All too often you’re baffled as to how your slick 180° spin failed to satisfy the marking criteria, only to pass on the next attempt with a clunking three-point turn. [Oct 2007, p.94]

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]

Fatal Inertia promised so much in its early showings (which claimed to represent in-game footage), but has turned out as a decent but thoroughly predictable racer. [Oct 2007, p.95]

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]

The chemistry of control, animation, AI and environmental damage systems is absolutely spot on, both in finding Hard Boiled’s groove and providing coherent, rhythmic and unpredictable action. [Nov 2007, p.91]

Levels lose the false drama of scripted sequences but take on something much more satisfying. Everything that happens in Airborne’s dropzones, from shameful deaths to GI Joe heroics, feels like it’s because of you, and it usually is. [Oct 2007, p.92]

How to mess up a game in which you ride a dragon is quite simple. You make the control of that dragon answerable to motion-sensing technology that can’t distinguish subtle or even very forced gestures in anything like the detail required. [Nov 2007, p.90]

Warhawk's manic pace makes for an instantly gratifying experience, and its brilliantly implemented notion of flight and considered balance among combat options more than compensate for the slenderness of its offering. [Oct 2007, p.90]

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]

Persistent players will find it to be one of the best multiplayer experiences on PSP. [Dec 2007, p.95]

Masterful controls aside, Corruption sees Retro lost for a while, like Samus, down some mystifying and convoluted dead-end of its own making, populating a universe that should have stayed desolate and dead. [Nov 2007, p.84]

A revised, marginally stronger example of the virtual motorbike racing we’ve come to expect from the franchise. But owners of MotoGP ’06 may want to skip a year. [Oct 2007, p.96]

Two Worlds has a lot of content for anyone willing to slog through it, but its buggy failure to take Oblivion’s crown, its troubled development and unfinished feel are testament to ideas beyond its makers’ capabilities. [Nov 2007, p.96]

This is a simple game at heart, a game about learning the rules, becoming really good at manipulating the elements, and then getting a huge high score to brag about. And who could argue with that? [Oct 2007, p.98]

If only the mechanics matched the atmosphere. If only Rapture was a less linear world to move through. If only BioShock was the wholly brilliant experience you know, from your moments within it, it could have been.[Oct 2007, p.88]

Large-scale, new IP RPGs have been something of a rarity on this handheld, but as higher quality titles start to emerge, conformist and mediocre efforts like this become even less attractive and viable. [Feb 2008, p.97]

Whereas our appetite for entertainment is such that we happily consume similar amusements again and again, we have to ask if we really need to learn these lessons twice. [Sept 2007, p.97]

Games with distinct souls are rare things, but Persona 3 succeeds in displaying a mesmerising personality that touches the many well-crafted aspects of its curious and singular approach. [Nov 2007, p.94]

Watching your carefully directed army walk into each other and painfully slowly correct themselves by walking one square left, two squares up, one square right, while an army approaches is frustrating to say the least. [Oct 2007, p.97]

The last thing on Glory Days’ mind is fun: it instead angrily stomps forward to the beat of the ‘war is hell’ drum. [Oct 2007, p.99]

Nucleus stands as a poorly executed game in a field where there are so many excellent others that it’s impossible to recommend. [Aug 2007, p.94]

It’s impossible to ignore the fact that, with titles like this, Nintendo has perfected a genre. [July 2007, p.95]

The eventful, minute-long matches and frantic to-and-fro make Mario Strikers a suitable curtain-raiser for online gaming on the Wii, but a balanced and deep extreme sports game this is not. [June 2007, p.87]

Perhaps EA would have done better to port a previous Wing Commander game in its totality rather than staple the name to a somewhat anaemic effort of an awkwardly inauthentic shape. [Oct 2007, p.99]

For the most part the game has been intelligently repositioned for the PC platform, but a lack of polish means that many minor flaws coalesce to make the experience a rather uneven one, often obscuring the creators’ worthwhile efforts. [Sept 2007, p.96]

