The fact that Arkedo has made such a simple gimmick work as well as it does over a longer distance is a testament to the developer’s skills at providing cheerfully mindless variety. [Feb 2009, p.95]

Surviving isn't supposed to be easy, of course. But there's a line between challenging players and screwing them over, and The Flame In The Flood regularly crosses it. [April 2016, p.106]

The title is just painfully apt: never has a free-roaming structure brought so little to improve the quality of a game's world. The mooted open-ended environments of Tony Hawk's American Wasteland feel like a fallacy, a bleak repackaging for hocking the game to a jaded audience. [Dec 2005, p.107]

We're very happy with the ending we land on, but it's hard to imagine anyone choosing to stick around. [Issue#364, p.121]

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]

Drill Spirits is a well-rounded introduction to the series, but falls far short of its greatest successes. [Feb 2005, p.82]

When it's embracing the ridiculous, Deliver At all Costs shines like a thrashing, paint-dipped monster fish. [Issue#412, p.121]

While Rockstar made its millions capturing the grotesque allure of fantasy crime, every character in this me-too endeavor is simply grotesque. It has a taste for hot coffee, but only knows how to serve it straight. [Oct 2006, p.88]

There's an overall level of polish to Inversion that shows a developer improving its skillset. Though the game never fully stretches its ambitious premise beyond the confines of the cover shooter genre, it's a game with the noblest of intentions: to provide wall-to-wall, or, rather, floor-to-ceiling, entertainment.

It's the curse of "better with friends" - if any member of your own personal brigade loses interest, it could quickly end up a dusty relic. [Nov 2018, p.118]

Most egregious of all is that Deracine too often turns into a tedious game of hunt the sparkle, as you grope awkwardly around bodies to find the twinkle that triggers conversation audio. [Jan 2019, p.118]

For all its faults, there's every chance The Town of Light could end up getting under your[ skin]. [April 2016, p.112]

It's worth rolling on to the end, but you might find yourself wishing it had more of the concision of its cinematic inspirations, rather than the drag of a family game of monopoly. [Issue#364, p.123]

The good news for fans of 2005’s Playground Of Destruction is that Mercenaries remains an absolute blast. [Nov 2008, p.92]

If it's judged only on its atmosphere, weapons, and the amount of killing it portrays from behind the wheel, this expansion hits the bullseye. If Techland can fill in all the bits missing in between, its next project could be something special indeed. [April 2016, p.114]

There are just too many of the simple things wrong, and too many areas where you feel that corners have been cut rather than obsessed over. [Sept 2008, p.88]

Swarm will provide a stern test of both skill and patience.

With just those three levels, though, Rage feels a little slight - more a toy than a full game, even if there's plenty of room to perfect your scores.

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]

Yes, it really does get good after 20 hours, but even then it never lives up to its name - not-so-bravely defaulting to genre convention at almost every turn. [Issue#357, p.108]

Sonic 4 is neither straightforwardly heinous nor a glorious return to form. It's a beautiful homage, and on balance an enjoyable one, but things aren't as uncomplicated as you might hope.

What could've been a new high-water mark for horror is weighed down by a litany of clanging missteps, but while the game's many problems conspire to tarnish its innovations, the latter are so far ahead of other games' tricks that they dazzle nonetheless. [April 2016, p.115]

Those seeking a healthy eating plan are advised to look elsewhere: this is more likely to encourage consumption of hallucinogens than fruit and vegetables.

There are too many caveats, too many pieces that have to fall into place to experience Aces at its very best. And yet a game between two evenly-matched characters and similarly-skilled human players is an unfettered joy. [Issue#322, p.122]

Great concept; questionable delivery.

A bold experiment, then, if not a perfectly balanced or successful one.

Swarm will provide a stern test of both skill and patience.

