The levels are so gloomy, grey and fog-drenched (there's even fog in the mall) that it's hard to see buildings in the near distance, nevermind enemies. Dark, oppressive and torturous, Omega Strain is about as much fun as a wet weekend in a Kafka novel. [July 2004, p.107]

There's no fluidity or smoothness to combos and combat, so matches are garbled and verge even closer to feeling arbitrary than fight games usually threaten to do. Limited entertainment. [June 2003, p.106]

A strangled idea, and while hard to dismiss it’s difficult to recommend entirely. [Feb 2009, p.94]

There's just no accounting for an excruciating wipeout on the final lap when such possibilities are at the mercy of circumstances as much as they are at the player's skill. But, played with a graceful, Zen-like acceptance – shit happens – Crash 'n' Burn is as enjoyable as it is easy to understand. [Jan 2005, p.97]

The inheritance of wearisome combat, embarrassing characterisation and impoverished audio now joins a bevy of PSP-specific issues... Revelations does succeed in living up to its name, but we’d hoped that such disappointments weren’t the surprise it had in store. [Feb 2006, p.93]

Objects that can be interacted with are circled with an icon, but this only appears if you are looking at exactly the right spot. Indeed, much of Rogue Ops is spent trying to make this cursed cursor appear. It's not a pleasant way to spend an evening. [Feb 2004, p.108]

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

The game is its own worst enemy, as its fully featured hands-on action never quite sits comfortably with roleplaying combat. [July 2010, p.99]

Whether there truly is a demand for the high-fidelity thrills found on other formats among shooter-starved Wii owners is largely academic, because Conduit 2 - like its predecessor - just isn't up to the task of providing them. [June 2011, p.92]

A bigger problem still is the absence of a motivation to work with other players. Objectives are usually thinly disguised fetch quests or encounters where you must defend a character, usually Cass, against waves of enemies.

At worst, it feels like a hollow exercise in brand extension, a game where the brand itself is utilised to provide a recognisable veneer, and nothing more. It’s an amiable but unremarkable card-battling title, a robust but unspectacular game. [Feb 2006, p.93]

There's practically no aspect that doesn't appear half-hearted. Black Isle's drawn-out death has undoubtedly poisoned Brotherhood, but it's hard to tell if there was ever a good game here to begin with. [May 2004, p.109]

It's a firstperson co-op adventure that hardly disgraces the Metroid name it should never have been lumbered with. [Nov 2016, p.114]

Despite its numerous missteps, it's clear that this is a labour of love for its creators, whose fondness for the original is well know. [Aug 2016, p.118]

Unless you possess a particular zeal for collecting and upgrading slightly different weapons, the familiarity of slicing through yet another batch of spawning creatures soon grinds way at the thin gameplay. [June 2009, p.97]

You may technically be present in this world, but you'll rarely feel truly connected to it. [Issue#322, p.106]

A hastily assembled three-in-one anachronism which proves just one thing: that terrifying and terrible are not mutually exclusive. [Apr 2010, p.93]

An ugly, throwaway cash grab. [March 2015, p.110]

It's a short game, too - we reached the end after hour hours of unhurried progress. But Robinson's focus is on exploration and discovery, and Crytek provides plenty of distractions for the particularly curious. [Jan 2017, p.119]

There are a lot of interesting ideas in here. Roaming in smellovision mode is the game's greatest tool for making you feel like you're piloting an animal. It makes exploring a dull path feel way more exciting than it should be. [Jan 2004, p.102]

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.

The Run doesn't have the structure or production values to carry off its concept. Even if it did, its successes would be smothered by a procession of awful technical flaws. Lacking charm and polish, only the Need For Speed name will sell the game – which will no doubt mean that it fares well enough. But in a year that has seen gaming's biggest franchises one-upping each 
other and demanding players' attention like never before, The Run simply doesn't cut it.

Feels old-fashioned in the least complimentary of ways. [Issue#384, p.116]

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 bare-bones Training mode does little to help the inexperienced either. [Apr 2012, p.124]

During a late cutscene, we detect a certain wistfulness in the eyes of both fawn and pup - as if both are silently wishing their talents had been employed in a better game. [Issue#383, p.122]

If action games are at their best when experienced in a flow state, then Atlas Fallen's attempts to harness and bottle this magic are a creditable experiment. It's just a pity it sacrifices so much in pursuit of this ambition. [Issue#388, p.112]

It isn’t perfectly realised, but the subtleties of tactical planning and the bloodiness of frontline slashing combine to suggest a new way forward for realtime strategy. [Aug 2006, p.90]