Treyarch has taken just enough from COD4 to make World At War a broad success, but it remains firmly in its shadow. [Christmas 2008, p.90]

In trying to please us all, it leaves a deeper puzzle unsolved. [Issue#415, p.107]

There’s nothing here that wasn’t done bigger, in more detail, and with more options, in Eidos Montreal’s game, while the story so far fails to introduce new ideas or themes.

Without characters to care for or a story compelling enough, only the most dedicated genre faithful will make it through Blue Dragon’s three discs. [Sept 2007, p.88]

The breasts get in the way. Dragon’s Crown’s 30GG bosoms have made any discussion of the game impossible without first acknowledging that, yes, those things are preposterous. While art director George Kamitani’s assertion that he exaggerates male characters’ masculine characteristics to the same extent holds water, the saucy fairy and spread-legged female monk don’t help combat the suggestion that Dragon’s Crown is wantonly objectifying women.

Wideload has placed a welcome knee in the groin of the status quo, but by taking its subject too lightly it’s also failed to turn an adventurous prototype into a durable production. [Christmas 2005, p.102]

Often you’ll present a piece of evidence on a hunch and find him explaining it far beyond your own understanding. The result is a distance from the story, and a reminder of the paucity of interactivity on offer. [Nov 2007, p.99]

It's very easy to while away the time just terrorising the populace of each level in an increasingly destructive fashion, but to actually care enough to contribute anything to a completion percentage is another matter entirely. [July 2005, p.86]

In the great crapshoot of Namco thirdperson action games, it’s a better than average throw. [Nov 2006, p.92]

Marvel's Avengers has a lot of good parts, a lot of indifferent ones, and an overall lack of direction. [Issue#351, p.90]

Its ragged edges mean it feels more like a competent cover version that occasionally strays off key, rather than the genuine article. [Dec 2017, p.120]

Offers the most blissful vision of rural Britain since "Everybody's Gone To The Rapture." [Issue#360, p.120]

It’s formulaic, then, but sticking with what you know doesn’t often produce such satisfying results.

With Suda we’ve come to expect the unexpected, but the most disappointing thing about Killer Is Dead is that the unexpected has become predictable. By adhering too rigidly to its creator’s esoteric template, it gives us pretty much exactly what we were anticipating.

Pitch detection is accurate and, for the songs you know, Konami couldn't have provided a better arena for belting out the warbles you've perfected in the shower. But for the songs you don't know - and there are likely to be many - those warbles will be your undoing, capsizing an otherwise satisfying quest for high score. [Aug 2004, p.106]

That's how it feels: brand extension, dilution rather than enrichment. [Mar 2008, p.102]

Katauri's strategy RPG is a compulsive thing. (…) The game hooks the player to a drip-feed of demands that proves difficult to unplug. [Feb 2009, p.94]

With its robust clan support MAG still offers a cooperative experience on a rare scale for bands of dedicated players willing to weather the unnecessary confusions and ungenerous structure of the early game. For the rest, MAG rarely deals out the empowerment and clarity of purpose that other team shooters, like the forthcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2, offer from the get go. It’s not quite ‘welcome to the suck’, but gamers may wonder if MAG’s a battle worth fighting.

This Arkham Origins is a brawny, brainless offering, then, that takes one aspect of the series and remixes it for iOS in a way that should temporarily scratch that Batman itch ahead of the main event.

One day you sense Shin'en will make a game that plays as good as it looks. Until then, this is a polished and attractive shooter that you'll likely have a reasonably entertaining few hours with before forgetting it ever existed within a month. An ideal launch game, then.

Part fishing simulator and part Lovecraftian adventure but while the two concepts work together surprisingly well, they both feel disappointingly undercooked.

While many players will tire of the gamelong before its last secrets are handed out, its simplicity makes it a strangely compelling experience. [Jan 2008, p.87]

Over-dependence on legwork over the bulk of each world robs the game of its sparkle, making it feel more work-ethic sweatshop than well-paced sweetshop. [Dec 2005, p.111]

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.