Ninja Gaiden is as good as it ever was, and the visual improvements can’t be faulted. The minor redesign of some of the levels is generally irrelevant next to the meat of the game, however, and not worth the update in itself. [Aug 2007, p.90]

Despite the aforementioned illusion of choice, there is really only one pre-determined way to conquer a given mission, each stealthy ability in reality a functional button-press to move the game along. [Apr 2007, p.87]

In a growing field of downloadable shooters, it stands out as one of the best. [Aug 2007, p.94]

Describing the game at all is simply to tick off a litany of annoyances punctuated by one minor triumph, namely that the Transformers themselves look pretty good. [Sept 2007, p.90]

It’s a great idea but a flawed execution, and will need a sequel to achieve its potential. [Aug 2007, p.92]

A few interface niggles and the eventual feeling of repetition don’t hold back a creative reimagining of a game type that, thanks to the execution, is as important as it is enjoyable. [Nov 2007, p.96]

Fans of the series are in the position of seeing a game that is an enhancement, rather than an exploitation, of its source material – and fans of the FPS have another good example of the genre to add to their busy schedules. [Aug 2007, p.86]

It’s not often that a war game captures almost perfectly the feel of walking drunk through a Las Vegas casino – that overpowering mix of randomness, mediocrity and nausea. [Sept 2007, p.94]

As a game of corners, conditions and the times in which you master them, DIRT is an outstanding engine of online competition, powered by an outstanding engine of sight, sound and physics. [July 2007, p.88]

For its dramatic and cinematic flair, its lovingly crafted chaotic destruction and above all its network of interconnected personalities, it's an adventure that shouldn't be missed. [JPN Import; June 2006, p.92]

The Wii addition sends players on the same astonishing, grisly funfair ride with a slight new twist. But, though it does little to take the experience to new heights, Resident Evil 4 is still an immense pleasure to return to. [Aug 2007, p.95]

Call Of Juarez has mined its source material well, collecting a wealth of imagery that it then squanders on lacklustre and dysfunctional gameplay. [Aug 2007, p.93]

While Monster Madness does much to scratch the co-op itch, and offers some titillating online modes, it sullies it with patchy execution and a series of poor design choices. [Sept 2007, p.93]

While Monster Madness does much to scratch the co-op itch, and offers some titillating online modes, it sullies it with patchy execution and a series of poor design choices. [Sept 2007, p.93]

It’s a game that’s full of faults, but also one in which they can be immaterial to the experience of playing. [Sept 2007, p.95]

Call Of Juarez has mined its source material well, collecting a wealth of imagery that it then squanders on lacklustre and dysfunctional gameplay. [Aug 2007, p.93]

Offering the quiet contemplation of a puzzle mode, the soothing time-wasting of a marathon session, or the frenetic rivalry of multiplayer: this has it all. [July 2007, p.95]

The racing, in itself, is excellent. Striking a wonderful balance between simulation and thrills. [July 2007, p.86]

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]

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]

Criticism has often been aimed at Hudson’s perpetual shrug of the shoulders as to how to milk new games from the same old buttons and analogue stick setup, yet here we find all-new motion controls and still no freshness. [Aug 2007, p.95]

The game is full of charm, from the easily-distinguishable block types and hero in dressing gown, to the sequences that detail the game’s story and a delicate hint mode. [July 2007, p.93]

Anyone prepared to look beyond the candy colourings and initially floaty controls will discover a game of real depth and precision. [July 2007, p.90]

That the game’s numerous niggles don’t ruin the experience sooner is testament to its unusual artistic coherence which creates a compelling world. But familiarity does eventually break the visual spell to reveal a mostly average and repetitive game underneath. [Sept 2007, p.91]

At World’s End would shame Jack Sparrow himself: it’s boring, nondescript and significantly lacking in adventure. [July 2007, p.91]

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]

It’s a clean game, at least, texturally crisp and evocatively lit, but the feeling of playing an interactive 3D Mark demo is discouragingly strong. [Apr 2007, p.88]