Shadowrun has too many cooks: it’s a heady broth initially, and the possibilities might seem unmatched, but ultimately it turns out to be limited fun. [Aug 2007, p.88]

Far from perfect but enduringly hard to dislike. [Dec 2007, p.95]

Perhaps the saddest misunderstanding in Assault, though, is its pedestrian, linear structure. There's nothing wrong with it, but the multiple routes and secret branches of the earlier titles bound levels into a taut, short, player-directed adventure that was always seamless and could never be fully experienced in one sitting... Without it, Assault is a jumbled, disposable thrill. [Apr 2005, p.92]

We suspect Chimera Squad might not be to the taste of genre purists, having sacrificed perhaps a little too much of the player's control over strategic outcomes in favour of reactive encounters. In some ways, it's XCOM for those who prefer action games - a hybrid that isn't afraid to ruffle some feathers, even if the resulting beast loses a little of its identity. [Issue#346, p.94]

The presence of IAP can’t prevent Fearless Wheels from ultimately delivering a robust and worthwhile ride for those looking for the colourful bursts of shallow play its minute-long tracks encourage.

The arguments and the heartbreaks are worth it, it suggests, to have the chance to see things from another perspective - and in doing so, to have your horizons expanded. When it's all over, the world seems a little bigger. [Issue#357, p.114]

Amalur is a very easy world to drop in and out of – if only Skyrim were so willing to share us with our real lives – but it is never a place where we can truly put down roots. And all this is a shame, since Salvatore's encyclopaedic creation is something worth investing in.

There's enough skill on display to suggest that these tales might actually be worth telling. [Sept 2009, p.99]

This is a game built with Kinect's limits in mind, and one that never risks defying them. The result is a modest, mechanically simple on-rails shooter, but it's one that offers a voyage with epic sweep for those looking to re-immerse themselves in Fable's world.

Continues the series' longstanding struggle with combat mechanics. [July 2010, p.98]

Wolverine isn't lazy - its frequent repetitions and fine repertoire of glitches are signs of a product hurried to launch rather than bankruptcy of imagination. [June 2009, p.94]

The simple tasks - jump, drag, hide - create a sort of meditative state, where the bare bones of the game itself don't matter and your eyes are free to drink in its sumptuous world. Counterintuitive puzzles aside, that's a sensation worth chasing. [Nov 2018, p.120]

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]

Pig & Bullet is certainly an amusing distraction, but Spiceworx's thin veneer of polish can't hide the simplistic Flash game lurking beneath.

While Time Hollow fills a Phoenix Wright-shaped hole in our lives, we do prefer our chaos theory a little less tidy. [Apr 2009, p.123]

The gems that this sequel is connecting - the RPG and match-three puzzler - still need one more to complete the chain: character. [Oct 2010, p.94]

Few games can capture the sense of being in the hunt so well, and by degrees few games can disappoint so much when this sense is lost to wrangling with the camera or gawkish, unpredictable controls shackling your weightlessness. [Oct 2004, p.108]

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]

For all Raven's efforts with temporal gimmicks, this is a game which is stuck in the FPS past – but, perversely, in its gun-metal and gore, in its most archaic respects, Raven proves it can just about stand the test of time.

Its battle system still provides an excellent alternative to the rigid chess boards of many a strategy RPG, but one which feels compromised rather than optimised for its new setting. [Oct 2010, p.88]

It represents a sublimely efficient means by which to enjoy competitive multiplayer an on all-new platform, doing so amid a shower of sparks. [June 2005, p.94]

Comparisons with "Halo" are inevitable. Unfortunately, Fire Warrior shows how developers can steal elements from superior games, while fundamentally misunderstanding why they worked so well in the first place. [Nov 2003, p.101]

Murky, muted visuals and a lack of ground detail let the game's presentation down, but the satisfying combat and customisation - especially when you unlock the Tune menu, which lets you add custom parts to your aircraft - do their best to hold your attention despite the frequently repeating missions. [Oct 2010, p.99]

The result is a game that, while built from familiar components, feels unique as a whole. The Farm 51 should be commended for its bold design decisions, and for attempting to create something that dispenses with videogame conventions. That it doesn't always hang together quite as well as it could is disappointing, but that doesn't make experiencing the studio's singular vision any less worthwhile. [July 2017, p.110]

Sin Episodes promised us one part of an epic, but we’re in danger of getting a generic formula over several iterations, ageing technologically each time. [July 2006, p.85]

You have expectations when you see Capcom's logo as a game loads up, particularly with its flagship titles. Shoddy workmanship isn't one.