From bedrooms containing clever and mysterious moving panels to a 'Land of the Giants'-style pool challenge, each section delivers something new and exciting to motivate deeper exploration. [Apr 2004, p.110]

The fifth in the Colin McRae series is still a fine game if - and here's the major caveat - you didn't play last year's update. Those who did will get more fun out of playing spot the difference. [Nov 2004, p.107]

A fleeting novelty.

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.

Brink is not revolution. It might not even be evolution of the kind the FPS needs. If anything, it's an ideas board: a fun enough game in the short-term, but more valuable in the long run to better and brighter thieves.

A simple bloodsport, and only a rudimentary level-up system affords any sense of progression. [Aug 2009, p.106]

Where other games treat romance as a reward or an optional curio, Airport dares to put love at its centre. For that, at least, it deserves praise. And a treat. Perhaps even a belly rub, too. [Issue#360, p.123]

Residents themselves are a colourless bunch, a series of knowing archetypes – goth girls, hip DJs, Italian chefs – that lack the effortless charm of Animal Crossing’s simple ciphers. [Dec 2007, p.97]

Where the game really succeeds, however, beyond providing a robust and solid, if unassuming model of explorative stealth and attack, is in fulfilling that old and oft-forgotten criterion - putting the gamer inside the movie. [Aug 2005, p.95]

Had the level design have been a touch more ingenious, and the creatures exhibited more guile, this could have been memorable. [June 2004, p.106]

The plot lacks the slight unpleasantness that tinted Wright's best cases. There are still killers, but their motivations are more straightforward. [Mar 2010, p.98]

A commendably brazen and unfussy shooter, featuring one continuous dialogue of throwaway gunfire and nothing else. [Feb 2004, p.106]

Like a horse swishing its tail with futile persistence, Hunted never manages to rid itself of bugs.

There’s a vibrancy that ensures progress is a pleasure and backtracking is seldom a chore – in fact, the game is often at its best when you’re free from the demands of unlocking the next section and simply revelling in your buoyant weightlessness. [Nov 2004, p.110]

Hugely entertaining while it lasts. [Jan 2007, p.73]

Both the platforming and the shooting hold up, then, but they barely develop after the first few hours. [December 2016, p.116]

Spider-Man 2 presents players with a city ripe for action and exploration, but once you swing down out of the clouds and take a closer look at the grubby streets and roads strewn with vehicles, you'll find little to pique your interest. [Sept 2004, p.100]

There's a sizable adventure here but the repetition of basic tasks makes it seem padded rather than epic – too many dungeons send you on fetch quests for plot devices wherein the rule of three is doggedly applied.

Though it’s regrettable that Sony opted for a retrofit rather than a rebirth, and while series stalwarts might initially balk at controls that fit awkwardly, given a chance the cat-and-mouse charm shines through, and make On The Loose a fine first stab at a new wave of portable platforming. [May 2005, p.93]

The game suffers from a slow start, the first six chapters indistinct and repetitive. [July 2008, p.92]

The subtlety of these exchanges suggests that a strategy game of some greatness exists beneath the cumbersome framework, and we trust Stardock, a developer of proven diligence and passion, to continue refining it. [Nov 2010, p.93]

It's the misjudged reuse of ideas like this that makes the game feel like a classic '80s rock song being played by the band's contemporary line-up.

It’s a slick slice of B-movie alien blasting, in short, but we’re glad it’s standing alongside a more authentic take on XCOM rather than wearing its visage but not quite acting the same.

Tokyo Crash Mobs might not be the best version of Puzz Loop around, but in allowing us to briefly abandon our traditional British reserve, it becomes one of the most satisfying variants we've played.

That twist, however, is the root of the game's disappointments, hinting at something beyond a typical platform game, yet leaving players to go through the genre's familiar motions - just in the shade. [Dec 2010, p.91]

For the game's opening third, this all works brilliantly as you move through claustrophobic, yet forgiving, urban environments. But a trip to the city sewers further down the line places platforming over survival and reveals that Deadlight's controls just aren't up to the task.