Unfortunately, creating such a smooth ride has resulted in a title you can race through in just under a single charge of the PSP battery. [July 2007, p.94]

Its problem is what the missions ask of you: they are simply too tough. Trained soldiers would and should mutiny when asked to carry out the tasks AA routinely asks of you. [Mar 2007, p.84]

The frequent glitches and pop-up testify to a lack of preparation, and a question has to be asked about what exactly Treyarch has been doing for the past two years. [July 2007, p.89]

It'll be happier on PSP, where competitors and attention spans are in short supply, and the more energetic interaction offered by the Wii should play to its drop-in simplicity and haphazard dogfights, but on PS2 it's too obviously anachronistic and quickly exhausted. [May 2007, p.93]

The Red Star is more of a red dwarf next to some of the more sharp-witted and unabashed action titles that have landed on PS2 in recent years, but one that's still capable of shininig. [May 2007, p.95]

Bright and breezy, it offers almost bottomless value, creates a believable and consistent world, offers a real strategic challenge as well as the kind of brainless completism that’s best suited to delayed trains and rainy afternoons, and hides a staggeringly intricate set of mechanics inside an accessible and non-threatening world. [July 2007, p.84]

Bright and breezy, it offers almost bottomless value, creates a believable and consistent world, offers a real strategic challenge as well as the kind of brainless completism that’s best suited to delayed trains and rainy afternoons, and hides a staggeringly intricate set of mechanics inside an accessible and non-threatening world. [July 2007, p.84]

Boom Boom Rocket is marking time rather than feeling the rhythm, and that’s not enough to set Live Arcade’s skies alight. [June 2007, p.88]

Charming, irrepressible and inventive, the fact that it never manages to blend its ingredients smoothly together doesn’t stop it being a toothsome pick ‘n’ mix of playful puzzles, familiar faces and unrestrained whimsy. [June 2007, p.84]

For a series that puts so much stock in its grace and composure, the lack of an intuitive control scheme is hard to overcome. [June 2007, p.86]

The pretty basic minigames are bland, and the worst, such as Pot Luck, are based on blind, dumb chance. So are the best, sadly. They’re fun with four people, but what isn’t? [June 2007, p.92]

The dozens of pre-prepared puzzles can be fiendish enough in themselves, but the option of dragging modifier icons on to tiles, changing the pattern with which they flip, enables high scores just as surely as it does enormous headaches. [June 2007, p.92]

Vanguard simply fails to deliver the pomp and bluster or the window dressing so essential in disguising the shortcomings inherent in "Call of Duty's" framework. [May 2007, p.92]

What's most frustrating about Tiberium Wars is that it chooses not to accentuate the breakneck battlefield thrills of C&C's arcade stylings, opting instead to preserve the old blueprint. [May 2007, p.86]

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

This new outing for Sega’s ever-appealing sports series is a deeper, more serious and demanding beast than before, yet happily manages to retain the series’ lighthearted atmosphere and is, on occasion, utterly bonkers. [Apr 2007, p.84]

Even on the least realistic setting, the game can be fearsomely complicated and the manual and tutorials are little help. [May 2007, p.91]

To appreciate the game's dilemma, look no further than its multiplayer modes, which have so little room for manoeuvre that they needn't have existed at all. [May 2007, p.94]

Too many of its dishes are mere remixes of the same simple techniques. Too many of its taut time trials founder because of some quirk of the Remote. [June 2007, p.93]

The illusion of epic-scale warfare remains a powerful and entertaining one, broken most significantly by the player’s need to avoid overexposing themselves to its fundamentally tedious nature. [Feb 2007, p.85]

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]

As interesting as exploring the island can be, it's painfully hard to get anywhere without being forced to repeat chores that are just plain boring. [May 2007, p.93]

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

Its biggest problem is its length, and that its formula can’t quite endure its sequel-dose duration. Whether or not it’s overlong in terms of play hours may be a matter of preference, but it feels slightly stretched during its final third, exposing its shallowness a little in the process. [Apr 2007, p.80]