But far too often in Keeper, rather than anything that has any greater meaning, what you're in conflict with is just muddled, unemotive puzzle design. [Issue#417, p.114]

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]

Like poking a dream-plagued bear, not everything here is a sensible idea, but at least there's always a chance something interesting will happen. [Issue#408, p.104]

FromSoftware's second stab at this stuff produced Dark Souls. Deck13 still has a way to go before it really delivers on the concept it holds so dear. [July 2017, p.112]

While it's far from being one the most mechanically refined or polished apps available, Titus is nevertheless distinct amongst the clone-saturated masses, with plenty of charm to fill out its bare bones.

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]

Yet even with another cliffhanger to keep you on tenterhooks until Episode Three, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see audience interest starting to wane, particularly if Telltale continues to treat us more as viewers than as players.

The game’s seven levels may not boast the artistry and meticulousness of its forebears’, but they boast action that at least equals them. [Oct 2008, p.102]

As an experiment in making a genuine retro game, and as a tribute to a forgotten title of yore, Forget-Me-Not is brilliant. But as a 2011 release, even with rose-tinted spectacles firmly applied, it's much harder to recommend.

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]

Resistance 2 is every bit the product of Resistance: Fall Of Man’s mentality: it’s OK to do things by the numbers so long as those numbers are bigger than everyone else’s. [Christmas 2008, p.91]

It only takes a couple of playthroughs for events to start recurring, and that severely diminishes The Yawhg’s spell, but it can’t take away the charm with which Carrol and Sommer’s game weaves together fairy tales.

A detailed and intelligent fraud: a slice of cool, corporate entertainment for an audience that probably sees no contradiction within that notion. [Oct 2010, p.98]

Four years on and Republic is revealed as a more familiar and modest proposition. What promised to be revolutionary has emerged as a mere curio. A shame. [Oct 2003, p.90]

Upgrades are disappointingly basic... [Issue#417, p.121]

Mega Man 9 might try to fit in the ‘retro cool’ category, but really it’s just retro: and that’s much less of a safe bet than Space Invaders T-shirts and Pac-Man keyrings. [Dec 2008, p.94]

To The Sky also emphasises that this is a game to be enjoyed in groups, with co-op for up to four people, and it's true that it is more enjoyable alongside others. [Issue#417, p.123]

Though 2K Czech's operation doesn't run entirely smoothly, there's a definite spark of potential and the roots of an abandoned attempt to engineer something more than throwaway entertainment. [Oct 2010, p.90]

It all adds up to a mesmerisingly unpleasant atmosphere that somewhat offsets the gun-ho nihilism of the plot. [Issue#353, p.112]

There aren’t enough maps, there aren’t enough distinctions between the vehicles, and there’s just not enough meat on what feel like solid bones. [Sept 2007, p.96]

If only there was substance to match the undeniable style. [Issue#357, p.123]

WOTS2's intentionally short running time (most story paths can be finished in little over two hours), a steady stream of unlockable rewards, and the gradual appreciation of its combat system's depth can make replays strangely compelling. [July 2004, p.105]

What a shame that a story whose opening promises to wade into deeper waters should resort to paddling in the shadows. [Issue#375, p.118]

Memories of Mizuguchi's original may hold more value than anything offered here, making for an unusual proposition. Highly enjoyable as it is, Lumines II is tough to recommend. [Christmas 2006, p.89]

