever, original or compelling enough to recommend local questing over MMOs. [May 2008, p.95]

There are some good laughs here, along with sporadic moments of showstopping spectacle. [Issue#422, p.102]

An imperfect, but highly original game that pokes affectionate fun at the not only very Japanese, but very human, desire for everybody to get along. [Issue#342, p.120]

There's no denying the milestone that Infinity Nikki marks for the Nikki series, taking it from a modest mobile dress-up app exclusive to China to an expansive global release of a stature rare for femicentric games. Yet... [Issue#406, p.116]

All we can say is that six hours of Resident Evil 3 is just enough - and we're aware that's both compliment and curse. [Issue#346, p.88]

Much remains to be done, certainly, but after a dire six months, Destiny is, at last, back on track. [Aug 2018, p.104]

Spiritfarer loses itself in so much tiresome back-and-forth, ladling on delightful incidental details in the hope that you won't notice that each character's story has become little more than an extended shopping list. [Issue#350, p.96]

The most contagious thing about Echoes Of Time is its humour, and there's no shortage of intrigue and mishap in the quests to come. Nor, however, is there a surplus. [May 2009, p.96]

The main quest’s predefined battles do throw up enemy combinations that require more complex tactics, but there’s no denying that, having breached the fourth wall, Behold Studios’ charming game is content to head back inside the building.

Whatever it becomes in time, the GT Sport of right now is defined by the features it leaves on the cutting-room floor, rather than those it adds. [Christmas 2017, p.118]