With little to differentiate fighters beyond base levels of aggression, symmetrical faces and notions of characters they’re meant to represent, it doesn’t take too long for Balboa to flag, or indeed trudge to an unceremonious end. [Mar 2007, p.87]

It seems Buena Vista has gone from making lacklustre titles out of much-loved franchises to making a reasonable game from the coldest of franchises. [Mar 2007, p.82]

Thanks in no small part to the slavish love of motion capture over more manageable keyframe animation, the fights in Icon are sluggish, crude and practically underwater when it comes to control. [Apr 2007, p.79]

While it’s not the definitive culmination of the genre so far, Dominator remains a compelling reminder that, while slight in comparison to its older brothers, Burnout still knows how to be a mean racing game. [Apr 2007, p.83]

For dedicated Ghosts GRAW 2 is a no-brainer. For the rest of us it's just the exact game "Advanced Warfighter" should have been and would have beeen if the clock wasn't watching; Ubisoft rewriting history and charging us twice for the privilege. [May 2007, p.89]

There’s a desperate lack of innovation on display here; nondescript levels based around ice caves, pyramids and inevitable Mayan temples. The boring locations exacerbate the sneaking feeling that the levels, which can easily take an hour or longer to finish, are simply too large. [JPN Import; Mar 2007, p.81]

As far as either an authentic simulation or a fun re-imagining goes, it’s like some strange negative of the emperor’s new clothes; the pretty wrapping is there but the body is not. [Mar 2007, p.83]

It's an enjoyably twisted and often satisfying piece of fantasy, then, even though the reality of its more generic aspects poses a serious threat to its achievements. [JPN Import; Oct 2006, p.92]

Blur will take you on a fantastic holiday, then, but perhaps not the most relaxing one. [May 2007, p.88]

Even in this compromised form, Virtua Fighter 5’s depth and beauty are unrivalled, and it can finally take its rightful place as the only game in town. [Apr 2007, p.76]

There’s a fine-line between rote-learning frustration and seat-of-the-pants glee in on-rails arcade games, and Secret Rings wobbles either side of it perceptibly, but seldom stays on the wrong side for too long. [Apr 2007, p.81]

Compared to so many free-roaming games to date, it so rarely stumbles. It’s the very skeleton of the genre, those bones strengthened to the point where they alone can stand as a game, rather than serving as hangers for threadbare ideas to be dangled from. [Mar 2007, p.76]

Without the challenge and cruelty that can make a classic, the results here are likeable, confident, and nowhere near essential. [Mar 2007, p.86]

Supreme Commander is the polar opposite of lazy Sunday afternoon strategy: the anti-"Civilization." With a name as apt as the infinite slaughter of "Total Annihilation," it really is a supreme commander’s job. [Mar 2007, p.78]

While there are occasional sparks from things like laser weapons, or games of tag in the arena combat, too much time is spent racing the same courses at the same speed, with only a very gradual increase in AI awareness to differentiate each step up through the ranks. [Mar 2007, p.85]

Stages are smaller and battles are often less intense but Size Matters makes up for the shortfall in calibre with a visual imagination that, for the first time, makes a Ratchet & Clank games feel like an actual adventure instead of a sequence of shootout-corridors threaded along a necklace of planets. [Apr 2007, p.88]

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]

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]

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]

The net result is a product that can't be faulted on its accessibility, but has less subtlety than ever with which to hide the inherently, and sometimes unrelentingly, mechanical process that caring for your sims represents. [Mar 2007, p.85]

Rare’s late-‘90s obsession with currencies and unlockables, combined with the new additions to adventure mode, make Diddy Kong Racing feel at times like a maze of conditions and transactions in search of an actual game, and put many of its attractive new features behind bars with no word of how to free them. [Apr 2007, p.87]

It’s a testimony to the rapid evolution of this once moribund genre that Rogue Galaxy has been left so far behind. But it’s also a testament to Level 5’s inherent instinct for charm and compulsion that this game manages – even in 2007 – to hold its head above the crowd. [Apr 2007, p.78]