We were hoping for a passionate display of Square's rekindling love for the RPG craft. Instead, Sword of Mana hangs around its competitors in relative mediocrity instead of blazing the trail the SNES title did all those years ago. [Feb 2004, p.109]

The game is as interested in making you laugh as making you think. [Issue#384, p.104]

What had the potential to showcase to the uninitiated what makes fighting games so special has become a game aimed too squarely at those who already know.

Demon Stone suggests more potential than it fulfils, but it’s a not-entirely-failed experiment in teaching old dice new tricks, and a follow-up with the same attention to detail but more ambitious design would be welcome. [Nov 2004, p.108]

The finely tuned platforming lays solid foundations for a leaderboard racer, and the custom leaderboards are well implemented, but this just doesn't feel like something you'll be playing in a month, never mind three years. You can't fault its ambition, and it may yet transform itself into an essential title, but presently, 1000 Heroz falls short of its lifespan.

Once again, Volition delivers exceptional tech, but fails to shape it into a truly engaging and sustaining experience.

Wins you over with its charm rather than its virtue. [JPN Import; Jan 2007, p.84]

This is no Guitar Hero, or even a rhythm-action game, but something more akin to a portable notepad for musicians. [Nov 2007, p.97]

There is, at least, plenty to build on with the inevitable sequel, retaining all of this instalment's finer points and knocking the obvious dents out of its armour - a Lords of the Fallen 2.5, perhaps. [Issue#391, p.102]

Although Suikoden 3 is better than the average Japenese RPG, it's clear that with the move to 3D Konami has tried to freshen the formula. But by watering down the series' bastion gameplay elements it may have alienated all but the fanatics. [Sept 2003]

Chaos Legion isn't as sharp as it should be. Beautiful, polished and at times engaging Capaom's latest invention, nevertheless, tests neither the reactions nor the brain enough to hold your interest. [May 2003, p.93]

Though the game’s confidence falters, its storytelling never does, building a new myth with the kind of passion and resonance expected from an eastern retelling of an old one, and enriching the entire sweep of its universe. [June 2005, p.84]

For a story centered on revolutionaries, Mirage is oddly conservative, mired in the middle ground between honouring tradition and embracing innovation. Ubisoft has seldom felt closer to delivering on the power fantasy promised by Patrice Desilets in 2007; equally, it has never felt farther away from its contemporaries. [Issue#391, p.108]

While World Of Warcraft and its peers provide variety through landscape, Hellgate fails utterly to conjure any motivation to investigate the next instanced dungeon. [Christmas 2007, p.97]

This is a treacly origin story for a crew we wouldn't be on seeing again. [Issue#366, p.104]

For all the atmospheric window-dressing, it doesn't extend its reach beyond competent familiarity. [Jan 2007, p.85]

It's simple, accessible and ultimately disposable stuff. Not the sprawling adventure you were hoping for, but fun nonetheless. [Apr 2004, p.108]

There are things to admire here, and The Ball's simple challenges ensure a pleasant, if casual engagement, enhanced by the skilful drawing of this subterranean world. [Dec 2010, p.96]

The irony is that many of Too Human’s problems wouldn’t exist if another pair of human players were allowed to enter the fold (as was originally intended) – speeding up play considerably and making ‘just one more run’ into something a little more manageable. [Oct 2008, p.92]

Yes, the planet looks prettier than it did before we arrived, but this is a rare act of beautification that leaves a bitter aftertaste. [Issue#384, p.114]

The overriding impression is of a game that's physically too big for its action. [June 2009, p.88]

It's never worse than pleasant, and the evergreen villages, the jaunty swagger of its cows and donkeys and the peaceful expansion of your city are exactly the kind of recharging experiences Taylor talked about providing four years ago. It's only a shame that the repetition, and a lack of anything to look forward to, mean that you eventually realise your grass still needs to be cut.

Like the first Gears, Ryse is a simple game loaded with small-scale encounters and rudimentary set-pieces with the intention of hustling you towards something beautiful. Both have their own ‘horror’ stage, both have sieges, both have stationary guns of sorts, and Ryse, like Gears, has room to grow if given the chance.