There's little here that truly improves the Overcooked recipe, an din that regard, only those with extra large appetites for this particular brand of couch co-op need apply. [Nov 2018, p.122]

There are only a few truly transcendent puzzles on offer. [Issue#375, p.120]

By tentatively introducing new concepts, The Devil In Me at least sets up an exciting cliffhanger for a second two, where we hope to see their potential fulfilled. [Issue#380, p.118]

Whilst some of the novelty of seeing a stalwart RPG on GameBoy Advance has worn off, The Lost Age is still slick, practised and enjoyable. Fans will lap it up. [June 2003]

The game's highlights hint at a more interesting game that never quite materialises; in the end, Mad Max simply isn't crazy enough. [Nov 2015, p.108]

While it doesn't pass as an update or a worthy torch bearer for the hyperactive, all-out action-clash that was the original Guardian Heroes, the resemblance is still there. It's more homage than successor, but it's a decent beat 'em up in its own right. [Dec 2005, p.116]

It's a smart idea in an enjoyably brisk score-attack game that sadly feels a little undernourished thanks to the brevity of its campaign and its repetitive play rhythms.

Lego TLOTR is, despite its many flaws, still broadly enjoyable. It has charm, it has its moments and the series holds an undeniable attraction for kids both actual and inner. It's a Lego game, in other words. But it's bloated, too, full of half-formed, shoddily executed ideas and frustrating glitches.

It’s a great shame, because with tighter controls Frogmind’s charismatic debut would be a memorable one, but as it is it lacks the power to draw you back into its world.

Without the brutal challenge, it's a game that will take mere hours to finish and even fewer to forget. [May 2010, p.101]

Too often, what's on offer feels like a succession of incomplete experiments - the shoulders of giants on which other VR games might build. [Issue#394, p.100]

Not much here could be called outstanding - if we're hyper-critical, even though the game's visualisation of Japanese myth is a treat, it's not one we haven't sampled before. While there's a decent brew here, then, it doesn't refresh like a really good cupa. [Issue#400, p.116]

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]

Despite its flaws, however, Overdrive captures the essence of its progenitor, though it also serves as a reminder that the much-missed Bizarre Creations isn’t coming back.

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]

Its story is excessively maudlin and self-serious to the point of pomposity - it's no exaggeration to say Naughty Dog gave us more laughs. And as pretty as the scenery is, we'd rather it didn't obstruct us so often when we're fighting; with a tight camera and no way of locking onto individual opponents, you sometimes end up cornered without realising, or struck by enemies you can't see. Combat should be an entertaining, empowering dance, and though it sometimes hits those heights, too often it can't resist throwing too many enemies into the mix. It's supposed to get messy, but not like this...When the world isn't getting in your way, however, it is Ghost of Tsushima's saving grace. [Issue#348, p.86]

You’d need to have a cold heart indeed not to enjoy a game where you get to see a giant cat using Drunken Master kung fu to break Al Capone out of Alcatraz. [June 2007, p.91]

As a big joke about violent-for-the-sake of it games, MadWorld just about gets away with it. But it won't bear a repeat performance. [May 2009, p.93]

Is Muramasa a luscious concept art gallery rudely interrupted by swordplay, or just a ponderous Ninja Gaiden clone. Whatever the case, it doesn't wholly succeed. [July 2009, p.99]

But if, as the end nears, its unswerving focus seems less of an asset than in its early hours, Dead Island 2 has emerged from development hell in more robust shape than we could have expected. Certainly, there is enough potential in a refined and updated version - one that finds room for more immersive sim-style experimentation - to leave us pondering something that seemed unthinkable going in. Dead Island 3? It doesn't seem quite such a terrible idea after all. [Issue#384, p.100]

The simple attack-defend volleyball games are the true beauty of Zack Island, frequently raising the pulse as you battle to deliver that killer blow. [May 2010, p.104]