It’s a product of a time when hardened roleplayers were better noted for their patience – and its difficult to see many players tackling the adventure in its entirety. The walking speed for example, especially in the overworld, proves irritating in its sluggishness. [Feb 2007, p.83]

Too much of it is cut from old cloth instead of woven from its own loom. [Aug 2015, p.116]

This is a stupefyingly linear experience. While the individual stand-offs and shoot-outs are exhilirating, the removal of any sense of choice or any requirement of tactical thought makes this more of a theme park ride than a military operation. [Christmas 2003, p.117]

While Sonokuni is a flawed action experience, we're grateful for it as a showcase of music we might not well have heard otherwise, and perhaps not appreciated in the same way. [Issue#410, p.122]

Combat can be over in a flash - a Great Sword's focus attack is almost guaranteed to one-shot anyone with no armour. [Issue#363, p.106]

As homages go, it's reverential yet poisoned by doubt. It doesn't trust Left 4 Dead's genius enough to let it stand alone. [Issue#365, p.106]

Despite the obvious staying power of the game’s mechanics that has made it a hit in all its various iterations, it strains to push itself beyond its one-note colour-matching principle into truly engaging puzzling. [Aug 2006, p.92]

Dredge draws a line between Animal Crossing's pun-laced fishing minigame and Lovecraft's fondness for a seaside locale, and the two prove a surprisingly natural fit. [Issue#384, p.117]

Ultimately, owners of Sega GT should ask themselves whether a handful of new elements and the online component are worth the investment (even at the reduced price). [Feb 2004, p.107]

Through design or serendipity, maybe the best thing to do after finishing Wanderstop is make yourself a cup of tea, take a seat, and mull it over for a while. [Issue#409, p.118]

In refusing to let the PSP’s home-console-style graphical capabilities dictate the nature of its gameplay, Acid is a valuable blueprint for future PSP development. [Feb 2005, p.77]

Humankind isn't lacking in competence. This is a decent historical strategy with some of the best city building outside of dedicated games such as Cities: Skylines. But it would benefit from greater confidence in its central ideas; rather than seeking to ape Civilization, it could be more inventive. [Issue#363, p.110]

For too much of your playtime, then, the game's charms seem like nothing more than a distant fantasy. [Issue#409, p.120]

Its pacing is hindered by slow movement speed, and nuance is lost as the incidents increase in frequency and topics of conversation shift from the social to the situational. [March 2016, p.120]

Where FlatOut felt like racing in a field, FlatOut 2 feels like racing on a film set. It has been reshaped into the archetype, competent arcade racer. [Aug 2006, p.89]

One of the 3DS launch line-up's visual standouts: colourful, crisp and with horizons that have never looked so distant. It's disappointing, then, that you'll discover its limits so quickly. [Apr 2011, p.90]

As a detective story, Conway holds together well enough; as a nosy neighbour simulator, it excels. Just don't be surprised if you feel grubby afterwards. [Issue#366, p.118]

Given all the admirable character work and tactical substance on display, it's a shame that individualism isn't spread more evenly. [Issue#391, p.118]

Direct comparisons don't do Ronin any favours. Its grappling is reminiscent of Sekiro, but the procedure never feels as urgent or dynamic as it does in From's game. Its combat follows rhythms previously explored in the Nioh series and also Wo Long, but it rarely feels any more refined, nor more satisfying... But it is consistently charming. [Issue#397, p.102]

The promise of the Dark Pictures series remains fresh, then, but the systems supporting it are staring to creak with age. [Issue#366, p.119]

Style can be substance, but it's fuel that burns quickly. [Issue#391, p.119]

This is a package filled with value and historic charm, but viewed devoid of nostalgic mist, the earliest installments of the series feel little more than average. [March 2003, p.106]

For all its polish, Reflect Missile has managed to retain the loose energy of a quirky prototype: a 500 Nintendo Point exercise in pure mechanics that is lithe – and slight – enough to suggest that a talented designer may have knocked the whole thing up over an inspired series of lunch breaks.

As tightly designed and finely balanced as it is, it's hard to shake the feeling that you're endlessly replaying a tutorial.

The pacing ensure playing Kingdom Hearts III is a bit like being dragged through a theme park while hungover. [Issue#330, p.112]